Complete the text with the appropriate word or words from the GLOSSARY.
In our professional as well as private lives, we all constantly convey the features, advantages and benefits of a product or service (or even an idea) to a 1. __, be it our partner, a teenage son or an important 2. _, willing to pay the right price for our goods. In all these situations we are eager to 3. ___, i.e. to come to an agreement on the pricing and services, which will result in an exchange of a product or service for money, for a promise that money will be paid, a reciprocal favour, or even just a smile.
In the commercial world, the business of sales is performed via a company’s 4. __, whose activities are far more sophisticated than a mere handing over of goods to customers. What is more, a 5. _ might not even see or talk to a customer directly but will nevertheless significantly contribute to a successful close of a sale by preparing a sales 6. _ or writing a report on sales 7. ___. Naturally, it is impossible to imagine sales without a more or less close contact with the customers, which is usually the job of 8. _ or sales reps. Whereas some work on leads only, i.e. with people or companies who have expressed interest in their products, others must employ other methods, like 9. cold _ or making a sales pitch. A sales pitch is a planned presentation of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale. It must accomplish several goals within a short amount of time, e.g. present the features, accessibility and benefits of the product or service in question. As customers, we all know how irritating this soliciting can be, so sales reps pay special attention not to put too much strain on the thinly stretched nerves of prospective buyers who are constantly bombarded by irresistible pleas to buy.
Sales are closely intertwined with activities performed by other departments within the company. This humorous quote, found at www.managementhelp.org, is about attempts to differentiate between the scopes of activities for each respective department: “If a circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying ‘Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday’, that’s 10. ___. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s 11. __. If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s 12. _. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s 13. ____. If the town’s citizens come to the circus and you show them the many entertainment booths and explain how much fun they can have if they spend some money, and they ultimately spend money, that’s Sales.”
—\n\nGLOSSARY\n\n| to convey | prenijeti |\n| features | karakteristike, obilježja |\n| (key) account | ključni korisnik, klijent |\n| to close the sale | zaključiti prodaju, sklopiti (prodajni) posao |\n| sales forecast | predviđanje o prodaji (prometu) |\n| Sales Department | odjel prodaje |\n| sales figures | brojke koje pokazuju ostvarenu prodaju (promet) |\n| sales representatives | prodajni predstavnici |\n| variable | raznolik |\n| prospective buyer | potencijalni kupac |\n| hand over | predati |\n| to employ methods | koristiti se metodom |\n| soliciting | nagovaranje, mamljenje |\n| to put a strain on | izvrsiti pritisk na |\n| cold calling | hladni pozivi |\n| plea | (žarka) molba |\n| to intertwine | isprepletati se |\n| to differentiate | razlikovati |\n| the scope of activities | opseg aktivnosti |\n| mayor | gradonačelnik |\n| flower beds | cvjetne gredice |\n| entertainment booths | zabavni stand, paviljon na sajmu |\n\n—\n\nPRACTICE\n\nExercise 1: Use expressions from the box above to complete the gaps:\n\nSALES FORECAST / SALES FIGURES / (KEY) ACCOUNT / COLD CALLING\n\na. There are mixed opinions on the ethicality of ___. Many counties have put forward legislation restricting this practice.\n\nb. He works as a _ manager taking care of big companies which bring us big profits.\n\nc. We must analyse monthly and annual retail _ by category, geographic region, country and store type.\n\nd. ___ is especially difficult when you don’t have any previous sales history to guide you.\n\nExercise 2: Fill in the gaps with the below given words from the text to get the feeling of how they are used. (You may have to change the form of some of the words.)\n\nVARIABLE / to SOLICIT / to PUT A STRAIN ON / a PLEA / to INTERTWINE / to DIFFERENTIATE / SCOPE / to CONVEY FEATURES\n\na. Our latest model of phone has several new __.\n\nb. It is illegal for public officials _ gifts or money in exchange for favours.\n\nc. The town’s prosperity is __ with the fortunes of the factory.\n\nd. He made a _ for help.\n\ne. The interest rates on loans are usually not _ but fixed.\n\nf. You don’t want __ the impression that we’re not interested.\n\ng. We would now like to broaden the _ of the enquiry and look at more general matters.\n\nh. The recent decline in the dollar has _ bigger __ on the economic system.\n\ni. We do not ____ between our workers on the basis of their background or ethnic origin.\n\n—\n\n’English At Work’ – idealan priručnik za one koji žele znati više!\n\n’EAW’ je prošireni nastavak HalPetovih lekcija koje izlaze u poslovnom tjedniku Lideru. Obraduje teme poslovnog engleskog jezika na zanimljiv, jednostavan i praktičan način.\n\nNaručite svoj primjerak u Liderovoj web-knjžari:\n\nwebknjizara.liderpress.hr\”
