Background: This ESL podcast is about a sales call. In this English learning podcast we hear a convincing sales person try to sell someone extra TV channels. Has someone ever tried to sell you something on the phone or have you been the seller before? Tell us on the discussion forum linked below.
Discussion forum Lesson Below
ESL Conversation
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A: Hello, May I speak with Mr. Steve Jones please? B: Speaking. A: Hi Steve. This is Glen Smith calling from Cogeco, your cable provider. We’ve got some great new super-saver packages I’d like to tell you about. B: I’m sorry, we watch enough TV as it is and the last thing we need is more channels. A: Steve, I know exactly where you’re coming from. Interestingly enough, there was a major study done last year, which showed that people who receive more channels actually watch less TV. B: Well unfortunately we can’t afford it at the moment. We’ve maxed out our credit cards and have no cash. A: Well, you’re in luck. We have a special plan for people like you. You don’t have to pay a cent for the first 12 months. B: What’s the catch? A: There’s no catch. You just have to pay a small service charge for the paper work. B: My wife would kill me if I spent another cent. A: Then you can try our free 14-day trial. I’ll give you some extra sports and movie channels and throw in a couple of channels I’m sure your wife will love. B: So it’s totally free for 2 weeks? A: Yep, just make sure you call and cancel before your trial period ends. Enjoy the new channels Steve. B: Thanks. Bye A: Bye. |
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
“May I speak with…please?”: This is the formal and polite way to ask to speak with someone. You use this when you are calling someone on the telephone. If you are a business or you don’t know the people very well, you should definitely use this way. It is quite unprofessional to just ask “Is Tom Smith there?” You should say, “May I speak with Tom Smith please?” or “May I speak with Mr. Tom Smith please?” or “May I speak with Mr. Smith please?”
Speaking: If you are Tom Smith for example and the person calling asks to speak with Tom Smith, you can just reply, “speaking”. It means, “I am Tom Smith”.
“I know exactly where you’re coming from”: This expression shows that you respect the other person’s opinion and understand why they feel that way. It basically means, “I totally understand why you feel the way you do.”
Maxed out: If you max out your credit cards it means you have used up all the money that you are allowed to use and have no credit left. Basically, you can’t buy anything else.
“What’s the catch?”: If you ask “What’s the catch?”, you are asking about what the downside of something is. A salesperson will often only tell you the benefits of buying the product. They make deals which at first appear really good to try to convince people to buy. The downside or “catch” is often hidden. In this case, the seller told him he could buy the TV channels and not pay at all for a whole year. The catch was that he had to pay some kind of “service charge” for this service. The funny thing was, the seller still said there is no catch. He tried to make the service charge seem like something really small and unimportant, even though he didn’t say the amount. He just said it was “small”.
Throw in: This expression means to “include”. Salespeople often use it to act like they are giving you a special deal because they are including some free stuff. If a girl is shopping for a bikini, a salesperson might say, “If you buy this bikini, I’ll throw in a free towel and some sunblock”.
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