1 Unit 9

Advertising and customers

November 23, 2017

2 Grammar workshop:

Concession

 -different syntax
 (followed by a noun, by a gerund, by a new sentence
or come at the end of a sentence)
 -different positions
 -different meanings
3

 Despite/ in spite of = adverb / phrase

 However = adverb
 Nevertheless = adverb
 While = conjunction
 In contrast = phrase
4

 Despite / In spite of a massive advertising campaign,

brand awareness hardly rose.

 Despite/ In spite of organizing a massive advertising

campaign, brand awareness hardly rose.
5

 We are able to undercut our competitors. However, I

don’t believe our costs are lower.

 Our sales this year have not been encouraging.

Nevertheless, we think next year will be better.

 Over-the-counter sales have fallen. In contrast, e-sales

have rocketed.
6

 While over-the-counter sales have fallen, e-sales have

rocketed.

 E-sales have rocketed while over-the-counter sales

have fallen.
7

Do not confuse with:

"because of", "due to", "owing to", "thanks to" and
"because", "since ,"as", "for".
(Expressing cause and effect)
8 Rewrite or join the sentences using the
word(s) in brackets.

 Few people buy cars on the Internet. Many people

research cars on the Internet. (while)
 Although it’s difficult to measure advertising’s
effectiveness, few companies believe they can do
without it. (however)
 They employed a consultancy, but they couldn’t
improve their company’s image. (despite)
 While many dotcom companies have been struggling,
eBay has been growing by 40% a year. (in contrast)
 They had a large advertising budget but they kept
their product prices low. (in spite of)
9
Although, even though, though

 although, even though = conjunctions (introduce

Concessive Clauses)
 though = adverb
===================================
 Although / Even though he had enough capital, he
refused to invest in the joint venture.
 He refused to invest in the joint venture, although /
even though he had enough capital.
 He refused to invest in the joint venture. He had
enough capital, though.
10 Rewrite or join the sentences using:
although / even though / though

 Jack's quiet. However, he's not shy.

 People study new cars on the Internet. However, they
go to showrooms to buy them.
 He had enough money. He refused to buy a new car.
11 Unit 12
THE SALES PITCH
12 Sales pitch

In selling technique, a sales presentation or sales pitch is a

line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something,
with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or
service designed to initiate and close a sale of the product
or service.
=====================
 Getting started: Cold-calling
 Talking point 1
 Reading: Cracking the big company market
 Vocabulary
 Grammar workshop – Cleft sentences
13 Getting started
Talking point 1

 Cold-calling is when you phone someone you have

never spoken to before to sell them a product or a
service.
===================================
 How do you react when you receive a cold-call?
 What are the problems of cold-calling for the
salesperson? What advice would you give to cold-
callers?
 Useful language
14
Dealing with cold-callers when you are busy

 OK, I’ve only got a few minutes, so could you make it

quick?
 I’m sorry, it’s not convenient at the moment. Could
you call back?
 I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment. Could you
put all that in an email?
 Useful language
15
Speaking to reluctant prospects

 I’m sure you’re very busy, so I’ll be brief.

 With your permission, I’d like to ask you a very few
quick questions.
 I won’t take very much of your time.
 If you’ve just got a minute, I’m sure you’ll find what I
have to say interesting.
 READING
16
Cracking the big company market

My problem is that I own a chain of auto-repair

shops. My latest idea is a service that goes to
corporate workplaces, picks u employees’ cars,
services and repairs them, and returns them the
same day. My target market is large companies in
my area. But it seems impossible to crack the big
corporate HR departments for a pitch. Any
suggestions?
17

Networking is the best way to start, suggests Martin

Babinec, founder and CEO of TriNet, a company that
provides outsourced payroll, benefits and HR services.
“We’ve never had much success cold-calling a big
company. Every one of our big-company opportunities
has been brought to us by referrals,” he explains.
“One way we solicit referrals is by identifying the decision-
makers in a big company and then determining if we
know someone who knows them. We then educate the
person that we know about the things we can offer that
the big company couldn’t find somewhere else.
18

“Make sure you can offer the company more than mere
convenience to its employees. Large companies are
often risk-averse, and unless they see a company benefit,
they tend to focus on the things that could go wrong
(e.g. liability, upset employees complaining about poor
screening of service providers, and so on).
“Find out which other local businesses provide employee
services to the companies you’re pursuing. What do
those businesses offer that makes them unique? How is
the large company benefiting? Can you track down the
owners of those local businesses and gain insight into the
relationship structure and the decision process that got
them on board?
19

“One last note: In my experience, people at large, high-tech

companies expect service providers to handle transactions
over the Web. It’s best to have that capability up and
running before you contact your prospects.”
Mary Naylor, founder and CEO of VIPdesk Inc., which
provides concierge services to large corporations, questions
whether you’re aiming too high too soon. “Though it might
seem efficient to sell to a large company because you
believe there’s more business in one location, you’ll be trying
to crack a bigger bureaucracy,” she observes. “I
recommend you first target mid-size companies, prove you
have a track record with them, and then use that record to
persuade a big company to work with you.”
20
Vocabulary – matching

A you are legally responsible  1 solicit

B operating  2 risk-averse
C make smb part of a group  3 liability
D have a strong dislike for  4 screening
taking risks
E find a solution to a problem  5 got them on board
F examining smb or smt to  6 up and running
discover if there is anything  7 crack
wrong with them
G ask for money/info/help  8 track record
H all the achievements or
failures that smb or smt has
had in the past so far
21
Grammar workshop – Cleft sentences

In which sentence of each pair is the information in italics

focused on more strongly?

 1a We provide a more complete service.

 1b What we do is provide a more complete service.

 2a All he or she has to do is press a button.

 2b He or she only has to press a button.
22

 3a It’s that sort of situation that we want to avoid.

 3b We want to avoid that sort of situation

 4a We don’t want people to be calculating the cost

of calling for help.
 4b The last thing we want is people to be calculating
the cost of calling for help
23
Rewrite the following sentences with the words
given:

1 We deliver pizzas to your home.

 What …
2 You only have to provide the venue.
 All …
3 We find the paperwork too time-consuming.
 It’s the …
4 You shouldn’t settle the invoice before you’ve received
the goods.
 The last thing …
24
Talking point 2

Give a sales pitch for a product / service

your company offers (or a product/service
you know well).