Inglés IX: Learning Objectives

Derechos Reservados. Universidad Tec Milenio.
Ingls IX
Topic 3
The competitive
advantage of customer
relationships
Ingls IX
D.R. UNIVERSIDAD TECMILENIO
Learning objectives
By the end of this topic, you will be able to:
Identify the most important words to deduce the main
idea.
Discuss the information given and debate your ideas.
Select the correct answers from the information given.
Design a short talk on the topic given.
Identify the use of second conditionals.
Ingls IX
Introduction
On this topic, we will see the importance of the connection
between a company and its customers. The management of
customer relationships is part of a business strategy focused
on the customer; by doing this, the business gains some
competitive advantage, which is the relative advantage a
business has over another.
The fundamental part of customer
management is to gather as much
information about the customer in order to
improve the value of the offer. When we
talk about improving the offer, we mean to
be able to provide the customers the
solutions fitting to their needs.
Introduction
In order to have an effective competitive advantage the
proposal has to be difficult to compare, possible to sustain
and unique, among others.
The competitive advantage is a key determinant of superior
performance and it will ensure survival and prominent placing
in the market.
Ingls IX
Finding important vocabulary through skimming
When you first get a letter,
proposal or presentation, the first
thing you do is read it, but how
much of the content do you really
comprehend? What we first need
to do is to look for keywords and
concepts we already know and use
them as clues to understand the
meaning of new vocabulary.
And through skimming, these
words jump to you attention,
making it easier to support the
learning of new words.
Finding important vocabulary through skimming
Example:
Foreign investors are buying stocks and bonds in U.S.
companies. They own about $1 trillion dollars worth of
U.S. companies.
On this example we have the expression stocks and
bonds, which means the capital rose by a corporation
through the issue of shares entitling holders to an
ownership interest and the money loaned to a company.
Ingls IX
Activating prior knowledge to understand context
When writing a tender, a good start would be to divide
the work among the people involved in the project; you
can do it by dividing the tasks, and then assigning them.
Who gathers information
and does research?
Who coordinates all the
material you need?
Who writes the drafts and
checks them?
How will the rest of your
firm's work get done?
Once this is done, discuss with your partners what the client
expects from you sharing and debating each others ideas.
Some examples of what your clients will expect you to do:
Say how you will carry out the work, and how and when you
will meet the client's needs.
Explain the benefits and value for money of your bid.
Detail when and how goods and services are to be
delivered, and provide a timetable.
Demonstrate your team's skills, experience of similar work
and their responsibilities if you win the contract.
Explain how you will manage the project.
Be practical and identify potential problems, but do not
make promises that are clearly impossible for you to
deliver.
Activating prior knowledge to understand context
Ingls IX
Listening for specific information
For example, in the excerpt taken from The Economist, let
us find words or phrases which have the same meaning as
the following expressions:
Look for the best deal
Increase the price of
Forcing better and better deals from
When we have a variety of
proposals or different
information that we need to
compare, we have to be able to
fully comprehend the meaning
of the different words and
phrases to make a proper
comparison.
Listening for specific information
Raising prices is likely to remain tough, even as the world
economy rebounds. Inflation is likely to remain low in rich
countries, for several reasons. Globalization has increased
the number of competitors. The Internet has made it easier for
buyers to shop around and compare prices. The euro has
made prices more transparent in Europe, even if consumers
worry what retailers have used its introduction to mark up
their goods. And big buyers, such as Wal-Mart, are
squeezing even more from their suppliers. The days of
annual (upward) revisions to price lists look to be over.
Answers:
shop around
mark up
squeezing (even more) from
Ingls IX
Summarizing main ideas
When you are a customer, how much attention do you pay
to all the information about a product?
Not much, and that is why all the relevant information must
be summarized to efficiently reach the customer.
Some questions could create a focus on the information or
main points that a customer could be looking for in order to
get a quick and summarized data that would allow them to
make a choice.
Summarizing main ideas
Sample questions:
How important is the price for you when you are deciding
whether to buy a product or not?
Does it depend on whether the product is something
essential or a luxury?
Do you look at the price more when the purchase is
something big, such as a car, or when it is some small,
everyday item?
These points could be very personal and particular for each
person, however, there is always a distinguishable trend that
sets the pace as for what is the information that each
customer should be getting.
Ingls IX
Use conditionals to speak hypothetically
In order to express hypothesis, a
possibility of something to happen,
we use the second and third
conditional sentences; the second
for present hypothesis and the third
for past hypothesis. When we want
to discuss the result of hypothetical
situations, the outcome is therefore
also hypothetical.
There are three ways to compose
a conditional sentence, depending
on the auxiliary used.
Each one would express a different degree of likelihood of
happening, from more to less likely the structure would be:
Would / Could / Might
Second conditional, present hypothesis:
Examples:
If we had more employees, we would work more efficiently.
If we delivered poor quality, we could not be the leading
company in our business.
If the board accepted his proposal, he might move to Korea
next month.
If +
Simple
past
+
Would
+ Infinitive Could
Might
Ingls IX
Third conditional, past hypothesis:
Examples:
If we had had more employees, we would have worked
more efficiently.
If we had delivered poor quality, we could have not been
the leading company in our business.
If the board had accepted his proposal, he might have
moved to Korea next month.
If +
Past
perfect
+
Would
Have + Participle Could
Might
Closing
Any relationship could be impossible to
gain, difficult to maintain and easy to
lose. This is why the companies put a
lot of effort and emphasis to keep their
relationship with their clients to the best
and most optimum level. Happy
customers are loyal to the company,
which translates into more profit.
And to achieve this, the company must also focus in its
competitive advantages in order to portrait and pass on all
these key elements to its clients. Since these advantages
are the core that makes it a good option compared to all
the other options in the market, it is important that the focus
of the company is also aimed to listen to the customers to
whom he provides its services and products.
Ingls IX
Closing
After all, the reason why the competitive advantages help
attract customers is also because the communication
and follow up provided is accordingly.
With this far, we have seen how to get ahead in the
game using the adequate strategies, structure and
vocabulary. Now it is time for us to move on to the next
subject trying to achieve the success presenting our
results.
Bibliography
Brook-Hart, G. (2007). Business Benchmark Advanced.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Unknown. (May 23, 2002). The price is wrong. The
Economist. Retrieved from:
http://www.economist.com/node/1143622?story_id=1143
622
Ingls IX
Author content:
Lic. Jessica Patricia Garza Macas
Academic coordinator:
Lic. Jessica Patricia Garza Macas
Universidad TECMilenio
Production and content editing:
Tecnologa Educativa
Universidad Virtual, ITESM
Credits

Inglés IX: Learning Objectives

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Inglés IX: Learning Objectives

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Derechos Reservados. Universidad Tec Milenio.

You might also like