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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

IS THE
CUSTOMER
KING?
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1 Warm-up

What was the last hotel you stayed in? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?

2 Adjectives for describing customer service

Which of the following adjectives describe good customer service, and which describe bad customer
service? Put ‘G’ (good) or ‘B’ (bad) next to each word.

businesslike child-friendly cold efficient honest

impersonal indifferent inefficient laid-back personal
smooth transactional unobtrusive unprofessional warm

Choose two adjectives which describe a service that is:

1. relaxed and doesn’t interfere with the customer: and .

2. very professional and fast: and .
3. not interested in the customer as an individual: and .
4. interested in the customer as an individual: and .

Can you think of any other adjectives that describe good/bad customer service?

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3 Predict the answers

Which of the statements below do you think are true or false according to business travellers’ opinions?
Read the article on the next page to check your answers and correct the false statements.

1. Hotels in the Middle East are among the best in the world.
2. Bars in the US provide good customer service because the staff are very friendly.
3. The customer service in business hotels is very unpredictable.
4. Complaining about bad service doesn’t help.
5. If you are in a good mood, you are less aware of bad service.
6. You do not notice customer service in hotels in Amsterdam.

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
IS THE CUSTOMER KING?
Is the customer king?
Where in the world can you expect the best from staff at hotels and restaurants?
1.
Good service is serious stuff - it’s often what we
remember most from our travels and it makes us
come back for more. Ask a frequent traveller for
their opinion on the subject and they barely pause
for thought.
2.
"In my experience, the best service is in the Far East
and Middle Eastern countries – they really try to
please the clients. And if you are travelling with
your family, it’s genuinely child-friendly," says Marjan
Farhad, a London-based knitwear buyer. Farhad
thinks the US has a good grasp of what it’s all about
as well - she travels to New York several times a year:
"they still realise the customer is everything".
3.
Other frequent travellers have very similar opinions.
The level of service in the international hotels in
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is "among the best
in the world" according to music company executive
Richard Piercy who lived in Singapore for three years.
"It’s very good; it’s very personal and very intensive.
There’s a human touch to it, there’s a lot of warmth,
and it’s not just transactional. The Asians do it
very well because they are very personable and very
charming." However, Piercy, who is now based in
London, says when it comes to bars and restaurants,
it’s the Americans who win hands down precisely
because of their system of tipping. "The staff have a
strong incentive to give good service so they largely
rely on their tips and if you do tip quite well then you
do get very good service."
4.
Management consultant John Erik Ellingsen believes
as a business traveller you can be well protected
from bad service. Choose the brand names and you
get what you pay for. Ellingsen’s job takes him on
a regular basis to major cities in India, the US and
Europe: Barcelona, Amsterdam and Paris. At all these
destinations he stays in business hotels. "They’re
efficient and businesslike, you’re not pampered but
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you do feel they work. You know exactly what to
expect. In many ways they’re interchangeable – you
feel you could be in any major city. But when you’re
making short, brief, visits for meetings, it’s what you
want: everything functions well and things happen
when they’re meant to".
5.
And if you don’t get the service you feel you’re
entitled to you should let it be known says Ellingsen.
He did, to great effect, on a recent trip from London
to Mumbai. "I landed at midnight and got to my
hotel around one. Crucially I was in time for the
second half of a match between Manchester United
and AC Milan. Despite the fact that my room had
been booked two months in advance the receptionist
told me the hotel was full and they were relocating
me to another one. I never usually get angry but I
insisted I was not moving. Within minutes they found
a room for me and I was in time to see a fantastic late
goal from Rooney."
6.
Of course many would argue it’s all very subjective: if
you’re in a good mood, if work is going well, you might
not even notice the effort being put into making your
trip a smooth one. It’s only when things go wrong,
or you’re finding the journey a chore, that you’re
aware of what’s going on around you. "On a long
a busy trip even the smallest issues get magnified,"
says Scott Thomson, a brand creation manager. "A
card rejection, the buzz from the almost silent air-
conditioning, a room key not working, the mini bar
missing the peanuts. I hardly ever notice the things
that go well and the service that is good or even
great."
7.
Ironically publishing executive Ian Bartley actually
believes the best service is unobtrusive and unseen:
"My vote goes to Amsterdam for the most natural,
laid-back and invisible service - how it should be."
Adapted from The Independent, 25 June 2007
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4 Find the words

Find a word or phrase in the text which means..

1. stop to think about something (phrase, P1)

2. pleasant and likeable (formal adj., P3)
3. win very easily (idiom, P3)
4. something that encourages or motivates someone to do something (noun, P3)
5. treated in a special way by being given anything you want and made to feel as comfortable as
possible (adj., P4)
6. an unpleasant task (noun, P6)

5 Expressions for describing customer service

Look at the following expressions from the text and match them to the comments below:

There’s a human touch to it.

They have a good grasp of what it’s all about.
You get what you pay for.
You know exactly what to expect.
They realise the customer is everything.
It’s not just transactional.

1. They did everything they could to please me.

2. It was a cheap hotel and the service wasn’t very good.
3. You feel that they take care of you not only because you pay them to.
4. They take care of you as an individual person.
5. They understand what they need to do to provide good customer service.
6. You can always rely on the service in this hotel, wherever you are in the world. There are no
unpleasant suprises.

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6 Grammar - Tenses for describing a past experience

Read the following passage from the text. Study the underlined structures and put them into the
correct categories below. Which tense is used in each category?

"I landed at midnight and got to my hotel around one. Crucially I was in time for the second half of a
match between Manchester United and AC Milan. Despite the fact that my room had been booked
two months in advance the receptionist told me the hotel was full and they were relocating me to
another one. I never usually get angry but I insisted I was not moving. Within minutes they found a
room for me and I was in time to see a fantastic late goal from Rooney."

1. completed events in the past

2. something that happened before a completed event in the past
3. a general, habitual activity in the present
4. a reported unfinished activity in the past

Now complete the sentences below putting the verbs in brackets in the correct form:

1. When I (arrive) at the reception desk, my host (wait) to greet me.

2. When we (call) the potential customer, we (find out) that they
(already/sign) a contract with another supplier.
3. I usually (drive) to work, but yesterday I (take) the train because my
car (break down).
4. I (not/understand) a word he (talk) about, so I (leave)
in a hurry.
5. While we (have) a chat, a strange old man (come) up to us and
(ask) us if we (see) his pet dog.
6. I (give) a Power Point presentation when suddenly my laptop (crash).
It seems the service centre (not/repair) it properly the week before.
7. When Anne (hear) that her colleague (lose) his job because the
company (downsize), she (become) worried.
8. We usually (go out) on Friday evenings, but it (pour down) last night
so we (decide) to stay in instead.

7 Talking point

Have you experienced the type of customer service described in the article? Talk about a good or
bad customer service experience (in any sector) that you have had. Try to use vocabulary from this
lesson.

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