HW UNIT 1

Reading comprehension (p8 - 10)

Women on top in new sales industry survey

A new survey of the sales industry shows who sales professionals believe make the best
salespeople and the qualities needed in order to succeed.
1. A new survey of over 200 sales professionals has found that two-thirds of women
and over half of men believe that women make the best salespeople, underlining the
growing reputation of women in the sales industry.
2. The survey was carried out for Pareto Law, a recruitment and training company. It
questioned sales professionals on what they considered to be the most important
qualities for a salesperson. It also asked who would be most likely to succeed.
3. Both men (53%) and women (66%) agreed that women do make better salespeople,
with Hillary Clinton voted as the top female celebrity most likely to succeed in a career
in sales.
4. When asked why women make best salespeople, men believe the main reason is that
women are better at actually closing deal, while women stated they are better than men
when it comes to dealing with people. Other female skills highlighted included being
more organized and being able to handle more work, while male skills were identified
as strong personalities and selling skills.
5. Jonathan Fitchew, Managing Director of Pareto Law, said: "Television programmes
have increased people's interest in the sales industry, but have also highlighted the
different approaches of men and women to the same sales issues."
6. When it comes to the individual qualities required to become a successful
salesperson, men ranked honesty as the most important (53%), while women placed the
most value on personality (47%). Both agreed that integrity was also key, coming third
overall (41%). Good looks came at the bottom of the list, with only 3% of sales
professionals ranking this as important.
7. This focus on professionalism, rather than the hard sell, supports the fact that over
half of the sales professionals questioned believe that the reputation of sales has
improved over the last 10 years, with 55% of men and 47% of women considering this
to be the case.
8. Both men (87%) and women (86%) agreed that the top incentive for salespeople was
money, with the average sales executive expecting to earn between £25-35k, including
bonuses and commission, in their first year of work. Other incentives included verbal
praise, overseas holidays, and cars.

Task 1: Read the article and match each of these headings (a-h) to
one of the paragraphs (1-8)

a) Motivation e) Main finding of the survey

b) Professionalism f) Why women make the best salespeople
c) TV g) What the survey asked
d) Personal qualities h) The woman who would make the best
salesperson

Task 2: What these numbers refer to in the article?

1. Two-third

2. 200

3. 53
 4. 47

5. 3

6. 25-35

UNIQLO: A GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY

Tadashoi Yani, the founder of Uniqlo, is Japan's richest man. That's not bad for
someone who started with a single store in Hiroshima in 1984 and now has a global
retail business. The company sells high-quality casual clothes at low prices.
Uniqlo grew quickly in Japan during the 1990s. In 1998, it had over 300 stores.
Following the good results in Japan. Yani decided on global expansion. It started with
stores in the UK in 2001. It didn't work. Most of the stores were too small and in the
suburbs of the city. In 2003, Uniqlo closed most of them. In 2005, Yani changed
strategy. The new strategy was to open large stores in major cities around the world.
The relaunch of Uniqlo began in November 2006 with the opening of a flagship store in
New York. Over the next two years, the number of international stores went up from 54
to 92, including flagship stores in London and Paris.
Yani also hired the German designer Jil Sander in April 2009. Her role was to design a
collection for Uniqlo and to be the creative consultant for the company. The collection
went on sale in selected stores in March 2010. In 2010, Uniqlo made a profit of ¥49.8
bn.
Yani sees Asia as a key market for Uniqlo. In 2007, the company had 26 stores across
Asia. The number increased to 64 at the end of 2010, including a flagship store in
Shanghai. Yani's plan is for another 500 stores over the next five years, mainly in
China. Yani also aims to introduce Uniqlo stores in the fast-growing Indian and
Brazilian markets.
Task 3: Decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F).
Correct the false ones.
1. In the 1990s, Japan was Uniqlo's main market.
2. Uniqlo had a lot of success when it entered the UK market in 2001.
3. Yani's new global strategy was to open big stores in important cities.
4. At the end of 2008, Uniqlo had 92 international stores.
5. Yani hired Jil Sander to design all Uniqlo's clothes. 6 Uniqlo opened 64 stores in
Asia between 2007 and 2010.

Task 4: What these numbers refer to in the article:

1. 1984

2. 300

3. 2003

4. 2005

5. November 2006

6. April 2009

7. ¥49.8 bn

8. 64