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OVERVIEWVVocabularyDescribing relationsListeningRelationships in aglobal market

ReadingAIG knows everyoneLanguage reviewMulti-word verbsSkiltsNetworkingCase studyGetting to know you

@ Oiscuss these questions.

r what are the most important relationships for you a) at your place of workor study? b) outside your place of work or study?

z What benefits do you get from each retationship?

@ wara Lincoln,.Business Retations Manager with an internationat trainingorganisation, is tatking about areas for companies to consider in order tobuitd strong business relationships. what factors do you think he wittmention?

C ! 3.1 Listen to the interview and check the predictions you made inExercise B.

@ lnswer the questions in the quiz. Then turn to page 153 to find out how goodyou are at building retationships.

c)

F O" you think smalltatk is

a) enjoyable?b) a waste of time?c) difficult to do well?

you

3 Buitdingrelationships

.l:rl'.Y Do you,prefep , ,1

a) not to socialise with colleagues?b) to socialise often with colleagues?

&_F Do you like to have conversaiions

a) with people who share your interests?b) with almost anyone?

c) with people who are your social equals?

Describingrelations

Use them to complete the table.

+reaKe+f Ot*++upencourage esta'btish

strerlgthen promote

cement foster cut off develop disrupt: i ::'

eqdanger ,', improve jeopardise maintain

,.ildr. - ,.rt*. darnage ,dw underfriine

S fne verbs betow are often used with the word relations.

Positive meaning

build up reldtionb breaK off re[ationt

@ Choose the correct verb in each sentence.

r Sates staffwho are impolite to customers disrupt I damage the reputationof a company.

z We are planning to promote I establish branch offices in Singapore.

3 By merging with a US company, we greatly strengthened I maintained oursales force.

4 Our image has been fostered I undermined by poor after-sales service.

5 Thanks to a new communications system, we are souring I improvingretations with supptiers.

6 A strike at our factory resumed I disrupted production for several weeks.

7 We could not agree on several points so we broke off I cut offlalksregarding a joint venture.

8 The success of our new product launch was resumed I jeopordised by an

unimaginative advertising campaign.

9 ln orderto gain market share in China, we are building up I cutting offasales network there.

ro Relations between the two couniries have been endangered I fosteredbyofficial visits and trade delegations.

are a credit to its highty effective PR

Department.

have cemented relations betweenthe two companies.

its close relations with severalmajor foreign investors have been

ieopardised.

is causing stormy relations withsome of the company's suppliers.

to strain retations between the twoleading French software companies.

@ tvtatctr the fottowing sentence hatves. Then make five more sentences withthe verbs in Exercise A and B.

r Widespread rumours of a hostiletake-over bid are certain

z The Accounts Department's veryslow payment of invoices

3 The [ong-term contracts, whichwill run for the next five years,

4 The excellent relations thecompany enjoys with the localcommunity

5 As a result of the government'simposition of currency controls,

a)

b)

d)

e)

Relationships ina global market

I

ring relationships

@ A 3.2 Listen to the first part of the interview with Agnes Chen, a Chinese

business executive, who travets frequentty on overseas trips. Make-notes on

the fotlowing points.

r Doing business in South America

z Doing business in China

3 The best way to buitd a business retationship

@ n 33 Listen to the second part of the interview and give an oral summary of

:, .r.:,: i.,:t:t :i: ::;:i::..at:: j.: ':!

AIG knows | ;jilli*'irig? skim the articte qui.Lty to find the answer.everyone I _

@ wnr, do the fottowing numbers in the article refer to?

:'66 7992 7979 8o,ooo 13o

@ W6o are the fottowing peopl.e mentioned in the article: Mourice Greenherg,

Cornelius Vander Storr, Edmund Tse?

@ Rccording to the article what are the main factors responsible for AIG's

success in Asia?

@ nead the articte and answer these questions.

r What objective does AIG have in China?

z What does Mr Greenberg see as his role in the company?

I Why is Asia important to AIG?

@ f ina three verbs in the articte which combine with the noun relationships tomean develop.

@ fina phrases (adiective and noun) in the article which mean the following.

unused possibilities (paragraph 3)

continuing in the same place for a great length of time (paragraph 5)

unlimited entry (paragraph 8)

representatives connected to a company (paragraph ro)

devetoping sales areas (paragraph rz)

important talks (paragraph r3)

most important countries (paragraph r3)

1"

2

3

4

5

6

7

@ oiscuss these questions.

t2

What can spoil relations between companies?

A foreign company is opening a branch in your country. What factors should

it consider?

ln your experience are certain nationalities better at buitding relationships

than others? lf so, which ones?

How can you build good business retationships?

^& Agnes Chen

:iri 1

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one in Asia

, licence in 1992.Mi Greenberg knows quite 'a

few people. His style has alwaYsgs been to discuss big issues - corpo-

rate, political and economic 'with anyone he meets. One ana-lyst refers to AIG as a'sovereign

:,iorporate nation' as Mr Green-rm berg insists on representing the

company in high-level discus.sions. 'If you're deaiing with thepremrer o-i president of a country,he is not thrilLed to have a dePutY

105 conr.e and see him. Even if a Qou!1;try is not one of the leadingnations in the world, that countiYis important. It's imPortant tohim and it's important to us.' . ' :

AIG,. American InternationalGroup, has grown from a smallShanghai-based underwritingagency into the world's largest

5 insurer by market value. It has acapitalisation of $166bn, and isfiimly embeddedin Asia's corPo-rate culture. Indeed. with rootsdating back more than half a cen-

io tury, and the constant focus onthe region bY Maurice Greenberg,its Chairman, AIG has an unri-valled scale of oPerations and a

wealth of political and business15. connections.

For other US and EuroPeaninsurers, the company is both a

benchmark and a Powerful com-petitor. 'TheY know anYone who is

2o anyone in Asia.'However, in order to continue

to prosper, AIG will have to suc-ceed in China - Probably iheinsurance market with the

25 biggest untapped potential in theworld.gl.After 1? years of lobbYing bY

Mr Greenberg, AIG was the firstforeign insurer to be allowed into

30 China, in 1992. It now oPerates ineight cities but admits rnakingonty 'a small Profit' in the coun'try. Today, turning its Pioneeringpresence into a commercial suc-

35 cess is AIG's biggest challenge.In China as with the rest of

Asia, AIG's main advantage overits competitors is its long-stand-ing presence. The grouP was

40 founded in Shanghai in 1919 bY

Cornelius Vander Starr, az1-Year'olcl American entrePreneur. d

That historical accident, andMr Starr's quest to exPand to ttre

45 rest of Asia in the ensuing 10years, are still benefiting the com-pany. Over the Past nine deQades,

atC Uuitt on those foundationsthrough endlessiY Puisuing close

50 relationships with Asia's golern;ments, regulators and Powerfulbusinessmen.j.Edmund Tse, who runs theAsian operations and life assur:

55 anae worldwide, says AtrG's policyis to build relationshiPs with asmany influential PeoPle as Possi-ble. llf you wanf to do business,you have to be friends with senior

60 ieaderc,' he says., lYou need to befriends with the head-of state, theminisler of finance, the ministerof trade, the lcentral] bank gover-nor and the insuralce regulator.'

65 AIG believes its three d99_ad9s

spent 'corirting China wilt be

.tewarded'with unrestrictedaccess to its vast insurance m-ar-ket. 'The Chinese alwaYs remem-

70 ber good fti-ends;' says Mr Tse..l(But if its 'friendshiP' with

China is not enough to tap thecountry's Potential, AIG maY l-os9

its main growth engine. And?5 without a strcng Asia; AIG would

be a much weaker company.AIG may be a comPanY of 80,000

ernployees -and 359,000 .affiliatedagents in 130 countrieq but mrrg|r

80 of its success is down to individ-ual relationships.

Many sf those relationshiPshave been forged bY MauriceGreenbelg, the cor.npany's chair-

85 man and chief executive.' Mr Greenbers sayqthat Ptayingthe long game has given AIG anedlge, particularlY in terms of

: investiirg in emerging markets-90 He courted the Chinese for 17

years before being granteil a

Building relat,

From the Fit?ancial Times

FTNANCIAL TIMES

By Shawn Donnan et al

Multi-word verbs

Jing relationships

Multi-word verbs are particularly common in spolcen English. They are madewith a verb and particles such as at, qway, dowi and oy. {our ryp., ur.,I Wirhout an objectl'm going to be tied up in meetings att day.

2 With an object - separable[n rhe excitement of beari.ng off the competirion, managers become carried away.In the excitement of beating the competition off, manigers become carried awiy,.3 Wirh an object - inseparablel'll look into the mafter immediately.

4 Wirh rwo particlesOrganisations are beginning to wake up to these lost opportunities.

page 13l

!

ticularly common in spolcen English. They are -uA" $ g

Irch as at, qway, down and off. iour t),fles are: F $ I- [ HIetinss au day

E $ I

,fith, ,o*prtilion, managers become carried away. I t ihe compefirion o[f, managers become carried awiy. H ,?

|E rl.3 I

,*lsi$lj*

ii,i

jiI

@ ! 3-4 Two managers are tatking about buitding retationships with agents. jPut the conversation in the correct order. Then tiiten and checkyou,

",L*"r, iE r) welt, I hopeyou geta result. r mustbegoing. r'vegottodrawupan jagency agreement mysetf, I've put it off far too long already. j

I Ol What exactty was the probtem? i

I o fes. Q1r results were terrible. we tried to buitd up market share but itjust didn't happen. we just managed to hotd on to what we had.

I al unfortunately, our agent let us down. we thought we could count onhim to boost sares but he had no commitment, no motivation.

[] "l He shoutd be. He's got a very good track record. wed set up a meetingon Friday, but he had to catt it off _ something came up.

E tl How's it going in France, Gina? we didn't do too wertthere last year.

I d Wel[, I suppose you terminated his contract then.

I ttl Good. Let's hope he'[ be better than the last one.

I il Att the best. Speak to you soon.

I I Yes, there was no way we could renew it. we sounded out a fewpossible reptacements and found someone else. we get on reatty wett.

@ Unaertine att the multi-word verbs in the conversation in Exercise A. Thenmatch each one to a verb phrase with a simitar meaning below.r have a friendly retationshipz depend on / reiy on

3 make bigger / stronger

4 keep / maintain

5 postpone / detay

(! Rephrase these comments using the ;:dffil verbs from Exercise A.r We can't hotd the meeting tomorrow.

We'll have to call the meeting off tomorrow.z Let's have the presentation next week - we're too busy at the moment.3 We always know our suppliers will meet their deadlines.4 we have now estabrished a first crass distribution networr< in Europe.5 Coutd you please prepare a contract as soon as possibte?6 Coutd you fix a meeting with them for next week?

7 We've kept the same market share as we had last year.8 The new sales manager is very popular with his team.

6 find out opinions / intentions

7 disappoint

8 arrange

9 compile / write down

261

f:Ii,=iit:

3 Buitding rela

@ G 3.5 Networking is a vitat part of estabtishing good businessretationships. Listen to four conversations at business conferences. For each

one decide whether the statements are true or false.

r a) The first speaker introduces herself straightaway.b) The second speaker doesn't remember her untiI she introduces herself.

z a) The second speaker knows that Henry Wittis is in New York.

b) The second speaker offers to contact the NewYork office.

3 a) Both speakers know Jon Stuart.b) The second speaker isn't abte to offer any hetp.

zl a) Both speakers have been doing business in Asia for some time.b) ln the end they establish an area of common interest.

@ n 3.6 Listen to the tetephone conversation, then answer the questions.

r What is the purpose of the cat[?

z Does it have a successfut outcome? Why? Why not?

@ n 3.6 Now listen again and comptete the extracts from the conversation.

I ...... .... you don't . . me .......... . Silvanasaid it would probabty be 0K.

ls it a . . time to ring or could I ca[[ you .. at a

better time?

Silvana .. that you might be able to .. , .. . . . .. me on

fran ch isi n g contracts.

Mmm, I don't know. I coutd maybe give you a littte hetp, but I know someonein that area.

You haven't got her phone number?

@ Work in pairs and rote ptay these situations.

The owner of a department store visits Moscow to find a supplier of amberjewellery. Hei She phones a Russian contact recommended by a cotteague.The owner wants to find out if the Russian is interested in doing businesswith hisi her company.

You are networking at a conference about sports goods. You are eithera Sales Manager, turn to page 146

or a Sports Goods Wholesaler, turn to page 155.

Asking for hetp / contactsCan I mention your name when I calt him?

He mentioned that you might be able to help me.

You haven't got his phone number by any chance?

ls this a convenient time or shatl I cal[ back later?

Referring to previous meetingsHaven't we met somewhere before?We both went to that presentation ...

Estabtishing common interestsMaybe we could help you out there.Are you in sales or product development?

Useful tanguage I

Mentioning people you knowHarry Kaufman suggested I gave you a call.I was given your name by Jon Stuart.

Giving adviceI suggest you give her a call.You coutd try to track him down through our

New York office.

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ffift*fu#

ffi@#

BackgnoundKimsoong, a Korean car manufacturer, hasits European headquarters near paris. It hasrerail sales lranchisrcoun rri es whi ch

"" ;:ilfi :,T

jJ;:nT.,.,accessories but also have servicing facilities.The larger outlets also offer furr_frrti.rs ottyres and exhausts, and deal in used Jars.Over th.e last ten years Kimsoong, with itsreptrtation for reliability at low prices,

have built up market share at the lower endof the marker. Their basic modets l,r.irOemany'extras' which other -unrlfu.t,rr"r,charge for. Kimsoong also makes t.rg.-donations to environmental groups ind isseen as an organisation with a socialconscience. Furthermore, its R&DDepartmenr is developing an .eco_car.,

which uses an alternaiiuelo*"r rorr...

ProblennsIntense competition is forcing Kimsoong toconsider new ways of generating business.Management believe that if the companylooks after existing customers well, they maybuy three or four Kimsoong vehicles over aten-year period. Therefore, Kimsoong's newstrategy is to hold on to existing customersand increase customer loyalqr They alsohope to develop a more accurate buyerprofile (At present, data is fromquestionnaires sent to customers followingsales trut only 40% are returned). However,because of pressure on profits, they need toachieve these objectives at a low cost.

Work in sma[[ groups. You work in Customer Services at headoffice.

r Think of five ideas to include in Kimsoong's customerloyatty programme.

, O 3.7 Listen to two directors of the company exchangingideas about how to foster customer loyatty. Make noteson the five suggestions they make.

3 Consideryour ideas and those ofthe directors. Choose thebest four ideas to include in the company's programme.

4 Meet as one group. Discuss your ideas and decide on thebest four to include in the customer services programme.

r?+

3 B u it-{r n g,_lq!*'g'.!1pf

SotutionsA customer loyalty programme will be:developed by the Customer ServicesDepartment at head office. It witl beavailable to all European franchises andcosts will be shared 50/50 with head officeIts aims are:r to build up long-term customer

relationshi ps, thereby in creasing profitsr to increase customer loyalty

,;t:.1;ffiWritin$Choose a company you are farniliar with.Write a sales letter to Roger Eastwood,one of a group of priority customers.Outline a special offer which you aremaking to this priority customer group.Make your letter appear as personalisedas possible.4 Wri.t;n.o filpnq<te 1?R

. to draw up an..:ii*irBl :,r to enQ.BF_r?i.9O

buil.Fg up gr..1;l.;.::'': :;,',*,-

. .'*

retationshi

@ Stuay how Speaker B responds to what Speaker A says. Focus on the wordsin italics.

A: lt's good to hear that they're thinking of resuming diplomatic relations,isn't it?

B: Yes. That's great. Restoring relations is probably the best decision theycould make.

Now take Speaker B's part. Use the correct form of a verb from the box inyour response.

e++danger maintain strengthen foster build up sour

rA:B:

zA:

B:

3A:B:

4A:

B:

5A:B:

6A:B:

l'm afraid lack of communication is nowleopardising our relations.

I agree. I think it reatty ...q(1.4A!1gef0 . future cooperation.

Getting rid of those trade barriers should cement the friendshipbetween our countries.

Absolutely.'.

Their firm has developed considerably.

Yeah. .

The key question is, how can we encourage cooperation between ourorganisations?

Definitety.

What do you reckon damaged our relations with GlenStar?

Well,.

Do you think we should stay in close contact with those suppliers?

Yes.

@ Complete the foltowing sentences with the best word.

r Relations between them are rather .etq!f.ql,. They don't seem to like ortrust each other.

a) amicable b) cordiat c) strained

Their continual interventions .. .. the whole meeting.

a) corrupted b) broke off c) disrupted

Their working retationship was often . ... , with lots of angryargument and criticism.

a) stormy b) coot c) close

4 They may be our competitors, but we want to stay .... good termswith them.

a) in b) on c) over

5 lf you want to do business with someone, first you shoutd try toa rapport,

a) improve h) estabtish c) promote

!

3 Buitding relationshiy

@ Comptete the short article betow with an appropriate form of a verb fromthe box.

buitd deal face implement pifip€if,+ understand

Over 55 per cent of major retailers have seen their profits reduced becausethey are faiting to adjust to new customer shopping trends and the movetowards internet buying, according to a recent report.

The report . BtCIPa0t\.. l two key elements for a successful strategy. First, it

says retailers need to ..... the value of each customer. Second, retailersneed to acquire and ... .3 a relationship with the customer across arange of channels including the internet.

Apparently, many of the major retailers have not ... .4 strategies that. ... s with customers who routinely use a range of channels * including

phone, internet, catatogue and in-store visits - before they buy. The reportadds that without a change in strategy, retailers . . ..6 the risk of losingtheir relationship with the new'networked consumers'.

@ tvtatctr the foltowing sentence halves, as in the example.

r They're going to be sharingthis office,

Customers willtolerate a titttedetay

They didn't hit it off at first,

They'd always seemed to be ongood terms,

They wilt never let down

You should be able not onty torelate to your employees,

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

but are untikely to put up withrudeness.

so it came as a surprise whenthey felt out over such a trivialincident.

a customer who has a problem.

so they'd better learn to get ontogether.

but also to hotd on to them.

but tittle by tittte they came tobe friends.

3

4

5

6

2

3

4

5

6

@ tvtatctr each item on the left to a suitable item on the right to make completesentences that make good sense.

They've put off the date of signingthe contract till 3o October although

They hit it off straight away atthough

Even though they've let us down on anumber of occasions,

l'm going to be tied up in a meeting till m.oo, so

They just don't seem to get along although

She can put up with almost anything

a) come and see me at ro.3o.

b) we'd allagreed on r5 November.

c) but she doesn't mind uncomfortable hotels.

d) I think we should give them another chance.

e) they have exactly the same tastes.

0 but she can't stand untidiness.

g) we should,definitety look for another supplier.

h) they don't seem to have anything in common.

i) come and see me round about n.3o.

D we'd a[[agreed on r5 October.

@ Complete each of the fottowing sentences with the appropriate form of asuitable phrase from the box.

He ...TatA... so . . .&fflqd.q4qy.... in the excitement of securing ordersand delivering the product that sometimes he actuatly neglects thecustomers themselves.

Organisations are just beginning to . .. the lostopportunities that faiture to retain customers represents.

As a manager, you have to think of ways of . .. a customera client, then a supporter and an advocate.

lf we want to improve our performance, we need to . ..... . thenumber of customers we lose.

It's easy to get so ... . .. in your products and services thatyou forget about the people who buy them.

We are definitely going to create a new post, so I suggest we should

....... a few peopte about it.

rc*efea+rrcg-away

to cut something down

to sound somebody out

to get wrapped up

to turn something / somebody into

to wake up to something

@ Complete each sentence with the correct tinker.

r Sanlito and RKB have only been doing business for a couple of months.

..N,eVgfthglgl{.. , santito;s *anug"rent has atready given RKB their fullconfidence.

a) Despite b) Neverthetess c) Besides

z Their prices are very competitive. ....... , we have decided not to dobusiness with them.

a) Nonetheless b) Although c) Furthermore

3 We reached out to customers with special offers, continuity programmesand appreciation letters . , customer retention did not improve.

a) However b) Despite c) Even though

4 Negotiating prices and securing orders is very exciting. .. r.... ,

ensuring that the customer remains a customer can be less stimulating.

a) Moreover b) ln spite of c) On the other hand

5 He likes keeping himself to himself. . ..... . he spends a lot of timeentertaining suppliers.

a) As wetlas b) Besides c) Yet

@ Stuay these sentences; then decide whether the three statements betow aretrue or false.. Although their prices are very competitive, we have decided not to do

business with them.. Their ads are hardty noticeable. Nevertheless, they keep attracting new

customers.

a) Although, even though, in spite of, despite, nevertheless, nonetheless,however, yet and on the other hand are alt used to contrast ideas.

b) Although, even though, in spite of and despite are used to link parts of asentence together.

c) Nevertheless, nonetheless, however, yet and on the other hand are used totlnk ldeas across sentences.

A sates letter O

i- -:i

L!_Ul9[s re.tatio. nships I

Read the direct marketing letter below and cross out the one sentence whichdoes not fit in.

M(}RRIS(} N..',.- "1,.., ' (}tFl(t SuPPLltS,:... ',,.:'i.,1::' .,' INTIRNATI(}NAI:::..::,1:-rt i-r1 i:::::.f.:r,.:::.j ji)i

i: ,::,ir: ,. lll i:tiri.l .:t.::-.,::],::. I (OnnaUght plaie

'i. r,,t:. , :' r'i' ':rri [dinburgh tHI ltyTel / [ax 0ltl lll t650l'1r [-. Potler

[u1uro Off]ce

98 Artillery Lane

l'-larefleld, Uxbridge

Middlesex U87 5LS 2 I September

Dear Mr Potter;

Thank you for doing business with us for over three years.

We continue to be one of the world's leading business-to-business suppliers of offlce products and services, and our mottocontinues to be')ur job is to moke your job eosiei.

Now, be prepared to be surprised about our latest additions to our wide range of products:. Morrison's combined PXL- 100 Laser Copier / Printer / Scanner - it does what none of the competition is able to do in the

same way. our new colledion of 'Wizard'offce chairs. our recently expanded colleclion of 'Avalon'seminar chairs,

For more information, calll FREEFONE 0800 123 9876 or visit our website: wvwv.morrison.co.uk

You will notice that our site has been completely redesigned to provide you with more information and to serve you betten

Let us know what you think about it.The company runs other funds that would have competed with the joint venture. Register

with our site by I October and win an ergonomic desk chair worth {300.

We would also like to draw your atlention to our special offers for regular customers like you:

. up to 30% discount offthe normal purchase price on ALL orders placed in October

. free consultations

We look forward to continuing our business with you.

Best regards,

Fvv"^^-L^4.--rFrank Lindsey

General Manager: Morrison UK

@ Vou work for Futuro Office. Write a short repty (roo - 15o words) to MorrisonOffice 5u pplies lnternationat.. Express interest in one of the three products mentioned in their letter and

req uest fu rther information.o Enquire about the exact discount for that particular product.

e Te[[ them what you think about their new website.

Thank you for your letter of ...

Could you please let us have further details of ...

Could you please specify...

We would welcome more information about...

As regards your ...

Regarding vour ...

We wsuld like to take this opportunity to ...

Meanwhile, we would like to.,.

We look forwa,rd to hearing from you.

We took forward to your letter.

Yours sincerely,

Best regards,

UsefuI language