节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-28
难易度:High
关键字:vise, downward spiral, manipulate, hostile, hot potato
Well, in today's lesson about Customer Troubles, Uncle Bob is giving his nephew
Ben some very good advice.
Of course, Ben has some problem customers.
One of these customers always wants Ben to lower the price.
And to lower the price is something that Ben does not think is a good idea at
all, but he often lowers the price anyway.
And he gets himself into this downward spiral with his customers.
Well, Ben has some more problems, but Uncle Bob always has good advice.
Let's see what their conversation is like now.
(Music).
Customer Troubles.
Do you remember the game hot potato?
Sure.
You have to pass the hot potato to someone else before time runs out, right?
Right.
That's what your customer is trying to do to you.
He's trying to manipulate you by passing his problems on to you.
How can I prevent that?
Don't become hostile.
Just pass one of your problems right back to the customer.
Explain that you won't be able to complete the project for the money he's
offering or that you need the money for your children's education.
That's great!
Thanks, Uncle Bob.
Glad to help, Ben.
Well, this is a very interesting conversation on negotiations.
I hope Ben has learned something from his Uncle Bob.
Now let's go back to the beginning of this section in our conversation.
And it's my line...
Do you remember the game hot potato?
Before I say Ben's line, let's take a look at that phrase or that game - hot
potato.
Carolyn, have you ever played this game hot potato?
Uh, I have played the game hot potato.
It's where people have a potato usually that's quite hot, or you don't have to
use a potato, you can use a ball or something.
But there's music playing, and you pass the ball from one person to another,
trying to get rid of it.
And whoever is holding it when the music stops is out.
You lose.
OK. So that person is the loser if you're holding the hot potato.
So your goal is not to have the hot potato. OK.
Well, Ben also explains this here.
He says: Sure. You have to pass the hot potato to someone else before time runs
out, right?
Right.
That is another good way to explain the game hot potato.
So there's only a certain amount of time, and you want to get rid of that potato
as quickly as possible so that you don't have it when time runs out.
Now Uncle Bob continues.
Right. That's what your customer is trying to do to you.
He's trying to manipulate you by passing his problems on to you.
Hmm, very interesting.
I think this is a common thing that people do.
They like to manipulate.
Well, let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank: to manipulate.
Now to manipulate something means to get your way by maybe controlling a certain
situation.
It's not always a good thing, though.
To manipulate usually has a negative connotation.
That's right.
It usually means something a little bit bad.
It can be good, but usually we think of it in a negative or dishonest way.
You might say: Don't let others manipulate you.
It could also be a way of taking advantage of someone.
That's right.
And often people manipulate us by playing with our emotions somehow.
They... they say: Well, wouldn't you feel better doing this? Or you should do
this because of this reason.
Even though you know it's not a good thing to do, they make you feel like you
should do it.
OK. So there are many ways that people manipulate others.
And especially if you're doing business deals, this can be something that
happens frequently.
It is very true.
Well, I think you have the next line, Ben.
Yes, of course.
Well, how can I prevent that?
Oh, well.
Don't become hostile.
It's very important.
Well, that word from our Word Bank is also very important.
The word is "hostile." If you're hostile, that's kind of the opposite of
friendly.
Maybe you get angry or upset at the other person.
You become hostile.
That's right.
So you might start to argue with the other person.
Actually, I use this example a lot when I was trying to change the date for my
flight.
The person I was talking to, the customer service representative, was very
hostile toward me (Really?) and started arguing with me.
Well, that's not very good customer service.
If you do have a job that involves customer service, of course it's not a good
thing to be hostile.
Try not to do that at all.
There are other options, other ways you can deal with your customers that are
not hostile.
That's right.
So Uncle Bob says, "Don't become hostile" because that's not a good way to deal
with your customs.
Just pass one of your problems right back to the customer.
Explain that you won't be able to complete the project for the money he's
offering or that you need the money for your children's education.
Nice! That's... that's pretty good advice, Uncle Bob.
OK. So like hot potato, you're passing the problem back to your customer.
Of course he has emotions, he has needs.
But you also have needs, things that need to be done.
Well, what does Ben say?
That's great.
Thanks, Uncle Bob.
Glad to help, Ben.
And I always enjoy these conversations between Ben and Uncle Bob.
Ben has several problems in trying to start his new business with his wife, and
Uncle Bob is able to give him a lot of good business advice.
It's true, and often over coffee.
It's a great conversation.
Well, I like Uncle Bob's last line here.
He says, "Glad to help." So if you just helped somebody with their homework or
project or something else,
you gave them advice, you could also use these words.
I'm glad to help or very happy to help.
That's right.
So it was no problem.
I don't mind at all.
I was happy to help you; glad to help.
Well, right now it's time for us to learn from Michelle in the Language Lab.
She is always happy to help.
OK.
(Chinese).
Now I'll give the time back to our teachers.
Well, today we've been talking about Customer Troubles and we talked about a
game called hot potato.
And I have a sweet potato right here, and it's still a little bit warm.
We're going to play a little bit of a different version of the game hot potato.
So Gabe, what I'm going to do is hand you this sweet potato.
And then I'm going to ask you a question.
You think of the answer.
If you get it right, you can pass me the potato and then ask me a question.
OK, sounds good.
OK. Here you go.
All right. Ooh... it's hot.
Let's go, so...
A customer starts to yell at the salesperson, is this manipulation or is it
being hostile?
Um, that is... that... that is being... that's being very hostile.
Carolyn, am I right?
You're right!
They are not trying to manipulate.
They are being hostile.
Hey, wait a minute.
This sweet potato looks really good.
I think I'll take a nibble.
But first, we should say goodbye.
Oh, well, yes.
Thank you for joining us here on Studio Classroom for our lesson. We will see
you next time.