Episode 139

EPISODE 139
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

Customer relationship management “A happy customer is a customer for life”. That’s what customer relationship managers learn from their training and practice. As they say: If we make a mistake, we have to put it right immediately. Companies who just focus on the profit from one sale or one transaction are missing the point. Today, the game is not about winning new customers, but keeping the existing ones as long as possible. It’s about selling them new services to meet their changing needs as their life develops: from their first job, to starting a family, buying a house or preparing their retirement. It costs a fortune in terms of marketing and communication to win a new customer; if we lose them, we are throwing away all our investment. What kind of financial strategy is that? It’s crazy. This means: acknowledge your mistakes and respond positively. Try to meet, or even exceed, the customer’s expectations by showing how much you care. A great sales team knows that a complaining customer is actually not just an opportunity to put things right, but it’s also a way of demonstrating the company’s commitment to them. That way, the best companies turn their complaining customers into fans and build loyalty for life. The short-term cost is nothing compared with the long-term gain.

 

Exercise 1

Match the two columns to form collocations as in the text:

 

1. to make                         the point
2. to focus                         services
3. to miss                          positively
4. to win                           on the profit
5. to sell                            new customers
6. to meet                         a mistake
7. to respond                    loyalty
8. to exceed                      needs
9. to demonstrate           expectations
10. to build                       commitment

 

Exercise 2

Without looking to the previous exercise, do you remember the verbs completing these collocations?

 

1. to b___________ loyalty
2. to d___________ commitment
3. to e___________ expectations
4. to f___________ on the profit
5. to m___________ a mistake
6. to m___________ needs
7. to m___________ the point
8. to r___________ positively
9. to s___________ services
10. to w___________ new customers

 

 

Exercise  3

Which words in the text mean the following:

 

1. zarządzanie
2. szkolenie
3. sprzedaż
4. potrzeba
5. inwestycja
6. oczekiwanie
7. sposobność
8. lojalność

 

I know English idioms!

 

Let’s study this sentence from our reading text: Companies who just focus on the profit from one sale or one transaction are missing the point.

The underlined part is an idiomatic phrase which means “not to understand something correctly”. English is rich in idioms with the word “point”. For example:

We haven’t got the whole day, so please get to the point. (= talk about what is important)
The negotiations could go on and on, but it’s not the point. (= it’s not the right thing to do)
He made the point that there was no money left. (= made us understand)

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

Another sentence from our text says: That way, the best companies turn their complaining customers into fans and build loyalty for life.

The underlined phrasal verbs means “to make someone/something change and becoming different. Here are a few more examples:
The council was hoping to turn a children’s home into a residence for adolescent girls.
The town turned from a small seaside resort into a major commercial centre.

 

Grammar corner…

This time we propose a review of prepositions (at, about, from, for, in, of, on, with etc.). To practice their use, let’s try to complete these fragments from our text:

“A happy customer is a customer ______ life”. That’s what customer relationship managers learn ______ their training and practice. (…) Companies who just focus ______ the profit ______ one sale or one transaction are missing the point. Today, the game is not ______ winning new customers, but keeping the existing ones as long as possible. It’s about selling them new services to meet their changing needs as their life develops: ______ their first job, ______ starting a family, buying a house or preparing their retirement. It costs a fortune ______ terms of marketing and communication to win a new customer (…) That way, the best companies turn their complaining customers ______ fans and build loyalty ______ life. The short-term cost is nothing compared ______ the long-term gain.

 

 

GLOSSARY

customer relationship management – zarządzanie relacjami z klientem
training – szkolenie
practice – praktyka
to make a mistakes – popełnić błąd
to put sth right – naprawić, odkręcić
immediately – natychmiast
to focus on – skupiać się na
profit – zysk
sale – sprzedaż
to miss the point – nie rozumieć o co chodzi
to win (customers) – zdobywać (klientów)
existing – istniejący
as long as possible – tak długo jak to jest możliwe
service – usługa
to meet needs – zaspokajać potrzeby
retirement – emerytura
in terms of – pod względem, z punktu widzenia
to throw away – wyrzucać
investment – inwestycja
to acknowledge – przyznać (się do czegoś)
to respond – odpowiedzieć, zareagować
to exceed – przekraczać
expectation – oczekiwanie
complaining – narzekający
opportunity – sposobność
to demonstrate – okaz(yw)ać
commitment – zaangażowanie
to turn sb/sth into – przemienić coś/kogoś w
to build loyalty – budować lojalność
short/long-term – krótko/długo falowy
compared with – w porównaniu z
gain – zysk

 

 

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