IDIOM CONNECTION

lesson 59

Sales Idioms

Introduction

1. What products do you think would be difficult for you to sell?

2. What products do you think would be easy for you to sell?

Reading

The salesman worked very hard to promote his line of products to his customers. He had many preferred customers and he treated them all very well. He would also sometimes make a cold call in order to try to get a new customer. He did not like to use a hard sell in order to land a new account but he was always persistent and patient when he was trying to sell something. He usually did not like to come down in price but if somebody made an offer that was reasonable he would consider this offer. However, he would never knock down the price of something and then lose money on the sale of this product.

Reading Questions

Answer the following questions. The answers can easily be found in the reading above.

1. Did the salesman work hard to promote his line of products?

2. Did he treat his preferred customers well?

3. Did the salesman sometimes make a cold call?

4. Did he like to use a hard sell to land a new account?

5. Did he try to land a new account by being patient?

6. Did he usually like to come down in price?

7. If someone made a reasonable offer would he consider it?

8. Did he ever knock down the price of a product and then lose money?

Making Connections and Idiom Meanings

Some of the idioms have another meaning or are connected to another meaning. Use this information to help you choose the correct meaning for each of the underlined idioms:

1. The salesman is selling a very nice line of products.
a)   group of makeup products
b)   group of products
c)   product

2. The preferred customers got the first chance to buy the new product.
a)   regular customers
b)   new customers
c)   former customers

3. If you have a good chance of making a sale to someone you have a hot lead. When you do not know someone and you contact him or her you are making a cold call. What does making cold calls mean in the following sentence?

The salesman was experienced in making cold calls.
a)   contacting unknown people
b)   contacting his friends
c)   selling his product

4. The salesman is very aggressive and always gives his customers a hard sell.
a)   a hard to understand sales presentation
b)   an aggressive sales presentation where he uses pressure
c)   a product that is difficult to sell

5. If you are fishing and you land a fish, you bring the fish onto the boat or onto land. When you land a job, you get a job. What does to land an account mean in the following sentence?

The man is trying very hard to land the account.
a)   change the account
b)   get the account
c)   sell the account

6. The car salesman came down in price so I decided to buy the car.
a)   decreased the price
b)   decided on a fair price
c)   increased the price

7. The couple made an offer and were able to buy the house.
a)   made a financial proposal
b)   quickly paid the money
c)   offered to see the house

8. If you knock down a building or some other large or small structure, then you cause it to fall down. What could to knock down the price of something mean in the following sentence?

The salesman knocked down the price of the new phone.
a)   would not change the price of
b)   decreased the price of
c)   increased the price

Your score is: ___  out of 8


True or False

Choose whether each statement is true or false:

1. A line of products is the best products of a group.
a)   True
b)   False

2. Preferred customers never get a good deal from their suppliers.
a)   True
b)   False

3. Salespeople often make cold calls on their regular customers.
a)   True
b)   False

4. When a salesperson is giving you a hard sell, the salesperson is using aggressive sales tactics.
a)   True
b)   False

5. The saleswoman is probably happy when she lands an account.
a)   True
b)   False

6. People are never very happy when the product that they want to buy comes down in price.
a)   True
b)   False

7. The couple made an offer on the house because they wanted to buy the house.
a)  True
b)  False

8. Customers are usually happy if a salesperson will knock down the price of a product.
a)  True
b)  False

Your score is: ___  out of 8


Grammar Focus

Choose the word or expression that makes each of the following sentences correct:

1. The salesman sells a very good ___________________ .
a)   line product
b)   line of products
c)   line products

2. The man was a ___________________ and always received a cheap price.
a)   preferred customer
b)   preferring customer
c)   prefer customer

3. The new salesman ____________________ during his first week at work.
a)   made a cold calls
b)   made a colder call
c)   made a cold call

4. The electronic salesman always tries to give his customers a ________________ .
a)   hardest sell
b)   hard sell
c)   harder sell

5. The young salesman really wants to ___________________ .
a)   land the new account
b)   landed the new account
c)   landing the new account

6. The television salesman ____________________ so I bought the television.
a)   coming down in price
b)   come down in price
c)   came down in price

7. I will ________________ and try to buy the house.
a)  making an offer
b)  made an offer
c)  make an offer

8. If they __________________ of the laptop computer, I will buy it.
a)  knock down price
b)  knock down prices
c)  knock down the price

Your score is: ___  out of 8




Discussion Questions

Answer the following questions using the idioms from this section:

1. What is your favorite line of products for electronic equipment?

2. Is there any line of products that you do not like?

3. Do you think that a preferred customer should get a cheaper price than other customers?

4. Do you know anyone who is a preferred customer somewhere?

5. Did you ever receive a cold call from a salesperson?

6. Do you know anyone who makes cold calls in his or her job?

7. Did anyone ever use a hard sell to try to sell you something?

8. In what kind of job do you think that the salesperson will use a hard sell?

9. Do you think that it is easy for a salesperson to land a big account?

10. Have you ever tried to land an account somewhere?

11. Do you know any stores where the salespeople will never come down in price?

12. Do you know any shops where the salespeople will often come down in price?

13. Have you ever made an offer for something and your offer was not accepted?

14. Do you often make an offer to try and get a cheaper price for something?

15. Have you ever tried to knock down the price of an electronic product?

16. What other products can a customer try to knock down the price of?

Role Play

Student A: You are a salesperson and you are trying to sell a new and expensive computer with many new functions to a customer.

Student B: You are a customer and you do not think that some of the functions are necessary. Actually, you think many of them are stupid.

lesson 59