A phone call from a customer
Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Junko: Hello, Junko Mori speaking. How can I help you?
Andrea: Hi, Junko, it's Andrea here from Red Band. I'm calling about our latest order.
Junko: Everything arrived OK, right? We got the delivery confirmation at our end.
Andrea: Yes, everything's fine with the order. I'm calling about the invoice and the payment terms. I need a favour.
Junko: A favour? What do you need?
Andrea: This is a little, er ... difficult, but I need an extension on the payment terms. I know they're usually 30 days, but we're having some cash flow problems. You'd really be helping us out if you could extend it to 60 days.
Junko: I'm not sure if I can do that, Andrea. We've got regulations at our end, and also have to manage our own cash flow.
Andrea: I promise this won't become the norm, Junko. Actually, I also want to place another new order. The same size order as last time. It's for an important customer and they pay on delivery.
Junko: I see. So your cash flow problem will be solved after this new order is delivered.
Andrea: Exactly.
Junko: That sounds good. Hold on, Andrea. Let me see what I can do. Yes, I think we can make an exception this time.
Andrea: That's great, Junko. I appreciate your help.
Junko: And we appreciate your business, Andrea. It works both ways.
Andrea: Thanks again, Junko. Can you send me a quick email confirmation of the payment terms extension?
Junko: Sure, no problem. We're happy to help you.
Andrea: Great. And I'll email you the new order.
Junko: Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for it. Talk to you soon.
Andrea: You too. Goodbye.
This lesson was very useful for me. i learned new vocabulary and also had a professional conversational practice.
Very helpful
In my opinion, making exceptions is generally not encouraged in business, however maintaining a good relationship with regular customers requires some level of flexibility and attentiveness.
Yes , exactly. To maintain long-term, sometimes we need giving some extension.
This lesson about customer and supplier communication was very helpful. I learned useful expressions for business conversations, especially how to make requests politely and how to respond in a professional way. The vocabulary such as “invoice,” “payment terms,” and “cash flow” is very important for real situations. I feel more confident now when dealing with business English. Thank you for this clear and practical lesson.
I'd like have more conversations like this with my futures costumers.
Yes, in different oportunities I had exceptions with clients
Yes, the client is very important for the business, I usually make some exception with the most important customers
I think that an exception can be given when a customer is serious