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Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod.
For today's lesson on making an appointment over the telephone.
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Despite the many options for communication, the telephone is still the fastest and easiest way to get some things done.
This is true in business as much as it is in personal life.
There are many reasons to skip the back and forth of email or texting and just call someone.
One good reason is to make an appointment.
It could be a business meeting, a conversation with your lawyer, a visit to a client, or a doctor's appointment.
In this case, the real business needs to happen in person, but that in-person appointment needs to be arranged and agreed on.
When we make an appointment over the phone, we often say our reason for calling before asking for a meeting.
And it's a good idea to give a clear reason for that meeting or appointment.
You'll also have to discuss existing plans and suggest times for the meeting.
In today's dialogue, we'll hear Gordon Knight calling to make an appointment with Penny Yip,
Gordon works for a pension fund, while Penny works for an investment company.
Gordon met Penny at a recent conference and now wants to follow up and meet her when he is in Malaysia.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
1.
What does Gordon tell the assistant about his reason for calling?
2.
What does Gordon tell Penny about his reason for meeting?
3.
What time does Penny suggest they meet?
Hello, Solomon Clyde.
This is Steve.
How can I help you?
Can you please put me through to Penny Yip?
May I ask who's calling?
This is Gordon Knight with Bridgewater University.
I met her last week at the Inter-Asian Connections Conference in Dubai.
Okay.
Just a moment, please.
Sure.
Hello, Gordon?
Yes.
Hi, Penny.
Nice to speak with you again.
How are you?
Great, thanks.
What can I do for you?
Well, I'm going to be in Singapore next week, and I'm phoning to see whether we could arrange a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Perhaps on Tuesday or Wednesday?
Great.
I'd like to talk more about some of the investment possibilities you mentioned.
Uh-huh.
And if possible, visit one or two of the companies you were talking about.
Sounds good.
I'm going to be in Hong Kong until Tuesday the 15th.
Oh, that's too bad.
But we could meet in the morning on Wednesday, if that's convenient for you.
Sure, that'll work fine.
And I'll ask my assistant, Steve, to try to arrange some company visits for the afternoon.
Fantastic.
It's a deal then.
I've put it on my schedule.
Sounds good.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques Gordon and Penny used during their call.
At the beginning of the call, we can hear an assistant at Penny's company answer the phone.
Hello, Solomon Clyde.
This is Steve.
How can I help you?
Can you please put me through to Penny yet?
May I ask who's calling?
This is Gordon Knight with Bridgewater University.
I met her last week at the Inter-Asian Connections Conference in Dubai.
Okay.
Just a moment, please.
Sure.
Gordon asks to be put through to Penny.
This is an expression we use when a receptionist or switchboard connects us to a specific person's phone line in an office.
The assistant in this case asks who's calling, but Gordon doesn't just give his name.
He also wants to give an idea of why he's calling.
Gordon mentions that he met Penny at a conference or large professional gathering.
This bit of extra information is helpful to the people who are taking your call.
Let's try some more ways to give a simple reason for calling when you are making an appointment.
I just wanted to follow up on my conversation with Diane last week.
Yes, I'm hoping to connect with Norm Foster.
I'd like to talk with Zahra about partnership possibilities.
Ernesto asked that I get in touch to see if we can help with your website.
Now let's listen as Gordon gets through to Penny.
Hello, Gordon?
Yes.
Hi, Penny.
Nice to speak with you again.
How are you?
Great, thanks.
What can I do for you?
Well, I'm going to be in Singapore next week, and I'm phoning to see whether we could arrange a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, perhaps on Tuesday or Wednesday.
In this conversation, we don't hear a lot of small talk or chit-chat about the weather or personal matters.
Instead, Penny asks, what can I do for you?
This is a common, professional, and polite way to say, why are you calling?
At this point, Gordon can ask for a meeting.
He starts by saying that he'll be in the area next week.
Then he politely asks to arrange or set a meeting with Penny.
You'll notice he says, I'm phoning to see if we could, which is an indirect and polite way to say, can we?
What are some other polite ways to ask for a meeting on the phone?
Let's run through a few more examples.
I'm wondering if you might have time later this week to meet up?
Would you have time next week to discuss this in person?
How does your schedule look next Monday or Tuesday for a meeting?
Could we arrange a time in June for a sit down?
You'll notice that words like would and could and might help us to make requests more polite.
It's also a good idea to be clear about why you want a meeting, as Gordon shows us next.
Great.
I'd like to talk more about some of the investment possibilities you mentioned.
Gordon wants to continue a conversation he and Penny started at the conference when they first met.
In particular, he wants to discuss investment possibilities.
This means Penny's company may help Gordon's organization put money into other companies in the hopes of making a profit.
Let's run through some more ways of giving a simple and polite statement about why you want a meeting.
I have some questions for you about your services.
We'd like to discuss how we might work more closely on marketing.
There are some new developments in Asia we'd like to share with you.
Now let's listen as Gordon gives a bit more detail and Penny begins talking about scheduling.
Uh-huh.
And if possible, visit one or two of the companies you were talking about.
Sounds good.
I'm going to be in Hong Kong until Tuesday the 15th.
Sometimes making an appointment means simply choosing from available times.
But in many cases, you have to match up your schedule with someone else's schedule.
To do this, you'll both discuss your plans, as Penny does.
Penny is open to a meeting, but she lets Gordon know that she'll be in Hong Kong until Tuesday, which is the first day Gordon suggested.
In finding a time to meet, we often say when we can't meet, so we can then focus on other possible times.
Let's try some more ways of discussing your plans when you try to make an appointment.
I'll be in your area from Wednesday to Friday next week.
My train gets in around 2, so I could be downtown by 3.30 or later.
Yeah, I'll be back in Seattle again in early October, if that's better.
I have a plane to catch that day, so I'll need to wrap up by four.
So Penny can't meet on Tuesday, but she can meet on another day.
Let's listen.
Oh, that's too bad.
But we could meet in the morning on Wednesday if that's convenient for you.
As you can hear, Penny is now giving Gordon times she can meet.
She asks if Wednesday morning is convenient or easily possible for Gordon.
She doesn't give a specific time, but a general time of Wednesday morning.
Sometimes we give a general time, and sometimes we jump right into specific times, as you can hear in the following examples.
Would something like 10 work for you?
I've got either 3 or 4 open at the moment.
How about early afternoon, say 1 p.m.?
If you want to have lunch, we could meet at 11.45.
As we finish the call, let's hear whether Penny's suggestion works for Gordon.
Sure, that'll work fine.
And I'll ask my assistant, Steve, to try to arrange some company visits for the afternoon.
Fantastic.
It's a deal then.
I've put it on my schedule.
Sounds good.
Wednesday morning we'll work for Gordon.
And so it sounds like they've got a plan to meet.
As Penny says, she has put it on her schedule so she won't forget.
And her assistant will help arrange the rest of the activities that Gordon mentioned.
You can hear in this conversation how quick and easy it can be to make appointments on the phone.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you are calling someone you recently met.
You are hoping to make an appointment with this person to discuss an event.
You'll hear a cue from the other person.
Then I'll make a suggestion of what you can say in response.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Hello, Sam Dickens speaking.
Start with a greeting and say you were calling to follow up on your chat last week.
Answer.
Hi Sam, I'm calling to follow up on our chat last week.
Oh yes, hi.
It's great to hear from you, and thanks for following up.
Now tell Sam that you would like to arrange a meeting sometime next week.
Answer.
Sure thing.
I'm calling to see if we can arrange a meeting sometime next week.
Let me have a look at my calendar.
Can I ask what you'd like to meet about?
Next, say that you want to discuss the event in Boston you mentioned.
Answer.
Yes, I'd like to discuss the event in Boston I mentioned.
Oh, right.
Of course.
And are you going to be in town all week?
Now say that you will be in town from Wednesday morning until Friday afternoon.
Answer.
I will be in town from Wednesday morning until Friday afternoon.
Okay.
Thursday is pretty open for me right now.
Finally, suggest meeting at Sam's office at 2pm on that day.
Answer.
Great.
So how about meeting in your office at 2 p.m. Thursday?
We've reached the end of this lesson on how to make an appointment on the phone.
We've learned how to state your reason for calling and how to ask for a meeting.
We've also looked at giving a reason for a meeting, discussing your plans, and suggesting a meeting time.
For more practice, premium members can access the online resources and PDF transcripts for this and other lessons on the BEP website.
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Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
