This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 470.
Three English Words to Avoid When Pursuing Clients.
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This is real business english, with your favorite american hosts, lindsay and aubry, coming to you from arizona and colorado, usa.
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Hello, Lindsay.
How are you?
Awesome, Aubrey.
How's it going?
Excellent.
Any big projects you're working on?
Actually, yeah, we are working on a huge project right now.
We're working on our next business English course, professional English level two.
And I'm so excited about it.
Yes, it's been really fun.
We are very excited to share this with you guys.
But question for you.
What if I wanted to ask you about a client?
Could I say any big clients you're working on?
Yeah, that becomes a little more complicated, doesn't it?
It sounds strange.
It sounds a little strange.
It sounds a little bit... like you're almost objectifying the client, I would say.
Sounds sort of manipulative, maybe.
Potentially, potentially.
So, even if you might hear it from native speakers, for our listeners at this level, at the B2C1 level, they're ready to be selective about the words they choose.
Absolutely, right?
The preposition matters.
You can accidentally give offense if you use the wrong one.
If a client were to overhear you say you're working on them, That doesn't sound great, right?
Though a lot of the internal conversations we have, clients wouldn't overhear.
It is interesting to think about sort of the collocations of these different words.
So today we're going to talk about work on how we should use it, related phrases and what you should say instead of I'm going to work on a client.
Yes, and just a few minutes ago, we mentioned that we are working on Professional English Level 2.
I'm super excited for this to come out very soon.
In the next few weeks, it will be live.
It will be ready.
Aubrey, what's this course all about?
Yes, it's all about how to perform in English in high-stakes situations like a client deal closing a data presentation, where you have to tell a story, not just present data and more.
I know out there you list.
Our listeners are in these high stakes situations every day and you need the English to be successful in them.
Exactly.
So you can get on the early access list where you will be the first to know when it is ready, when it is available, and you'll get that deal, the special price.
So go to allearsenglish.com slash high stakes.
Aubrey, could you spell that for our listeners?
Yes.
H-I-G-H-S-T-A-K-E-S.
Highest stakes.
Exactly.
Yes.
Love it.
So we'll see you all over there.
And I can't wait for this to go live.
It's going to be one of our best courses so far, Aubrey.
It's awesome.
Very exciting.
Yes.
All right.
Where do we start today?
So let's get back to work on.
What's the problem here?
Dive in with this vocabulary.
So this phrasal verb, it means to spend time accomplishing something.
But we'll usually use it to talk about working on a thing, a project.
So for example, I'm working on the Johnson account.
Okay.
Yeah.
Or are you working on this spreadsheet?
Right.
Right.
So, because it's usually about a thing, a project that we would work on.
If we use it for a person, it's like you said Lindsay, we're sort of objectifying that person, which doesn't feel good if you're the person being objectified.
We don't want to be treated or thought of as an account, a prize to be won.
We want to be treated like a human.
Mm hmm.
Exactly.
I mean, you could probably get away with saying I'm working on closing this account or converting this client, something like that.
Yeah, that's different.
Right.
Because then what you're working on is the actions that need to be taken for this account.
Right.
I'm working on closing a deal.
I'm working on an account.
As long as you're not saying I'm working on a person.
Exactly.
You might say it like with your spouse or something when you're joking, oh, I'll work on you.
We'll get there, right?
If you're trying to convince them to eat seafood or something, let's say.
It's very personal, right?
This is very different as opposed to someone where you're in a situation that would make it feel manipulative if it's like a business relationship that you're working on.
Yeah, just a little icky, right?
The word is icky.
So here are the other ways that we Instead of work on, you do have other options.
We'll also say tackle, right?
The team needs to tackle the decline in quarterly sales and identify new growth opportunities.
So this phrasal verb work on, we have a couple of ways, other ways that we say it.
Yeah.
I love how sports vocabulary is everywhere in business.
Tackle, I think of football, right?
And baseball's everywhere in business.
It's just really funny.
That's interesting, too, because tackle is such a physical thing when we're talking about sports.
Right.
And it does have a little bit more of a collocation of like more effort, more intense energy if you're tackling a project or a task.
For sure.
Super interesting.
So if you don't like the word tackle for whatever reason, you can choose pursue.
Right.
We're pursuing a few new leads.
This one feels a little more buttoned up to me, a little more formal.
Brie, what do you think?
Yes, I agree.
Right.
We're pursuing an account.
Absolutely.
And for both of these words, the same goes as work on.
We would not want to say we're tackling a client or we're pursuing a client.
Both of those feel strange.
Right.
We say these all three of these for a thing, a project, an account.
Mm hmm.
Pursue might have been used historically, like in the 1950s in the dating world, right?
He's pursuing her as a you know, as a partner, romantic partner or something, but we don't really use it that way either.
So right, that's a little outdated.
Now you might hear that in the dating world, but definitely not with a business relationship.
That would sound strange.
Yeah.
All right.
What about land a client?
Can we say that?
Yeah, this is interesting.
I was looking up just some other ways we could say this and saw this, right?
To land a client.
We've been working hard to land this client.
And that doesn't sound great to me.
I feel like this again was really popular before a decade or two ago, but I feel like this is being phased out because maybe because it sounds a little more manipulative we're trying to land this client.
What do you think?
Yeah, yeah, potentially.
I've never thought about it that way.
But yeah, I suppose it could be true.
It could be true.
So there's other choices that we could make here, right?
What else could we choose, Aubrey?
Yeah, you could say secure a client.
It's really important that we secure this client.
I feel like this word is replacing land.
And land is also used in other contexts as well.
And so maybe it's to avoid that, right?
I don't think a client would love to overhear someone saying we're trying to land this client.
Land an account, we'll still hear.
We're trying to land this account, land an account or land a job right, you landed a new job, right?
That's, that's still really common and okay because again, it's not objectifying a person.
So anytime we're in shake on shaky ground, we're starting to objectify a person.
We want to stay away from that, Exactly.
Yes.
And so we have a couple of better options here that are used more now in the business world.
First of all, expand your client base.
Instead of using it to be about one individual or person, we could say we need to expand our client base.
This year.
We're working on a few opportunities.
And again, we wouldn't say we're working on a few clients, we're saying we're working on a few opportunities.
And then attract clients.
So, for example, we're hopeful that this new marketing campaign will attract new clients.
Right.
Sure.
That one's OK.
Absolutely.
Right.
We'll say this a lot when we're trying to appeal to a certain base, to a certain audience.
We're trying to attract clients or customers.
Excellent.
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Okay, Aubrey, I know that our listeners love our signature role plays.
So here you are an account manager at a marketing agency.
And I am the team lead.
And we're in a Monday morning strategy meeting like a stand up kind of thing.
Exactly.
Yes.
Okay.
I wanted to touch base about a few initiatives we're working on to expand our client base.
How's everything going on your end?
Things are moving along well.
We're pursuing a new wellness brand that reached out last week.
I've been working on a proposal for them.
I think there's real potential there.
Perfect.
Let's make that a priority.
Any updates on the lead we discussed last week?
Still in early talks, but I've started tackling their objections around budget.
I think we can secure the client if we restructure our model slightly.
Hmm.
Yes.
Tackling objections.
And that's something we talk about a lot in professional English level too, right?
We talk about how to handle objections so that you do close the sale, right?
How to do that in English, interpersonally speaking and linguistically speaking, right?
Yes.
This is a difficult skill and you need the language in order to do it, right?
One of those that if things could go very poorly, depending on the language you use.
Yes.
All right.
Where do we start here, Aubrey?
Let's break down this role play.
So first you said we're working to expand our client base.
Oh, a few initiatives we're working on to expand our client base.
So this is something where we can use work on, right?
We're working on this project, this goal, this initiative.
To get more clients, to expand our client base, right?
And then you said things are moving along well.
We're pursuing a new wellness brand, meaning we're going after them.
We're kind of trying to get them to work with us, right?
Yes.
And this is interesting too where, instead of it being an individual, if we're pursuing a company or a brand, then this is different, right?
Because we're not objectifying an individual.
Mm hmm.
Makes sense.
Makes sense.
And then what else?
What was the next one?
I said, I've been working on a proposal for them.
So that's where we use this phrasal verb, working on a proposal, a project.
And that's just an item, an object, right?
So again, not a person.
It's a thing you're spending your time on.
Okay.
Love that.
And then you said, I asked about the updates on the lead we discussed last week.
So maybe there's another lead out there that we're going after.
And then you say, still in early talks, but I've started tackling their objections around budget.
And this is where tackling is perfect, right?
Even to say I'm working on their objections.
It doesn't have that same oomph.
That tackling does right.
This really gives that, that implies that you're putting in effort, you're really on the ball.
Another sports reference when we're tackling objectives.
Yeah.
And again, this is just something you would say internally to the team.
You wouldn't turn around and meet with the client and say, OK, I'm going to tackle your objections.
Let's let's see what's what are the issues.
Right.
That's interesting.
That's a good point.
Right.
Often the way the language that we use when we're actually speaking to clients is very different from what we use in internal meetings.
Right.
We're trying to be as respectful as possible where it's the whole goal is different.
Yeah, the internal meetings might sound a bit more like a sports game, right?
And tackling and who knows what else from baseball, basketball.
But then we do up level and we become more formal, maybe more respectful, as we're face to face with that client right.
We'd probably say addressing, right?
We're addressing the objections you raised about budget, right?
Something that's more professional and respectful.
Yeah, I want to address all of your concerns.
Let's discuss them, that kind of language, right?
Okay.
And then I said, I think we can secure the client if we restructure our model slightly.
So this is one where we could say, instead of land, the client definitely feel sounds more respectful and just more updated, to say, secure the client.
Nice.
I love it.
This is a very new, incredibly nuanced episode.
So it's for our very high level listeners, who are ready for this level of thoughtfulness and consciousness in your speaking.
Right.
So such an exciting place to be.
Exactly.
Right.
You want to avoid offense or avoid making someone feel objectified, feel like all you care about is the deal.
Right.
You want to build connections and build that care between both coworkers and clients.
And the language you use goes a long way toward doing that.
Love it.
So guys, go check out Business English 465 when you finish up today.
That is tricky, complex or challenging.
How to describe hard things at work.
Nice.
Yes, great vocabulary in that episode.
And as a takeaway today as we said, the language we use can give a specific impression, can imply a lot right.
There's this implied meaning behind a lot of things we could say.
So today's tips will help you avoid giving offense at work.
Help avoid making someone feel objectified.
Yes, 100%.
I love it.
Great topic today, Aubrey.
Thanks for being here.
And we'll talk soon.
All right.
Awesome.
Thanks, Lindsay.
Bye.
Take care.
Bye.
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