You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for the first in a two-part series on presenting a SWOT analysis.
A SWOT analysis is a simple but powerful framework for analyzing your company's strengths and weaknesses.
These are internal to the company, as well as the opportunities and threats you face outside the company.
This analysis helps you to focus on your strengths, minimize threats and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available to you.
In today's lesson, we'll focus on the first two stages of a SWOT, strengths and weaknesses.
We'll practice language for providing an overview, introducing your main strength, maximizing positive aspects and acknowledging and introducing a weakness.
We'll be listening to Terry, a partner at a growing firm of accountants, talking to Susan, the company's newly hired marketing manager.
Terry needs to brief Susan about the company, and SWOT is a quick and easy to understand framework for giving a quick overview of a company and its position.
While you listen, try to answer the following questions.
One, what is the main source of business for the company?
Two, what is the main strength identified by Terry?
Three, what weakness does Terry mention?
Now I won't bore you with too much detail on our history, except to say that we've grown steadily over the last two years and now have four senior partners billing over 5 million a year.
Our core client base is the SME market.
The big accounting firms generally ignore smaller companies in favor of more well-established clients.
So you see the SMEs as the key opportunity?
Definitely.
But let me come back to that a little later.
Yes, sorry.
Go on.
I took a straw poll with some of our clients and hands down, the top reason they gave for using our services was the strong personal touch we're famous for.
The bedrock of our reputation, of course, lies with Jackie, our founder.
And obviously, that could also be a weakness.
But with last year's reorganization Francine, John and Toby have all had a chance to take on more prominent roles and build their own reputations.
Together, they make quite a formidable team.
Yes, and that was the deciding factor for me, too.
I think it could be a challenge to scale up the business if it was just Jackie dealing with clients.
Exactly.
We're conscious of our reliance on Jackie's reputation and we realize that bringing in new partners is key to our growth.
Now, our other main weakness is where you come in, actually.
We're ready to take it to the next level, but word of mouth just isn't bringing in enough clients.
As I know all too well, a growing company like this one needs to develop a strategic marketing plan and highlight competitive advantage.
Indeed.
The new client I was just telling you about earlier said they only heard about us by chance.
We just don't have much market presence.
Balancing cash flow with growth is also a challenge, but this is an issue for any growing business.
And who better to tackle it than a firm of accountants?
So do you have any thoughts on the way that this is going?
What makes SWOT such a powerful tool is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you can exploit to your advantage.
And by understanding the weaknesses of your business, you can manage and eliminate threats that could otherwise cause problems.
More than this by looking at yourself and your competitors, using the SWOT framework, you can start to create a strategy that helps you distinguish yourself from your competitors so that you can compete successfully in your market.
So what language does Terry use to discuss the accounting firm's current position, its strengths and its weaknesses?
Let's take a closer look.
Terry starts off with an overview of the company and its position in the market.
Now I won't bore you with too much detail on our history, except to say that we've grown steadily over the last two years and now have four senior partners billing over 5 million a year.
When Terry says he won't bore Susan with details on history, he doesn't mean he's concerned.
It's an uninteresting topic.
Rather, he just wants to give a brief overview of the firm's current position so that Susan has a starting point when thinking about new marketing strategies.
Your partners billing over 5 million a year.
Our core client base is the SME market.
The big accounting firms generally ignore smaller companies in favor of more well established clients.
Notice how he clearly identifies their core client base, who their main clients are and gives a general picture of their sector.
Terry identifies SMEs, or small to medium-sized enterprises, as their main market and explains why competition for this market is somewhat limited.
Each industry is structured differently and you need to explain how your company is situated in its market.
Being able to give a clear but brief overview is a worthwhile skill to have.
So let's practice a few more examples.
We focus on an extremely demanding niche market.
We're the market leader and have been for the last two years.
We're one of many competitors in a global industry.
It's a highly competitive industry with few barriers to entry.
The first part of presenting a SWOT analysis is discussing a company's strengths.
Terry points out that his firm's main strength is its ability to connect with its clients and make them feel important using their famed personal touch.
I took a straw poll with some of our clients and hands down, the top reason they gave for using our services was the strong personal touch we're famous for.
A straw poll is an informal survey.
In this case, Terry asked some of the firm's clients why they do business with the company.
Hands down, or the most common answer was that clients valued the extra attention his firm's partners gave to their clients.
How else might we describe the main strength of our company?
We operate with significant economies of scale.
Our customers are extremely loyal and willing to pay a premium.
What gives us an edge is our years of experience in the field.
After you've introduced your company's main strengths, it's a good idea to support this by indicating other strengths and focusing on the positive aspects.
The bedrock of our reputation, of course, lies with Jackie, our founder.
And obviously, that could also be a weakness.
But with last year's reorganization Francine, John and Toby have all had a chance to take on more prominent roles and build their own reputations.
Together, they make quite a formidable team.
Here, Terry expands on why his firm is successful.
Its founder, Jackie, has established a solid reputation in the industry.
This is the bedrock, or foundation, that the firm can build from to maximize its potential.
With the company reorganization, other employees have been able to shine, enhancing their reputations and that of the firm.
So part of the firm's success lies with this formidable or strong team.
Let's practice a few more ways to maximize positive aspects.
The changes have had a tremendous impact on our bottom line.
In any case, we've managed to reduce our liabilities.
Nevertheless, our market share is solid.
That said, our customer service is top notch.
Another part of a SWOT analysis, however, is noting a company's weaknesses.
Doing so helps employees figure out what needs to change and how.
Terry brought up a weakness earlier when he mentioned the firm's founder Jackie, and her reputation.
But why might Jackie's reputation be seen as a weakness as well as a strength?
Let's listen.
And that was the deciding factor for me too.
I think it could be a challenge to scale up the business if it was just Jackie dealing with clients.
Exactly.
We're conscious of our reliance on Jackie's reputation and we realize that bringing in new partners is key to our growth.
Susan and Terry know how important Jackie's reputation is, but Susan points out that relying solely on Jackie could limit opportunities for scaling up or growing business.
Terry notes that the company has brought in new partners to help overcome this weakness.
When you acknowledge a weakness, you show that you've already considered the problem and its effect on your business.
Notice how Terry says, we're conscious of our reliance on Jackie's reputation.
He shows that this weakness has been identified and carefully thought through.
How else might we acknowledge a weakness, showing that we've given it some thought?
We are aware of the negative effect on our reputation.
It's true that we have little experience in this area.
We acknowledge a need for proper backend systems.
This lack of critical R&D funding is definitely on our radar.
We realize that our product development cycle is too long.
Next.
Terry wants to discuss a new weakness, something that Susan, as a new marketing manager, can help with.
Now, our other main weakness is where you come in, actually.
We're ready to take it to the next level, but word of mouth just isn't bringing in enough clients.
Taking it to the next level means growing the company from the relatively small firm it is today into a more established and well-known company.
Here Terry, means that they're ready to increase their marketing efforts and promote their strengths.
Word of mouth or promotion that happens when satisfied customers talk to each other hasn't been strong enough to expand business, so Susan's marketing expertise is needed to increase their market presence.
What are some other ways we can introduce a weakness?
Our downfall has always been high staff turnover.
Inability to calculate risk more precisely makes us vulnerable.
Lack of proper logistics planning is our main flaw.
Our Achilles heel is the volatility in commodity prices.
Next, Terry explains a concern about cash flow, how funds move into and out of a business and its effect on company growth.
Balancing cash flow with growth is also a challenge, but this is an issue for any growing business.
Here, Terry is trying to minimize a weakness.
Cash flow may be a problem for his company, but he mentions it in a wider context by presenting it as something that is common to many growing businesses.
As lots of businesses have issues with cash flow, his company's problems may not be so significant.
Notice how the following examples minimize negative aspects by considering a wider context.
No other company has been able to resolve this issue.
We're not alone in facing the problem of staff being poached.
We're one of many consultancies that has had to cut back.
Remember that many of the factors that affect your business negatively may be the same for others in your industry and you can minimize these negative aspects by pointing this out.
Now it's your turn to practice some of the language we've looked at today.
Let's start by reviewing the language of acknowledging a weakness.
Imagine that someone is pointing out particular weaknesses at your company to you.
Use the language given to acknowledge your company's awareness of these weaknesses.
For example, if you hear, I think your company lacks experience.
Conscious.
You can say, We're conscious of our lack of experience.
Are you ready?
Let's give it a try.
Use we and our for this exercise.
We'll play some example answers after the practice.
Why do you have such an outdated information system?
Prompt.
Acknowledge.
The scandal had a bad effect on your reputation.
Prompt Aware The big problem at our company is that staff turnover is so high.
Prompt Radar I heard that other agencies win more awards.
True.
Don't you think that you need to hire more technical staff?
Realize.
How did you do?
Compare your answers with these examples.
Why do you have such an outdated information system?
Example answer.
We acknowledge that our information system is outdated.
The scandal had a bad effect on your reputation.
Example answer.
We're aware of how the scandal affected our reputation.
The big problem at our company is that staff turnover is so high.
Example Answer The staff turnover problem is on our radar.
I heard that other agencies win more awards.
Example Answer It's true that we win fewer awards than other agencies.
Don't you think that you need to hire more technical staff?
Example answer.
We realize that we lack technical staff.
It's worth practicing this language until you are comfortable using it, as acknowledging facts before discussing them further is a good technique for building and maintaining good communication.
Today's lesson ends with some practice of useful vocabulary and idioms from this episode.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear... You can say...
I won't bore you by repeating this information, as I'm sure you've heard it before.
After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
Answer In the end, the deciding factor was the high rent, and we had to close the office.
He's hands... The worst planner I've ever seen, but his research is excellent.
Answer.
He's hands down the worst planner I've ever seen, but his research is excellent.
Actually, word of provides us with plenty of business and we've never advertised.
Answer.
Actually, word of mouth provides us with plenty of business and we've never advertised.
We took a quick Answer.
We took a quick straw poll to see if the brand was well-known.
They've got terrific market and everyone surveyed had heard of them.
Answer.
They've got terrific market presence, and everyone surveyed had heard of them.
Introducing your main strength and acknowledging and introducing a weakness.
See you next time, and thanks for listening.
