<<Unit 5: Customers>>

1. "Don’t try to tell the customer what he wants. If you want to be smart, be smart in the shower. Then get out, go to work and serve the customer!" - Gene Buckley (Anna Segova)
   
   
2. "Assumptions are the termites of relationships." – Henry Winkler
   
   
3. "There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." - Sam Walton (Travis Biggert)
   
   
4. "Just having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create raving fans." - Ken Blanchard (Mollie Beck)
   
   
5. "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates (Amanda Austin)
   
   
6. "Ease your customers’ pain." - Hazel Edwards
   
   
7. "Treat the customer like you would want to be treated. Period!" - Brad Schweig
   
   
8. "Excellent customer service is the number one job in any company! It is the personality of the company and the reason customers come back. Without customers there is no company!" - Connie Edler
   
   
9. "The key is when a customer walks away, thinking, 'Wow, I love doing business with them, and I want to tell others about the experience.'" - Shep Hyken (Connor J. Wilson)
   
   
10. "People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." - Teddy Roosevelt (Paige Arnof-Fenn)
    
    
11. "Put yourself in their shoes." - Jesse Harrison
    
    
12. "Always have an attitude of gratitude." - James R. Nowlin
    
    
13. "Customer service should not be a department. It should be the entire company." - Tony Hsieh (Taylor Chastain)
    
    
14. "The sole reason we are in business is to make life less difficult for our clients." - Matthew Odgers
    
    
15. "People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou (Mike Sims)
    
    
16. "Spend a lot of time talking to customers face-to-face. You’d be amazed how many companies don’t listen to their customers." - Ross Perot (David Bakke)
    
    
17. "Always begin with: 'So that I can better serve you, do you mind if I ask a few questions?'" - Jodie Shaw
    
    
18. "Unless you love everybody, you can’t sell anybody." – Dicky Fox, Jerry Maguire (Greg Corey)
    
    
19. "Imagine your customer is your best friend—listen to their concerns, be a shoulder to lean on and then shift the focus from what went wrong to how you can help make it right." - Rachel Hogue
    
    
20. "Customer service is about empathy." - Chaz Van de Motter

Task

• Choose your most favourite quotation.
• Read your quote. 
• Look up words that you don't understand. 
• Translate the whole quotation into German. 
• Explain it in your own words. 
• Give us an example out of your personal experience / daily life. 
• Read the explanations on the website: https://get.nicejob.com/resources/120-helpful-customer-service-quotes-from-the-pros
  

Historically, a word entered the English language, or was borrowed, primarily as one form/stem—a noun, a verb or an adjective.

Conversion involves the change of a word from one word class (eg. verb) to another class (eg. noun). It often happens by derivation, by adding a certain suffix /ending. There is no exact way to know which suffix/ending to add when changing a word from noun to verb to adjective to adverb. However, patterns exist. Spellings often depend on whether the origin of the word is Middle English, Latin, French, Greek, German, etc.

For example, if you want to create from the verb 'add' the noun, you will have to add the suffix '-tion' to the stem. You will get the noun 'addition'.

Words forms are the different ways a word can exist in the context of a language. Many words exist as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

• verbs
• nouns
• adjectives
• adverbs

Here's an example:

• verb: beautify
• noun: beauty
• adjective: beautiful
• adverb: beautifully
  

Word formation - Verb - Noun and Adjective - Test (englisch-hilfen.de)

English Exercises: Word form

Word Formation Exercises 1 - GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 2 – GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 3 - GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 4 – GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 5 – GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 6 – GrammarBank

Word Formation Exercise 7 – GrammarBank

 Word Formation - Online Exercises - English Grammar and Vocabulary (english-grammar.at)

 Word forms exercise (englishgrammar.org)

Quizlets

Word Forms Short Flashcards | Quizlet

Word Forms Flashcards | Quizlet

What is a collocation?

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong".

Task:

Find adjectives, verbs and nouns which are frequently used together with the noun 'customer'.

delighted, happy, satisfied, angry, awkward, disgruntled, dissatisfied, irate, unhappy, demanding, discerning, long-standing, long-time, loyal, valued, regular, repeat, potential, prospective, would-be, current, existing, new, big, good, important, key, large, major, business, commercial, corporate, industrial, retail, domestic, individual, personal, private, residential

deal with, give something, look after, provide, serve, supply, support, attract, bring in, draw in, entice, get, result in, keep, retain, lose, target

care, service, support, dissatisfaction, satisfaction, demands, expectations, needs, requirements, comments, complaints, feedback, enquiries, queries, requests, interaction, liaison, relations, relationship, choice, loyalty

Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

Macmillan Dictionary

The present simple tense for the future

This is often called the ‘timetable future’. We use it to express:

1.     future travel itineraries

2.     arrivals and departures

3.     starting times of meetings.

Examples:

• ‘My train leaves at 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon’;
• ‘What time does the bus to Liverpool leave?’;
• ‘The sales meeting starts at 11 o’clock’;
• ‘The tour of the factory begins at 10.30 and lunch is at 12.00’.

The present continuous tense for the future

This is often called the ‘diary future’. It expresses:

1.     a future arrangement between people

2.     the type of things that we write in our diaries (appointments, meet-ups with friends, etc.).

Examples:

• ‘I’m meeting my brother at 2 o’clock tomorrow’;
• ‘What time are you going to the cinema?’;
• ‘Our bosses from Germany are coming next week’;
• ‘I’m going to the dentist next Friday’.

Online Exercises:

English Exercises: Presents with future meaning

Future Tenses – Free Exercise (lingolia.com)

Present Simple or Present Continuous

Exercises

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex02

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex03

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex04

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex05

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex06

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex07

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex08

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex09

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex10

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex11

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/exercises?ex12

http://www.english-4u.de/pres_prog_ex3.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/pres_prog_ex4.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/pres_prog_ex5.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/pres_prog_ex6.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/pres_prog_ex7.htm

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs1.htm

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs2.htm

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-simple-present-continuous-1.html

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-simple-present-continuous-2.html

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1438

Websites

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/zeitformen.htm

Tests

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/tests?test1

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/tests?test2

http://www.ego4u.de/de/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro/tests?test3

Apologizing for small mistakes

·         Whoops! Sorry!

·         Oh! Sorry.

·         Sorry ‘bout that.

·         Oh, my bad.

·         My fault, bro.

·         sry, cant. busy.

Apologizing when you make a more serious mistake

·         I’m so sorry.

·         I apologize.

·         Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. I should have watched where I was going.

Apologizing for incorrect information

·         My mistake.

·         I had that wrong.

·         I was wrong on that.

·         My apologies.

·         Sorry, my apologies. I had that wrong.

Making a formal or serious apology

·         I’d like to apologize.

·         I want to apologize.

·         I owe you an apology.

·         I wanted to tell you I’m sorry.

·         I'd like to apologize for how I reacted yesterday.

·         I hope you can forgive me.

·         That was wrong of me.

Writing a formal apology

·         I sincerely apologize.

·         I take full responsibility.

·         Pardon (me).

Three Sample Dialogues of Students

A: I'm sorry that I cheated on you!

B: Do you think that sorry is enough?

A: No, that was wrong of me, darling.

B: I'm not your darling anymore.

A: I owe you an apology.

B: No, I don't want to talk to you anymore. You can go back to your girl.

A: Pardon me, I don't want to go back to that woman.

B: Ok, I accept your apology. Please promise me that you'll never see that person again.

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

A:  Mike?

B: Yes, Tony.

A: I did something wrong, pardon me.

B: So what did you do?

A: I'm so sorry.

B: Tell me what's wrong.

A: I apologize – I broke your favourite vase.

B: Oh no!

A: I'm afraid, I'll buy you a new one.

L: Why didn’t you tell me that you weren't coming?

P: That was wrong of me not to tell you, but I totally forgot what day it is.

L: But I was still waiting there for an hour and you didn’t even think of me!

P: I apologize, I hope you’re not too disappointed of me.

L:  I don't know, I’m still a bit angry because I could have done other things.

P: I understand that. I still hope you forgive me. If you still want to hang out with me, we could go and have a coffee now….

L: I’m sorry, but I’m busy and I got a lot of stuff to do…

Making an Appointment

Sample Dialogue 1

A: I would like to make an appointment for a project meeting.

B: Of course, I have Monday or Tuesday available. What day would be best for you?

A: I would like to meet on Monday.

B: Very well then. Are mornings or afternoons best?

A: I want to come in the morning.

B: I will have my assistant check my calendar and get back to you with the exact time. Can you bring me an outline of the project when you come?

A: Yes, I can bring the outline when I come to the meeting.

B: Do you think that we should include the entire committee in the meeting or just our sub-committee?

A: I think that we should have just the sub-committee.

B: OK then, I will make the arrangements for them to attend. Do you know how to get there?

A: No, I need directions, please.

B: Fine, we will make sure that we send you all of the information that you need. See you there!

Sample Dialogue 2

A: Could I meet with you to discuss the project?

B: Good idea. We could meet on Monday or Tuesday. Which day would you prefer?

A: Tuesday would be good for me.

B: OK. Do you think we should meet in the morning or in the afternoon?

A: I think the afternoon would be best.

B: That will work out. I will e-mail the exact time tomorrow. I need you to bring your plans with you.

A: Yes, I will bring my plans with me to the meeting.

B: Should we invite the whole committee or should we just have the sub-committee there?

A: I feel that the whole committee needs to be there.

B: Yes, I agree. We'll make sure that they get notified. Can you find the meeting place?

A: Yes, I know how to get there on my own.

B: Great! We will send you all the details later. Looking forward to meeting with you!

Sample Dialogue 3

A: When could we meet to discuss the project?

B: I will be available on Monday or Tuesday. Choose which day is best for you.

A: I prefer Monday.

B: Good. Can you come in the morning or would afternoon be best?

A: Either one is OK.

B: Great! When I check with the others, I will send you an exact time. When you come, be prepared to do your presentation.

A: I will be prepared to do my presentation.

B: Who would you like to see there? Just the sub-committee or should we ask the whole committee?

A: Everyone needs to be there.

B: That will probably be best. Do you need help with directions?

A: I think I know where it is. Maybe you could send me directions just to make sure.

B: OK. We will e-mail you all the information you need tomorrow. Have a good day!

https://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/employment/employment15.htm

https://blog.ongig.com/job-titles/administrative-job-titles/

https://www.timpson-group.co.uk/about-timpson/upside-down-management/