Getting started 1 Ifyou go on a business trip, itis often a good. {dea to take a present for your host. Which of the following verbs (1-8) do not collocate with a gift or apresent? 1 give 5 close 2 receive 6 wrap 3 accept 7 unwrap 4 open 8 fasten 2 Read the following email written by a sales Tepresentative to her manager asking for advice about taking presents to clients on her next sales trip. I | loften have very ite space in my luggage and I don't ‘want to carry a git from my country as wel. Couldn't just buy my cients some flowers when |artve? Now read the beginning of her line manager's reply. It’s doubtful whether lowers make a good gift generally fora business client... Work in pairs and discuss why you think flowers might not make a good present for business clients. 3. Read the rest of the line manager's reply to see if your ideas are mentioned. Are there any reasons different from the ones you thought of? Corporate gift-giving ness resents something which wl ‘Sh our cant of yout company Flowers wor do th of cour, benuse they ont ast afew days we er rolem wth owes that iret counties hv itt ins ihe Forex Fas aa ou shouldnt give cysantbemums ashy a oe tae Sb with funerals seal beter ory and bing Tm our eounty even ton sal 68 Corporate gift-giving 4 Discuss the following questions with a partner. 1 Is there anything that you shouldn't normally give aa present to a business partner in your country! why? 2 In-some jobs or companies, employees are not allowed to accept gifts. Why do you think ths ist Promotional gifts Reading 1. What kinds of free promotional items have you received from companies? (Think about clathing, ‘writing equipment, small everyday objects ..) Make alist and compare it with a partner. Did any ofthe ‘encourage you to buy products from the company? 2. Now scan the article on promotional gits. Are ‘any ofthe items you and your partner discussed ‘mentioned inthe text? If so, which ones? Scanned with CamScannerEE ES Aiti2 fait near a busmesies give free promotional ftems to their customers, and some of them can spend a lot of time deciding on the best thing to give. But in this matter atleast, it seems that thinking out of the box is not always a good idea. I've carted ‘out a small survey among friends and «colleagues and it seems thatthe best promotional gifts are often the most ‘obvious ones. Here are my top three 1 The promotional bag with your ‘company name and logo on it. This 's probably the most common item and still the best. if t's well made and. people will see it {reat way to advertise your company. 3. Which of the following ideas about promotional gifts are mentioned in the article? They should last a long time. ‘They should be something that most people use. ‘They should relate to the company’s activity. They should be unusual. ‘They should be visible in public places. ‘They should be well made. They should look more expensive than they are. aaanere Grammar workshop 1 Countable and uncountable nouns Countable nouns must have a, an or the in front of them in the singular and can be used in the plural (eg. a bag, the bag, (some) bags) Uncountable nouns do not have a/an in front of them in the singular and have no plural forms. We use ‘some (or any in questions and negatives) to refer to uncountable nouns. 1. Look at the words in bold in the article and write ‘them in the correct column in the table below. Top promotional items 2 The memory stick. Everyone ‘needs to back up thelr documents. 50 amemory stick will almost Certainly be hept and used, and the ‘cover can easly be customised. The disadvantage from the company's Pint of view is that not many other 3 The umbrella. again a useful ‘promotional git, with lots of room {for your company’s branding, Uke the promotional bag, fyou live ina ‘country where there's lots of raln, an ‘umbrella will give people plenty of ‘opportunities to see yout company's nicely produced, people wiluseltto name around town always lfc at the back of drawers of care their stuff inthe steet,on the Soiftheseae the top three, what are cupboards and then thrown away after ‘rain and into their office. whichisa__the ones toavoid? Consumables ke ___few months, Have you ever seen anyone ‘stationery don't make good promotional Countable Countable | Uncountable (singular) (plural) items Items because they are soon used and forgotten. The same goes for food Items like chocolate, You should also avold ‘sports equipment (not everyone will use It) and goods which can break easily lke slassware, But my prize for the worst promotional item goes tothe stress ball. These litte pleces of rubber are nearly using one? 2 Workin pairs to answer the following questions. 1 Which of the words in Column 2 have no singular form? Which is an irregular plural? 2. Sometimes the same word can be countable or uncountable but with a change of meaning. For example: rubber (uncountable) =the material a rubber (countable) = something for removing pencil marks 3. Which other three words in Column 3 can be both countable and uncountable? ‘3. Complete the following sentences by writing a/an or some in each gap. 1 saw some, the trade fair. 2. Iwould be grateful if you could send me very interesting new equipment at information, 3. Ihave suggestion that might be useful. 4 He gave us good advice about bookkeeping. 5 Could we rearrange the office to make room for the new desks? 6 1am writing to complain about clothing I purchased from your store, 7 Uope we can fix time to meet soon. 8 Our department has just invested in. new software, item of Corporate gift-giving 68, Scanned with CamScanner4 © Business English students sometimes try to use uncountable nouns in the plural. Decide if the plurals in the following sentences are correct. If not, change them and make any other necessary changes to the grammar. 1 The informations informazion that you sent about the product were was not all correct. 2 Members of staff will be happy to answer your questions and to give advices on products. 3 Lam afraid that your ideas were not accepted by the board. 4 Please can you confirm that the equipments we requested are available. § All electrical devices need to be checked regularly. 6 The company spent a lot of money on travels last year. 7 We have managed to save the business but I'm afraid the works have only just begun. '8 We can provide transports to and from the airport. ‘9 What are your responsibilities in the new job? 10 It’s only a weekend trip so I don't need to take many luggages. © page 80 a/an and some Cultural awareness Listening 1 You are going to listen to an interview about gift- giving with Tara Brandon, who runs a consultancy which gives training on cultural awareness. Which ‘of the following do you think would be good gifts to take to new business partners in another country? a something that your hosts can’t usually find in their country something obviously expensive something with your company logo on it a present especially for your contact person ‘identical items for everyone in the company 2 Qi Listen to the first part of the interview. Which of the ideas above does the consultant agree with? 3 @m Listen again and note down why she agrees or disagrees with each idea (a-e). Then compare your ideas with a partner, aang 70 Corporate git-giving | 4 ain the second part of the interview, the consultant talks about giving gifts in Japan 1. and write one or two words in each gapin ne Petes, The main times ofthe year for ging oi r les ofthe yar or arg ts Japan an ‘Tara recommends goods from a well-known 3 ‘83 present, or possibly good qualty 4 Don't wrap gifts in 6 Taationaly. ots are not operon meaty. TH dang Give and recoive gitts with 7 Don't give four places of anything because the word for ‘Your’ sounds ike 8 In Japanese, & Imagine you are going on a business trip trom your country to visit a Japanese company. You need to take one special git for the CEO and six gifts for the rest of the team. What items from your country could make good presents? Decide with a partner what you would take, then compare your ideas with another pair. Grammar workshop 2 Articles 1 Look at extracts (a-f) from the listening and complete the grammar rules (1-6) about articles by underlining the correct alternative and matchingit to the correct extract. ‘at sounds lke the word for death. b Youneed to take a present for your hosts. _¢@ ifyour host suggests you open the present, you | mustn't just tear the paper (= the paper around the _— present). | d_Thisis when companies might give presents to good customers. Light blue paper is the best choice. Presents in Japan are always wrapped. You mustn't ust tear the paper lke we might do in Europe, In Japanese the word for four sounds hike .. f__ Itcan be a problem if you're bringing a present through customs, so it's often best to wrap the resent while you're there, Scanned with CamScanner1 When we are talking in general, we use a or an/the/na-article with uncountable nouns and plurals. d_ This is when companies might give presents to good customers. Light blue paper is the best choice. When we are talking in general, we use @ or any the/no article with singular countable nouns. 3. We use a or anythe/no article when the person we ate speaking to knows which thing we are talking about. Often this is because itis the second time we have mentioned it 4 We also use a or an/the/no article when a particular thing that has not been mentioned before can be understood from something we have said previously. 5. We use a or anythe/no article in front of most countries, continents and languages (plural countries like the United States are the exception) 6 Weuse a or arythe/no article with some general words like life, soctety, ete. 2 Complete the following text by putting a/an, the or ()no article into each gap. 1... people often think that 2. gift will bbe more appreciated if it is expensive. However, 3 studies have found that this is not necessarily true, For example, it seems that most fiancées feel just as gratefl for 4 modestly priced engagement ring as for 5 expensive one. Likewise, in 6 business, 7... same researchers have found that 8... companies don't need to give their staff 9 expensive rewards. 10... small gift or token will be just as effective if you want to show 11 appreciation. It seems that 12 words of 13 old Beatles’ song, are true: 4 ‘money can't buy you 15 love. © page 80 articles Sa Writing ing thank you Helmut Schulz works for a German engineering company which produces irigation equipment. He has just returned from a business trip to Qatar, where he demonstrated some of his company's products. 1 Complete Mr Schulz’s thank you lettor to his Qatari hosts by putting a phrase from the box (a-I) in th correct gap (1-9). ‘Finally thank you once again | ‘especialy enjoyed — Hook forward to hearing from you Twas also very interested Iwas most impressed In the meantime | enclose Iwas very interesting Please extend a special thanks -~ze700a0 Dear Mr Amin, 1.b__ fora most enjoyable visit to Doha. 2 to see the city and 3 the meal in your beautiful restaurant along the Corniche. All of your staff were extremely courteous and 4 with their knowledge of irrigation technology. 5... see the desalination plant. 6 to Mr Ashraf Zanaty for taking so much time to guide me round. 7 in due course regarding your decision on our inrigation equipment. 8 2 few small promotional items from my company which I hope you wil find Useful. 9... for making my stay in Qatar such a pleasant experience. Kind regards Helmut Schutz 2 Imagine you have just retuned from a business trip to (a city of your choice) to look at some possible ew products. Write a thank you letter to your host similar to the one in Exercise 1. In the letter: ‘+ thank your host for their hospitality and a meal or any other entertainment they provided © say how useful the visit was say when you will be in touch with a decision about the products Write 60-80 words. Corporate gift-giving 71 Scanned with CamScanner