Learn how to keep explanations simple, from a conversation between a hotel staff member and a guest
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hi everybody! Brandon here! |
| Becky: And I’m Becky. Helping Guests Find A Restaurant. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you will learn how to up-sell your hotels amenities to the customers. |
| Becky: This conversation takes place in the hallway in the afternoon. |
| Brandon: It’s between a staff member and a guest. |
| Becky: The speakers are in a professional relationship, so they will be using formal English. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Customer: Hello, I was wondering if you could help us find somewhere in the area to eat. |
| Staff: Certainly sir, there are quite a few restaurants around. Do you have any preferences as to what type of food or a price range? |
| Customer: Hmmm, well we were just going to go for a normal dinner, so nothing too fancy. Maybe some local cuisine? |
| Staff: In that case, I would actually recommend our hotel restaurant. It’s on the 15th floor. It’s local cuisine, and is roughly $15 dollars per meal. It also has all window seats so you can check out the surrounding area, and find a nice place to go for an after dinner walk, in case you wanted to get out of the hotel. |
| Customer: Oh that sounds great, thank you. |
| Staff: You are welcome, sir. Is there anything else I can assist you with? |
| Becky: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Customer: Hello, I was wondering if you could help us find somewhere in the area to eat. |
| Staff: Certainly sir, there are quite a few restaurants around. Do you have any preferences as to what type of food or a price range? |
| Customer: Hmmm, well we were just going to go for a normal dinner, so nothing too fancy. Maybe some local cuisine? |
| Staff: In that case, I would actually recommend our hotel restaurant. It’s on the 15th floor. It’s local cuisine, and is roughly $15 dollars per meal. It also has all window seats so you can check out the surrounding area, and find a nice place to go for an after dinner walk in case you wanted to get out of the hotel. |
| Customer: Oh that sounds great, Thank you |
| Staff: You are welcome, sir. Is there anything else I can assist you with? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Are you excited for this series, Brandon? |
| Brandon: I am! This should be fun, and useful for the listeners too. |
| Becky: Awesome! Well, let’s get to it. |
| Brandon: Okay, so when people travel and stay at hotels, they’re also interested in the surrounding area. |
| Becky: That’s right. Maybe all they want is the three or four blocks surrounding the hotel, or maybe they want to visit nearby cities and towns. |
| Brandon: Yeah, you never know. Well, in the dialogue, the guests were interested in getting some food. |
| Becky: That’s right. They say "I was wondering if you could help us find somewhere in the area to eat." When you upsell your amenities it is important to find out what the customer really wants. |
| Brandon Right, in the phrase, they mention they are looking for food, so you know that is one thing they want, but they also mention something else that may give a clue as to what the customer “really wants” |
| Becky The customer says “in the area”. This can have several meanings, for example they want something close, or they could want to get out of the hotel and explore a bit. |
| Brandon: The staff picked up on this, and although he still recommended the hotel restaurant he mentioned the view and about how they will be able to see the entire area, and even, look for places to go for an after dinner walk. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Brandon: in the area [natural native speed] |
| Becky: nearby, close, around here |
| Brandon: in the area [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: in the area [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Brandon: nothing too fancy [natural native speed] |
| Becky: average |
| Brandon: nothing too fancy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: nothing too fancy [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Brandon: roughly [natural native speed] |
| Becky: about |
| Brandon: roughly [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: roughly [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Brandon: surround [natural native speed] |
| Becky: around, on all sides |
| Brandon: surround [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Brandon: surround [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Brandon: The first phrase we’re going to look at is "in the area." |
| Becky: This phrase refers to immediate surrounding area. |
| Brandon: That’s right. For example, if they are driving, "in the area" could mean anything within about 20 kilometers of the hotel. |
| Becky: Exactly. But, when guests are on foot, "in the area" usually means something within about a 10 minute walk. |
| Brandon: An example of this would be "Do you know of any shoe stores in the area?" |
| Becky: The next phrase we’re going to look at is "nothing too fancy." |
| Brandon: This phrase has a very "native" sound. |
| Becky: The feeling of "nothing too fancy" means they want a restaurant with average service and prices. |
| Brandon: Particularly the price. For example, a restaurant that is "not too fancy" will have good food at a reasonable price and a comfortable environment. |
| Becky: Also remember that this phrase can take a few different forms, like "not anything too fancy" or "not too fancy." |
| Brandon: That’s right. For example, "We were looking for a good restaurant but nothing too fancy.” |
| Becky: Okay, let’s move on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn about up-selling to a customer based on their needs. |
| Becky: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase "In that case, I would actually recommend our hotel restaurant." Now, persuading a guest to purchase or pay for the hotel services can sometimes be difficult. |
| Brandon: Yes it can. That's where up-selling can be helpful. Being a good upseller can increase your chances of getting a raise or even a promotion. |
| Becky: So, one of the best ways to upsell the customer is to sell to the customer's needs. In other words, you find out what the customer actually needs or wants and then try to address their need with one of the services that the hotel offers. |
| Brandon: First, the guest will approach you and ask a question or ask for some assistance. Based on what they say, you should ask them another question. |
| Becky: Exactly. In the dialogue, the guest said "I was wondering if you could help us find somewhere in the area to eat." Here, the guest used the phrase "in the area." This can give the feeling that they wanted to do something outside of the hotel. |
| Brandon: What you should do next is ask questions. For example, you could ask, "What are you looking for?" This question is excellent because it prompts the guest to explain in more detail what they want or need. |
| Becky: From there, the guest will give you information about what they want or what they’re looking for. In the dialogue the guest said, "hmmm, well we were just going to go for a normal dinner, so nothing too fancy. Maybe some local cuisine?" |
| Brandon: Step two is probably the most important, based on what they say, you need to determine what would best fulfill their needs. |
| Becky: That’s right. In the dialogue, the staff member could tell the guests didn’t necessarily want to eat outside of the hotel, because the customer said “in the area”. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to leave the hotel, but it makes it a possibility. |
| Brandon: The third step is explaining to the guest why your recommendation will fulfill their needs. You usually do this by using the same words and phrases that the guest used when they were explaining things to you. |
| Becky: That’s right. For example, in the dialogue, the staff member said, "It’s local cuisine, and is roughly $15 dollars per meal." |
| Becky: She went on also to talk about "the surrounding area" by saying "It also has all window seats so you can check out the surrounding area, and find a nice place to go for an after dinner walk in case you wanted to get out of the hotel." |
Outro |
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| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes to review what you’ve learned in this lesson. And if you have any questions or comments, please leave us a post at EnglishClass101.com. Thanks for listening! |
| Becky: And we’ll see ya next time! Bye! |
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