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Consumer Behaviour

0 The consumer is the focus of all retail business and it is important to appreciate how 00 consumers are influenced in their buying decisions. Most of consumers, before making a

34 purchase, gather information and evaluate with the alternatives, but the extent to which

35 they look for information depends on the type of purchase. For example, in the case of

36 routine grocery purchases most consumers respond to automatically. However, for 37 purchases where the risk of making the wrong decision is greater, like buying a new 38 car, so the search for information is more important. The decision to purchase is never a

39 single decision but a number of these separate decisions, and at any time during this 40 process, consumers can change their minds about and choose an alternative route. For 41 example, although a consumer may have decided where to buy a product only to realise 42 at the last moment that this is, in fact, having the wrong choice. The price in the store may

43 be too high or the staff unhelpful. On the other hand, a lack of queues, favourable credit

44 facilities and efficient staff all lead to a too positive impression, so retailers should

45 remember how difficulties in these areas that can affect a sale or even lose a customer permanently.

The Career Forum

0 If you work in the city centre then a visit to the Career Forum, is the

00 city's most successful recruitment exhibition, will give you the information

34 you need to determine whether you are making up the most of yourself. 35 Currently, there are advertising many new vacancies on the job market. 36 With good skills and a healthy work record in greater demand than ever, it is

37 the ideal time to ensure that your career is being on the right track. The Career

38 Forum has been responsible for helping many thousands of the people 39 improve their job potential, and it can do something the same for you.

40 Some of the best jobs in town never reach out the advertising pages, so

41 to be considered for one of these top jobs as they become available, 42 you will need to make closely contact with the employers' agents. The Career

43 Forum is making the perfect opportunity. It is set in an informal

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atmosphere

44 and there is no pressure put; you can choose which agents you talk to.

45 So if you are looking for a new job, come and join us at the Career Forum.

Get better at keyboarding

0 There is a simple way to work more efficiently: improve your keyboard 00 skills by learning to touch keyboard them. If you are one of the vast majority

34 of some people who keyboard with two or four fingers, you may believe that

35 you are reasonably efficient. But the average person seldom achieves more 36 than twelve words by a minute when using this method, while touch keyboarding 37 can achieve up to 120 words, if enabling you to work almost as quickly 38 as you can think. Whatever position you hold in your company, you are 39 probably given responsible for answering emails or generating documents, and it

40 is quite likely that you spend too much time doing this. Stop and consider how

41 far much more you could do in a day as a result of touch keyboarding. You would

42 be able to create such a document faster than you can write and as 43 quickly as you can think and free up time to be more than creative. Moreover, 44 you would save up the cost of a full-time secretary, and no longer have to

45 wait for your documents to be created and either then have to return them for correction.

Personal Assistant Of The Year

0 Anne-Marie Garrard was shocked when it was announced that she had won the 00 Personal Assistant of the Year award. 'The other candidates seemed me

34 to be very strong, and I have to say I found that the selection procedure really¡¤ 35 hard,¡¯ she says. 'I didn't think I had any chance of winning. When I heard my

36 name, my legs were so weak I could only hardly stand up,¡¯ she laughs. So 37 how is ¡®the best' personal assistant chosen from a group of so extremely good 38 and very different individuals? The final decision was reached after a 39 day-long session of the tests, interviews and exercises. Garrard believes 40 the skills she uses in her job helped her how to perform well. For instance, although

41 most of her work is for her company¡¯s Managing Director, she works for six bosses

42 in all, so she always tries out to be prepared for anything that might happen.

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43 As for the future, her firm has closed for its summer break now; as soon as 44 they will open again, there is a pay rise waiting for her. But Garrard is not 45 going to be relax. She says, 'There¡¯s always room for personal development. You must keep trying to improve.¡¯

Meetings That Work

0 A vital skill for anyone running a business it is the ability to communicate 00 effectively. This is particularly important in a meeting where complex arguments 34 need to be put forward and where it is too vital to get the best out of the situation

35 and those present in as little time as possible. Before calling a meeting, ask

36 yourself if you actually need one, since so many are unproductive results and do

37 not really need to take place. Sending an email or by using another means of 38 communication, such as a simple phone call, might achieve the desired results in

39 half the time. Having established the need _for a meeting, so inform those you

40 wish to attend and ask people to be punctual. Concerning the key to a good 41 meeting is an agenda, which needs to be sent out in advance and should state the

42 date, time and location. It should also contain the names of those ones who will

43 be present and set that out, starting with the most important, the points for 44 discussion. Ask in advance for suggestions for items to be discussed about but

45 set a deadline for submissions in order to reduce the amount of time that has to be

spent under 'Any Other Business'.

Dealing with Expenses

0 Most companies use forms or spreadsheets to process travel and entertainment 00 expenses claims. As a result, it can be difficult to control over spending across the

34 organisation, and unfortunately when data often needs to be processed again and entered

35 into the firm's other such accounting systems. One solution is an automated expenses 36 management system. But if there are various measures you can implement to make 37 your existing procedures more efficient. Firstly, try ensure that all expenses claims are

38 independently been authorised. Who approves senior managers' claims, for example? 39 Don't waste time for reviewing all expenses claims; only look in detail at a sample, but

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40 regularly up date the firm's expenses policy, and query with all claims that fall outside it. You

41 should also avoid duplicating effort; if line managers check expenses, there is little point

42 in the accounts department are doing so. You could try to cut down on cash advances and

43 corporate credit cards; making staff to use their own credit cards encourages them 44 to submit claims on time. It is also a good idea to identify and remind staff who do not

45 submit or approve claims promptly. Finally, aim to recharge every expenses to customers where your business model allows.

0 Regular meetings with clients are important to a healthy collaboration. They 00 may be set up by the client, for example to review with the progress of current 34 projects, to give new instructions that may have lead to a contract variation 35 or to discuss any concerns. The client meeting which can also be arranged 36 by you or another member of your company to attract from new business, to 37 address a problem unless that needs to be solved or to give an update or status 38 report on current business ventures. Your part is in these meetings will dictate 39 the kind of information you need and how you should prepare for them. If you 40 will be responding to questions put by your client, the material you present 41 should deal in specifically with the request that was made. The meeting should not

42 only move off the agenda without the permission of the person you are meeting. 43 If you have prepared properly, you should be able to anticipate both questions and

44 to respond properly. If you are put on the spot and asked for details you do not

45 have, respond honestly - do not speak about matters as you are not familiar with.

Activity 1:

Asking each other¡¯s name (including spelling), hometown, occupation, hobbies Further probing: describe your hometown (location, city, town, village) climate, population, etc.

Further probing: describe your occupation/ or major (if student), likes and dislikes about your occupation.

Further probing: asking each other about marital status/ with or without boy friend/girlfriend.

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