[0:00]Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Langmaster. I am Cathy and I am, well, I'm a bit stressed today!
[0:14]Oh no! Are you okay, Cathy? Thank you, Cliff. So I was at the supermarket. The cashier looked at me and said, "Here's your change." I was so angry! I shouted, "I am a good person! Why do I need to change myself?" Haha! Oh, Cathy. You misunderstood the poor cashier! What? I am in the wrong? "Change" means the money they give back to you, Cathy! It has a special meaning when you go shopping! What?! Oh my God! I'm so embarrassed! It's okay. Shopping in English can be tricky. Now, here's a quick quiz for our listeners. If a cashier says, "Here's your change," what should you reply? A) Thank you, or B) You're welcome? Leave your answer in the comments below! Haha! Comment your answer right away, friends! We will take a look to see who got the correct answer! Now, let's continue our lesson, shall we? In today's podcast, we will learn how to communicate in a store. Yes! We will learn all the best vocabulary, useful phrases, and how to handle real-life situations for both buyers and sellers! Exactly. After this lesson, you will feel totally confident shopping abroad or serving international customers without any fear of making mistakes. Are you ready, Cathy? I'm ready. Let's go! To start our lesson, let's learn some of the most basic words that everyone needs to know when shopping or working in a store. Haha! Before today, I thought "Change" only meant "become different"! Change... money back. I need to remember that! Change! Change! Change! Smart! Next is Customer. A customer is the person who buys things. Customer. Customer. Customer. Got it! And the boss is the Manager. A Manager is the person in charge of the store. You can ask to meet them by saying, "Can I speak to the manager, please?" Now, you don't actually see the Manager a lot, but you usually need help from the Staff. So the people who work there are the Staff. The Staff will help you find the way in a shop, find the products you need, and a lot of other things too! So, always be nice to them! Next are Receipt and Cashier. You pay the cashier and they give you a receipt. Cashier and Receipt. I pay the cashier, and I keep my receipt in my bag. Perfect. Speaking of that, we have Shelf and Bag. A shelf is where we put products. The chips are on the bottom shelf. Put them in my bag, please! Haha! Finally, we have Total, Price, and Sale. Price is for one item, and Total is the final cost. The price is low because there's a big sale! What is my total? You got it. So, we have Change, Customer, Manager, Staff, Receipt, Cashier, Shelf, Bag, Total, Price, and Sale. Wow! That's a lot of great words. Let's think... what's next? Well, we have the words. Now we need the sentences to talk to people! Aha! In the next part, we will learn what the staff usually says and how you should respond if you are the customer. Cathy, you are a shopping lover. When you walk into a store, what do you usually hear from the staff? Oh, that's easy! The staff always greets me with a big smile and says, "Good morning and welcome to our store! How may I assist you today?" Perfect! Everyone, listen to Cathy's sentence. "How may I assist you?" is the professional way to ask "How can I help you?" It sounds very impressive! Haha! And I just reply, "I'm just browsing, thank you!" "Just browsing." Great phrase! It means you are looking but not ready to buy yet. Well, sometimes the staff might ask, "Would you like a basket or a cart?" Yes! A Basket for a few things, and a Cart for a big shopping trip. If I am the customer, I would say, "A cart, please. I need to buy a lot of snacks today!" Haha, you love snacks, Cliff! But wait, what if I can't find the snacks? Can I ask the staff, "Where are the snacks?" Of course! And they will say something like, "The product is located in aisle 3." An aisle in a supermarket is a long and narrow passageway between rows of shelves. Remember, the "S" in Aisle is silent. Aisle! Aisle. Aisle. Okay, I got it! But Cliff, what if I see a shirt I like, but the size is wrong? I see a Medium, but I need a Small. Can I ask the staff for help? Yes, you can! You should ask, "Excuse me, do you have this in a different size? I need a Small." Or for food, you can say, "Do you have this cereal in Brand A instead of Brand B?" "Do you have this in a different size?" That's a very useful question! Haha, yes! Then a good staff member will say, "Let me check the stock for you. Please wait a moment." It shows you are helpful and professional. "Let me check the stock for you." I like that! Haha! Now, buying and selling are not always smooth. Let's see what happens when things get a bit more difficult. Oh? How can things get difficult at a supermarket? As we discussed before, sometimes customers want things that are not on the shelf. Maybe they need a different size or a different brand. Sometimes you can find it in the warehouse, but sometimes you cannot! Oh no! Then you use a very professional word, Backorder. You can tell the customer, "The product you ordered is on backorder and will be available next week." So the customer doesn't have to be sad, they just need to wait a few days! Exactly. It means the item is out of stock now, but it is coming soon. Now, in business, when you have a very big Sale, sometimes a shop cannot let one person buy everything. Right! So if a customer says, "Hello! I want to buy 10 boxes of this milk because it's on sale!", I cannot just say "Yes." Yes! Depends on the store's policy, "I'm sorry, but there is a limit of two items per customer for this promotion." It feels better to say I'm sorry first. It's very polite! Now, there is this very interesting situation! "Beep... beep... ERROR!" Oh no! The credit card machine is red!
[7:53]Oh no! The customer's card is broken or maybe they don't have enough money! But Cliff, I can't just tell them, "You have no money!" that is so rude and awkward! Exactly, Cathy. You should never say that to a customer. It will make them feel panicked and embarrassed. Instead, you should say, "I'm sorry, but your card has been declined. Do you have another way to pay?" Declined? That sounds so smart! It doesn't blame the customer's personality or their bank account! Exactly! It just means the bank said "No" for this transaction. Maybe the chip is dirty, or the internet connection is bad. Now that we have solved the difficult problems, let's move to the final step, Payment and saying goodbye! Yes! After scanning the stuff, the cashier should ask, "Would you like to pay in cash or by card?" Cash or card... easy! Some stores may also ask about a Loyalty Card. "Do you have a loyalty card with us?" Loyalty? What is that? Loyalty means being faithful. A Loyalty Card is a card that gives rewards to regular customers. Wow, so a loyalty card makes the customer come back? Exactly! Now, as a cashier, how do you tell me the price? "Your total comes to 50 dollars, please." Perfect. Now, the most important part, The Farewell. Don't just say "Bye-bye." Oh, what should the cashier say then? "It was a pleasure serving you today. We look forward to your next visit." Oh, that sounds so fancy! Haha! You can change the saying depending on the shop, too! At a grocery store, you can be more friendly, "Have a great day and enjoy your meal!" "Enjoy your meal!" I love it! I have to say, all of the words we learned today are so simple, yet so natural! Exactly! Shopping in English is not difficult at all! Just practice these phrases every day, and you will communicate naturally, whether you are the staff or the customer! Wow, what an amazing and useful lesson today! I feel like a professional saleswoman now, and I'm not afraid of the cashier's desk anymore! Me too! Today, you learned exactly how to handle shopping customers professionally, from greeting them to solving difficult situations like a pro. Exactly! And before we finish, we have a small request for all our lovely listeners. Yes! If you find these sales communication tips helpful, please subscribe to Langmaster and give us a big thumbs up. That way, more learners who are working abroad or serving international customers can find these tips and grow their careers with us. And don't forget to leave us a comment! Which phrase do you like the most? Maybe the "How may I assist you?" one? Or if you have other common situations in your shop, please comment and let us know! Great point, Cliff! We're so excited to read your stories and see your progress in your business and in life. Thank you so much for learning and improving your communication skills with us today. See you next time! Keep learning English with Langmaster!
