In this part of the test, you are asked to give a short talk on a business topic. You have to choose one of the topics from the three below and then talk for about one minute. You have one minute to prepare your ideas.
A WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN…?
Preparing for a business trip
● Informing clients and colleagues
● Finishing essential tasks
●
B WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN…?
Calling on clients
● Careful preparation
● Appropriate business wear
●
C WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN…?
Attending a trade fair
● Fully preparing
● Pre-show advertising
●
If you choose A:
First and foremost, clients and colleagues concerned must be informed of the trip. Some matters need to be taken care of beforehand, for instance postpone the scheduled appointments with your clients, and entrust the colleagues of certain experience to handle your clients’ problems.
Secondly, make sure the essential tasks at hand are finished before leaving. As for those not so important, you can hand them over to somebody else.
Last but not least, make some preparation for your future travel route in advance, which includes booking the hotel, arranging appointments, checking transportation schedules, etc
Questions:
(Q=question A=answer)
Q1: You listed several matters to which we should pay attention when preparing for a business trip. Which is the most important one according to your opinion, and why?
A: Well, in my opinion, making good preparation for the business trip is most significant. Since for a businessman, the primary duty is to complete a task successfully, while an adequate preparation in advance can lay the foundation for it to happen.
Q2: You mentioned that your clients should be informed ahead when preparing for a business trip. If you only leave a few days, do you still think it necessary to inform your clients of it?
A: Well, as far as I can see, the main purpose of informing clients is to put off the date. If there are no schedule conflicts, then it is not necessary to inform clients of a short-time absence.
If you choose B:
When calling on clients, we should first of all make a careful and sufficient preparation for the visit, which includes planning visiting objects, analyzing clients, telling major clients from minor clients, and planning feasible visiting tactics, etc.
Then, enough attention should be paid to our wearing. Appropriate business wear means not only building your trustworthy professional image in clients’ mind, but also contributing to promoting a serious and organized image of your company.
Finally, we should do as much as we can to create harmonious atmosphere during the visit. Harmony brings wealth, which has been testified by many cases. A friendly chat, generous entertainment will help a lot in achieving this.
Follow-up questions:
(Q=question A=answer)
Q1: You mentioned several matters which need special attention when calling on clients. Which one do you think is the most important, and why?
A: Well, in my point, careful and sufficient preparation for the visit is the most important element, for it is the foundation for a successful visit. Just as an old saying says, “Well begun is half done·”
Q2: You said appropriate wearing is necessary. What principles of wearing do you think should be observed when calling on clients?
A: Well, I think we should comply with a series of dressing principles, like formality, neatness and harmoniousness.
If you choose C:
When attending a trade fair, first and foremost, we should be fully prepared for it. For instance, we can make a research of the organizers, the size of the fair, the expense of attending it, the best stand location, the conditions of the last exhibition, etc. By doing this, we will know exactly what we want to obtain from the fair.
Then, pre-show advertising can also be arranged to attract intended and potential customers. Information about our products and the exhibition can be published in the newspapers, magazines, on TV or the trade fair’s website.
At last, choosing advantaged stands also helps. Although good-positioned booth can be very expensive, it hold far more attractive than ill-positioned one. So we should be decisive in reserving a good one before the fair opens.
Follow-up questions:
(Q=question A=answer)
Q1: You offered several important matters for attending a trade fair, in your opinion which is the most important one, and why?
A: Well, in my point of view, careful and sufficient preparation for the exhibition is the most important one. As we all know, with a good understanding of the fair, we can have a better idea of how to achieve our goal by attending the fair.
Q2: You mentioned pre-show advertising is very essential. Could you name the best way of advertising for a new product when attending a trade fair?
A: Well, as for me, advertising on TV is the most direct and therefore the best one.