a. changing his staffs telephone procedure.
b. improving his staff＊s telephone manner.
c. updating his telephone equipment.
d. providing more telephone lines.
18. The exporter＊s computer database proved useful because he was able to
a. improve his company newsletter.
b. research new products. c. respond to enquiries quickly.
d. attract new customers.
19. What is the best way to reduce overheads?
a. remove unnecessary services.
b. find cheaper suppliers.
c. reduce telephone calls.
d. cut down on stationery.
20. According to the writer, the only factor that should cause running costs to increase is
a. the previous rate of growth.
b. the number of sales resulting.
c. improvements to the standard of service.
d. the need to increase the number of employees.
Useful words and expressions:
Demanding; absorbed; margins; frustratingly; dividend; newsletter; expenditure; overheads; core;
Have you ever noticed the following sentences in your reading? If not, read them through and pay attention to the bold parts.
15. They may be simply too busy to see what is really happening. In fact, these directors would often do better to work less and think more about the actual procedures they are using in the running of the company.
16. Often the involvement of an independent individual who can point the director in the right direction is invaluable in showing that even minor improvements can have a dramatic effect on profit margins.
17. A standard system for dealing with the enquiries was what was needed and, once introduced＃
18. He found this increased the number of enquiries he was receiving because his customers were passing the newsletter around their contacts.
19. Calculate the annual cost of each and then see if it would be possible to get it at a better price somewhere else: it usually is.
20. they should be ensuring that the rate of growth continues by guaranteeing that no cost is allowed to rise unless it is clearly related to profit by the generation of further sales. |
