Markets

A lot of you who work in sales know that places
where goods are sold are called markets.

There are several types of market that are mentioned
in the business media.

Mass market: A mass market is basically
the whole world. Mass market products are aimed at
everybody. Mass market products are soft drinks,
hamburgers and MP3 players. Usually companies that
sell mass market items want to dominate the market
or compete with other companies.

Niche market: Niche markets are unusual markets
and profits can be made by targetting products at
people in specific circumstances or situations.
Mobile text-to-speech keyboards for people with speech
impairments are an example of a product in a niche
market.

Luxury market: Luxury markets are exclusive due
to their price. A lot of companies that sell products
in the luxury market do not sell high volumes but make
a lot of money due to their high prices. Louis Vuitton,
Prada and Gucci are examples of luxury brands.

Emerging market: An emerging market is one
that is just opening. An example is the market for
tablet PCs. Emerging markets usually occur due to
new technology or inventions or due to a demand from
an area that never previously expressed such demand.

Developed/mature market: This is a market that is
beyond the emerging stage. In a developed market there
is usually established demand for a product.

Saturated market: In a saturated market there is
weak demand for a certain product due to consumers
having already bought the product. The mobile phone
market was previously thought to be a saturated market
before the current trend for 'smartphones'.

Meetings - Yesterday's answers

The answers from yesterday's post are:

minutes - notes taken about what people said
agenda - the order of topics to be discussed, usually given out before
AOB -Any Other Business; time for topics not indicated on the agenda
attendees - people who are at the meeting
chair - the person in charge of keeping the meeting on topic
roll call - attendance check

Meetings

Next week on Wednesday 9th March we have another Business Explorer Model Lesson available. It's about meetings and it will be held from 18:50-19:50. See the staff at Shinjuku L-Tower school or call them if you are interested in it.

To get you ready for this, what are the following? Remember, they're connected to meetings.

minutes
agenda
AOB
attendees
chair
roll call

Answers will be posted tomorrow!

On Introductions - Questions not to ask when mee

When meeting foreigners for the first time, students
often ask the same questions. Foreigners in Japan
hear the same questions all the time. If you want to
make a good first impression try to ask some
different questions.

Can you choose the suitable questions from the list
below? There are two good questions, and six bad ones.
Answers are at the bottom.

1. What do you like about Japan?
2. Can you eat sushi and natto?
3. How long have you been in Japan?
4. Is there any Japanese food you haven’t tried yet?
5. How long are you going to stay in Japan?
6. When will you leave Japan?
7. Why did you come to Japan?
8. How tall are you?

Number 1 and number 4 are good questions. The
other questions should be avoided, rephrased or should be
asked when you have spent more time with the person. Here's why:

Can you eat sushi and natto?
'Can' in this question indicates an allergy. Also,
don't be specific about foods unless you're ordering
them for the person you're addressing.

How long have you been in Japan?
There is nothing wrong with this question, but try
to ask it when you have asked some more questions first.

How long are you going to stay in Japan?
Try something more indirect, like “What are your
plans for the future?” because this question sounds too
much like…

When will you leave Japan?
The nuance of this is that you native speakers often ask
this when they want somebody to leave. Try asking “What
are your plans for the future?” instead.

Why did you come to Japan?
This is a very common question, and the answer is often
personal and/or complicated. Try asking the question
indirectly – see question number one!

How tall are you?
Foreigners are often asked questions or receive comments
about the physical differences between Japanese people
and people from other countries. Try to avoid any questions
or comments about these differences right away. Be aware
that it is considered rude to ask this to ladies.

by Stan

Meeting and Greeting - Follow Up

Next week we have a FREE Business Explorer model lesson at 18:50 about Meeting and Greeting. We still have limited places available for this class. The answers from last week's post are:

1. Hello. My name is Marc. I am at ECC. X
Hello. My name is Marc. I work for ECC.

2. How long do you spending in Japan? X
How long will you spend in Japan?

3. I am a terrible journey. X
I had a terrible journey.

4. Are you first time in Tokyo? X
Is this your first time in Tokyo?

I hope you got them all right.