• You will hear an insurance salesman, Dan, talking to a friend, Helen, about the appraisal interview he has just had. • For eac

Woman: Hey Dan. How did the appraisal go?
Man: Oh, it was pretty good thanks. Carol - she’s my line manager - seemed to know me better than I knew myself, and she really helped me to identify strengths and weaknesses I didn’t know I had. I’d thought we were just going to talk about practical things, like what my prospects are for promotion, rather than my psychology!
Woman: Do you want a promotion? I thought you’d chosen to go down a grade when you took this job.
Man: That’s right. I used to manage a sales team. It meant working long hours, and it could be pretty difficult at times, though on the whole I enjoyed the challenge. But it kept me at a distance from customers and I wanted to go back to that. So here I am, a sales rep again. I’d be interested in promotion if it didn’t stop me doing the fun parts of the job.
Woman: How have people reacted to your taking a step down?
Man: Most of the people in my last company found it strange, but in fact a couple of them thought about changing to this company too, though it didn’t come to anything. There seems to be a rumour going around that I’ll be looking for something better soon, but actually I’m pretty happy here.
Woman: You certainly seem to be good at the job.
Man: To be honest, with all the new insurance products coming out it isn’t easy to keep up with them all. I have to struggle to remember everything that’s available. At least working with a computer comes fairly natural to me, so that saves time.
Woman: I’m glad I don’t have to deal with customers the way you do. I haven’t got the patience.
Man: You certainly need that sometimes, when someone spends ages making up their mind, but I don’t find it a problem. And I don’t mind explaining complicated policies in simple language: it’s quite a challenge. But there are some people I’d much rather avoid.
Unfortunately in this job, you’ve got to make everyone feel you really enjoy their company.
Woman: Quite frankly, the less I have to do with them the better!
Man: I tell you what though - in my appraisal I suggested some changes to the way I work. I couldn’t persuade Carol to let me work fewer evenings and more on Saturdays, but at least I won’t have to come into the office every day: she’s letting me work from home instead. And that’ll mean I’ll waste less time travelling, so I should be able to make more commission, which will be a relief, as the basic salary’s so low.
Woman: Good for you.
Man: We also talked about an idea I have for increasing sales, which she’ll put to the senior managers. The company’s spending much more on advertising now, so the name’s more recognisable, but I suspect it doesn’t lead directly to more business. Now that sales reps are allowed to travel anywhere in the country, incentives should be offered to existing customers to introduce new ones. It’s the personal contact that counts.
Woman: So with your management experience, you must be in good position to judge your own line manager. What do you think of her skills?
Man: She’ll always make time to listen to anyone in the team who wants to talk to her, and that’s a plus. On the other hand, I’ve never known her to be ready for a meeting, even when she’s called it herself, which isn’t a very good model for the department. And it’s really left up to us to motivate ourselves.
Woman: Well, I’m pleased your interview seems to have gone well.
Note: Teacher, stop the recording here and time ten minutes. Remind students when there is one minute remaining.