Dear Betty,
Your company superiors must think you are capable or they wouldn't have transferred you to the Foreign Trade Department. Take heart in that! :-)
When you pick up the phone you say something like this:
"Good Morning. Dalian Electric. Foreign Trade Department".
They say something like
"Good morning. I would like to order a winding for a switchgear assembly."
They spoke too quickly for you, so you say,
"Can you repeat that a little more slowly please?"
They say it again, more clearly,
"I would like to order Winding 2397AVZ for the UNO Switchgear Assembly."
You say,
"Winding 2-3-9-7, A - apple, V - Victor, Z - zero, for the U - Union, N - Norman, O - Oscar, Switchgear Assembly."
They say,
"Correct. How soon can you ship?"
You say,
"Just a moment", check your information, and say,
"We can have it in Kansas by air within four days, or by ship within about three weeks. How fast do you need it?"
They say,
"We need it fast."
You say,
"We can send it by air immediately, then. Is that what you want?"
They agree.
You say:
"I'll get back to you by fax this afternoon to confirm details. May I have your fax number?"
You repeat their fax number carefully back to them for confirmation, as you did the previous numbers or letters. Then you say,
"May I help you with anything else?"
They say
"No, that's all, thanks."
You say something like,
"Thank you for calling, then."
They say "Alright,I'll expect your fax. Goodbye."
That's about all there is to it when it comes to taking an order by phone.
Most other things are similar. They call for a purpose which they state to you. If you don't understand immediately you repeat what you think they said. They may correct your understandiang. If necessary, you ask them to speak more slowly. Always repeat back any numbers or letters to make sure they are recorded accurately, and you are both talking about the same thing.
You will find that various kinds of calls fall into word patterns. Many of them will use almost the same words for similar things. When you must phone them you will use similar words for each of your kinds of calls. You will soon get the hang of it. Don't worry, Betty. You will do alright. It won't take long to catch on to the rhythm of the speech.
When you repeat numbers and letters back to confirm them, be sure to speak especially clearly.
There is an international list of words for letters. I don't have it now. Someone else here may have it. If so, I hope they will post it to share with us. If you can obtain the international list, memorize it, so that you use the same clear and universally recognized words each time.
Good luck! Warmly, Mary
