Phrasal verbs are used very often in spoken English. Therefore, it is necessary to know them.
In this article we will look at the use of the phrasal verb give and the 9 meanings it can have.
9 meanings of the phrasal verb give in English
Let's look at how this phrasal verb is used:
1. Phrasal verb give away
Translation: 1. Give, distribute, give 2. Give away (secret), spill the beans
Meaning: 1. Give something to someone without asking for money 2. Accidentally tell someone's secret
She gives her old books away.
She gives away her old books.
He didn't give my secret away.
He didn't give away my secret.
2. Phrasal verb give back
Translation: return, give
Meaning: Give something back to the person you took it from
She gave the keys back to me.
She returned the keys to me.
He won't give the money back tomorrow.
He will return the money tomorrow.
3. Phrasal verb give in
Translation: Give in, give in
Meaning: Agree to something that previously did not suit you
They gave in to our demands.
They gave in to our conditions.
I finally gave in.
In the end I gave in.
4. Phrasal verb give off
Translation: To emit, emit, emit (smell, heat, light)
Meaning: Produce heat, light, smell
These flowers give off a nice smell.
These flowers emit a pleasant scent.
The fire was giving off a lot of heat.
The fire generated a lot of heat.
5. Phrasal verb give out
Translation: 1. Give out, distribute to someone 2. Refuse, stop working (part of the body)
Meaning: 1. Give something to each member of the group 2. Some part of the body stops working
A waiter gave the drinks out.
The waiter handed out the drinks.
His legs gave out.
His legs gave out.
6. Phrasal verb give over
Translation: Stop
Meaning: Stop doing things that are annoying to other people
Give over complaining!
Stop complaining!
She gaveover crying.
She stopped crying.
7. Phrasal verb give up
Translation: 1. Quit 2. Give up
Meaning: 1. Stop doing something you used to do regularly 2. Stop trying to do something
You should give up smoking.
You should quit smoking.
They never give up.
They never give up.
8. Phrasal verb give up on smth
Translation: Lose hope, stop believing, give up something
Meaning: Don't expect things to happen the way you wanted them to.
He gave up on his dreams.
He stopped believing in his dream.
They gave up on those thoughts.
He abandoned these thoughts.
9. Phrasal verb give up on smb
Translation: Give up (from hope), give up, recognize someone as hopeless
Meaning: Stop hoping that someone will do what you want them to do.
They gave up on him.
They waved their hand at him.
Most of the teachers gave up on her.
Most of the teachers gave up on her.
So, we've learned about another phrasal verb, now let's practice using it.
Reinforcement task
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments so we can check them.
1. He returned my phone.
2. Stop pushing!
3. She gives away her old clothes.
4. He gave in to my requests.
5. She handed out her business cards.
“The customer is always right” - company owners use this phrase as an example to their employees to teach them good service.
“The customer is always right” - this is the phrase that employees hate, believing that they provide good service, and the client is simply a “greyhound”. The fine line between good and bad is called customer focus.
Looking ahead, I can say that if you have just decided to postpone reading the article with the words: “In my company the service is good, which means customer focus is at its best,” then I will immediately advise you not to rush.
Your service may be good compared to your competitors or the market average.
However, after traveling around the world, I realized that Russia has room to grow. But the conversation is about you.
Therefore, even if customer focus in your company is high, I insist that you read this material to the end.
Usefulness, tricks and practical experience for developing customer focus - everything will be there. We can’t do without this on our blog.
Tomorrow, today will become yesterday
In principle, this is all you need to know about the concept itself before moving on to specific tools for increasing customer focus.
Small business - no service needed
The only thing I would like to pay attention to is who is suitable for customer focus.
That is, which company needs to deal with it purposefully, and which one should postpone it until later and start attracting clients.
The answer is incredibly simple - everyone. Yes, there are a lot of rumors now that this is only necessary for those who work in highly competitive niches.
But small companies, monopolists and innovative startups do not need this. But this is a misconception, or rather an excuse not to engage in this matter.
Monopolists can only give up on good service for the time being until a new competitor appears.
Then dissatisfied clients will immediately go to him. A startup has a much better chance of getting off to a strong start due to good service and external and internal customer focus.
And a small business should value each client as the apple of their eye, so as not to make ends meet in sales endlessly, and start word of mouth.
That's why everyone needs it. Only one question - “To what extent?” Everything is more flexible here.
There is no point in focusing on just one service. People won’t go to just one service. Therefore, it’s like in, you need to do it well, but not perfectly. After all, work on the ideal is endless.
WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON
Two types of approach
You could say we started talking about practice. And for its basis, we need to divide customer focus in our heads into two types, which many are not aware of.
Conventionally, they can be designated as external and internal customer focus.
Customer-oriented employee (internal)
The customer focus of the staff is a huge plus. These are very valuable employees who are quite expensive on the labor market.
They differ not only in that they comply with all the regulations for communication with the client, but also in the fact that “at the forefront” they put not the company and management, but the client.
It sounds strange though. The example is as old as the world, but it reflects the idea most fully.
Customer-oriented internal
They are the ones who follow the saying: “It’s the client who pays you, not the manager.”
It is quite difficult to evaluate and see such employees, but, as a rule, these are good sales managers who sell much more than their colleagues. They are the ones who have the most loyal and regular customers.
Customer-oriented company (external)
This is a company that primarily focuses on long-term work and long-term stay in business.
For this purpose, the company develops entire rules, regulations and employees with clients. Where is it written even what temperature to pour tea for the client.
But pieces of paper are pieces of paper, it is impossible to foresee all situations. Therefore, the company’s management must initially determine a strategy not only to create rules, but also to cultivate this attitude in every employee.
Unfortunately, this is where the main problem lies, because companies are more focused on money and clients, rather than working with employees.
Examples of successful implementations
Example 1. Internet provider “Dom.ru”. After connecting to the Internet, the handyman at the door, scratching his hands, asks the question: “Housewife, does anything else need to be done around the house?”
Most, as a rule, refuse, but there are people who ask to fix the tap or throw out the garbage. The client’s loyalty after such an act by the master, of course, goes through the roof.
Example 2. Online store “Zappos”. The company takes care of employees' home problems.
The company has a “Good Deeds Department” that helps employees with family tasks (for example, taking mom to the hospital).
Thus, employees become more focused on work, which means they treat the client better, because they see a good example.
Example 3. Clothing store. If a client in the locker room needs a different size, then all he needs is to press a button, upon the signal of which a salesperson will come and bring the required size.
Usually the client has to scream, or worse, dress in his own clothes and repeat the victory lap.
Example 4. Child Development Center. Company administrators provide tablets with the Internet and games for those parents who are waiting for their child during class.
Thus, time flies by unnoticed, and all this is supported by comfortable and large chairs.
Example 5. Starbucks coffee shop. They write your name on every glass of coffee you order.
This helps them not only in finding the owner of the drink, but also gives them the opportunity to communicate with the client by name all the time. And, as you know, we are ready to listen to our name forever.
Customer focus in the Starbucks coffee shop Example 6. Our company. We always call back all clients who have not reached us (for example, during non-working hours) and give a bonus for the current situation.
On the one hand, we are not obliged to give anything, because it is normal that there is non-working time.
But on the other hand, the client contacted our company, and this is important to us.
Example 7. Jewelry “Сartier”. When buying a ring in Europe, I was prepared for people to speak to me in English, but no.
For all popular countries (including Russia), native speakers are provided on site. And for rare countries, they can provide you with an interpreter for several hours.
Example 8. Bank "Alfa-Bank". In the winter season, the bank wrapped all its metal handles with soft, velvet material, so that when the client opened the door, he felt not the cold, but the warm love of each person from this company.
Customer focus at Alfa-Bank Example 9. Pizza restaurant. Since the restaurant is very famous, with the influx of the season, queues for tables form along the street.
The wait can be up to 1 hour. To prevent you from getting tired during this time, you are provided with chairs and free water, which is constantly replenished by the waiter in this area.
Example 10. Taxi service. When ordering a car, you can choose the “Silent Driver” option.
Such an order will make it clear to the taxi driver that he needs to drive in silence, and not tell him how long he has been driving this car and how the previous passenger cheated him out of 10 rubles.
Specific steps
It is impossible to give a list of mandatory actions to become a customer-focused company.
Because if you read carefully, all criteria are based on the needs of the client.
In one business, it is important for the consumer to have soft chairs in line, but in another, they don’t care about these chairs, the main thing is to be able to fill out all the documents independently, even while standing.
Using the example above, you can begin to object and say: “We need both chairs and independent filling.” It's right.
True, if we are talking about small and medium-sized businesses, then there are no resources and time for everything.
Therefore, you need to move according to priority and start with the most important. One to one, as in using advertising channels (see video below).
But in order not to let you go with your bare hands and your head full, I will give you some theoretical and practical advice that will help you form the right actions to lay the foundations of customer focus.
- Determine the direction. You are more focused on the client or money. This is important because, for example, customers are often dissatisfied with the product and demand an exchange, gift and refund.
By law, in some cases you can refuse them. But the fact of the matter is that customer focus is not a law, so you need to decide on the shore what to do.
- Count customer churn. Clients are leaving (interesting statistics below) and this cannot be avoided. But if all the clients leave, then something urgently needs to be changed.
After all, customer outflow is one of the indicators of your service. The easiest way to track losses is with.
- Exceed customer expectations.“Easy to say, but difficult to do,” you think. But actually it is not.
For example, all a retail store needs to do is include a chocolate bar with a customer's purchase. This will surprise him, and ruin you for mere pennies.
- Don't collect feedback using questionnaires. Never! Listen, never!
Questionnaires don’t work because even a positive client is too lazy to fill it out, and if he does fill it out, he only writes good things so as not to offend.
- Deal with angry/churned customers. Be prepared to talk to a lost customer at any time.
A particularly powerful effect is achieved if the issue is decided not just by an employee, but by his manager. And this will brighten up the negative if the issue was not resolved positively.
- Change personnel. Introduce bonuses to the best customer-oriented employees, this will be an additional incentive for them.
The prize can be either tangible or intangible, the main thing is that the employee wants to receive it.
Calculation formula
Everyone knows a lot about customer focus, but how to measure it - there is no single formula that takes into account all the factors.
But I liked the Ovum study (it's a big research center).
They developed their own formula and decided to test various companies to understand which of them were customer-focused. Ready for results?
Even such large companies as Apple, IBM, General Electric could not rise above 80%. The vast majority of companies did not exceed the bar above 55%.
This perfectly shows that most companies in America “don’t bother” with the quality of work. What can we say about Russia, where the situation is much worse.
Only by focusing questions on service and quality of service in order to avoid a decrease in the coefficient due to the product and other technical issues that are not directly related to customer focus.
I hereby provide consent to the processing of Tourist Administrative Systems LLC (TIN 7705870599, OGRN 1137746962066, legal address: 115093, Moscow, 1st Shchipkovsky lane, 1) of my personal data and confirm that by giving such consent , I act of my own will and in my own interest. In accordance with the Federal Law of July 27, 2006 No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data,” I agree to provide information related to my personality: my last name, first name, patronymic, registration address, position, contact phone number, email address, passport data and other information. Or, if I am a legal representative of a legal entity, I agree to provide information related to the details of the legal entity: name, legal address, types of activities, name and full name of the executive body. In the case of providing personal data of third parties, I confirm that I have received the consent of third parties, in whose interests I act, to process their personal data, including: collection, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating or changing), use , distribution (including transfer), depersonalization, blocking, destruction, as well as carrying out any other actions with personal data in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.
I give consent to the processing of personal data in order to receive services provided by Tourist Administrative Systems LLC on and through the website.
I express my consent to carry out the following actions with all specified personal data: collection, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating or changing), use, distribution (including transfer), depersonalization, blocking, destruction, as well as the implementation of any other actions with personal data in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation. Data processing can be carried out both with the use of automation tools and without their use (with non-automatic processing).
When processing personal data, Tourist Administrative Systems LLC is not limited in the use of processing methods.
I hereby acknowledge and confirm that, if necessary, Tourist Administrative Systems LLC has the right to provide my personal data to achieve the above goals to third parties, including when involving third parties in the provision of services for these purposes. Such third parties have the right to process personal data on the basis of this consent and to notify me about service rates, special promotions and website offers. Information is provided via telephone and/or email. I understand that clicking the “Submit Application” button constitutes my written agreement to the terms and conditions described previously.
Agreement on the processing of personal data when submitting an application
By agreeing to the provisions set out below by checking the “V” box next to the word “Agree,” you have the opportunity to send the Tour Operator (Travel Agent) an application for the selection of a tourism product. The Company acts solely as an intermediary between you and the Tour Operator (Travel Agent), transmitting the details of the application to the Tour Operator (Travel Agent).
ATTENTION! When filling out an application, a reservation of a tourist product is not made.
Providing you with up-to-date, accurate and reliable information about yourself is a necessary condition for completing and sending to the Tour Operator an application for the selection of a tourist product. Required fields on the application form include your last name, first name and patronymic, telephone number and valid email address. Each time you submit an application for the selection of a tourism product, you must enter the above data into the application form again.
The name should not be an Internet resource or email address, its use should not contradict the copyright of third parties on intellectual property (trademarks, brand names, etc.).
In all other respects that are not expressly provided for in the provisions set out above, you should be guided by the Terms and Conditions of Use of the website (), Privacy Policy (), and the Personal Data Processing Agreement ().
The user, by filling out the feedback form on the website http://site/, accepts this Consent to the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as the Consent). Acting freely, of his own will and in his own interest, as well as confirming his legal capacity, the User gives his consent to Individual Entrepreneur Alexandra Vadimovna Koltashova (TIN 540618483335, OGRNIP 316547600156201) to process his personal data with the following conditions:
1. This Consent is given to the processing of personal data, both without the use of automation tools and with their use.
2. Consent is given to the processing of the following personal data of mine that is not special or biometric: last name and first name, phone number, e-mail, user data (location information; OS type and version; Browser type and version; device type and screen resolution ; source from where the user came to the site; language of the OS and Browser; what pages the user opens and what buttons the user presses; IP address).
3. Personal data is not publicly available.
4. Purpose of processing personal data: processing incoming requests for creating websites and maintaining corporate blogs; order of a site visitor with his contact information; reviewing portfolios of candidates for vacant positions; analytics of an individual’s actions on the website and the functioning of the website; sending out updates on the blog.
5. The basis for the processing of personal data is: Art. 24 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation; Article 6 of Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data”; this consent to the processing of personal data.
6. During the processing of personal data, the following actions will be performed: collection; recording; systematization; accumulation; storage; clarification (update, change); extraction; usage; transmission (distribution, provision, access); blocking; deletion; destruction.
7. Personal data is processed until the individual unsubscribes from the mailing list. Also, the processing of personal data may be terminated at the request of the subject of personal data. The storage of personal data recorded on paper is carried out in accordance with Federal Law No. 125-FZ “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation” and other regulations in the field of archival affairs and archival storage.
8. Consent can be revoked by the subject of personal data or his representative by sending an application for withdrawal of consent to the processing of personal data by email: hi@site.
9. In the event that the subject of personal data or his representative withdraws consent to the processing of personal data of IP Koltashova A.V. has the right to continue processing personal data without the consent of the subject of personal data if there are grounds specified in paragraphs 2 – 11 of part 1 of article 6, part 2 of article 10 and part 2 of article 11 of Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data” dated July 27, 2006 .
10. This consent is valid all the time until the termination of the processing of personal data specified in clauses 7 and 8 of this Consent.