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Pernambuco Tour Guide

If you’re coming to Recife-Pernambuco for the FIFA World Cup 2014, or any other time as a matter of fact, you might find this material useful. Let me contextualise it a bit first. 

Here at C.E.O. we teach Business English for adult students. These students of all levels took part in a project to prepare this material. The idea was simply to record their own recommendations as residents. Many times you’ll find interesting places recommended by other tourists, but every now and then some people prefer a local’s perspective. And that’s what we’re trying to convey with this material. 

In exchange, our students used their language skills to produce a material with a realistic and palpable outcome. 

Hope you enjoy using it as much as we did while making it. 

Download the PDF here

Um Recife mais cosmopolita, variado e interessante

Matéria publicada no Diário de Pernambuco no último dia 15 de maio:

"Muitas vezes nossas vidas profissionais dão diversas voltas. Com certeza foi o meu caso, mas posso dizer que estou hoje em uma situação privilegiada, escolhi e consigo trabalhar com o que gosto: sou sócio de um curso de Inglês inteiramente voltado para Negócios. E essa atividade me faz pensar bastante sobre como o Recife tem mudado.

Nos anos em que morei em São Paulo, uma das coisas que me impressionava era a quantidade e criatividade de opções que a cidade oferecia em diversos setores. Um amigo na época brincava, dizendo que era possível encontrar um restaurante de comida mexicana preparada por argentinos, com um grupo de espanhóis tocando bossa nova.

Exageros à parte, a impressão passada é de que o mercado paulista permite a entrada de negócios mais voltados para nichos, focando em interesses bem específicos.

Há poucos anos, esse mesmo cenário parecia pouco provável na Veneza Brasileira. Pare e pense quantos restaurantes de cozinha francesa havia nela há cinco anos. E quantos ‘Pubs’? 

Estabelecimentos japoneses especializados em temakis estão por toda parte. O Outback é um sucesso, apesar do Applebee’s ter falhado recentemente. E não é apenas no segmento da gastronomia que isso está acontecendo. Já se pode comprar uma moto Harley Davidson aqui. Ou encontrar produtos para ‘nerds’ e ‘geeks’ no Paço Alfândega. 

O crescimento econômico do estado gerou não só um aumento de remuneração e de oportunidades profissionais. Ele trouxe ainda variedade de escolhas e opções para gostos mais peculiares. 

Na área onde trabalho, não foi diferente. Houve algumas tentativas anteriores de se oferecer cursos de Inglês para negócios voltados, exclusivamente, para adultos. Mas nada parece ter ‘vingado’, e a alternativa era continuar oferecendo o ‘básico’ e ‘seguro’ ‘General English’, que abrangia um número maior de interessados, sacrificando o atendimento de necessidades específicas.

Ainda bem que isso mudou. Hoje, pode-se optar por aprender Inglês voltado para uma realidade profissional em turmas formadas apenas por adultos. O mercado recifense abriu espaço para produtos especializados, e uma demanda latente que esperava ansiosa por uma solução agora está sendo atendida. E a reação mais comum que percebemos é ‘finalmente, por que vocês demoraram tanto?’. 

Assim como em outras áreas, o mercado de nichos tende a ser (muito) menor que o tradicional. Acredito que os bistrôs franceses não irão atrair mais público que as churrascarias. A diferença é que eles, agora, não estão fadados ao fracasso.

Quanto a mim, fico feliz de ter minha pequena, porém válida, participação em também oferecer uma opção diferenciada nesse Recife mais cosmopolita, variado e interessante."

When Profiling Works

Profiling people is certainly not a new concept for many – something we each do almost subconsciously. It comes in the form of social orienting, and of course environment. It rose to prominence after 911 and the rise of terrorism, and while homeland security was and still is a primary mandate for most responsible states, should it supersede individual rights when based on profiling? The safe answer is depends.

In Brasil, the issue of profiling has come under the spotlight with the manifestations which occurred recently in shopping malls in Sao Paulo, commonly known as ``rolezinhos`` - and most recently the incident in Rio involving the alleged 15 year old thief from the favelas – who was beaten, stripped and finally locked to a post by white vigilantes. And even here at CEO, through the profiling of our own students.

Now, relax - there is no diabolical plan in effect to take over your minds with English and thereby mount an attack on other language schools in the city and then the country and then… Sorry got carried away there, but rest assured; no calculated plan other than that to provide the best quality teaching is being formulated at HQ. Having said that profiling our students is something that we do every day, especially when it comes to lesson planning.

The practice or should I say science is fascinating. There are so many variables, socio economic, cultural, gender - that come to bear when projecting the personalities of students. Profiling as teachers allows us to cultivate lesson plans that address specific areas of interest in students, but more importantly, it gives us insight in how to best impart the knowledge. Working exclusively with Executives, accurate profiling based on carefully accumulated data is essential to the education process, especially with respect to language teaching.

So how does one accurately profile the adult Brasilian learner? Last year, The Guardian ran an article which helps to explain the recent interest in Brasil`s burgeoning middle class, and sheds light on the unique issues faced by Adult ESL students in the country. Here is part of that article:

“…the rise of a formerly poor social group that is now in the most powerful consumer stratum in the country. Brazil’s “C-class” – as they are categorized – have grown rapidly in size and influence over the past decade thanks to the growth of the Brazilian economy, widening credit lines and the government’s efforts to address income inequality. Since 2004, the government says, 32 million Brazilians have been lifted out of poverty. Last year, this helped the C-class – defined as those earning between 1,000 and 4,500 reals (£300-£1,400) a month – to constitute for the first time a majority of Brazil’s population of 196 million.”

The fact that in a global economy more and more people need to speak English is nothing new, of course. What is new, I believe, is the kind of student that has emerged because of the economic boom The Guardian described. At the risk of oversimplifying matters, I would describe these new middle class adult students as people who:

1. Are in their early-20s to mid-30s.

2. Need English to become or remain employable. Travel, culture and fun are secondary interests.

3. Need to learn English more than they might want to learn it. And they need to learn it fast.

4. May have never been to an English-speaking country.

5. May be relatively impervious to American / British culture.

6. Are mostly A1 / A2 when they start a new course, since they didn’t learn enough English as kids / teens and grew up with limited exposure to English – partly because of item 5 above.

7. May have limited literacy in L1 and a very feeble grasp of learning strategies and study skills.

8. Tend to be very career-oriented. They have no time to – in their words – “waste” on topics, situations, words, functions and grammar that they don’t perceive as directly relevant to their career goals.

9. Tend to gauge their progress by the degree to which they are able to “get stuff done” at work.
 Fast.

10. Are not willing, for the most part, to spend more than 2 years in a language school. *

Add to all this the amount of pressure these students live under, makes you wonder why they even bother trying. But then, that’s where we come in as teachers of adults – dealing with and understanding these issues through profiling better enables us to address these specific needs and provides us an insight into their obstacles and motivations behind learning the language.



*Taken from an excerpt from Luiz Otávio`s blog: http://www.luizotaviobarros.com/2013/12/learn-english-fast.html

Purpose

Most teachers know this term rather well: purpose. When it comes to classroom practice, think everyone who has been observed by a peer, coordinator or teacher trainer has heard something like this: “tell me more about that activity you did. What was the purpose behind it?”

We learn quickly that “to have some fun”, “to enjoy ourselves a little” or “to practice” are not usually enough. There is a deeper connotation to it. You are led to ask yourself why your students should perform the activities you ask them to. In the beginning of our careers, we wish to know a lot of ‘whats’ and ‘hows’, but at same stage, the question that matters the most is ‘why’.

Thinking C.E.O. as a huge lesson plan, we started asking ourselves why we exist. What is our purpose? To teach English in business contexts? To provide a solution for adults who want to share a classroom with people who share similar interests? To offer convenience and value for money? If you analyse these questions closely, you will notice they are all related to what we do, and not why.

Therefore, we dug deeper, and it did not take too long to realize why we exist. We want our students to succeed, simple. We thrive through our students accomplishments. It’s not a great lesson that matters. It is when we realize that our students use what they learned in their real lives for their own benefit. Suddenly, we saw that all our ‘whys’ are linked to our ‘whats’.

We succeed when our students are able to hold a telephone conversation in English with their bosses. To help, our students have their teacher’s and my cell phones to call us up any time for a quick chat in English.

We win when our students succeed in presenting something in English at their jobs. To be there for them, we provide special lessons for this kind of circumstance.

We succeed when our students do well in interviews, and of course we schedule some rehearsal Skype interviews with them beforehand.

We hate when students miss classes that they have already paid for, and so we offer them make-up ones, or have them on Skype for the lesson when they are travelling, for example.

We are happy when students are able to socialize with someone with work colleagues from other countries, and that is why we have happy hours in local bars and here at the office.

I could continue, but there is no purpose (got the catch?). We do everything we do because we want our students to get there, wherever ‘there’ is for them. There is no successful lesson if students do not succeed outside the classroom.

Having come to this realization, we have decided to do more, much more. I think our students could already notice some changes. And there is much more to come.

In addition, we have decided to change the way in which we communicate with students and the market. That is why today we are releasing our new campaign “you do good, we feel good”. We want to show why we are here, we want people to know that our success comes through theirs. Based on what our students have accomplished up until now, we feel GREAT.

Happy Proclamação da República

Happy Proclamação da República (Nacional) guys!

Today is a holiday and that' s always nice, isn' t it?
People here in Recife often travel to some beaches nearby or to Gravata for this weekend. Others decide to stay in Recife and go to the beach here or do something else nice.
I started wondering about holidays people celebrate in other countries and then I wanted to know about the weird and the strange holidays.

Here is what I found:


November, 2013-2014 Bizarre and Unique Holidays

International Drum Month
National Model Railroad Month
National Novel Writing Month
Peanut Butter Lovers Month
Real Jewelry Month
National Sleep Comfort Month

What... A National Peanut butter month???

Here is a text I found when I Googled "Peanut Butter Lovers Month": November is Peanut Butter Lovers Month, time to celebrate our favorite food! Americans will celebrate by eating more than 65 million pounds of peanut butter during the month of November.

Southern Peanut Growers, representing southeastern peanut farmers, started the celebration as Peanut Butter Lovers Day on November 4, 1990. November 4 marks the anniversary of the first patent for peanut butter, applied for by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg on November 4, 1895. It grew to a month-long celebration in 1995 when peanut butter celebrated its 100th birthday!

- See more here 

I'm pretty sure that "Real Jewelry Month" would make me go broke!


I also stumbled upon these Daily Holidays. I found them quite amusing as well!

November, 2013 Daily Holidays, Special and Wacky Days:

Deviled Egg Day
Sandwich Day
Gunpowder Day
Saxophone Day
Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
Cook Something Bold Day

I love the idea of cooking something bold one day!

One is not enough!

I recently read an article on the Forbes site discussing the expansion of the English language to more and more places in the world in face of China`s growing economic might and the prospect that perhaps Mandarin and not English could emerge as the dominant language of global commerce.  I won`t summarize the article since I feel it`s worth a read, and where the accredited author sites various references of English continuing to be the dominant language of communication for the foreseeable future.  She eludes to an underlying pitfall by many native speakers, not to speak a second or third language.

I echo her sentiments for a stronger desire by individuals to speak a second or third language, especially amongst natives.  As a Canadian, a bilingual country, I`m removed from this pitfall, which has befallen my American neighbours to the south.  Only an astonishingly low 10 percent of them speak a second language.  Now I am not absolving Canadians or British or Australians, as some of them too fall into this category, and like many Americans, miss that cross -cultural awareness exercise, which occurs when one learns a second language. 

This of course has come back to haunt Americans through their often controversial foreign policy and their reputation outside of their borders.  I mean come on, most claim to be Canadian when they are travelling – some my friends.  Regardless, this is not about coming down on Yanks – I love most of them, ok a few – more than 10.  Anyway, the finger should be pointed at all who speak only one language.  Yes only one, because one is not nearly enough, especially in the world we live in now. 

Now I am not saying that English should be the premiere language, it is in fact the default language but acquiring a skill set in another should be something we all should seek out.  I always wondered how Brasil has maintained its Portuguese inspite being surrounded by Spanish speaking countries or why they never chose to be bilingual, and adopt Spanish?  I am sure some of you will weigh in on this query, and I hope so. 

I believe that it’s a necessity especially now when the world is getting smaller and more people are living on it that learning a second language whether it be English, Mandarin, (Julius) or Sinhalese it’s the cross-cultural exercise that every human needs to indulge in at some point in their lives.  Seeking new ways to communicate must be a social responsibility as individuals of a world in the 21^st Century.

So, congratulations to my dear students who have taken those first steps towards greater cultural awareness through language – Parabens!

Clieque aqui para link do artigo no Forbes…

 

A very specific kind of shower

We’ve had a group of students since August that fit into a special category. These students quickly became our friends. Every teacher knows that tension that naturally comes before starting a new group. Sometimes this feeling goes on for a few classes, until teacher and students finally bond. With this group, this anxiety lasted for about 5 minutes. The ice was immediately broken due to their sense of humour added to great doses of eagerness.

I caught myself covering a range of vocabulary that I never thought I would teach before our classes. One example is ‘shit shower’ (apologies!). It came up in class #1, if I’m not wrong, when I said I really liked the tie one of my students was wearing. Immediately the term was on the table and they were all trying to explain what the expression meant.

My first understanding of the term was a rather superficial one: (;)  ‘shit shower’ means complimenting someone. Last night I realized there was much more to it than I had actually realized.

We were at Underground Pub and the term came up. Kristín, who’s also a teacher here at C.E.O., was indeed puzzled when the unexpected collocation came up. I then asked a student, the creator of the term, to explain in his own words what it meant.

He explained that lawyers live in an extremely competitive world, full of dispute for prestige, status and results. Quite a stressful life, as one can imagine. "In this kind of atmosphere", he continued, "it is very natural to hear some unpleasant comments: people pointing out that your tie knot is a bit too much to the left, or that your trousers are a bit tight because you might have gained some weight." I must agree when he says that there’s nothing positive about such comments.

Then something started in his group of co-workers. During a tough job, for example, they noticed that words of support really helped them give that extra push. Something like ‘you’re a great criminal lawyer and you know it’ was something really good to hear at 2am when you’re trying to find a solution to a conundrum in a client’s case.

So the group of lawyers got into the habit of saying nice things to each other. The interesting part is that they’re not lies, not at all. ‘A  ‘shit shower’ is just a verbal representation of the truth’, quoting my wise student. Why shouldn’t you tell someone he looks terrific that day if you really think he does?

These guys are great lawyers. They work for one of the biggest and most respected law firms in town, and they found a way of helping and supporting one another by expressing positive impressions they had. Needless to say their friendship has thus become stronger, and how thier productivity has been positively influenced.

As for me, once again I confirm that us teacher get so much in return, that I’m not sure who learns more, us or our students. Because of them, I’ll really try to fit more positive comments in my routine.

And for this specific group of students, my ‘shit shower’ of the day: It is indeed a pleasure to be your teacher and your friend.

Multiple Confusing Choices

At first, when I visited potential clients, my idea was to offer a completely customised service according to their needs. I'd start by asking: "Tell me what you expect from an English course, and I'll very likely do it." Beautiful. Everyone one would like that, right? Not.

Let me go back in time a little. Many years ago, I was a t-shirt maniac. I used to buy all kinds of tops with different designs, messages and colours. There was a specific  site I bought from, with thousands of options to choose from, and every week they had several new releases. I was quite a regular client.

Then one day I came across the perfect online shop: they had a rather intuitive and user friendly system that allowed you create your own design. Anything and they'd get it printed. You could even choose the fabric. The result? I never bought a single t-shirt from them. It didn't take me too long to realise that I was really good in finding, judging and buying, but creating wasn't really my cup of tea. Unfortunately, the website doesn't exist anymore.

A similar phenomenon happened to me. When I asked my potential client what he wanted from my course, the automatic response was "what do you have to offer?" And I'm pretty sure they were thinking something like this: "you're the specialist here Mr, don't ask me to know what I need. You tell me!"

I immediately changed my approach. Started explaining the most popular formats and why they're good, adding to the end: "but of course we have a lot of flexibility to adapt to what you need". Then the response changed."interesting", they said.

My conclusion is that only a few people know exactly what they want (in my context, of course. Buying ketchup could be slightly simpler. Or maybe not). Most people want you to show them what they need, regardless if they know what they want or not.. They want you to be able to understand them, and provide a solution that is better than the ones they already know or have.

I'd say this is the process:

I don't want to think about English classes. My profession is a different one.

I want YOU to know what I need. Then tell me what I need.

If I believe you, then what is the solution?

And you'd better be creative. Your competitor is waiting outside.

Surprise me and I'll buy it.

Otherwise, I'll call you back. Or not.

I’ve been recently been interviewing some people for a teaching position at my school. This process has made me think a lot about many things.

I remember working as a glass collector in a really nice pub named Revolution in Glasgow, Scotland. It was hard work and the shifts could be long some times. I remember starting work at 11 a.m. and finishing at 2 a.m. completely exhausted but happy. I noticed while I was there that I spent a few months without seeing daylight on Sundays because I spent the day in bed sleeping. Not a difficult achievement in Glasgow, though.

I remember carrying kegs in the cellar, and bringing up the stairs huge plastic bags full of ice on my back. I remember cleaning vomit in urinals and being careful with bin juice when throwing away the garbage at the end of the shift.

When I moved to Barcelona, I needed a job fast to avoid coming back to Brazil sooner than anticipated. I clearly remembered the tone of the interview:

“Hablas Español?”

“Sorry, I don’t”

“Ok. What hours do you have available”

“24h”

“Ok. Let me rephrase. What hours are you willing to work?”

“24h”

“What is a good a salary for you right now?”

“A salary. Any salary”

“Ok, I get it. What are you willing to do while working in the bar apart from making cocktails?”

“Everything”

“Ok, give me an example”

“I really need the job, so if you want me to clean your toilet with my tooth brush, I’ll do it right now”

“long pause…. Ok, you start tonight.”

A week later, I had the key to the tiny little bar. The owner said he really wanted to go on holidays after so many years working non-stop.

Now, this is tone of the interviews I've been having:

“Can you speak English?”

“Very well. I lived abroad for many years”

“What hours do you have available?”

“It depends. How many groups will you give me and what is the pay?”

“I’ll give you no groups, you’ll work long hours, the pay is miserable but at least you’ll get paid to learn”

“I know how to teach”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I taught my niece about two years ago”

“Ok, I’ll call you soon to let you know the results”

“Ok. Please, try not to call me in the mornings, ok? I’ll be in class or maybe sleeping”

“Sure. I’ll keep that in mind. Nice to meet you”

“I know”

what / you / like / do .

Do what you like.

Isn’t it a common advice you’ve been given by many different people in your life? Nobody doubts how true and important it is to do what pleases and makes you happy. I won’t be the one to deny it. But let’s think a little, shall we?

When I was younger, my dream job was to be in a band. As a teenager, the idea of composing songs, playing in different places, meeting new people. I’m pretty sure I was not the only one to dream about it.

I didn’t follow this path. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I tried for a while and noticed that I obviously lacked talent despite all the stamina and motivation. 

In my short and limited career of a guitarist in a punk band in the 90s, I realised that there were times I didn’t really enjoy the process. There were days that the last thing I wanted to do was rehearse. Rare but also true, there were times I didn’t even want to play.

The band was over but I still kept in my mind something that would help me measure how much I liked a job. I thought that my ideal job would be the one I’d long for on weekends. I had a romantic notion that I’d be a bit sad on a Friday because I’d miss work. I thought that I would daydream about work on a Saturday afternoon.

Now, this is not quite what happens in real life, is it? And there’s nothing wrong about it, to be honest. If you can’t wait for the weekend to come, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you hate your job.

Obvious as it may sound, I’d say that just as important as doing what you like is liking what you do. If you get to the bottom of it, you’ll see that your dream job could be the one you have now, even if you think it’s an impossible notion this one. But looking from different perspectives and making an effort to enjoy more what you already do, you might be able to invert the order of things.

You might find the 'a dream come true' might as well become 'truth becomes dream'.

Enemies-in-law

Someone once told me that the quickest way to make enemies is by following the law. Let me explain before you think I'm suggesting that we should all be criminals to have friends.

Suppose you have a client. Suppose your client made a mistake and forgot to pay you for a service. Your company has a rule: after three days, the client will be visited by a third party who's now responsible for receiving the money, with interest and penalties, of course. Suppose this client had paid all his debts regularly, and that he didn't pay a specific one. He didn't pay $100. Now he owes you $130. And this is a client who would come back to work with your company again. Many times.

Question: would you follow the 'law'? Or would you call your client and ask him if he forgot to pay?

My supplier followed the law. Are they wrong? Not really. Am I still their client? Absolutely not.

Endless Push

Since I’ve started my own business, it’s an amazing fact how many times I’ve found myself struggling with what seems to be quite obvious things.

The last one I’ve noticed is the importance of setting goals and trying to visualise scenarios for the future. See? Told you. Pretty obvious, isn’t it? I did it, and I thought it was enough. We even started having meeting every Monday to set up the goals in different areas for that week. But then I’ve found myself unhappy with the results so far. And being quite honest, I should not be disappointed. Far from it, actually.

But the thing is that what got stuck in my mind are the long-term goals. I’m really focusing on where I’d like to be in a year for now. Good? Yes and no. The problem of sticking to these global aims is that you lose sight of the smaller ones. It means that if you’re aiming at 100 in a year from now, you don’t celebrate if you reach 50 in only one month.

So here I am with reasonably good results, dreaming about the excellent ones, and with the constant feeling that there is still a lot to do to get where I want. Not a pleasant felling at all, I can tell you that. Someone told me I have to be patient. I think they’re right. But more than being patient, I guess I must be more realistic.

Interestingly enough, this realisation came from what I wrote in the last post. I asked myself a couple of times: ‘happy?’. ‘Not at all” were my conclusions. Why? After ruminating and considering many different and intricate causes, I asked myself if I was too tired, if the long hours were the problem, even if I wasn’t happy wearing a suit to work. Go figure where you mind takes you when you’re trying to find solutions.

But as it’s usually the case, the answer is right in front of you. It’s difficult to accept it because it’s so obvious it makes you feel a little stupid. You think ‘seriously?’ Yes, seriously! Which means that how hard you push is probably less important than how much you have to push. In other words, I guess it’s easier to run a marathon one kilometre at a time, rather than going for a 42km sprint. Simple, stupid, obvious and true.

_ A _ _Y?

Starting a company is hard work. Couldn’t be more cliché than that to start this post. When some people asked me a few months ago if I would be able to deal with the company, my studies (I’m currently doing my Distance DELTA Module 2 – a diploma in teaching English as a second language) and my wedding party, which is in December, all together. I replied “yes” with a big smile on my face, and with that inner feeling of “I’m really going for it”.

And then reality comes. Working from 7am to 9pm every day, no time to have lunch, spending a lot of time stuck in traffic, doing whatever I have to do in front of the PC on Saturdays, working on my DELTA on Sundays, with very little money in my bank account, my car is now the bank’s car, no salary, running to and fro helter-skelter, anxiety levels roller-coaster like. And yet, this is probably the best job I’ve ever had.

But now I do understand when a former boss of mine, who owns the company I worked for, said: “If I knew how much work it would be, I wouldn’t do it again. When I realized it, it was already too late to turn back”. Interesting, but hopefully I won’t get there. Hopefully.

And then I was listening to the Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo on the radio today, after he won his 3^rd gold medal in the 50m free style. A journalist asked what it takes to cope with the insane amount of practising and training every day. Interestingly enough, he said that he needed to be happy, just that. He said he couldn’t possibly go through all he has to do in one year to swim those few seconds if he’s not happy. I guess that the thought of a training session might be enough to depress someone in a gray Monday morning.

I get it. And I agree with it. There were mornings when I’ve asked myself: “Why am I doing this to myself? I really liked my old job. Money wasn’t a plus, but definitely not a big issue.”  But the good feeling of a productive and effective working day makes a great difference.

I’ve already included in my daily agenda some routine reminders, such as: “how can I be memorable today?”, “what have you done about sales today?”, “pay the bills, chief!”, “plan your lessons”…

Guess I’ll add this one now: “Happy?”.

Your Problem is My Problem

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the logical process of companies is to try to understand the market and its potential consumers, and based on what they find out and/or feel, they offer a product or service that is intended to satisfy their customers’ needs.

“Observe/understand market – create products or services – offer these products – satisfy customers’ needs, desires” more or less represents this process.

But what happens at the end of this line is that customers’ needs change, or often enough, companies don’t get it quite right. Or even if they do get it right, there will be customers who will not have their needs met by the products/services offered. It’s just impossible to offer everything that all customers want, it doesn’t matter how hard you try. In these cases, directly or not, the companies tell these customers that they can’t offer what they’re looking for. Simple, that’s life, sorry, maybe next time.

I try to think from a slightly different perspective. Try, because despite its simplicity, it’s something incredibly difficult to implement.

I try to think that a person that gets in touch with my company has a problem, and this person is calling us because he/she thinks that we might be able to solve the problem. We offer services, and we have a good degree of flexibility to adapt ourselves to meet what is required by our clients. Of course, there are many occasions in which we simply can’t offer enough.

But before offering a group of solutions, I like to think that it’s better to offer something like this: “We’ll do what we can to solve your problem”. “Is there any difference?”, you might ask. I say there is a huge one. Today, for example, I woman called looking for English classes for her 4-year-old daughter. We focus on business English for adults, no quite our area to solve this woman’s problem. According to the perspective I’ve just mentioned, we should have asked more about her needs, having promptly offered the name and phone number of a school that could offer the kind of classes she was looking for, even better if next to her house, and with good credentials. We didn’t. That’s why I say we try.

What happens is that this supposed school for children is also our competitor, because they also offer classes for adults. Should we not mention it then? I believe we should. I believe that we should try our best to help whoever gets in touch with us, even if it includes recommending our competitors.

I’m not being naïve in thinking that we might not lose customers. I am perfectly aware that we will. However, I believe that the attitude of solving problems reflects in many different areas within the company, and it becomes a constant reminder that we should focus on the customer first.

I’m absolutely certain I’m not being innovative here, but I’m quite sure that this idea is as obvious as it is easily forgettable.

Complaint Mania!

I believe that we make an effort, conscious or not, to get used to things that surround us. We quickly grow accustomed to what’s good, but we also tend to be in good terms with  what’s not so good, maybe in a slower pace though. However, I guess that there are things that no matter how hard we try, it’s just impossible to accept.

For me, one of these things is the low quality of customer service that companies provide. Maybe this is a skill especially well developed by us Brazilians, but I’m pretty convinced that it’s a worldwide phenomenon.

It doesn’t happen when you’re trying to buy something from a company. No, salespeople are generally experts in treating you well. The true façade of customer service emerges when the first problem arises. Salespeople have a clear objective in mind, which is to sell, of course. Support staff also have clear goals, but I’m convinced that the main objective is something like this: ‘how can I get rid of this bore as soon as possible?’.

Some examples:

Situation 1: “Sir, I need a copy of your ID to complete the service”

The following day: “Sir, now I need a copy of your driver’s license too.”

Question: “Why didn’t you say so yesterday?”

Answer given: “The directions are on the website”

Real answer (not given): “I didn’t check all the documentation. When I realised the ID was missing, this alone was enough to get rid of you. I really wanted to catch up on my Facebook banter”

Situation 2: “Sir, I can’t help you because the system is out”

Your reply: “Do you need the system to check if the settings on my new tablet are correct?”

Their reply: “I have to check if you’re really our client”

Your reply: “The chip has the name of your company”

Fake reply: “Sorry, sir. There’s nothing I can do.”

Real answer (not given): “Sir, please do understand me. When the system is out, I have the perfect excuse to be staring at the ceiling watching the minutes go by. I really want to go home. And you must agree, staring at the ceiling is much more interesting than trying to solve your problem”

Unfortunately, I’ve come across the solution that works most of the times. I say ‘unfortunately’, because the options are: 1) be rude; 2) speak loudly; 3) rage. Please notice that you can use them all together.

The consequences of an explosive attitude change the outcome, but not the philosophy. The difference now is that they finally realise that you won’t leave without a solution, which therefore means that the quickest way of getting rid of you is by actually solving your problem. Abracadabra!

It’s a sad conclusion I come to. Firstly, because I guess I’m not a huge fan of being mean to people, and neither are most people I know. Secondly, because it does me no good, on the contrary, I could go without the extra stress and frantic heartbeats. It also goes against my own personality of avoiding conflicts.

So now I’ve been trying to develop the skill of becoming a monster in a few seconds, and going back to my normal self right after, without actually triggering any physical or psychological side effects. The saddest part is that it’s working.

A Confession

As a teacher, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told my students that making mistakes are  part of learning, and that errors are intrinsically linked with learning. Errors show that students are taking risks, and it is no cliché to say that you can learn a lot from your own mistakes.

The reason why I’ve chosen this topic is to confess to a ridiculously silly and yet revolting mistake I’ve made today.

Here at C.E.O., we’re preparing for a big event tomorrow, an opening cocktail for friends, partners and potential as well as already enrolled students. I had an idea to promote the event that included sending some companies a few cookies and teabags inside a box, along with a printed invitation that said something like this: “In Britain, people have tea at five; in America, every time is a good time for a cookie; and here at C.E.O. the cocktail is tomorrow, at 6p.m..” The idea was that the delicious homemade cookies we ordered would create some buzz in the offices, and the teabags would give a nice touch.

The response was really good, and I was quite pleased with myself. As I was going down the lift on my way to grab a quick snack, I realised that I had written ‘oppening’. Yes, with 2 ‘P’s. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph”, I said to my pale reflection in the mirror.

I immediately pictured myself living in a distant country with a different name, hiding from anyone I’ve ever met. Please, do pardon my exaggeration, but you must agree that this is not the best way to start a new English school.

I thought the best idea would be to ignore it, and mention it only in case someone brought it up. But then I remembered how my day started. To put it shortly, my exact words were: “Thank you for your email. I’m not too worried about the mistakes you’ve made in not delivering the products, I’m more worried about what you’re going to do about it, now that you’ve realised that there is a problem”. Man, if I had only known I’d be repeating these words in this situation.

So I thought to myself: “ignoring the mistake is not really the option that leaves me with a clear conscience”. So here I am, talking about this slip that made my guts twist a few minutes ago. And quoting myself, “I guess that confessing to my mistake is a much better way of dealing with it than hoping no-one will notice”.

I know some day I’ll probably laugh about it. But definitely today is way too soon for that.

Ps. I just hope I haven’t made any other slips while writing this post :/

Nota: algumas pessoas me perguntaram por que eu não estava escrevendo o blog em Inglês, já que a C.E.O. se propõe a ensinar a língua. Escolhi escrever em Português pensando nos meus alunos que estão no início do aprendizado. Porém, me deixei vencer pelo argumento de que posso contribuir mais um pouco no aprendizado dos alunos, em qualquer nível, se fizer os posts ‘in English’. Se você não concorda, por favor mande sua opinião.

An offer you can't refuse

Vamos começar falando sobre Business, e como o primeiro post no assunto, vou contar um pouco sobre como a C.E.O. começou.

Meu nome é Luciano Lapa, tenho 30 (quase 31) anos, nasci em Brasília, mas cresci e fui criado em Recife. Sou formado em Administração pela FCAP-UPE, certificado para o ensino de Inglês como segunda língua pela universidade de Cambridge, Inglaterra, e atualmente fazendo minha graduação no mesmo tema, pela mesma universidade.

Dei aulas de Inglês pela primeira vez em 2001, e muitas águas rolaram até chegar aqui. Me formei, morei um tempo em Glasgow, Escócia, depois em Barcelona, Espanha, voltei para o Brasil, morando em São Paulo por 5 anos.

Quando voltei para Recife em 2009, a carreira de professor de Inglês tomou novo fôlego. Não demorou muito para perceber que tinha reencontrado minha paixão. Não demorou muito tempo também para perceber que eu tinha grandes planos para minha velha/nova carreira.

Fui estudando, me qualificando, trabalhando muito, e fermentando muitas ideias. Um dia, numa conversa informal com minha grande amiga e sócia, Juliana, falei que abriria um curso de Inglês voltado para Negócios por três razões óbvias: a demanda é grande, não conheço ninguém que faça esse trabalho tão direcionado em Recife, e porque iria me divertir muito trabalhando com minhas paixões: Inglês, ensino e administração. Resultado: uma semana depois ela me ligou dizendo que não parava de pensar na ideia e que queria ser minha sócia. Disse que ia pensar no assunto. Desliguei o telefone, pensei comigo: pensar em quê? Liguei de volta e disse que o negócio estava fechado.

Isso foi em fevereiro desse ano, 2013. Estamos no final de julho e está tudo praticamente pronto: alunos chegando, aulas acontecendo, e muitas empresas interessadas. Não sei como tudo pode ter andado tão rápido.

Montamos um curso nos padrões que o público exige: num local muito bacana, com uma sala que ficou linda (sem querer ser ‘pai’ coruja) e tudo o que temos direito.

Tudo remete a Business, mas também fizemos questão de oferecer um espaço muito descontraído. Acredito que as chances de aprender uma língua aumentam bastante quando há diversão. Nossa regra é dar um tratamento pessoal para cada aluno e parceiro. Uma empresa é um conceito subjetivo, pessoas são reais, e queremos tratar pessoas como pessoas, por pessoas.

A filosofia é simples, surfando na inteligência do Bill Gates, que diz: “make the customers an offer they can’t refuse” (ofereça aos consumidores uma oferta que eles não podem recusar). E é exatamente isso que oferecemos: conveniência, flexibilidade para montar seu curso de acordo com o que você espera, pessoal qualificado, espaço voltado para o aprendizado, muito conforto, e o melhor, por um precinho mais do que justo e com muitas maneiras de ganhar descontos. 

É o famoso bom, bonito e barato. Se você tem vontade de estudar Inglês, vai ficar difícil encontrar um motivo para não ser aluno C.E.O.

ps.: a proposta é realmente excelente, mas não se preocupe porque não usamos do 'poder de convencimento' do Don Corleone, só para deixar claro! "Arrivederci"!

Greetings

Bem-vindo(a) ao blog da C.E.O. Corporate English Office. É com muito prazer e entusiasmo que tocamos a C.E.O., e é com o mesmo espírito e energia que começamos esse espaço.

A proposta do Blog é simples de entender, e segue basicamente o que a empresa oferece: Business + English + Teaching. É com isso em mente que pretendo abordar temas referentes ao mundo dos negócios, da língua inglesa e ensino/aprendizado de uma língua.

Essa ideia veio maturando com o tempo, pois acredito que um compromisso surge com a criação de um blog. Tomamos a decisão e pretendemos respeitar as expectativas que podemos gerar nos nossos potenciais leitores. A princípio, vamos publicar três vezes por semana, nas segundas, quartas e sextas, tópicos sobre Business, Inglês, e Ensino/Aprendizado, respectivamente.

É isso! Bem vindos, esperamos com sinceridade que gostem e mandem sugestões, críticas para que essa iniciativa seja proveitosa para todos!

Luciano Lapa
Director of Studies