LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS ON BUSINESS SALES PITCH SCRIPTS

Authors

  • Salwa Othman Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
  • Eliyas S. Mohandas Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Aizat Azhari Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
  • Nik Mastura Nik Ismail Azlan Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v6i2.3480

Keywords:

business sales pitch script, sales representative, formalist theory, functionalist theory, linguistic components, linguistic patterns

Abstract

Many challenges are faced by sales representatives in the effort of closing sales deal of product or service offered to their prospective clients. The goal is to persuade the clients to invest in the offered products or services. To perform this, sales representatives need a well-constructed sales script that can help them in enticing their clients. In relation to this, numerous tips and step-by-step advices are given by business professionals on how to craft a good sales script. However, looking at this situation in linguistic spectrum, it is observed that those tips and advices given are lacking justification from the linguistic perspectives which may provide new insights in the craftsmanship of a well-structured sales script. Hence, this paper serves to provide a steady parameter set to give linguistic guidelines for crafting an excellent pitch script. With reference to the theories developed by scholars like Schffrin (1994), Martin (2012), and Widdowson (1996), an analysis was conducted on 10 samples of sales script taken from one of the most successful international sales companies. Data collected shows that there are 6 different types of key linguistic components embedded within the scripts at a different frequency level. One prominent discovery of this study revealed that the different frequency of these key components leads to a rhythmic patterns and themes that immediately distinguish a good sales script with a successful one.

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Author Biographies

  • Salwa Othman, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    Salwa Othman is a lecturer at Akademi Pengajian Bahasa (APB), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. Her focus in teaching and learning is heavily based on the ESL galore whilst expanding her teaching and learning horizon in the area of Web-enabled Multimedia e-Language Production. Presently, she finds Mobile Learning and Education in The Digital Age as her new genre of fascination.
  • Eliyas S. Mohandas, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    Eliyas S. Mohandas is a senior English and Linguistic lecturer at the Academy of Language Studies in Universiti Teknologi MARA. He teaches English for Specific Purpose Courses such as English for Critical Academic Reading and English for Business Correspondence along with other linguistic and intercultural courses such as Critical Thinking, Website Design and Cultural Perceptions in Malaysia. His sheer interest of research covers the general English, Educational Technology, Critical Thinking, and Intercultural Communication.
  • Muhammad Aizat Azhari, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    Muhammad Aizat Azhari is an English and Linguistics lecturer at Akademi Pengajian Bahasa (APB) in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). He has taught numerous English courses throughout the years, both English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Applied Linguistics. His primary areas of interest revolve around the topics of Pragmatics and Sociolinguistics.
  • Nik Mastura Nik Ismail Azlan, Akademi Pengajian Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    Nik Mastura Nik Ismail Azlan is a senior English lecturer at the Academy of Language Studies in Universiti Teknologi MARA. She has built her experience in the academic field teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as well as English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Her research interest in general English has led her to publish several research articles throughout her years of service in UiTM.

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Published

2020-12-15

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Articles

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