Business English Vocabulary · Lesson 18

Sound Convincing When Talking About Company Values

From the cornerstone of your culture to the image you convey: the phrases senior professionals use to talk about values, brand and reputation – clear, precise and easy for everyone to understand.

ARead: what we stand for

Read the “Our values” page from a company’s website. Pay attention to the phrases in bold – you will need them in exercise B.

Our values · Fjord Outdoor

Since 1962, sustainability has been the cornerstone of everything we do – the foundation on which the whole company is built. We pride ourselves on making clothes that last for decades, and we are proud that many of our customers still wear jackets they bought thirty years ago.

As we have grown from a small workshop in Bergen into a company with 2,000 employees, we have continued to strive to keep the same high standards, working hard to make every product better than the last. And we have stayed true to our roots: we still repair any Fjord product for free, just as our founder did.

We believe that a brand is defined by what it stands for – the principles it believes in and defends – not just by what it sells. That is why we want our employees, partners and customers to buy into our values: to believe in them and support them, not simply accept them.

Inside the company, we foster a culture of openness, in which everyone is encouraged to suggest better ways of working. And over sixty years, we have carefully cultivated a reputation for honesty – something that cannot be built overnight, only developed slowly, year after year.

BKey words from the text

Based on the context of the text, choose the phrase that matches each definition. Then complete the example sentence. You may need to change the form of the phrase.

To believe in an idea and support it

“It’s hard to change a culture if the managers don’t it.”
The most important part of something, on which everything else depends

“Trust is the of every good business relationship.”
To continue to follow your principles or your origins, even when things change

“Despite its success, the company has its roots.”
To develop something, such as a relationship or a reputation, carefully over a long time

“She has strong relationships with all our key clients.”
To be proud of a particular quality or achievement

“We our fast customer service.”
To try very hard to do or achieve something

“We always exceed our clients’ expectations.”
To represent or support a particular principle or idea

“Customers want to know what a brand really .”
To encourage something, such as a culture or an environment, to develop

“Flexible working can help to loyalty among staff.”

CRead: when a brand forgets who it is

Now read the case study. The phrases in bold are for exercise D.

Case study · Halvorsen watches

For more than a century, Halvorsen was one of Europe’s most reputable watchmakers, known and trusted for its quality. Its watches were firmly high-end: beautifully made, very expensive, and sold only in a few exclusive shops.

Everything the company did – its advertising, its shops, even the way its staff dressed – fed into the image it wanted to convey: precision, tradition and quality. Every small detail contributed to how customers saw the brand.

Then, in 2015, a new owner decided to grow faster. Halvorsen launched a cheaper, mid-range collection, sold in department stores, followed by a low-end line of plastic watches sold online at heavy discounts.

Sales rose at first. But the company had lost sight of its original values – it had forgotten what made it special. The new products conveyed a very different image from the one Halvorsen had built over a hundred years.

Worse, the strategy alienated its most loyal customers. People who had bought Halvorsen watches for decades felt that the brand no longer cared about them, and many stopped buying altogether.

In 2022, the company closed its low-end line and returned to its roots. Rebuilding its reputation, however, is proving much harder than losing it.

DKey words from the case study

Based on the case study, choose the phrase that matches each definition. Then complete the example sentence. You may need to change the form of the phrase.

ESay it better

Each sentence below is correct, but it sounds simple. Rewrite it using a phrase from this lesson, then compare your version with the model answer.

“Quality is the most important thing for our company.”

Use: cornerstone

Show model answer
“Quality is the cornerstone of our business.”
“We are very proud of our customer service.”

Use: pride

Show model answer
“We pride ourselves on our customer service.”
“The company forgot its original values.”

Use: sight

Show model answer
“The company lost sight of its original values.”
“The staff don’t really believe in the new strategy.”

Use: buy into

Show model answer
“The staff haven’t really bought into the new strategy.”
“Our shops show customers that we are a luxury brand.”

Use: convey

Show model answer
“Our shops convey a luxury image.”
“The changes made our loyal customers unhappy, and they left.”

Use: alienate

Show model answer
“The changes alienated our most loyal customers.”

FKey words in a new context

The CEO of a coffee chain is giving a speech to staff on the company’s 50th anniversary. Complete the speech with the phrases from the box. You may need to change the form of some of the words.

Word box

cornerstone
pride yourself on
stay true to
stand for
buy into
foster
cultivate
feed into
convey
lose sight of
alienate
strive to

SpeechFifty years of Brava Coffee

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary.

When my grandfather opened the first Brava café in Turin, quality was the of his business. Fifty years later, it still is. We buying the best beans in the world and paying farmers fairly.

Over the years, we have grown from one café to three hundred, but we have always those values. I’m often asked what Brava . My answer is simple: quality, fairness and warmth.

Values only matter if people them, and I’m proud that so many of you believe in them as strongly as I do. Our job as managers is to an environment where those values can grow, and to the trust that our customers place in us.

Everything we do – the design of our cafés, the way we greet customers, even the music we play – the image we want to .

Some of our competitors have chased fast growth and what made them special. In doing so, they the very customers who made them successful. We will not make that mistake.

So, for the next fifty years, let’s continue to be the café that people trust most. Thank you.

Use it well

Three things professionals often mix up when they talk about values and image.

Foster or cultivate?

Both mean helping something to develop over time.

Foster a culture, an environment or a spirit:

to foster a culture of openness

Cultivate a relationship, a reputation or an image:

to cultivate a reputation for honesty

Stand for or buy into?

A brand stands for its values.

People buy into those values – they believe in them.

We know what we stand for, and our staff have bought into it.

Stand for can also explain an abbreviation: CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer.

High-end or high end?

Use a hyphen before a noun:

a high-end brand, a mid-range hotel, low-end products

Without a noun after it, no hyphen:

at the high end of the market

You can convey an image, a message or a sense of something.

Glossary

All the phrases from this lesson.

Values

the cornerstonethe most important part, on which everything else depends
to pride yourself onto be proud of a particular quality or achievement
to strive toto try very hard to do or achieve something
to stay true toto continue to follow your principles or origins
to stand forto represent or support a principle or an idea
to buy intoto believe in an idea and support it
to fosterto encourage a culture or an environment to develop
to cultivateto develop a relationship or a reputation carefully over time

Image and reputation

reputableknown and trusted; having a good reputation
high-end / mid-range / low-endexpensive and top quality / in the middle / cheap and basic
to feed intoto contribute to something or influence it
to convey (an image)to communicate an idea, a feeling or an image
to lose sight ofto forget about something important
to alienateto make people feel no longer valued, so that they stop supporting you