Body Shop staff learn Mandarin

Staff at the Body Shop Leeds flagship store in Leeds took part in Mandarin taster classes with the Business Confucius Institute to help them communicate even better with their Chinese customers.

The flagship store on Leeds Briggate is one of the Body Shop's busiest sites in the UK and is popular with local Chinese customers. The store is equipped with a VIP treatment room and mini event space, where the classes took place.

The Body Shop were featured in our recent video called Improving the customer experience for Chinese visitors. In the video store manager Sam Staunton explained the steps they have taken to cater to Chinese customers, which include offering AliPay and translating their consultation forms into Mandarin.

Staff were keen to build on the training they had received so far and learn some Mandarin. BCI teacher Ou Yin led each group through some basic words and phrases they could use for welcoming and serving customers, and also ran through some important shopping days and cultural information. The team tackled the unfamiliar words and pronunciation with enthusiasm and left the class armed with a recording of the key vocabulary for review and further practice. Store manager Sam Staunton said:

The team have already been testing their skills with Chinese customers and their feedback from just today has been amazing.

If you visit the Body Shop be sure to say 你好!

Find out more about Business Confucius Institute Mandarin classes

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