How to welcome a business visitor in English (A2–B1 pre-intermediate): reception phrases, questions and a visit schedule

Words for how a company is organised

A large company has divisions (big parts, by product or region) made up of departments such as Sales or Finance; a branch is a local office. The board makes major decisions, and the managing director runs the company. Learn these role phrases with their prepositions:

• report to – “The purchasing manager reports to the operations director.”
• be responsible for (+ noun or -ing) – “I’m responsible for welcoming visitors.”
• be in charge of – “Tom is in charge of the afternoon tour.”
• work closely with – “Sales works closely with Logistics on urgent orders.”

Welcoming a visitor at reception

A good welcome has four moves: identify the visitor, confirm the appointment, handle security and say what happens next. In “You must be …”, “must” is a confident guess, not an order. “Sales is expecting you” means the host is ready. Use “Ms” with the surname if you don’t know a woman’s preferred title.

Listen, then practise both roles.

Questions with who, what, when and which

The pattern is question word + auxiliary + subject + verb: “is/are” with “be”, “do/does” with other verbs, and the main verb stays in its base form. Use “which” for a limited choice. One exception: when “who” is the subject, there is no “do”. Compare “Who meets her at reception?” with “Who does she meet first?”

• “Who is the visitor?” – a person
• “What does she need?” – a thing
• “When does the tour start?” – a time
• “Which department does she need?” – a choice

Polite indirect questions

A direct question can sound abrupt to a visitor. Start with “Could you tell me …” or “Do you know …”, then use statement order, with no “do/does”:

• “Where is Reception?” → “Could you tell me where Reception is?”
• “When does the tour start?” → “Do you know when the tour starts?”
• “Does she need a badge?” → “Do you know if she needs a badge?”

Confirming details before you act

Repeat names, times and places back as a question. Keep arrival and appointment times apart: a visitor who arrives at 09:20 for a 09:30 meeting still starts at 09:30, so tell the host and offer a seat.

• “So the meeting starts at nine thirty?”
• “Did you say the warehouse tour?”
• “Let me check the visitor’s surname.”
• Reply: “Yes, that’s right.” or “Not quite. It’s at eleven.”

A visitor schedule for several hosts

When a visitor meets several hosts, one person owns the plan and sends it to all of them. Write it in five parts and hand it over out loud:

• Situation: “A buyer arrives at 09:20 for a 09:30 appointment.”
• Key facts: “She meets Sales first and tours the warehouse at 11:00.”
• Decision or result: “Sales hosts the meeting, the warehouse team leads the tour and the managing director hosts lunch.”
• Owner: “The office coordinator.”
• Next step and deadline: “Send the final schedule to all three hosts by 17:00 the day before.”

Common mistakes

These errors stand out with a visitor:

• “When the tour starts?” Add the auxiliary: “When does the tour start?”
• “Could you tell me where is Reception?” Use statement order: “… where Reception is?”
• “She reports at the director.” The preposition is “to”: “She reports to the director.”
• “I have an appointment to the sales manager.” Use “with”: “an appointment with the sales manager”.

A 10-minute daily practice routine

Practise out loud each day.

• 2 minutes: describe your team in four sentences with “report to” and “be responsible for”.
• 3 minutes: repeat each line of the welcome above, then redo it with a real visitor and host.
• 2 minutes: write four visit questions and turn two into “Could you tell me …?”
• 3 minutes: write a five-part schedule for a real visit and explain it out loud.

What comes next

Next, give problems an owner and a deadline too: recording a customer complaint with a follow-up date. At B1, you recommend a system with a clear condition.