PrepTest 133, Section 3, Question 16
Travaillier Corporation has recently hired employees with experience(63 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(7 more words not shown)
- AIn the past,(12 more words not shown)
- BSeveral travel companies(15 more words not shown)
- CAt least one(21 more words not shown)
- DSome of Travaillier's(17 more words not shown)
- EThe industry consultants(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A company that usually serves air travelers is hiring bus-tour expertise and talking to bus companies. Looking for a new kind of customer seems like a reasonable explanation.
But is it the only explanation? Its existing customers haven't changed their vacation preferences. That tells us what they currently want, not what the company might try to persuade them to try next. Perhaps Travaillier wants to introduce those same customers to bus tours.
What we’re looking for
That gives us another way to understand the preparations. The company could add a new service without aiming it at new people. To weaken the argument, I'd look for evidence that this is the plan: changing what current customers buy rather than changing who the customers are. We don't have to prove that strategy will succeed; the conclusion is about what Travaillier is attempting.
Working the answers
- A
If changing current customers' preferences has been difficult, seeking new customers becomes a more plausible explanation for the bus-tour preparations. This doesn't rule out another attempt to persuade existing customers, but it pushes against our alternative rather than supporting it.
- B
Other companies' failures don't tell us what Travaillier is trying to do. It could attempt the same expansion despite those failures, perhaps believing it could do better. The likely success of an effort and the company's intention to make that effort are different issues.
- C
One employee's additional experience with air-travel packages doesn't explain the company's overall plan. That employee could help design new services for current customers or help expand into a new market. The résumé doesn't settle which strategy explains the hiring and negotiations.
- D
What worked for competitors isn't evidence that Travaillier has adopted their strategy. Concentrating on the biggest-spending existing customers is another possible plan, but this answer doesn't connect it to Travaillier's bus-tour preparations. We need information about this company's intentions.
- ECorrect
Travaillier employs consultants who typically recommend selling new products and services to current customers. That gives us a concrete reason to consider the alternative we identified: the bus tours may be intended for the company's existing air travelers.
The answer doesn't prove that Travaillier follows every recommendation or has ruled out new customers. It makes a competing explanation of the preparations more plausible, which weakens the claim that the company must be trying to enlarge its customer base.
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