ESL Podcast 448 – Making Business Contacts

Phan: Hi, Montel. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.

Montel: It’s my pleasure.

Phan: Since I’m new here, I was hoping you might be willing to give me some pointers on how to get new clients¹. To be honest, I’ve never been on this side of the fence before and I’m a little out of my comfort zone.

Montel: Oh, sure, I’m glad to give you as much help as I can. Getting clients is a bit of an art, but the key is building relationships.

Phan: What do you mean?

Montel: Most of my clients come to me through networking. I get referrals from people who know me and know my track record.

Phan: Really? I was thinking that I needed to send out some direct mail or do some cold calling.

Montel: You may need to do that to start, but if I were you, I’d also spend time making connections in the business community. Go where you think business prospects³ may be. To woo new clients, you need to meet them first.

Phan: How do I find out where they’ll be?

Montel: Again, you make contacts. You’ve made the first step today by getting in touch with me. I’m going to a reception tonight and it will be a who’s who of the business community. Do you want to go?

Phan: Really? You’d let me tag⁴ along?

Montel: Sure, but there’s a quid pro² quo. In the future, if you get invited to something like this, you invite me to go along.

Phan: That’s more than fair. I think I just got my first lesson in making business connections.


Script⁵ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 clients   

n.顾客( client的名词复数 )；当事人；诉讼委托人；[计算机]客户端

参考例句：

• a lawyer with many famous clients 拥有许多著名委托人的律师
• She understood the importance of establishing a close rapport with clients. 她懂得与客户建立密切和谐的关系的重要性。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

4 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

5 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。