礼节美语 Business Etiquette 116

MicroMax公司销售部主管Fred 给客户Tom打电话，讨论涨价的事情。

Susan (secretary): Hello, Tom Grossman's office. How may I help you?

Fred Lim: Hi, Susan. This is Fred Lim from MicroMax. Is Tom available for a second?

Susan: One moment, please. I'm connecting you now.

Tom: Hey, Fred. What's up?

F: Well, I was going to send you an email, but I thought it might be better for me to call.

T: Uh, oh. Sounds serious.

秘书Susan帮Fred接通Tom的电话。Tom拿起电话来问，Hey, Fred, what's up?这是熟人之间见面，或是打电话一上来很常见的说法。直截了当，又很亲切。Fred说，本想发个电子邮件，后来觉得还是电话里说好，是什么重要的事呢？

F: It's about the last order your company placed with us.

T: Let's see...you mean the order for six containers of chipboards?

F: Yep, that's the one. Now I know we originally¹ agreed on the price, but there's a little problem. Yesterday one of our major suppliers notified² us that they are raising prices.

T: That's never good.

订货要用动词place, to place an order. 供货商昨天电话通知Fred的公司，要涨价they are raising prices. 这可不是好消息。

F: Also, due³ to recent jumps in energy prices, our shipping⁴ agent is also upping fees⁵. I guess what I'm getting at is that we just can't offer our product at the original price anymore.

T: But Fred, this order is already in! I made it two weeks ago! You can't change prices on me like this.

F: I understand your position, Tom. But if we fill your order as is, we lose money. If we can't find some kind of compromise⁶, I'm afraid our company might have to cancel the order all together.

Fred抱怨说，油价贵了，运费也水涨船高，What I'm getting at is that....归根结底要涨价。Tom不同意，因为the order is already in. 货已经定好了，怎么还能涨价呢？Fred表示，if we fill your order as is, 如果按原样供货，就会赔钱。如果谈不拢，就只好cancel the order, 取消定单。

T: Well, how much more are you asking for?

F: We need to ask for another - are you sitting down? - 25%.

T: 25%! That's a huge increase, Fred!

F: Tom, you are one of our most valued customers. Your business is important to us, but this situation is out of our hands.

T: I understand that your company needs to make a profit. But it's going to be very hard for me to pass on these increases to our customers.

Tom听说要取消定单，口气软了下来，但觉得涨25%还是太多。Fred和Tom接下来如何讨价还价，我们下次再听。

 

1 originally   

adv.本来，原来，最初，就起源而论，独创地

参考例句：

• Originally I didn't want to go.我本意不想去。
• After much discussion they settled on the plan originally proposed.他们讨论了很久，然后确定了原来提出的那个计划。

2 notified   

通知，告知，报告( notify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Competition winners will be notified by post. 将发信通知竞赛的优胜者。
• I notified the post office that my address had changed. 我把变更的地址通知了邮局。

3 due   

n.应得物；adj.预定的，应付的，到期的，应有的

参考例句：

• I received nothing except what was due to me.除了我应得的东西，我并未接受任何东西。
• The rocket is due to lift off at noon on Friday.火箭定于星期五中午发射。

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 fees   

费用； （加入组织或做某事付的）费( fee的名词复数 )； 专业服务费； 咨询费； 报酬

参考例句：

• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。
• As a scholar you will not have to pay college fees. 作为接受奖学金的学生，你不必付大学的费用。

6 compromise   

n.妥协；妥协方案；vt.损害；vi.妥协，让步

参考例句：

• The spokesman made it clear that no compromise was yet in sight.发言人表明，目前还不会妥协。
• The probable outcome of the talks is a compromise.会谈的结果很可能是妥协。