BBCEnglish at Work Episode 29: Put the feelers out
BBC白领工作英语 第 29 集：试探市场 给潜在客人打冷电话时用的语言
Narrator: 再见了 Mr Socrates! 他回美国了！让伦敦的团队来处理怎样扩展 Tip Top 贸易公 司的欧洲市场。
Paul: Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to go to the airport with Mr Socrates to see him off. We had a good chat in the taxi and he said some very positive things.
Denise: Oh yes. Like what?
Paul: Err, well… well, how nice English beer is.
Tom: Yeah but what about the European marketing strategy – what are we going to do about that?
Paul: Well, Anna is supposed to lead on that, I’m taking a more biscuitorial control over it.
Anna: A what?
Tom: It means you do all the work while he eats all the biscuits.
Paul: Do you mind Tom. Now, what I’m thinking is we put the feelers out – do some cold calling, see what people are buying at the moment.
Anna: Cold calling? But I like to be warm when I’m on the phone.
Denise: No Anna. Cold calling is when you call prospective clients when they’re not expecting you to, to ask them something or to sell them something. I’m very good at calling people.
Tom: Yeah, usually the hair dresser! So Paul, where do we begin, who do we call?
Paul: Track down some potential clients in Europe, see what they’re buying now, see what they want in the future. Make them think it’s our laser-curved fruit they want!
Denise: But keep your calls brief, international calls are very expensive.
Narrator: OK Anna, 现在轮到你打冷电话了。你要说些什么呢？
Anna: I don’t know.
Narrator: 先要知道跟谁打电话，有亲和力，有礼貌。问清楚谁是负责采购的，然后问这个负责人 能跟你聊两句吗？
Anna: OK. Here goes. (Looking through a telephone directory) Let’s have a look… fruit growers, fruit pickers, fruit traders… Fruit Traders International… (Dials number) 0-0-4-3-9-8-4-5-5-4-4.
Trader: Bonjour?
Anna: (surprised) Ah, erm, oh….
Narrator: 别觉得奇怪！你打电话给一个法国公司，他们当然是说法语。你可以问问他们能不能说 英语。
Anna: Oh hello. Is it possible to speak to you in English?
Trader: Oui… yes.
Anna: Great. Are you the person who purchases plastic fruit for your company?
Trader: I am. How can I help you?
Anna: Yes, can you spare a few minutes of your time? I want to sell you some laser-curved fruit.
Trader: What?
Narrator: 你太直接了。你得先告诉别人你的名字和打电话的目的。问问他们公司的情况是什么。 你可以说 I’d like to tell you about our great new laser-curved fruit. 问问他们 how much plastic fruit do you buy? 电话结束时别忘了谢谢别人 thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon. 好了，你来试试吧， Anna.
Anna: OK. Erm, hello my name is Anna. How are you today?
Trader: Good thank you.
Anna: That’s good. I’d like to tell you about our great new laser-curved fruit.
Trader: Oh yes.
Anna: Our company is called Tip Top Trading and we are the UK’s number 1 plastic fruit manufacturer – and well, we’re so proud of our fruit that we’ve decided to let the rest of Europe enjoy it too.
Narrator: 非常棒！Anna.
Anna: We make our fruit using laser-curved technology. In fact we’ve just launched our best product ever, the Imperial Lemon – it looks so real you want to squeeze it.
Trader: Hmm, lemons, interesting.
Narrator: Anna 好像已经很上手了。She’s on fire, 不，我是说她做得很好。她的冷电话已经不 是冷的了。她产品介绍差不多了，现在要促销才行。
Anna: …so thank you for your time. I hope you may consider us when you next purchase some plastic fruit.
Trader: We will certainly consider your company.
Anna: Well, we hope to hear from you soon. Goodbye. (Puts phone down) Tom, Tom, how are you getting on?
Tom: (On phone/angry) …well if that’s what you think then you can shove your kumquats… hello? Hello? (Slams phone down)
Anna: What’s wrong?
Tom: They’ve hung up on me. Really! He said the plastic fruit industry is in meltdown. But Anna, if I don’t get any contracts soon I’ll be fired.
Anna: Well, this calls for teamwork Tom – tomorrow, Tuesday, we’re going to tackle this task – together!
Narrator: Hooray for Anna. 她有领导风范了。她还掌握了打冷电话的一些技巧和短语，比如: My name is Anna. Can you spare a few minutes of your time? I’d like to tell you about our great new laser-curved fruit. How much plastic fruit do you buy? Thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon. Phone rings
Denise: Anna. There’s a call for you – from someone in France – they want to talk to you about lemons.
Narrator: 好像有希望。 我们下期节目再看发生些什么事情。再见。
Listening Challenge 听力挑战
Denise 说她的强项是什么？
答案：给潜在客户打冷电话。