遭遇商業午餐

別以為只有中國有“飯桌上談生意”的傳統，老外們也有。商業午餐（business lunch）就是一種相當流行的商談和社交合一的方式。你可以邀請你的客戶或者同事一起來一頓商業午餐，洽談公事的同時還培養了共餐的感情呢。

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Mr. Jacobs: I’ll take the egg salad.

Stephanie: And the tuna sandwich， thanks.

Mr. Jacobs: I’ve only had time to skim over your annual plan. ①Just fill me in on the nuts and bolts of it.

Stephanie: OK， ②I’m not going to beat around the bush; there is some serious restructuring that needs to be done. ③It goes without saying that， given the current environment of the marketplace， changes are going to have to be made to our current business model. Now， because of my background， I look at things mainly from a marketing standpoint. ④Having said that， we need to refocus our energy on the customers.

Mr. Jacobs: I couldn’t agree with you more. I think we have lost sight of our target customer.

Stephanie: The marketing and distribution strategy could use some freshening up. ⑤We need to be cashing in on all the emerging technologies available today. There are new ways to reach people and stir up new business.

Mr. Jacobs: I know what you are getting at， Stephanie. But I’m not sure we have the resources to take on such a task at this time. Perhaps we could look into partnership agreements and incentives to minimize costs for distribution and advertising.

Stephanie: Sure. I’ll make a note of that.

Mr. Jacobs: Between you and me， there have been serious concerns between the senior members of the company about downsizing.

Stephanie: What have they been considering?

Mr. Jacobs: Cutbacks. Layoffs. ⑥I’ve kept them at bay for now， but who knows what the future will bring.

Waiter: Here are your drinks， sir， madam.

Mr. Jacobs: Thank you. Does your plan make an analysis of our finances?

Stephanie: Of course. But from what you’ve just said， I may have underestimated the situation.

服務員：你們準備點餐了嗎？

雅各布斯先生（下簡為“雅各布斯”）：我要一份雞蛋沙拉。

史蒂芬妮：我要一份吞拿魚三明治。謝謝。

雅各布斯：我只是抽空掃了一眼你的年度計劃。現在跟我談談詳細內

容吧。

史蒂芬妮：好，我就不兜圈子了。我們必須著手處理一些嚴重的重組工作。顯而易見，在現在的市場環境下，我們現有的商業模式應該有所改變。由于我的背景，我主要從市場的角度去看事情。因此，必須把我們的精力重新放在顧客上。

雅各布斯：我很贊同你的想法。我覺得我們沒有找到我們的目標顧客。

史蒂芬妮：我們應該利用現有的新興科技，在市場和流通戰略上玩些新花樣。現在有一些新的方法可以拓展客戶，提高生意額。

雅各布斯：我知道你的意思，史蒂芬妮。不過我不太確定這次我們是否有足夠的資源可以冒這個險。或者我們可以尋求合作伙伴或者有合作意愿的（公司），來降低流通和營銷方面的費用。

史蒂芬妮：好的，我會記住這一點的。

雅各布斯：私底下告訴你，公司高層正在考慮是否要縮小規模。

史蒂芬妮：他們打算怎么做呢？

雅各布斯：削減成本以及裁員。我正努力阻止這件事發生，不過誰又知道將來會怎么樣呢。

服務員：這是你們的飲品，先生，女士。

雅各布斯：謝謝。你的計劃中也包括了財政分析嗎？

史蒂芬妮：當然。但是根據你剛才所講的，我可能低估了整個

形勢。

Smart Sentences

① Just fill me in on the nuts and bolts of it. 現在跟我談談詳細內容吧。

fill sb. in: give sb. more details about sth.（給某人提供細節資料）。例如：

Since you didn’t come to the meeting yesterday， let me fill you in on the plans we discussed.

你昨天沒來開會，我跟你說一下我們討論的計劃吧。

nuts and bolts: the detailed aspects of a subject（基本要點，某事的主要組成部分）。例如：

I’m concerned about the nuts and bolts of what went wrong yesterday.

我關心的是昨天究竟是什么地方出了岔子。

② I’m not going to beat around the bush. 我就不兜圈子了。

beat around the bush: not tell sth. quickly and directly（旁敲側擊，繞彎子）。例如：

Stop beating around the bush. Tell me what he said about me.

不要再繞彎了，告訴我他說了我些什么。

③ It goes without saying that… 顯而易見，……

(sth.) goes without saying: sth. is obvious（顯而易見）。例如：

It goes without saying that if he can’t handle the pressure， he should be replaced.

顯而易見，如果他不能應付這些壓力，就應該換人。

④ Having said that， … 因此，……

having said that: used to indicate the need to take what’s said into consideration（既然如此）。例如：

Having said that， we need to make major adjustments to the quarterly sales plans.

既然如此，我們應該對季度銷售計劃做些調整。

⑤ We need to be cashing in on all the emerging technologies available today. 我們應該利用現有的新興科技。

cash in on sth.: take advantages of sth.（利用某事）。例如：

I believe the company should cash in on the M company’s withdrawal from the market.

我覺得公司應該利用M公司退出這個市場的機會。

⑥ I’ve kept them at bay for now， but who knows what the future will bring. 我正努力阻止這件事發生，不過誰又知道將來會怎么樣呢。

keep sb./sth. at bay: prevent sb./sth. from happening（阻止，防止，控制）。例如：

It’s believed that soft management keeps high turnover at bay.

人們相信，軟性管理可以防止出現過快的人員流動。