办公室英语：客户管理

谢谢收听这个播客。

Thanks for listening to this podcast.

我们正在为你制作新的《职场英语》节目。

We're working on new episodes of Office English for you.

meanwhile，这里有一集去年的节目，帮你复习一下商务英语。

In the meantime, here's an episode from last year to help you revise your business English.

好好听。

Enjoy.

你在工作中怎么应对客户和顾客？

How do you deal with clients and customers at work?

我觉得最重要的是对他们坦诚相待。

I think the main thing is to be very honest with them.

有什么问题要及时沟通。

Communicate if there's any problems.

早点让他们知道，别突然给他们来个意外。

Let them know straight away so you're not suddenly springing a surprise on them.

我觉得根据客户的需求量身定制方案，效果通常都不错。

I think trying to tailor something to the customer's needs always works quite well.

认真听客户说什么，然后尽力满足他们的要求。

Listening to what the customer wants and then trying to deliver that.

在今天的《职场英语》节目中，我们来聊聊如何让客户满意，以及如何应对难缠的客户。

In today's episode of Office English, we're talking about how to keep customers happy and deal with difficult clients.

大家好，欢迎收听《职场英语》，这档节目帮助你在工作中提升英语能力。

Hello, and welcome to Office English, the podcast for improving your English at work.

我是菲尔。

I'm Phil.

我是皮帕。

And I'm Pippa.

你可以在我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本期节目的文字稿，边听边读。

You can find a transcript for this episode to read along on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

皮帕，我们在节目开头听到了几位同事分享他们如何让客户和合作伙伴感到满意。

Pippa, we heard at the start of the programme from some colleagues about how they try to keep customers and clients happy.

我们说的客户或客户到底指的是什么？

What do we mean by customers or clients?

客户就是那些从你公司买东西的人。

Well, customers are people who buy things from your business.

这可能是普通消费者，也可能是其他企业。

So this could be the public or it could be other businesses.

‘客户’基本上是‘顾客’的另一种说法，但通常我们用它来指那些接受你服务的人或公司，而不是从你这儿购买实物的。

And client is kind of another word for customer, but we usually use this to talk about people or businesses that you provide a service for, rather than selling them a physical item.

在很多职场里，你经常会听到‘客户管理’这个词。

In many workplaces, you'll hear the phrase client management.

意思就是确保为你工作的人感到满意，但这往往挺有挑战性的。

This just means making sure that the people you're providing work for are satisfied, and it can be quite tricky.

没错。

Yes.

所以今天这期节目，我们会聊聊怎么跟客户沟通，让他们满意。

So in today's episode, we're going to talk about how we can communicate with clients and keep them happy.

好的，皮帕。

Okay, Pippa.

我们来设想一下，你所在的公司刚拿下一个大客户，手头多了很多新工作。

Let's imagine that you work at a company that has a big new client and lots of new work.

你的老板让你负责管理这个客户。

Your boss puts you in charge of managing the client.

你该怎么让客户满意呢？

How can you keep them happy?

所以菲尔，我第一步是弄清楚这个客户到底想要什么。

So Phil, the first thing I do is try to establish what this client wants.

他们对和我们公司的合作有什么期待？

What are their expectations of their relationship with my company?

我可能会问：‘在您看来，什么叫成功的合作？’

So I might ask something like, what does a successful partnership look like for you?

或者我也会问：‘我们怎么做才能让你们这边的工作更顺畅？'

Or I might ask, what can we do to make sure things run smoothly on your side?

‘从你们这边’意思就是从你们的角度来看。

And on your side just means from your perspective.

对，你也可以跟他们确认一下你的计划。

Yeah, and you might want to check your plans with them.

我们打算在本月底前向你们交付项目的第一个部分。

So we're looking to deliver the first part of the project to you by the end of the month.

这符合你们的预期吗？

Is that in line with your expectations?

‘预期’指的是客户希望发生的事，而‘是否符合’就是说我们有没有达到那个标准。

You could say expectations is what the client wants to happen, and in line with, it means whether you meet that or not.

没错。

Yeah.

你还可以换种说法，比如：我们通常会留出一周时间，根据客户反馈进行优化。

Another way you could phrase this is saying, we usually allocate a week to make improvements based on client feedback.

这样安排对你们来说可行吗？

Will that work on your end?

再说一遍，'在你那边'就是问你这边能不能行。

And again, on your end just means will that work for you?

所以讲清楚你的工作方式特别有用，能避免以后出现矛盾，比如客户可能以为你能更快完成，或者希望你用别的方法做。

So explaining the way you work can be really useful because it avoids conflicts further down the line, in case maybe the client thought you could be quicker or do something in a different way.

对，最重要的是保持沟通。

Yeah, and what's really important is just to keep communicating.

可以定期跟客户确认一下进展。

So maybe check-in with your clients.

最好安排定期的跟进，看看项目进行得怎么样。

You might wanna have regular catch ups to just check on progress.

最关键的是，一旦有状况或者延误，要赶紧告诉客户，别等到最后才出意外。

What's really important is that if there are any problems or any delays, that you're able to flag those up very quickly with your client so that there aren't any bad surprises down the line.

有时候客户可能会对你们公司做的工作不满意。

Now, sometimes a client or customer might be unhappy about the work you or your company has done.

那这种情况，Phil，你该怎么应对，同时保持专业呢？

So how can you deal with this, Phil, and stay professional?

好的。

Okay.

我觉得，最重要的是回头看看客户到底想要什么。

Well, I think, again, the most important thing is to go back to what does the client want?

你可以对他们说：很抱歉我们没达到您的期望。

So you could say to them, I'm sorry we didn't meet your expectations.

我们怎样才能改进，才能做得更好？

What can we improve on to get this right?

或者，怎样做才能更符合您的需求？

Or how can things work better for you?

没错，这一点很重要，因为你得弄清楚他们对你有什么期待。

Yes, think that's important because you need to understand what they want from you.

别一上来就辩解。

You don't want to get defensive.

你得搞清楚，他们为什么觉得你做得不对。

You need to understand why they think what you've done is wrong.

你也可以安抚他们，比如告诉他们：我们会确保今后避免这类问题，或者我已经把你的反馈转达给团队了，放心，这种情况不会再发生。

You can also reassure them so you can tell them, we'll be sure to avoid this problem in the future, or I've shared your feedback with the team and rest assured this won't happen again.

‘放心’就是说‘你尽管安心’的意思。

Rest assured just means be sure.

有时候你可能会觉得客户的期望不切实际。

Sometimes you might feel like your client has unrealistic expectations.

比如他们给的截止时间太紧，或者要求你改很多你并不认同的地方。

Maybe they give you deadlines that are too tight, or they ask for lots of changes to your work that you don't agree with.

那你能怎么做呢？

What can you do?

这确实挺难办的，毕竟客户是付钱的一方，你得在让他们满意和不浪费时间、不做超出价值的工作之间找平衡。

Well, it's tricky because usually the client is paying you, so you have to balance keeping them happy with making sure that you're not wasting time or doing more work than the job is worth.

你得一直让他们满意，但同时也要做好自己的本职工作，毕竟你还有其他客户。

You have to always keep them happy, but you also have to do your job and you have other clients.

这里真正重要的是试着弄清楚客户真正的优先事项是什么，也许这样你就能找到一个折中的办法。

What actually can be really important here is to try and identify what the actual priorities are that your clients have because it may be that you can find a compromise.

这个协议和你之前说的他们满意的内容不一样，因为它符合他们的实际优先级——无论是他们只是需要按时交付，还是所谓的截止日期其实没那么严格，但质量标准必须到位。

That's an agreement that's different to what you originally said that they're happy with because it meets what their priorities are, whether it's they just need something that's ready on time or whether the deadlines aren't actually as strict as they said, but the quality standard absolutely has to be there.

弄清楚他们的优先级，有助于达成共识。

Finding their priorities can help you come to an agreement.

是的。

Yeah.

关键在于平衡和妥协。

It's all about balance and compromise.

接下来，我们再听听同事肖恩和乔治怎么说。

So let's listen to our colleagues, Sean and George again.

我觉得关键是解释清楚当前的情况，帮他们建立现实的预期。

I think just trying to explain what the situation is and try and give them some realistic expectations.

试着站在他们的角度想一想，因为对我们来说可能不切实际，但他们自己觉得完全合理。

See it from their point of view, I guess, because it may seem unrealistic to us, but for them, it obviously does seem realistic.

对，我觉得耐心一点很重要。

Yeah, just be patient, I think.

所以肖恩提到，即使你觉得客户不讲理，沟通也很重要。

So Sean mentioned the importance of communication, even if you think a client is being unreasonable.

你可以试着协商一种合作方式。

You can try and agree a particular way of working.

你可以说，我想确认我们想法一致，或者想确保我们的流程对得上。

You could say something like, I just want to be sure we're on the same page or I want to make sure our processes are aligned.

你平时是怎么处理这类工作的？

What's your preferred way of working on this?

这跟你说的优先事项有点像，菲尔。

And that's a bit like what you mentioned about priorities, Phil.

你得搞清楚他们希望你怎么做。

You need to understand how they are expecting you to work.

对。

Yeah.

有时候，你可能还得跟上司聊聊客户的情况，特别是出了点问题的时候。

And sometimes you might need to talk to your boss about a client, particularly if something's gone a little bit wrong.

但尽量保持专业，别光抱怨。

But do try to remain professional rather than moaning.

你可以问：‘这个项目我能不能提个问题？’

So you might say, can I flag a problem with this project?

你希望我怎么应对额外的工作请求？

How would you like me to respond to requests for extra work?

或者，跟这个客户打交道，最好的方式是什么？

Or what's the best approach with this client?

我想让他们满意，但他们要求太高，已经影响到其他工作了。

I want to keep them happy, but they're quite a demanding client, and it's impacting other work.

因为你的上司可能更清楚公司整体的优先级，也许有些地方是可以灵活处理的。

Because your your boss might have an idea of the priorities for your company, and it may be that there are things that you can compromise on there.

对。

Yes.

跟上司沟通确实是个好办法，毕竟面对要求很多的客户时，你当然想让他们开心，想把所有事都做完，但如你所说，上司更清楚公司的重点、战略，以及你该承担多少工作。

And talking to your boss is a really good idea, because when you're working with a client and they're asking lots of you, you want to keep them happy, you want to do it all for them, but as you say, your boss will know what's important, what the strategy is for your company and how much work you should be doing.

好了，本期《职场英语》就到这里。

Okay, that's it for this episode of Office English.

工作中跟客户打交道，常常会碰到一大堆商务术语。

Dealing with clients at work usually involves a lot of business jargon.

我们专门做了一系列内容，揭秘企业里那些稀奇古怪的表达方式。

And we've made a series all about that, looking at the strange phrases used in the corporate world.

欢迎访问我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com 查看。

Find it on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

下一期，我们会聊聊怎么在职场中推销自己的想法。

Next week, we'll look at how to pitch your ideas at work.

暂时先这样，再见。

Bye for now.

再见。

Bye.

最近有考试要准备吗？

Got an exam coming up?

赶紧去我们网站练习听力和阅读，再做几套模拟考题测试一下自己。

Practise your listening and reading, and test yourself with exam style questions on our website.

想读杂志风格的文章，就去阅读区，那里有分级英文材料；想听新闻，就去听力区，有音频新闻故事。

Try the reading room for magazine style articles in graded English or head to the listening room for audio news stories.

网站上还有免费的练习纸、词汇表和词义解释，全部都可以在 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到。

There's also free worksheets, vocabulary lists and definitions all available at bbclearningenglish.com.