Office English: Negotiating

感谢收听BBC学习英语的《职场英语》播客。

Thanks for listening to the Learning English for Work podcast from BBC Learning English.

我们正在制作新的《办公室英语》商务系列节目。

We're working on a new series of our business podcast, Office English.

目前先为您带来去年的一期内容，教您在日常工作场景中实用的表达。

For now, here's an episode from last year which teaches you language you can use in everyday situations at work.

希望您喜欢这期节目。

We hope you enjoy it.

工作中，我们有时需要学会谈判。

Sometimes at work, we need to be able to negotiate.

关键是要清楚自己真正想要什么，这样才不会谈完觉得亏了。

I guess the important thing is to be sure of what you actually want, so you don't want to come away feeling that you've negotiated badly.

我觉得谈判特别别扭，因为我的第一反应总是要礼貌和友善。

I find negotiating very awkward because my main instinct is to be polite and kind.

所以，要直接表达自己的需求，对我来说挺难的。

So I find it quite difficult to be direct in what I want.

今天在《Office English》里，我们来聊聊谈判时该用哪些表达。

Today on Office English, we're talking about the language of negotiating.

大家好，欢迎收听BBC学习英语出品的《Office English》。

Hello, and welcome to Office English from BBC Learning English.

我是菲尔。

I'm Phil.

我是皮帕。

And I'm Pippa.

在这个播客里，我们会讨论工作中能用得上的商务英语。

And in this podcast, we discuss the business English that you can use to do well at work.

今天我们要谈的是谈判。

Today, we're talking about negotiations.

也就是说，通过沟通来争取自己想要的东西。

This means discussions which we use to get what we want.

比如说，如果你想买辆车，就可以跟销售员讨价还价，争取最优惠的价格。

So for example, if we wanted to buy a car, we might negotiate with the salesperson to get the best price.

好的。

Okay.

所以，Phil，你平时在工作中会谈条件吗？

So do you ever negotiate at work, Phil?

有时候会。

Sometimes, yes.

特别是当我们需要找人帮忙做事，得为部门争取一个合理的价格时。

Particularly when there's someone who we might need to do some work for us, and we have to make sure that we get a good price for the department.

没错。

Yeah.

其实，即使谈判不是你工作中的主要部分，工作中也常常需要谈条件。

So we tend to negotiate at work, even if it's not a big part of our job.

比如你是销售，或者经常接触客户，那可能天天都要谈。

So if you're a salesperson, or you're dealing with customers a lot, you might have to negotiate all the time at work.

但就算不是这样，当你需要问价格，或者在自己的岗位上争取资源时，偶尔也得谈一谈。

But even if you don't, you might need to negotiate now and then when you're asking for a price for something, or even in your own role.

所以，如果你向老板提出要求，或者刚入职需要谈薪资和工作时间，其实你就是在和对方谈条件。

So if you're asking for something from your boss, or if you're starting a new job, need to talk about how much you're going to get paid, what your hours would be, you'd be negotiating with them about that.

而且，不同国家、不同场合下，人们谈生意时的方式也各不相同。

And the way that people negotiate, especially in business deals between different companies, differs around the world and depending on the situation.

不过今天，我们会聊聊在英国常用的几种谈判表达方式。

But today, we'll talk about some phrases for negotiating that are familiar in The UK context.

那首先，Pippa，我们该怎么开启一场谈判呢？

So first up, how do we start a negotiation, Pippa?

在英国，谈判前通常会先寒暄几句，这点我们在上一期也提到过。

So in Britain, there's usually some politeness or small talk, and we talked about small talk in a previous episode.

不过，打完招呼、聊完天之后，你可能会说：‘好了，咱们来谈谈价格吧’，或者‘咱们切入正题吧’，这种说法挺自然的。

But once you've kind of said hello, had a chat with the person, then you might say something like, right, let's talk about the price or let's get down to business is a nice phrase.

这确实是个很巧妙的过渡表达，对吧？

It's a nice focusing expression that isn't it?

没错。

Right.

所以你是说，现在我们正式开始，进入真正要谈的核心内容了。

So you're saying now we're getting started, now we're doing what we really mean to do.

是的，在某些情况下，开头根本不需要寒暄。

Yeah, and in some context, you wouldn't need to have the chitchat part at the beginning.

你可能直接就说：咱们来谈谈这个产品，得聊聊价格了。

You might just go straight in and say, okay, we're talking about this product and we need to talk about the price of it.

其实不用寒暄，但在英国，我们通常还是会先聊几句。

And you don't need to have small talk, but in The UK, we tend to do that.

接下来，你大概会提出第一个报价。

And then probably what you want to do is make your opening offer.

比如说：‘我这个要价十英镑’，或者‘我的工作值四百英镑’。

So you might say, I'm looking for £10 for this, or I think my work is worth £400 for instance.

没错，既然是谈判，你通常会开价高一点，比你实际能接受的要高。

Yes, and of course, because it's a negotiation, you're probably going to ask for more than what you'd actually accept.

对，这确实是谈判中常用的一种策略。

Yes, so that's a tactic that people often use in negotiations.

他们一开始会报个高价，希望最后能拿到比预期更多的钱，但心里也清楚有个最低能接受的底线。

They start with a higher price, in the hope that they might get more than they wanted, And then there's sort of a lower limit that they're willing to take for something.

你可以先让对方先开价，来开启谈判。

You could open a negotiation by asking the other person for their first offer.

这样会让整个谈判的气氛有点不一样。

So that sort of changes the dynamics a little bit.

你可以说：‘你愿意为这个出多少钱？’

So you could say, what sort of price would you be willing to pay for this?

好的，谈判已经开始了，那我们该怎么说服对方满足我们的要求呢？

Okay, so we've started the negotiation, but how do we try and persuade the other person to give us what we want?

菲利普，有没有什么话术可以用？

Are there any phrases that we can use, Phil?

有的。

Yes.

这其实说的就是讨价还价，也就是专业又持续地就价格问题跟对方争论。

Well, this is all about something we call haggling, which is basically arguing, but professionally and persistently about the price of something.

你可以先报个价，对方可能会说：‘不行。’

So you might say what your first offer is, and someone will say, oh, no.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

这太贵了。

That's too expensive.

我们可以出这个价。

We can pay this.

然后你就会说：‘哦，不行。’

And you go, oh, no.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

不行。

No.

这太低了。

That's too low.

但我可能会接受这个价格，然后我们来回拉锯，直到达成一个合适的价格。

But I might accept this, and you go backwards and forwards until you get to the right price.

是的。

Yeah.

这其实就是双方之间的妥协，而且人们常常会用各种不同的策略。

So it's about a compromise between the two, and there's often a lot of different tactics that people use.

我不太擅长谈判，所以在讨价还价这方面我肯定不行。

Now, I'm not a very good negotiator, so I wouldn't be very good at the haggling part of things.

我通常就直接接受对方开出的价，因为我怕搞砸了。

I usually just kind of accept what someone offers because I'm scared.

不过，人们说服对方接受自己的报价，而不是一味压价，方法也各不相同。

But, people have different ways of trying to persuade the other person to kind of meet their price rather than dropping the price.

是的。

Yeah.

所以，如果你想让别人多付你一些钱，你可以说：我们得覆盖成本。

So if you want somebody to increase the amount they'll pay you for something, then you could say something like, we've got to cover our costs.

所谓覆盖成本，就是说你得赚够钱来支付做这件事的开销。

And cover your costs means that you need to earn enough to pay for what it would cost to do something.

对，这样很好，因为你其实是在说：咱们得现实一点。

Yeah, and this is good because you're sort of saying we have to be realistic.

我们也很想便宜点卖给你，但成本总得Cover住。

We'd love to give it to you for less money, but we've got to cover our costs.

如果我们是买东西的一方，想让对方降价，那该怎么说呢？

And if we're buying something from somebody else and we wanted them to lower the price that they were asking, What could we say then?

对。

Yeah.

我的意思是，你可以说：我真的很想答应，但我们得现实一点，预算有限。

I mean, you could say something like, oh, I'd love to offer that, but we have to be realistic about our budget.

这也是另一种方式，让说法听起来没那么个人化。

And this is another one where you're kind of maybe making it slightly less personal.

你可以说：哦，这没问题。

You're saying, oh, yeah, that's fine.

要是能这样当然好。

That'd be great.

但我们手头没这笔钱，得好好考虑一下。

But we don't have that money, and we need to think about this.

虽然我很想多付你一些，但实在做不到。

So while I want to pay you more, I can't.

这也不是我一个人说了算。

It's not down to me.

只是情况就是这样。

It's just the situation.

对。

Yes.

你用‘我们’，这说明你是在代表公司谈判，而不是以个人身份。

You're using we, so you're sort of negotiating on behalf of the company rather than on behalf of yourself.

这两个说法——‘我们得覆盖成本’和‘得对预算现实一点’——语气依然很友善，其实根本不算争执，而更像是一种讨论。

And both of these phrases, we've got to cover our costs and we have to be realistic about the budget, are still kind of friendly, so it's not actually an argument when you're negotiating.

这更像是在沟通，而不是对抗。

It's it's more of a discussion.

明白了，我们刚才聊了很多关于和外部公司谈判的事，但其实有时候你也得跟自己公司的人谈，甚至有时候得跟上司谈，尤其是关于薪资的问题。

Okay, and we've talked a lot here about negotiating with someone from another company, but actually sometimes you have to negotiate with people in your company, and in fact sometimes you have to negotiate with your boss, particularly about how much you get paid.

所以你可以用这样的说法，比如‘我这个职位其他人拿的工资更高’，或者‘我承担了更多责任，但工资没涨’。

And so you might want to use phrases like, well, other people in my position earn this much, or I've taken on lots of responsibility without more pay.

对。

Yes.

而且是否能谈薪资、能不能协商，很大程度上要看你公司的文化。

And it's probably useful to say that it will depend on your company as to whether there is an opportunity to talk about your pay and to negotiate it.

有些公司不喜欢这样，有些则无所谓。

Some companies don't like that, some do.

这完全要看情况。

It really depends.

不过，确实应该提供理由，说明你为什么希望加薪。

But yes, giving evidence for why you want more money would be a useful thing to do.

对，我们已经讨论了一些在谈判中说服对方的方法。

Right, so we have some ways to try and persuade the other person in a negotiation.

假设经过一番讨价还价之后，我们准备接受这个价格或报价了。

Let's imagine that after haggling for a while, we are ready to accept the price or offer.

那该怎么结束谈判呢？

How do we end the negotiation?

其实可以很随意一点。

Well, we could be quite informal.

比如说，‘好吧，我们就按五英镑来’，‘我们就这样定’意思就是接受这个金额。

We could say, Okay, we can go with £5 So we can go with means we'll accept that amount.

或者你可以更正式一点，比如说：我同意这个五英镑的价格，非常感谢。

Or you could be more formal, could say something like, I'm happy to accept £5 Thank you very much.

我觉得很有用的一点是，尽量维持双方的商业关系。

And then one thing that I think is useful is to try and sort of maintain the business relationship.

你去谈价格，不光是为了争取最低价，还想继续和对方保持合作。

So you've not just gone there to get the best price possible, but you also want to kind of continue a working relationship with the person.

所以你可以这么说：期待今后继续合作，或者很高兴能和你做生意。

So you could say something like, I look forward to working with you or it was great doing business with you.

你觉得怎么样，Phil？

What do you think about that, Phil?

对。

Yes.

我觉得这样挺好的，因为谈判有时候会有点紧张，最后把气氛拉回友好一点很有必要。

I think this is quite nice because negotiations can sometimes get a little bit tense, so it's quite good to bring everything back to a kind of friendly tone at the end.

谈判本来就不容易，尤其是当我们不习惯说服别人的时候。

Negotiations can be difficult, especially if we're not used to persuading other people to do something.

我们再来听听BBC英语教学团队的说法。

Let's hear again from our BBC Learning English colleagues.

我觉得最重要的是清楚自己真正想要什么，这样才不会离开时觉得谈判失利。

I guess the important thing is to be sure of what you actually want, so you don't want to come away feeling that you've negotiated badly.

我觉得谈价格特别别扭，因为我的第一反应总是要礼貌和友善。

I find negotiating very awkward because my main instinct is to be polite and kind.

所以我要直接表达自己的需求，感觉挺难的。

So I find it quite difficult to be direct in what I want.

是的。

Yeah.

我觉得这不一样，对吧？

I think it's different, isn't it?

我的意思是，如果你天天干这个，比如你是销售，或者经常做这类事，那肯定容易多了。

I mean, if you do it all the time as part of your job, if you're a salesperson or you're involved in things like that, then I guess it's a lot easier.

做久了就习惯了。

You get used to it.

但在很多工作里，我们其实很少去谈条件。

But in a lot of jobs, we don't do a lot of negotiating.

对，正因如此，我们才觉得紧张。

Yeah, and that's why I think we're nervous to do it.

但正如我们说的，如果你能保持友好，尽量让对话不像争论，而更像讨论，这样更容易表达自己的观点。

But as we said, if you try and remain friendly, and try and make the conversation less of an argument and more of a discussion, then that's a good way to try and get your opinion across.

还有一件我们没提到但特别重要的是：在开始谈判前，你要先想清楚自己到底想要什么。

And one thing that's really important that we haven't talked about is it's good to be clear with yourself about what you want before you start the negotiation.

你愿意接受的最高和最低底线是什么。

What you would be willing to accept as a high or low point.

不然你很容易被带偏，花太多钱，或者接受太低的条件。

Otherwise, you could get carried away and pay far too much or accept far too little for something.

所以啊，提前想好你希望通过谈判得到什么，别一头扎进去，最后却得到个不想要的结果。

So yeah, think before about what are you wanting to get out of a negotiation so that you don't kind of go in and end up with something you didn't want.

好了，这期《职场英语》就到这里。

That's it for this episode of Office English.

别忘了，想提升职场英语，可以访问我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com，那里有各种课程和活动。

Remember, you can find courses and activities to help you with your English at work on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

下一期，我们会聊聊怎么在工作中谈论自己的成就，好好展示自己。

Next time, we're talking about how to talk about your achievements at work and sell yourself.

到时候见。

See you then.

再见。

Bye.

再见。

Bye.