[分享]每周翻译论坛：提高英语表达水平，增强外贸销售能力(2008/18)

THIS WEEK'S TIP:
Art's Brief Sales Observations

Greetings,

Each month in my Telephone Prospecting and Selling
Report eight-page sales tips newsletter,  I have a
regular feature where I dump out my file of random
sales observations, rants, pet peeves, and other
items. Here is a sampling from a recent issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A Men's Health magazine article focused
on the fine art of conversation. The
author, a college professor shared the
story of how the students' final exam
grade in the nonfiction-writing class
he taught was totally based on a two-
hour, full-class, Q&A session with a
92-year old man.

They knew nothing about the man.

After 15 minutes of basic, boring
questions ("Where do you live?, What
do you do for a living?) one exasperated
student blurted out,

"Just what makes you so special?"

That's when the magic started.

He is in the Guinness Book
for the world's longest-serving
bartender, having served his first
drink at midnight, April 7, 1933,
the moment Prohibition ended. The
incisive questions and fascinating
answers came fast and furiously
after that.

A major point here is that there
is something special about everyone
and everything. Think of "special"
questions you might ask to gain deeper
knowledge about your prospects and
customers.
______________________________
Some companies have the stupid policy
of not allowing switchboard operators
to give out the names of employees
(like that's going to stop the scam
artists—who the policy is intended
to prevent from infiltrating the
company—from finding a way in anyway).

Recently I've had success by going
to the PR department of a company,
calling the name listed on a press
release listed on the company's
site, and in another case, calling
the Customer Service department.

Makes perfect sense. After all,
these folks are trained to be helpful
and answer questions. And of course,
you can always ask for the Sales
department.
______________________________
I see that McDonald's is going after
Starbucks big time in the coffee market,
expecting it to be a 1 BILLION dollar
a year increase in sales.

In their test markets they make fun
of something I've long laughed at, and
think is quite arrogant: Starbucks'
labels for their sizes of drinks.
Vente, Grande...are you kidding me?!
McDonalds is going with small, medium,
and large; there's a concept...using
the language your customers actually use.
______________________________
Related to the previous point, to
communicate on the same channel as
your prospect or customer, it's good
to listen for nuances in their
vocabulary and adjust yours accordingly.

Reminds me of a story shared a few years
ago by a sales rep with James & Douglas,
a company providing new construction project
information to architects, engineers, and
contractors. One of their reports is
called the "Medical Project Report."
That's how he referred to it...unless
he heard the prospect say

"We deal mostly in ‘healthcare' projects."
He then referred to his report as "healthcare"
reports. A small change, but one that can
make a big difference in the listener's mind.
______________________________

I love those Mac commercials with the geeky
PC guy and the cool Mac character. On one I saw
during a football game, PC guy says
something like,

"I have this referee here so you do not
say something crazy like Leopard is better
than Vista."

Mac-guy responds, "I didn't say that. The
Wall Street Journal said that."

Brilliant. Any time you can use a third
party to make your point it adds more
credibility. Whenever anyone, whether
they be a media source talking about
your products, or a satisfied customer,
be sure to document it and use it when
appropriate on your calls.
______________________________
A habit that some people have is prefacing
their questions with "May I ask...", as
in "May I ask how many locations you have?"

When you analyze it, this is a waste of
words and also implies that the inquirer
is tentative and unconfident in asking
for the information.

Those who are guilty might argue that
they don't want to appear pushy with
their questions. Nonsense. As long as
you've shown the prospect what you can
do for them, you've earned the right
to ask for information.

Plus, you can make your questions sound
non-threatening with your tone of voice.

Why not simply say, "How many locations
do you have?" in a sincere tone of voice?
______________________________
Another related offense: "May I ask you a
few questions about your organization?"

If you say this, you just did ask a
question!

The problem here is that their thinking
now focuses on whether or not they want
to answer any questions.

However, contrast that with, "Tell me a
bout how your organization is structured
by region."

Now they aren't debating as to whether
or not they want to answer your questions.
They're thinking about the answer to your
request.

That's why questions are so powerful. They
prompt the person to think about precisely
what you ask them.
_________________________________________

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Failures do what is tension-relieving, while
successes do what is goal-achieving."
Denis Waitley

Go and Have Your Best Week Ever!

Art

[[i] 本帖最后由 tinalijing 于 2008-5-12 22:31 编辑 [/i]]

简要说明

简要说明：《每周翻译论坛：提高英语表达水平，增强外贸销售能力》
这是一种学习方式，即大家以翻译的方式、跟贴的形式来翻译美国电话推销培训大师ART先生的每周短文，从而在学习美式英语的同时，学习如何推销自己和公司的产品。我以为这是一举两得的好方法。由于我对ART的熟悉，所以，由我担任指导老师。开篇说明的序言请参见我的博客：
[url]http://blog.fobshanghai.com/user1/1111/archives/2007/2843.html[/url]

过去的2007年共有50期内容，请参看2008年的贺年帖子，里面有所有50篇短文的连接地址：
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-913751-1-1.html[/url]

2008年帖子如下：
第一期，08-01-11：你想成为富翁吗？ （批改参考见23、24楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-931859-1-3.html[/url]
第二期，08-01-23：每天你都在应试找工作 （批改参考见6、7楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-950375-1-1.html[/url]
第三期，08-01-25：2008年开门红：轻松销售 （批改参考见12楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-955166-1-1.html[/url]
第四期：08-02-01：客户喜爱你，他们就会给你金钱 （批改参考见10、11楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-964302-1-1.html[/url]
第五期：08-02-07：名人也曾经失败过 （批改参考见10楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-967286-1-1.html[/url]
第六期：08-02-16：不要把利润白白送走 （批改参考见5楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-971895-1-1.html[/url]
第七期：08-02-21：真诚地说：你好吗？ （批改参考见8楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-980549-1-1.html[/url]
第八期：08-02-29：你以为你已经有确定的潜在客户了吗？ （批改参考见5楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-994599-1-1.html[/url]
第九期：08-03-07：怎么说才能拉近对方？（批改参考见4楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1006298-1-1.html[/url]
第十期：08-03-14：了解了关于客户的这一点，他们就会对你刮目相看（批改参考见9、10楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1020246-1-1.html[/url]
第十一期：08-03-24：没有这个，你的成功机会将是零（批改参考见7楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1035659-1-1.html[/url]
第十二期：08-03-30：空想愿望不如这个简单技巧来得有效（批改参考见10楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1049631-1-1.html[/url]
第十三期：08-04-07：超级推销明星的惊人技巧 （批改参考见6、7楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1063050-1-1.html[/url]
第十四期：08-04-13：比达成交易更重要的是。。。。。。（批改参考见7楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1075447-1-1.html[/url]
第十五期：08-04-19：避免愚蠢电话推销员所犯的错误（批改参考见10楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1088016-1-1.html[/url]
第十六期：08-04-26：我想你。。。（批改参考见5楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1101061-1-1.html[/url]
第十七期：08-05-05：别人恰好喜欢你这样来展示成功（批改参考见5、6楼）
[url]http://bbs.fobshanghai.com/thread-1112703-1-1.html[/url]

如有兴趣学习和翻译更多的文章，请你至下述我的博客，翻译以后给我，我会为你评改修正。（内有60篇）
[url]http://blog.netat.net/index.php/110759[/url]

已经有部分ART文章，完成了翻译和修正工作，发在了我的福步博客上：（现有26篇）
[url]http://blog.fobshanghai.com/user1/1111/index.html[/url]

谢谢各位的参与。坚持实践，必有成效。若您有任何意见或建议，或者您需要进一步的英语学习资料和我的英语教学咨询，请发站内短信或直接进入我的QQ 416503427。

我想中译英更好一点吧

THIS WEEK'S TIP:
Art's Brief Sales Observations
Art 的简要销售观察
Greetings,
大家好
Each month in my Telephone Prospecting and Selling
Report eight-page sales tips newsletter,  I have a
regular feature where I dump out my file of random
sales observations, rants, pet peeves, and other
items. Here is a sampling from a recent issue.
每个月的电话客户开发和营销报告，是长达八页的销售主题分析，我有一个专栏，刊登我随意的销售观察、演讲、困扰以及其他的事，这里有最近发表的一个例子。
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A Men's Health magazine article focused
on the fine art of conversation. The
author, a college professor shared the
story of how the students' final exam
grade in the nonfiction-writing class
he taught was totally based on a two-
hour, full-class, Q&A session with a
92-year old man.
一篇《男人健康》杂志上的文章将焦点聚在在观察的细微工作上。作者是一个大学教授，他分享了他教的写作课上学生的期末考试如何评分的故事，完全依赖于两个小时，整个班级与一个92岁老人的Q&A会议
They knew nothing about the man.
他们对于这个人一点也不了解。
After 15 minutes of basic, boring
questions ("Where do you live?, What
do you do for a living?) one exasperated
student blurted out,
15分钟令人厌烦的基础的问题后（你住在哪里？你做什么以维持生活？），一个恼怒的学生冲口而出
"Just what makes you so special?"
只要说说是什么让你变得这么特别吧
That's when the magic started.
那是魔力开始的时间
He is in the Guinness Book
for the world's longest-serving
bartender, having served his first
drink at midnight, April 7, 1933,
the moment Prohibition ended. The
incisive questions and fascinating
answers came fast and furiously
after that.
在吉尼斯记录中他是世界上服务最久的酒保，在1933年的4月7日午夜，禁令结束的时刻，开始了他的第一次饮酒服务。那以后激烈的问题以及有趣的回答来势凶凶。
A major point here is that there
is something special about everyone
and everything. Think of "special"
questions you might ask to gain deeper
knowledge about your prospects and
customers.
这里重点是对于每个人和每件事来说都有特别的地方，想想你可能会问“特别”的问题，以得到你的潜在客户和客户更深层的信息。
______________________________
Some companies have the stupid policy
of not allowing switchboard operators
to give out the names of employees
(like that's going to stop the scam
artists—who the policy is intended
to prevent from infiltrating the
company—from finding a way in anyway).
一些公司不允许总机的接线员说出雇员的名字（就像要阻止诡异故事家----政策想要阻止他渗透到公司-----无论何种方式），这是项愚蠢的政策
Recently I've had success by going
to the PR department of a company,
calling the name listed on a press
release listed on the company's
site, and in another case, calling
the Customer Service department.
最近，我成功地加入公司的PR部门，称之为在公司的位置上释放压力，换一种说法，叫做客户服务部门。
Makes perfect sense. After all,
these folks are trained to be helpful
and answer questions. And of course,
you can always ask for the Sales
department.
制造完美感觉，毕竟，这些家伙经过培训变得有帮助、可以回答问题。当然，你可以总是询问销售部门。
______________________________
I see that McDonald's is going after
Starbucks big time in the coffee market,
expecting it to be a 1 BILLION dollar
a year increase in sales.
我知道麦克唐纳继星巴克后不久进入咖啡市场，预计达到每年10亿美元的销售额增长。
In their test markets they make fun
of something I've long laughed at, and
think is quite arrogant: Starbucks'
labels for their sizes of drinks.
Vente, Grande...are you kidding me?!
McDonalds is going with small, medium,
and large; there's a concept...using
the language your customers actually use.
在市场测试中，他们闹了不少笑话，让我笑了很长时间，想想太傲慢了：星巴克为他们的饮品量身订做的标签。Vente,Grande。。。你在跟我开玩笑吗？麦克唐纳会运营小型的，中型的，大型的店，有一个观念。。。用你的客户常用的语言。
______________________________
Related to the previous point, to
communicate on the same channel as
your prospect or customer, it's good
to listen for nuances in their
vocabulary and adjust yours accordingly.
关于前一点，在与你的潜在客户和客户相同的平台上交流，仔细听他们词汇的细微区别，调整你相应的词汇。
Reminds me of a story shared a few years
ago by a sales rep with James & Douglas,
a company providing new construction project
information to architects, engineers, and
contractors. One of their reports is
called the "Medical Project Report."
That's how he referred to it...unless
he heard the prospect say
这让我想起几年前詹姆斯和道格拉斯分享的一个故事，一个公司提供了新的项目说明信息给建筑师，工程师以及承包商。他们的报告之一叫做“医疗项目报告”。他如何参考它。。。除非他听到潜在客户说。
"We deal mostly in ‘healthcare' projects."
He then referred to his report as "healthcare"
reports. A small change, but one that can
make a big difference in the listener's mind.
“我们处理了“保健工程”项目的大部分。”然后他的报告参考了“健康工程”报告。小小的改变，但是可以让听众的思维有很大不同。
______________________________

I love those Mac commercials with the geeky
PC guy and the cool Mac character. On one I saw
during a football game, PC guy says
something like,
我喜欢这些令人讨厌的PC的人做的Mac商业，以及酷酷的Mac个性。有一次在我看足球比赛时，PC的人说了这些事情
"I have this referee here so you do not
say something crazy like Leopard is better
than Vista."
我在这里做了调解，所以你不要像豹一样疯狂地说，会比前景更好。
Mac-guy responds, "I didn't say that. The
Wall Street Journal said that."
Mac的人回答到“我没这样说，华尔街日报说的。”
Brilliant. Any time you can use a third
party to make your point it adds more
credibility. Whenever anyone, whether
they be a media source talking about
your products, or a satisfied customer,
be sure to document it and use it when
appropriate on your calls.
聪明。任何时候用第三方来证明你的观点会让其更加可信。不管何时，任何人是否有一个媒体资源来谈论你的产品，或者一个满意的顾客 ，确信记下来，并在你的电话中适当地用到它。
______________________________
A habit that some people have is prefacing
their questions with "May I ask...", as
in "May I ask how many locations you have?"
有些人有个习惯，在提问时用“我可以问一下。。。”比如“我可以问一下你有多少点？”
When you analyze it, this is a waste of
words and also implies that the inquirer
is tentative and unconfident in asking
for the information.
当你分析时，这是非常浪费单词并且也暗示询问者紧张，对于问这个问题不自信。
Those who are guilty might argue that
they don't want to appear pushy with
their questions. Nonsense. As long as
you've shown the prospect what you can
do for them, you've earned the right
to ask for information.
那些心虚的人或许会争辩，他们是想看起来不像强求别人回答他们的问题。鬼话，只要你向潜在客户展现出你可以为他们做些什么，你会得到要求信息的权利。
Plus, you can make your questions sound
non-threatening with your tone of voice.
另外，你可以在问问题时不刻意地处理你的音调。
Why not simply say, "How many locations
do you have?" in a sincere tone of voice?
为什么不用真诚的语调简单地说：“你有多少个点？”
______________________________
Another related offense: "May I ask you a
few questions about your organization?"
另一个相关的弱点是：“我可以问一些关于你组织的问题吗”
If you say this, you just did ask a
question!
如果你这样说，你只是问了一个问题。
The problem here is that their thinking
now focuses on whether or not they want
to answer any questions.
这里的问题是他们的想法现在集中在他们是否想回答问题。
However, contrast that with, "Tell me a
bout how your organization is structured
by region."
然而，对照这个：“告诉我你的区域机构是怎样组织的”
Now they aren't debating as to whether
or not they want to answer your questions.
They're thinking about the answer to your
request.
现在他们不会思考是否要回答你的问题。他们在想你的问题的答案。
That's why questions are so powerful. They
prompt the person to think about precisely
what you ask them.
那是为什么问题如此有强大，它们促使人们准确地思考你问他们的问题。
_________________________________________

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Failures do what is tension-relieving, while
successes do what is goal-achieving."
Denis Waitley
失败所做的是缓和紧张，而成功所做的是达到目标。
:$

谢谢参与！

THIS WEEK'S TIP:
Art's Brief Sales Observations
Art 的简要销售观察

Greetings,
大家好

Each month in my Telephone Prospecting and Selling
Report eight-page sales tips newsletter,  I have a
regular feature where I dump out my file of random
sales observations, rants, pet peeves, and other
items. Here is a sampling from a recent issue.
每个月的电话客户开发和营销报告，是长达八页的销售主题分析，我有一个专栏，刊登我随意的销售观察、演讲、困扰以及其他的事，这里有最近发表的一个例子。
[color=Blue]。。。我有一个专栏，专门用来集中刊登我平时随机产生的有关销售的观感、数落说教、憋屈无奈等诸如此类。。。[/color]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A Men's Health magazine article focused
on the fine art of conversation. The
author, a college professor shared the
story of how the students' final exam
grade in the nonfiction-writing class
he taught was totally based on a two-
hour, full-class, Q&A session with a
92-year old man.
一篇《男人健康》杂志上的文章将焦点聚在在观察的细微工作上。作者是一个大学教授，他分享了他教的写作课上学生的期末考试如何评分的故事，完全依赖于两个小时，整个班级与一个92岁老人的Q&A会议
[color=Blue]《男人健康》杂志上有篇文章专门探讨对话艺术的精妙。作者是位大学教授，他分享的故事是关于他所教授的非小说类写作课程，学生期末考试评分完全是基于全班与一位92岁老人的两个小时问答过程。[/color]

They knew nothing about the man.
他们对于这个人一点也不了解。

After 15 minutes of basic, boring
questions ("Where do you live?, What
do you do for a living?) one exasperated
student blurted out,
15分钟令人厌烦的基础的问题后（你住在哪里？你做什么以维持生活？），一个恼怒的学生冲口而出：

"Just what makes you so special?"
只要说说是什么让你变得这么特别吧

That's when the magic started.
那是魔力开始的时间

He is in the Guinness Book
for the world's longest-serving
bartender, having served his first
drink at midnight, April 7, 1933,
the moment Prohibition ended. The
incisive questions and fascinating
answers came fast and furiously
after that.
在吉尼斯记录中他是世界上服务最久的酒保，在1933年的4月7日午夜，禁令结束的时刻，开始了他的第一次饮酒服务。那以后激烈的问题以及有趣的回答来势凶凶。

A major point here is that there
is something special about everyone
and everything. Think of "special"
questions you might ask to gain deeper
knowledge about your prospects and
customers.
这里重点是对于每个人和每件事来说都有特别的地方，想想你可能会问“特别”的问题，以得到你的潜在客户和客户更深层的信息。
______________________________
Some companies have the stupid policy
of not allowing switchboard operators
to give out the names of employees
(like that's going to stop the scam
artists—who the policy is intended
to prevent from infiltrating the
company—from finding a way in anyway).
一些公司不允许总机的接线员说出雇员的名字（就像要阻止诡异故事家----政策想要阻止他渗透到公司-----无论何种方式），这是项愚蠢的政策
[color=Blue]一些公司有项愚蠢的规定，不允许总机的接线员透露雇员姓名。（这种规定是为了阻止骗子渗透，好像以为这样做就真的能防止骗子，而其实他们总能找到渗透进入公司的途径。）[/color]

Recently I've had success by going
to the PR department of a company,
calling the name listed on a press
release listed on the company's
site, and in another case, calling
the Customer Service department.
最近，我成功地加入公司的PR部门，称之为在公司的位置上释放压力，换一种说法，叫做客户服务部门。
[color=Blue]最近，我成功打电话进入某公司的公关部门，所用名字是在公司网站上的对外新闻稿里找到的；还有一次是利用客服部门打入公司。[/color]

Makes perfect sense. After all,
these folks are trained to be helpful
and answer questions. And of course,
you can always ask for the Sales
department.
制造完美感觉，毕竟，这些家伙经过培训变得有帮助、可以回答问题。当然，你可以总是询问销售部门。
[color=Blue]绝对合情合理。毕竟，这些（PR或客服部门）员工都是要经过培训而具有帮助性并回答问题（的素养）。当然，你也可以去询问销售部门。【注：一般公司这三个部门员工对外人都应该比较热情。相反，采购部门很难进入，所以你可以绕道而入。】[/color]
______________________________
I see that McDonald's is going after
Starbucks big time in the coffee market,
expecting it to be a 1 BILLION dollar
a year increase in sales.
我知道麦克唐纳继星巴克后不久进入咖啡市场，预计达到每年10亿美元的销售额增长。
[color=Blue]我读到：麦当劳将追随星巴克大举进攻咖啡销售市场，期望增加十亿美元的年销售量。[/color]

In their test markets they make fun
of something I've long laughed at, and
think is quite arrogant: Starbucks'
labels for their sizes of drinks.
Vente, Grande...are you kidding me?!
McDonalds is going with small, medium,
and large; there's a concept...using
the language your customers actually use.
在市场测试中，他们闹了不少笑话，让我笑了很长时间，想想太傲慢了：星巴克为他们的饮品量身订做的标签。Vente,Grande。。。你在跟我开玩笑吗？麦克唐纳会运营小型的，中型的，大型的店，有一个观念。。。用你的客户常用的语言。
[color=Blue]【作者意见：既然麦当劳是追随抢夺星巴克的客户，那就要用他们已经在星巴克所熟悉的意大利咖啡用语，而不是自己的“大杯、中杯、小杯”用语。】[/color]
______________________________
Related to the previous point, to
communicate on the same channel as
your prospect or customer, it's good
to listen for nuances in their
vocabulary and adjust yours accordingly.
关于前一点，在与你的潜在客户和客户相同的平台上交流，仔细听他们词汇的细微区别，调整你相应的词汇。

Reminds me of a story shared a few years
ago by a sales rep with James & Douglas,
a company providing new construction project
information to architects, engineers, and
contractors. One of their reports is
called the "Medical Project Report."
That's how he referred to it...unless
he heard the prospect say
这让我想起几年前詹姆斯和道格拉斯分享的一个故事，一个公司提供了新的项目说明信息给建筑师，工程师以及承包商。他们的报告之一叫做“医疗项目报告”。他如何参考它。。。除非他听到潜在客户说。
[color=Blue]这让我想起了几年前詹姆斯和道格拉斯公司有位业务员与我分享的一个故事，这家公司为建筑师、工程师以及承包商提供新建项目信息。他们有份报告名为《医疗项目报告》。他总是如此称呼的。。。直到他听到潜在客户说：[/color]

"We deal mostly in ‘healthcare' projects."
He then referred to his report as "healthcare"
reports. A small change, but one that can
make a big difference in the listener's mind.
“我们处理了“保健工程”项目的大部分。”然后他的报告参考了“健康工程”报告。小小的改变，但是可以让听众的思维有很大不同。
[color=Blue]“我们主要是做“健保工程”项目的。”然后，他就把他的报告改称为《健保工程报告》。小小的改变，但是它可以让听众的感受大不相同。[/color]
______________________________

I love those Mac commercials with the geeky
PC guy and the cool Mac character. On one I saw
during a football game, PC guy says
something like,
我喜欢这些令人讨厌的PC的人做的Mac商业，以及酷酷的Mac个性。有一次在我看足球比赛时，PC的人说了这些事情
[color=Blue]我热爱那些苹果电脑的商业广告，里面有微软电脑怪人和超酷的苹果人物。在一次橄榄球比赛转播中（插播的苹果广告里），我看到其中的微软电脑员有类似这样的说法：[/color]

"I have this referee here so you do not
say something crazy like Leopard is better
than Vista."
我在这里做了调解，所以你不要像豹一样疯狂地说，会比前景更好。
[color=Blue]“我有裁判在这里，所以你不要说些疯话，如：苹果Leopard比微软Vista好用。”[/color]

Mac-guy responds, "I didn't say that. The
Wall Street Journal said that."
Mac的人回答到“我没这样说，华尔街日报说的。”

Brilliant. Any time you can use a third
party to make your point it adds more
credibility. Whenever anyone, whether
they be a media source talking about
your products, or a satisfied customer,
be sure to document it and use it when
appropriate on your calls.
聪明。任何时候用第三方来证明你的观点会让其更加可信。不管何时，任何人是否有一个媒体资源来谈论你的产品，或者一个满意的顾客，确信记下来，并在你的电话中适当地用到它。
______________________________
A habit that some people have is prefacing
their questions with "May I ask...", as
in "May I ask how many locations you have?"
有些人有个习惯，在提问时用“我可以问一下。。。”比如“我可以问一下你有多少点？”

When you analyze it, this is a waste of
words and also implies that the inquirer
is tentative and unconfident in asking
for the information.
当你分析时，这是非常浪费单词并且也暗示询问者紧张，对于问这个问题不自信。

Those who are guilty might argue that
they don't want to appear pushy with
their questions. Nonsense. As long as
you've shown the prospect what you can
do for them, you've earned the right
to ask for information.
那些心虚的人或许会争辩，他们是想看起来不像强求别人回答他们的问题。鬼话，只要你向潜在客户展现出你可以为他们做些什么，你会得到要求信息的权利。

Plus, you can make your questions sound
non-threatening with your tone of voice.
另外，你可以在问问题时不刻意地处理你的音调。
[color=Blue]而且，你可以让你提问题的声调显得没有任何威胁性。[/color]

Why not simply say, "How many locations
do you have?" in a sincere tone of voice?
为什么不用真诚的语调简单地说：“你有多少个点？”
______________________________
Another related offense: "May I ask you a
few questions about your organization?"
另一个相关的弱点是：“我可以问一些关于你组织的问题吗”
[color=Blue]另一个类似的错误是：[/color]

If you say this, you just did ask a
question!
如果你这样说，你只是问了一个问题。
[color=Blue]如果你这样说，你其实已经问了一个问题了。[/color]

The problem here is that their thinking
now focuses on whether or not they want
to answer any questions.
这里的问题是他们的想法现在集中在他们是否想回答问题。

However, contrast that with, "Tell me
about how your organization is structured
by region."
然而，对照这个：“告诉我你的区域机构是怎样组织的”
[color=Blue]相反，你可以这样提问：“请告诉我，你们公司是如何按区域组织管理的。”[/color]

Now they aren't debating as to whether
or not they want to answer your questions.
They're thinking about the answer to your
request.
现在他们不会思考是否要回答你的问题。他们在想你的问题的答案。

[[i] 本帖最后由 bruce1 于 2008-5-27 18:29 编辑 [/i]]

续上：

That's why questions are so powerful. They
prompt the person to think about precisely
what you ask them.
那是为什么问题如此有强大，它们促使人们准确地思考你问他们的问题。
_________________________________________

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Failures do what is tension-relieving, while
successes do what is goal-achieving."
Denis Waitley
失败所做的是缓和紧张，而成功所做的是达到目标。