苦差之旅

情景：柯特和麗莎正在討論到印度尼西亞出差的事宜，為公司簽訂一位新的承包商。

Lisa: So, Curt, we need to talk about the trip next month.

Curt: To the factory in Indonesia, you mean?

Lisa: Yes. It's a very important trip, you know, and we really need to make a good impression on our partners there. I heard from Kevin in Planning that the intention is to expand our operations in Indonesia quite considerably next year.

Curt: Really? I'm surprised. I thought we were going to open a new factory in Guangzhou.

Lisa: You didn't hear? That deal fell through.

Curt: Oh. No, no, I hadn't heard anything. I was out of the loop on that project.

Lisa: The guy we were dealing with - a Hong Kong businessman - lost a bunch on another project, so he closed up everything he was running over the border in Guangzhou and Shenzhen and skipped back to Hong Kong. Apparently there's a queue of creditors outside his old factories now.We're well out it.

Curt: That's why they're backing Indonesia?

Lisa: Yes, though I'm not sure Indonesian business is any more stable - less, if anything. But the people we're dealing with have a good name.

Curt: So we're flying on the 16th?

Lisa: Out of New York, yes, across to LA, and then over the Pacific. Via Singapore. But here's the thing - the domestic flight is going to be business, but the long-haul flight is in economy.Premium economy, but …

Curt: God. That's going to be a long time not to be in business class. Cramped, too.

Lisa: Premium economy gives you a lot more leg room, at least. And, honestly, I'd rather we were cutting expenses than cutting jobs.

Curt: What about the hotel?

Lisa: It's just going to be a three or four star place. It's just as well you're a guy, or I think they'd even have stuck us together rather than giving us separate rooms! But don't expect any great luxuries - we're lucky to get a bathroom.

Curt: Aren't the Indonesians paying for it?

Lisa: They're paying for all our travel when we get there. So that should be good - but you have to remember, don't mention we were in economy. We still need to keep up appearances.

Curt: Gotcha.

Lisa: And you need to be suited up, of course. They're meeting us straight off the flight.

Curt: I really can't stand wearing a suit on a flight. They're just not designed for it.

Lisa: I know, I know. I'll make sure you're spruced up at the other end.

Curt: So what's our schedule look like?

Lisa: Um … we get into Jakarta on the morning of the 18th, because of the time difference – we're going forward fifteen hours, I think, plus the length of the flight. Very early in the morning. And then they take us to the factory straightaway.

Curt: I think we should change that - we really need to drop by the hotel and freshen up first.Fifteen hours - we'll be awfully jetlagged, as well.

Lisa: Maybe I can persuade them to give us the morning to ourselves, and then take us to the factory after lunch. That would be more sensible.

Curt: What exactly are we doing at the factory? Neither of us are engineers, it's not as if we can really assess the place.

Lisa: Just smile, nod, ask basic questions, and be polite. They're just showing us their operation, extending trust, really.

Curt: What's next?

Lisa: They're taking us for dinner in the evening, and we're supposed to talk about some points of the deal then. I'll hash it out before we go.

Curt: Are we really negotiating, or just making nice?

Lisa: The full-on negotiations are the next day; we have the whole day pencilled in for meetings.First of all they're introducing us to a lot of their staff, and then we're sitting down to discuss the final deal.

Curt: How are we going to play it?

Lisa: Let's talk about that when we get there and can see what the situations like. Now, I heard from Gena, from when she went before, that they negotiate like the Japanese - they like to tire you out. But they're not as good at it, and they're eager for this deal, so I don't think it'll be that gruelling. And then there's another dinner.

Curt: And the last two days? It's four days total, yes?

Lisa: An island trip on the third day …

Curt: Sounds nice.

Lisa: To their warehouse facilities, apparently …

Curt: Ah. I was imagining a boat, seas, sun …

Lisa: Hah, not so much. But the final afternoon's free, before we fly back. Meetings in the morning, but if everything goes smoothly they shouldn't overrun.

Curt: Well, I don't know what we're going to squeeze in an afternoon, but maybe I can do some shopping for Karen or something.

Lisa: I'm going to try and go to a temple, I think. I hear they're beautiful.

Curt: Oh, do we need to get visas sorted out?

Lisa: Yes, bring your passport in and give it to HR. They're doing everything that way. You might have to sign some application forms, that's all.

Curt: Let's talk more nearer the time.

Lisa: Excellent! Speak to you later!

麗莎：那么，柯特，我們得討論討論下個(gè)月的出差。

柯特：你是說去印尼的工廠？

麗莎：是的。你知道，這次出差非常重要，我們必須給那邊的合作伙伴形成一個(gè)好印象。我聽策劃部的凱文說明年計(jì)劃大規(guī)模地?cái)U(kuò)大我們在印尼的業(yè)務(wù)。

柯特：真的？我挺吃驚的。我還以為我們計(jì)劃在廣州開一家新工廠呢。

麗莎：你沒聽說嗎？那個(gè)交易泡湯了。

柯特：噢。沒，沒有，我什么都沒聽說。我不插手那個(gè)項(xiàng)目。

麗莎：我們洽談的那個(gè)家伙——一個(gè)香港商人——在另一個(gè)項(xiàng)目上損失慘重，所以他就結(jié)束了深圳和廣州那邊所有的生意，溜回香港了。很顯然現(xiàn)在他的舊工廠外面肯定排著一長排要債的。我們幸虧沒摻和進(jìn)去。

柯特：這就是他們?yōu)槭裁从謨A向印尼了？

麗莎：是的，雖然我不確定印尼的商業(yè)是不是比中國的穩(wěn)定——更可能的是，比中國的更不穩(wěn)定。但是跟我們做生意的人名聲不錯(cuò)。

柯特：那么我們16號飛？

麗莎：是的，從紐約出發(fā)，穿過洛杉磯，然后飛過太平洋。再轉(zhuǎn)道新加坡。但是情況是這樣的，國內(nèi)航班是商務(wù)艙，但是遠(yuǎn)程航班是經(jīng)濟(jì)艙。頭等經(jīng)濟(jì)艙，但是……

柯特：天啊。不坐商務(wù)艙的話會(huì)很難熬。再說經(jīng)濟(jì)艙也很狹窄。

麗莎：至少，頭等經(jīng)濟(jì)艙腳下的空間大一點(diǎn)。而且，說實(shí)在的，我寧愿我們減少開支而不是裁員。

柯特：旅館怎么樣？

麗莎：會(huì)是三星或者四星級的。幸虧你是個(gè)男士，要不然我覺得他們甚至?xí)言蹅儼才旁谝黄鸲皇墙o咱們單獨(dú)的房間！但是別指望會(huì)很奢華——有浴室就夠幸運(yùn)了。

柯特：印尼方面不支付嗎？

麗莎：我們在那邊的費(fèi)用是他們支付的。所以招待的應(yīng)該會(huì)不錯(cuò)——但是你必須記得，不能提我們坐的是經(jīng)濟(jì)艙。我們還是需要“擺譜”的。

柯特：知道啦。

麗莎：當(dāng)然，你得穿西裝。一下飛機(jī)他們就跟我們碰面。

柯特：我真的不能忍受坐飛機(jī)的時(shí)候穿西裝。西裝又不是為坐飛機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)的。

麗莎：我知道，我知道。我會(huì)確保你到了之后再穿戴整齊。

柯特：那我們的行程是什么樣的？

麗莎：嗯……我們18號早晨到雅加達(dá)，因?yàn)闀r(shí)差的原因——我想時(shí)間前調(diào)了15個(gè)小時(shí)，再加上飛行的時(shí)間。一大早就會(huì)到。然后他們直接帶我們到工廠。

柯特：我覺得我們應(yīng)該改變一下行程——我們真得需要到酒店停一下，先梳洗一下。15個(gè)小時(shí)——而且到時(shí)候我們的時(shí)差反應(yīng)也會(huì)很強(qiáng)烈。

麗莎：或許我能說服他們把整個(gè)上午留給我們，然后午飯之后再帶我們到工廠去。這樣的話會(huì)更合理。

柯特：我們?nèi)ツ羌夜S到底要做什么？我們都不是工程師，好像我們倆還真能評估工廠似的。

麗莎：就微笑、點(diǎn)頭、問一些基本問題、有禮貌。他們只是向我們展示他們的生產(chǎn)操作，增強(qiáng)信任，真的。

柯特：接下來是什么？

麗莎：晚上他們帶我們?nèi)コ酝盹垼綍r(shí)候我們會(huì)談一下合同里的一些內(nèi)容。在我們走之前好好討論一下，定下來。

柯特：我們是要真得談判，還是只是扮乖？

麗莎：全面的談判在是第二天；我們安排了一整天來開會(huì)。首先他們把咱們介紹給他們那邊的許多員工，然后大家坐下來討論最終的合約。

柯特：我們打算怎么做？

麗莎：等我們到了那邊看看情形再商量。首先，我聽吉娜說，根據(jù)她原來到那邊的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，他們像日本人似得談判——喜歡打“疲勞戰(zhàn)”。但是他們不太擅長這個(gè)，而且他們渴望得到這個(gè)合同，所以我覺得不會(huì)很熬人。然后還有一頓晚飯。

柯特：那最后兩天呢？總共四天對吧？

麗莎：第三天到島上去……

柯特：聽上去不錯(cuò)。

麗莎：很顯然，去參觀他們的倉儲(chǔ)設(shè)備……

柯特：啊。我還在幻想小船、大海、陽光呢……

麗莎：哈，沒有那么好。但是最后一天下午是自由的，在我們飛回來之前。上午開會(huì)，但是如果一切順利的話不會(huì)拖過上午。

柯特：哦，我不知道只有一個(gè)下午我們能做什么，但是或許我能為凱倫買點(diǎn)東西什么的。

麗莎：我想爭取去一趟廟里。我聽說它們很漂亮。

柯特：哦，我們需要把簽證準(zhǔn)備好嗎？

麗莎：是的，把護(hù)照帶來交給人事部。他們都是這么辦的，你可能得簽點(diǎn)申請表什么的，就沒什么事了。

柯特：到時(shí)候我們再詳細(xì)談一下。

麗莎：太好了！晚點(diǎn)商量!

Notes

1. fall through

意為“失敗、成為泡影”。

例句：He didn't quite understand why the deal fell through.

他不太明白為什么這場交易失敗了。

Should they fall through in their present plans, the consequences will be fatal.

他們現(xiàn)在的計(jì)劃一旦落空，后果將極為嚴(yán)重。

2. to be out of the loop.

意為“對某件事情的前因后果不甚了解”。

例句：People out of the loop

圈外人士

I didn't know Jack was leaving. I was out of the loop on that one.

我不知道杰克要走的事情，我對此事毫不知情。

3. close up

意為“關(guān)閉（某物）；（使）愈合；（使）相互靠攏；（使）關(guān)店”。

例句：The road has been closed up for repairs.

因?yàn)樾蘼? 那條道路不通了。

This herbal ointment will help to close up your wound quickly.

這種草藥膏會(huì)幫助你的傷口很快愈合。

The captain ordered his men to close up.

上尉命令士兵靠攏。

The shop is closing up. I must ask you to leave.

本店要關(guān)門了, 我們必須請你們離開。

4. if anything

意為“更可能的是；總之；如果不同的話”。

例句：Her family, if anything, was richer than mine.

要說有什么區(qū)別的話，她家比我家有錢。

Joe isn't a bad boy. If anything, he's a pretty good one.

喬不是一個(gè)壞男孩?？傊? 他是一個(gè)非常好的男孩。

5. keep up appearances

意為“裝門面、撐場面、裝闊氣、假裝若無其事”。

We must keep up appearances even if it means little sacrifices here and there.

就算有許多小犧牲我們也必須擺花架子。

Things may be unpleasant, but we will keep up appearances.

事情可能不太好，但是我們會(huì)裝作若無其事。

6. suit up

意為“穿上制服、穿上西服”。

例句：When you've suited up, come into the machine room.

穿好工作服到機(jī)房來。

7. spruce up

意為“打扮整齊；裝修房子”。

例句：They were all spruced up for the party.

他們都打扮得漂漂亮亮的去參加聚會(huì)。

We spent nearly 30, 000 yuan on sprucing up the house.

這次我們裝修房子花了近30000元。

8. freshen up

意為“使精神飽滿、梳洗一番”。

例句：I feel freshened up after that little sleep.

小睡片刻后我覺得精力恢復(fù)了。

They went back to the hotel to freshen themselves up.

他們回到旅館去梳洗打扮一番。

9. hash out

意為“通過長時(shí)間討論后解決”。

例句：The teacher asked them to sit down together and hash out their differences.

教師要他們坐在一起討論討論以消除分歧。

Let's just sit down and hash it out.

讓我們坐下來，好好地討論解決一下這個(gè)問題。

10. tire out

意為“使極度勞累、使筋疲力盡”。

例句：Looking after the children really tires me out.

照料這些孩子把我累壞了。

Hours of gardening in the sun has quite tired me out.

幾小時(shí)在太陽底下鋤草澆花已使我十分疲勞了。

Links

疲勞戰(zhàn)術(shù)

“疲勞戰(zhàn)術(shù)”，商務(wù)談判常見策略之一，指通過拉鋸戰(zhàn)，使對方疲勞、生厭，以扭轉(zhuǎn)己方在談判中的不利地位，到了對手精疲力竭時(shí)，己方反守為攻，促使對方接受己方條件的一種策略。

在商務(wù)談判中，實(shí)力較強(qiáng)一方的談判者常常咄咄逼人，鋒芒畢露，表現(xiàn)出居高臨下、先聲奪人的氣勢。對于這種談判者，疲勞戰(zhàn)術(shù)是一個(gè)十分有效的應(yīng)對策略，通過許多回合的拉鋸戰(zhàn)，逐步消磨此類談判者的銳氣，同時(shí)也扭轉(zhuǎn)己方在談判中的不利地位，等到對手精疲力竭、頭腦昏脹之時(shí)，己方即可反守為攻，力促對方做出讓步。