礼节美语 Business Etiquette 233-Boosting-Sales-I

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　　Lisa: Frank, we just got our sales figures in and the numbers are very disappointing. What's going on here?

　　Frank: I haven't actually seen the new figures. How far have we fallen?

　　L: We were in sixth place at the beginning of the year and we've now slipped to the eleventh! That's a considerable drop.

　　F: Wow, that's really bad news. Maybe we should brainstorm¹ some ideas for a radical² reinvention of our sales and marketing³ plan.

　　L: Yeah, let's do that right now. What do you think the problem is?

　　公司副总裁Lisa找到销售部经理Frank, 因为最新销售数字很令人失望，年初的时候还排名第六，we've now slipped to the eleventh. 如今已经滑落到了第11位，下跌幅度很大，That's a considerable drop. Frank听了这个坏消息，觉得应该 brainstorm some ideas，to brainstorm 是头脑风暴，集思广益的意思，看看怎样彻底调整一下公司的销售和市场规划。Lisa建议，择日不如撞日，说谈就谈，问Frank觉得问题出在哪里。

　　F: Well, it seems our competitors have managed to carve a niche⁴ in the market. They are now perceived as more "cool" or trendy than we are. Perhaps we should consider getting some celebrity⁵ endorsements⁶.

　　L: You mean like a rock star or a famous sports figure?

　　F: Yeah, that might help. The person has to be seen as kind of a rebel so we can associate our brand with individuality.

　　L: That's not a bad idea. I'll talk to the Board of Directors about that.

　　F: I'd also suggest we reevaluate our packaging. Right now the box we sell our product in seems a little drab and colorless.

　　Frank说，公司的竞争对手 carved a niche in the market 在市场中找到了属于自己的一块地方，niche is spelled n-i-c-h-e, niche 是缝隙的意思，动词 carve 是雕刻，划出的意思。Frank说，现在消费者都觉得公司竞争对手的产品更时尚，因此不妨找两个名人，给公司做产品代言，get some celebrity endorsements, 但选择的名人一定要带有反叛色彩，让用户觉得我们的产品有个性化，individuality. Frank 还建议，眼下的产品包装有些呆板，a little drab, 可以考虑变化一下。Lisa说：

　　L: Yes, we could redesign our packaging. But on the other hand, there is a recent trend to move away from excessive packaging. You know...to help save the environment.

　　F: That's another way we could go. We could reduce our packaging, and then advertise our environmentally-friendly business policies. Being "green" is definitely cool these days. Perhaps environmentally-friendly packaging would appeal to a younger customer demographic.

　　Lisa说，如今的趋势是放弃过度包装，实现包装简单化，因为这样做有利环保 environmentally-friendly. Frank觉得Lisa说得有道理，公司在包装上可以走环保路线，用环保的新思维来吸引年轻客户群，appeal to 是吸引的意思，demographic is spelled d-e-m-o-g-r-a-p-h-i-c, demographic 在这里指的是消费人群中的一部分。

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