英语中的谈判几乎都建立在**条件句**之上。几乎每一步动作——提议、让步、拒绝、成交——都是围绕 if 展开的,能否熟练运用条件句,正是区分「谈判」和「单纯请求」的关键。
永远不要无条件让步
最核心的原则是:每一次让步都要连着你能从对方那里得到的回报。
❌ We can reduce the price. ✅ If you could commit to a two-year term, we'd be able to review the price.
一些实用句型:
- Provided that X, we could Y.
- On the condition that X, we'd be prepared to Y.
- We'd be willing to X, as long as Y.
- Supposing we did X — would you be able to Y?(试探,而不是正式提议)
Supposing / What if 是在不正式亮出方案的情况下,试探对方想法最稳妥的方式。
开场
- Our position is that…
- What we're looking for is…
- The main thing for us is…(表明优先事项,同时邀请对方交换条件)
- Where would you like to start?
提前说出自己的优先事项,并不是示弱。这样做恰恰展示了哪些交换是可能的。
锚定
第一个被提出的数字会为接下来的整场谈判定下基调,而英语会把它标记为一个起点,而不是硬性要求:
- As a starting point, we were thinking in the region of…
- Broadly, we'd be looking at…
- Ballpark, somewhere around…
如果对方先抛出了一个你无法接受的锚定数字,不要立刻用另一个数字回应——而是提问:Can you help me understand how you got to that figure? 报一个新数字等于接受了对方的框架,而提问则不会。
试探
- Can you help me understand why that figure is fixed?
- What's driving the timeline?
- How much flexibility do you have on delivery?
- If we couldn't do that, what would that mean for you?
最后这个问题能揭示对方的立场到底有多坚定——往往远没有听起来那么坚定。
如何表明自己有其他选择
做得不好,这会变成威胁;做得好,这只是信息。英语在这里会保持非人称化和克制的语气:
- We do have other options we're considering.
- We'd much rather work with you, but we need to get to a workable number.
- Realistically, at that price we'd have to look elsewhere.
注意 we'd much rather work with you 这句话:正是这个表明偏好的说法,让「我们还有别的选择」不至于听起来像威胁。
不把话说死的拒绝方式
- That's going to be difficult for us.(通常就是「不」的意思)
- I don't think we could go that far, but we might be able to…
- That's outside what I can agree to today.(为进一步升级谈判留出空间)
- Let me take that away and come back to you.
请注意:在谈判中,英语几乎从不直接说 no。「That would be difficult」本身就是一种拒绝,把它误当成讨价还价的邀请,是一个常见且代价不小的错误。
说服,而不仅仅是讨价还价
三种能够改变对方立场、却不需要你做出任何让步的做法:
重新定义争论的焦点。 I think we're solving different problems here — for us this isn't about the price, it's about the risk of the timeline slipping.
引用先例。 The last three contracts we've signed on this basis have all worked this way.
降低对方答应的门槛。 If it helps, we could start with a three-month pilot and review. 缩小承诺的规模,往往比改善条款本身更有效。
如何顶住压力
- 沉默。 母语者会在提出方案之后故意保持沉默。你没有义务去填补这段空白:Let me think about that 本身就是一个完整的回应。
- 人为设定的期限。 Is that a hard deadline, or a preference?
- 不断增加的要求。 I think we'd agreed that point — can we treat it as settled?
推动达成一致
- We're closer than it might seem.
- Let's park that and come back to it.(把有争议的点先搁置)
- If I've understood correctly, you need X by Y.(一句让对方难以反驳的总结)
- So where does that leave us?
总结陈述是最有力的一步「无声棋」:它把已经达成的共识固定下来,让对方再想反悔就会显得尴尬。
收尾
- Can we agree on that in principle?(先原则上达成一致,细节留待以后)
- Shall I put that in writing?
- On that basis, we have a deal.
会议纪要一定要自己主动发出去。谁来写下双方达成的共识,谁就为下一次对话定下了基调。
留意情态动词
We will deliver by June.(承诺)
We would deliver by June.(有条件的——并非真正的承诺)
We should be able to deliver by June.(一种可以轻易收回的预期)
学习者常常把 should 和 would 理解成承诺。在谈判中,它们刻意地不是承诺。
留意对方没有承诺什么。 谈判语法的全部意义,就在于让自己听起来乐于合作,却什么都不承诺:we'd be looking at、that should be possible、in principle、subject to。这些说法没有一个能真正约束任何人。真正的技巧在于自己能熟练运用它们——更重要的是,能察觉出对方什么时候在对你使用它们。
一段简短的谈判
A: As a starting point, we'd be looking at around £40,000.
B: Can you help me understand how you got to that figure?
A: It reflects the six-month timeline and the level of support.
B: Right. The main thing for us is the delivery date — supposing we could be flexible on support, would there be movement on the timeline?
A: There's room to move there, but not at that price.
B: Understood. If you could commit to April, we'd be prepared to look again at the number. Shall I put that in writing?
一个锚定数字、用提问代替报价、明确说出的优先事项、有条件的交换,以及最后由更在意把结果固定下来的一方主动写下的总结。
自我检测
下面的测验考察的是:每一步谈判用语,实际上让说话人承担了什么样的责任。