如何與外國客戶開會？
T.J.: Thanks, everyone, for being so punctual this morning. There’s coffee and tea over in the corner, so please help yourself throughout our meeting.
Bob : Great. Can we go over the agenda?
T.J.: Absolutely. But before we do that, I’d like to rearticulate the purpose of today’s meeting: Time is running out, and we still haven’t hammered down the programming content for cable TV.
Bob: I think the programs used in various restaurants all over the world should be the same, and...
Cindy: [politely interrupting] If I could just break in here, Bob, to say I’m not sure that the Taiwan market is really the same as the markets you’ve been working with.
Bob: [mildly annoyed] Well, I don’t think you can just run with any old local programming and be successful. Our proven track record...
T.J.: We can talk about the specifics in a minute. But let’s review the agenda first. We have two items. The first is to determine the number of channels we’ll be bringing in. That’s basically a cost issue.
In the second item of business, we will decide which sports and which countries will be represented. That’s a positioning issue.
Bob: That seems like a logical way to proceed.
T.J.: Based on the quotes per channel you’ve provided, Bob, I believe we can afford only two channels. Would you agree?
Bob: Yes. At least for right now.
T.J.: And for the sports coverage, what are your thoughts?
Bob: Well, my own perspective is that we should stick with the proven formula, and focus on football, with the NFL regular season, and basketball, with the NBA regular season.
T.J.: That’s certainly one way to look at the programming. But you know, frankly speaking, American football is not really that big here. We’re really more about baseball.
Bob: It’s your market. I stand corrected.
T.J.: OK, to recap: We’ve agreed to broadcast two channels, with a focus on baseball and basketball. For action items, Cindy, if you could get this written up and sent over to New York? Thank you, everyone, for a very productive meeting.
[鮑伯、辛蒂、與劉先生在台北分公司召開一場重要的非正式會議，目的是為了決定在台北餐廳內播放的運動節目]
劉先生： 謝謝大家準時參加會議。旁邊有咖啡和茶，請不要客氣，自行取用。
鮑伯： 好的。可以簡單說明今天的議程嗎？
劉先生：沒問題。但是我要先跟大家說明今天會議的目的：我們的時間非常緊迫，但是到現在我們還沒有決定店內要播放什麼樣的節目內容。
鮑伯： 我認為全球各地餐廳播放的節目內容應該要一致，而且……。
辛蒂： （禮貌的打斷）鮑伯，不好意思打斷一下，我想台灣的市場和你過去所經營的市場是不太一樣的。
鮑伯： （有點惱怒）但是我認為，如果播放過時的地區性節目，是不可能成功的。依據我們過去成功的經驗……
劉先生： 我們可以稍後再討論細節。我先說明今天的議程。今天開會主要討論兩件事。第一是決定我們要引進的頻道數目，這會影響我們的成本。第二，我們必須決定要播放哪些運動類型以及哪些國家的節目，這決定了餐廳的市場定位。
鮑伯： 這樣的安排很好。
劉先生： 鮑伯，根據你所提供的報價，我想我們的預算只能購買兩個頻道。我說的沒錯吧？
鮑伯： 是的，目前確實是如此。
劉先生： 至於包括哪些運動類型，你有什麼想法？
鮑伯： 我的看法是我們應該依照既有的做法，鎖定在美式足球以及籃球，像是NFL美式足球季賽以及NBA籃球季賽。
劉先生： 這是一種方法。可是，鮑伯，老實說，足球運動在這裡不是很受歡迎。我們比較喜歡棒球。
鮑伯： 你們比較了解這裡的市場。我同意你的看法。