After a three month in-house training, it’s time to put the books aside
and actually start performing – role playing exercises. The new recruits will play
the role of salespersons, and our instructors will play the role of customers.
Our challenge is to develop proposals and sell them.
I am very nervous about it. I’ve never done role-playing before, and I’ve
never sold anything. My role is to convince a prospective customer’s secretary
that my proposal is so important that I deserve a chance to speak to her boss.
What am I going to sell? What would be my sales pitch? Should I sound
proud or modest? Should I boast or be very honest?
I thought about all this and I couldn’t sleep.
在三個月的內部訓練後，我們終於要放下書本，實際演練了 — 角色扮演練習。新進人員演銷售員，指導老師演顧客。我們的挑戰是寫企劃案，並把企劃案賣出去。
我很緊張，我從沒做過角色扮演，我也沒賣過東西。我的角色是要說服一位未來客戶的秘書，我的企劃案非常重要，我應該得到和她老板一談的機會。
我要賣什麼？我的賣點是什麼？我應該用自得或謙卑的口氣？我應該吹吹牛還是非常誠實？
我想著這些，難以入眠。
Key words:
In-house training: 公司內部訓練
Role playing: 角色扮演
Exercises: 練習
New recruits: 新進人員。
Salespersons: 泛指男女銷售員，當然如果性別非常明顯，還是可以這樣說: My father
is a salesman. My mother is a saleswoman.
Instructor: 指導老師
Challenge: 挑戰，不學這個字，不接受這個字，人生不進反退。
Develop: 發展, 塑造，你可以develop
a proposal, develop a product, 也可以develop a story, develop a
character.
Proposal: 提議、報告。凡事都要先見於字面，能寫得精、寫得順，才有成功希望。
Convince: 說服。
Prospective: 潛在的。因為這個人或這群人還沒有成為你的客戶，所以只能說「潛在的客戶」，以對應於真實的顧客，這種區別在英文中還蠻重要的。
Customer: 顧客，客戶。
Secretary: 秘書。秘書可大可小，美國國務卿稱為Secretary of State，聯合國秘書長稱為Secretary
– General of the United Nations.
Deserve: 應該得到
Allow: 允許。
Sales pitch: 賣點，行銷時不能泛泛而談，一定要有亮點，一下子講到顧客心坎裡。
Scene 2
I didn't fall asleep until dawn. I had a dream.
In the dream, I ride on a white horse, with black armors all over like a medieval knight. I pranced forward with my lance, and on the tip of my lance is my proposal. I cry as I gallop to the king, "I saw, I came, I conquered."
"What have you conquered, my knight?"
"I've conquered your land with long-term care insurance."
I woke up, and I had an idea for my proposal.
This is what happened to my first role-playing exercise.
“I am going to sell a long-term care insurance to your boss,” I said to
the instructor, who performed as the secretary. “As people live longer, and the
national healthcare system is not as reliable as it should be, everyone should
plan ahead. The long-term care insurance policy can help the insured cover the
cost of living in a nursing home, which can be very expensive.”
The instructor shook her head. “I’m sorry to let you down. You didn’t
convince me.”
I asked her why.
“As far as my boss is concerned, your product is irrelevant. He is only thirty years old.”
This experience taught me one thing, knowing your client is very
important. Just like Sun Tzu said in his famous The Art of War, “To
know one's own strength and the enemy's is the sure way to victory.”
這是我第一次角色扮演的過程.
「我要把一套長期療養保險賣給你老板，」我對指導老師說，此時她正扮演秘書的角色。「人們壽命越來越長，全國健保也不如預期那般可靠，每個人都要未雨綢繆。長期療養保險可協助受保人負擔住在養老院的高額費用。」
我的指導老師搖頭。「對不起讓你失望，你沒有說服我。」
我問她為什麼。
「對我老板而言，你的產品無關緊要，他才三十歲。」
這個經驗教了我一件事，了解客戶至端緊要。就如孫子在著名的「孫子兵法」中所說，「知此知彼，百戰百勝」。
Key words:
Insurance: 保險
Reliable: 可靠的
The insured: 受保人
Cover: 負擔
Nursing home: 養老院
Product: 產品
Irrelevant: 無關緊要，不相關的。
Experience: 經驗
Client: 客戶，和customer同義
