外贸电子邮件中的必备英文表达

当今许多新入行的外贸人员表示,在撰写外贸电子邮件时遇到了许多问题,无法直接应用教科书上学到的知识。本文整理了撰写商务电子邮件各部分所需的常用英文表达。

对于那些频繁阅读商务邮件相关书籍或文章的人来说,你或许已经发现,许多作者都会告诉你在发送电子邮件时需要遵循一些规则:简洁明了,条理清晰,主旨明确。

一封完整的商务电子邮件通常包含以下几个部分:称呼、开篇、正文、结束语和问候。

1. 称呼(Salutation)

开头的称呼不容忽视,细节有时可能决定成败。在西方国家,已婚女性和未婚女性的称呼是不同的,因此在给女性客户发邮件时需要注意。

"Dear"作为开头是没有问题的,但许多人忘记在后面加上收件人的名字。由于翻译的原因,许多人认为"Dear"是亲密的称呼,但在外国人看来,这个词实际上非常正式,就像我们写信时使用的"尊敬的"。因此,"Dear"应该用在较正式的场合,后面可以加上名字或姓氏。

如果不知道收件人的名字,或者写一封普通的邮件,可以选择使用"Greetings"或"Hi there"作为开头。但请不要使用"Dear Sir"和"Dear Madam",这种说法太过老套和正式,给人一种你懒得查找对方名字的感觉,可能会显得有些冒犯。同样,"To whom it may concern"也不要使用。

常见的称呼表达如下:

Dear Mr./ Ms. Smith (具体某人)

• Dear Prof. (教授)/ Dr. (博士) + 姓氏 (头衔/职位)

2. 开篇(Starting)

对于大多数商务邮件的开篇而言,我们可以通过提及与客户之前的接触来表示友好的问候。

首先可以提及你与客户的"交情",并表示感谢。比如感谢客户与你见过面、吃过饭、拜访过公司、在展会上聊天或通过电话交流过等。如果没有任何此类接触,那么可以感谢对方的来信。(甚至在没有及时回复对方时也可以表示感谢对方的耐心等待)

常见的开篇表达包括:

1. Thank you for your (kind) letter of January 15th.

2. It was a pleasure meeting you at the conference this month.

3. I do appreciate your patience in waiting for a response.

4. Thank you for contacting us.

5. It was a pleasure meeting you in Shanghai last month.

6. I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in NewYork.

7. With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday...

8. In reply to your request...

9. I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed on Friday.

在简单寒暄之后,我们就可以直接阐述写信的目的。在表达意图时,也要尽量简明扼要,以免让客户失去继续阅读的兴趣。

3. 阐述主旨(State the main point)

这一部分是邮件的重点,需要向客户清楚地表述你的主要诉求。比如你写邮件是为了请求客户帮助、提供报价、询问客户问题,或者回应客户需求、提供证明材料等。常用的表达包括:

1. We are writing to inform you that.../ to confirm.../ to request.../to enquire about...

2. I recently read/heard about...and would like to know...

3. I am contacting you for the following reason...

4. We'd like to invite you to a meeting on May 15th.

在表达诉求时,可以使用以下短语:

提出请求:We would appreciate it if you would ...; It would be helpful if you could send us ...; I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter; Could you possibly tell us / let us have ...; Please let me know what action you propose to take.

• 提供帮助:Would you like us to ...? We are quite willing to ...

• 传达好消息:We are pleased to announce that .../ to inform you that ... / to learn that ...

• 传达坏消息:I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...; After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...; Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ...; Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date ) have not yet arrived.

• 表达不满:I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...

4. 结束语(Closing)

最后一段通常我们会客气地寒暄一下,表达对客户的期待(期待对方的回复/给出意见反馈等)。常见的表达包括:

1. Please accept our thanks for the trouble you have taken.

2. We tender you our sincere thanks for your generous treatment of us in this affair.

3. We should be grateful for your trial order.

4. We should be grateful for your furnishing us details of your requirements.

5. We are greatly obliged for your bulk order just received.

6. If there is anything we can do to help you, we shall be more than pleased to do so.

7. We will spare no efforts in endeavoring to be of service to you.

8. Looking forward to your reply.

5. 问候(Ending)

邮件的最后,我们通常会给客户留下诚挚的问候,可以使用以下表达:

Yours sincerely / Yours truly / Sincerely / Thank you / Best wishes / Warm regards / All the best / Best of luck

以上是给客户发邮件时的一些常用表达,希望能为新入行的外贸人员提供帮助。欢迎资深外贸人员分享更多经验。