我们平时进行商务交流时,时常需要回复客户的商务邮件,但你是不是总是用reply的功能呢?这在外国客户看来可能不太妥当哦。来看看下面这段对话吧。
　　C:Amy,我找了你一整天。
　　A:What is it?
　　C:我有个关于电子邮件的问题。每次我回信,都是点击Reply,保留原来的内容,然后把我的答复加上去。
　　A:That's not unusual.
　　C:今天有个同事告诉我,说我不应该保留电子邮件里原来的内容。可我不明白,如果删掉原来的内容,她怎么能知道我在说些什么呢?
　　A:She no doubt would have preferred that you take the time to paraphrase her message in the body of your reply.
　　C:什么叫paraphrase啊?
　　A:To paraphrase means to rephrase or restate what someone else has said or written.
　　C:你能举个例子吗?比如说,她发电子邮件给我,问我星期三上午11点有没有时间开会讨论新产品。
　　A:In that case, instead of hitting "Reply" and responding, "Yes, I am available;" you should write, "Yes, I am available to meet on Wednesday at 11 AM to discuss the new product."
　　C:就是把话说完整。
　　A:Yes. By restating her message, you have confirmed that you will be at the meeting on the right day at the right time.
　　C:出于礼貌,我在回复电子邮件的时候,都应该把原信的核心内容重复一遍了?
　　A:Yes, In that case you can delete the original at the bottom of your response.
　　C:如果电子邮件的内容变了,用回复的功能,就不能保留原来的题目。是这样吗?
　　A:She is definitely right. It is very confusing to receive a message from someone who changed the subject in the e-mail and not in the subject line.
　　C:你能不能解释一下。
　　A: If I send you a message about a project we are working on and I use "Project A Summary" as the subject line, you have a clear expectation about what information is contained in the e-mail.
　　C:我用回复的功能,告诉你我收到了报告。
　　A:Right. Now let's say that I need to send you a message about our next team meeting. If I use your reply to me - which you recall has the subject line, "Project Summary"; you expect to read more about the project.
　　C:对啊,我会以为里面是关于这个项目更详细的内容,但打开却发现是截然不同的内容。好,我以后一定记住改掉电子邮件的题目。
　　A:Better yet, if you are sending e-mail on a new topic, start a new message with a new subject header.