Seal the Deal! Win Over Your Meeting in Spanish With 11 Crucial Phrases
Young entrepreneurs are setting their sights on Latin American countries more and more in this day and age. Many countries in Central and South America are flourishing hubs for innovation in areas such as tourism and education. Growing companies such as Homeschool Spanish Academy are the result of young entrepreneurs with big ideas and a desire to connect cultures and bring them closer together. Doing business in foreign languages isn’t uncommon, and I’m here to help you prepare for your upcoming meeting in Spanish!
Your Meeting in Spanish Means Business
When doing business abroad, one of the first barriers you’ll encounter is language. You may know how to survive and get around with your Spanish level, but falling short when talking during important meetings can make a big difference when doing business with Spanish speakers.
That’s why today I’ll give you 10 Spanish business phrases that will help your pitch be smooth and your voice sound confident! Let’s get started.
1. Buenos días, es un gusto conocerle
If you know some Spanish, chances are you already know what this means. This phrase translates to “Good morning, it’s nice to meet you.” Keep in mind that using conocerle instead of conocerte is very important. Spanish has three levels of formality, and using the right pronoun is a sign of respect when doing business. Also, keep in mind that titles and job descriptions are important to us too!
If instead of buenos días you want to say “good afternoon,” say buenas tardes. You can also say buenas noches instead of “good evening.”
2. Es un placer hacer negocios con usted
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you” is an important phrase to know for every business meeting in Spanish. In Latinoamérica, adding fluff when speaking is very common. In the US, people are direct and concise when they speak. Some Latinoamericanos will perceive this as rude, so adding a phrase like this as an opener will help establish better rapport.
This doesn’t mean to say you should add fluff to all of your sentences. As international work environments become more common, we have learned to find a middle ground between polite and direct.
3. Le enviaré un correo
Sometimes, meetings aren’t enough to cover all the relevant topics you want to. In that case, you’ll say “I’ll send you an email.” The word correo is short for correo electrónico, and most if not all Spanish speakers shorten it like that.
4. Quiero hacerle una propuesta
When it’s time to get to the core of the meeting in Spanish, negotiations start to heat up and keeping a calm head is key. When you’re ready to start negotiations, or if you’re about to give a suggestion, you can say quiero hacerle una propuesta, “I want to make a proposal”
5. Acepto su propuesta con los siguientes ajustes…
Win-win situations are the heart of any good negotiation. This means you’re likely to accept a proposal after certain changes are made or conditions are met during a meeting. This phrase translates to “I accept your proposal with the following changes…”
6. Tuve una reunión con…
When you reach a dynamic workflow with someone, previous meetings are bound to be mentioned. This phrase means “I had a meeting with…” and you can use it to reference past meetings. Alternatively, you can say Tuve una reunión donde hablamos de, which means “I had a meeting where we talked about”.
7. Me gustaría negociar un contrato
“I’d like to negotiate a contract”. Last weekend I met an entrepreneur whose negotiation skills exceeded her young age. She told me that even at the most basic level of business interactions, contracts are a must. They help as a backup that ideally supports both parties’ agreement on what is to be done, so asking to negotiate a contract is a phrase no business person should forgo.
8. ¿Cuándo puedo esperar noticias de esto?
Imagine you had a successful meeting. All went according to plan and the next steps towards greatness have been plotted out. All of this will be for naught without the dreaded but extremely important deadlines. This is why asking “When can I expect news on this?” is a phrase that will help you establish those deadlines.
9. ¿Tiene tiempo de reunirse el (día)?
“Do you have time to meet on (day)?” There are many ways you can fill in that blank: with the days of the week, and a specific time or date. You can set the place of the meeting as well by using the phrase ¿Dónde podemos reunirnos? or “Where can we meet?”
10. Tengo una pregunta acerca de…
Like my dad always says: “Good business people ask a lot of questions.” Inquisitive minds pave the way to innovation and creativity. That’s why being able to say “I have a question about…” is a tool that you’ll see yourself using more than once.
11. Le daremos seguimiento a lo discutido hoy
Another sign of a successful meeting is the chance to follow up. The phrase Le daremos seguimiento a lo discutido hoy translates to “We’ll follow up on what was discussed today.”
If you want to be more specific in your follow up, you can say Le daremos seguimiento a (día). which means “We’ll follow up on (day).”
Invest in your education!
Latin America is a region with abundant resources and people willing to be better. There are plenty of investment opportunities that have helped locals as well as foreigners to make a good living together. If you want to start a business or venture in a Spanish-speaking country, you can invest in your future by taking a free class at Homeschool Spanish Academy and start your personalized Spanish lessons today!
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