谈判英语一日通02-09

Chapter9

Preparing for the Negotiation¹ Session准备谈判

Dialog

The dialog below shows a negotiation stalled on price,neither side will compromise.This is the perfect time to play a bargaining chip.Mel represents an electronic control panel manufacturer. Bill works for a stereo maker² that manufactures most of its own parts. They want to buy a large quality of Mel's control panels.Because new design is superior to what Bill's company is currently making,retooling will take a lot of time.

Mel:I'm sorry,Bill,butI can't help you.

US$6.37 per unit delieverd to your factory in Taiwan is the best I can do.

I'm only willing to let them go this cheap because you're buying so many of them.

My normal price is US$6.45 plus shipping³. I'm offering you a heck of discount.

Bill:I understand that,Mel. It's a good price,but we have to remain competitive.

We're already one of the most expensive units on the market.

The only reason we get that much is because of our reputaition for quality.

And, the only reason we're thinking about buying your control panels,instead of making them,is your reputation for qulity.

Mel:Bill, qulality costs money.

Bill:We understand that. But,at that unit cost, we would have to significantly increase our consumer price.

And that would definitely cost us a piece of our market share.This is something we want to avoid.

Mel:I understand completely,but if I drop the price ever 2 cents, I'll be swimming in red ink.

Bill:This could be a deal breaker.My instructions from the boss are very clear,I can't go over US$6.30.

I hate to see this deal fall apart for a lousy seven cents.

Mel:Me too, but my hands are tired. A seven-cent loss times two hundred and fifty thousand units is more than I can afford.

That works out to around twenty grand if you factor in the operating losses.

Bill:Stop the presses,Mel.There's more than one way to skin a cat, and I might just have an idea.

Mel:Well,let's hear it.I'm all ears.

Bill:My production people mentioned a few modifications⁴ you could make that would be a negligible cost to you but would save us a production step.

Mel:I don't know,Bill. We usually charge at least set up fees to deviate⁵ from the standard production model.

Bill:I know.That's why I didn't mention them before.

I realized pretty quick that money was a problem and we can't afford your usual set up fees.

But,if you're willing to work with me,we may be able to pull the fat out of the fire.

Mel:I'm still listening.

Bill:What if we ship the panel housing to you and instead of you placing each unit in the shipping box,you perpanently crimp the units into place on the housing and ship if back to us ready to install.

Mel:I don't know.

Bill:Look,the crimping process isn't even an extra step.

You could do it at the same time you crimp the back and front plates together.

Then,you save the expense of loading each unit into an individual packing box.

Just lay a couple of slotted styrofoam bars in the bottom of the crate⁶ to keep the units seperated in shipping and you save the cost of the packing box.

Mel:We could do that, but the cost of a packing box is only 2.5 cents.We would still be losing money.

Bill:What about the savings⁷ on packing,both labor⁸ and materials? That's got to be worth seven cents a unit.

Mel:Actually, it's more like three or four.

Bill:Ha,ha,ha!Okay,Mel,I'll tell you what I'm going to do.

If you agree to do everything I covered so far, plus mount the knobs on the units instead of sending them in seperate box for us to mount,I'll up our offer four cents to US$6.34.

But this is only because I want to put this deal and myself to bed as soon as possible.

Mel:Okay,I'm tired too. Let's shake on $6.34 and I'll buy the drinks. We'll work out the details tomorrow.

Bill:Let's go.

Vocabulary 重要词汇

copetitive有竞争力的

component零件

bargaining chip议价筹码

panel仪器板

superior胜过于

consumer消费者

swim in red ink被赤字淹没,亏钱

go over超过

lousy差劲的

skin a cat解决问题

modification变更

negligible微不足道的

deviate脱离(常轨)

permanently持久地

crimp使卷起

slotted 钻凿的

crate板条箱

knob旋钮

1 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

6 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。