国际贸易实务第11章.ppt

Chapter 11 Agency,11.1 Background Information General agent: a general agent may be a firm or a person who acts under some degree of instruction from his principals to sell (or to buy) goods on the best terms obtainable. He charges a commission for his services under some kind of agreement or contract. Sole agent: similar to general agent, a sole agent may be a firm or a person who acts exclusively for one foreign principal with exclusive (or sole) agency rights to sell on a commission basis certain commodities in a certain area under some kind of agreement or contract for a specified period. A sole agent will not sell products that compete with those of the principal. Commission agent: a commission agent is not exclusive. The principal can appoint one or several commission agents in the same area at the same time. Every agent will do his best to maximize sales for his principal, because he lives on commission which is usually a percentage of the sales he makes.,11.2 Situational Conversation Section 1: Agency (1) A: First of all, I would like to thank you for your kind invitation to visit your beautiful country. I hope my visit will help to promote a friendly relationship between us. B: Weve been looking forward to your visit. It is a great pleasure for us to have you as our guest. It is always more convenient to discuss things face to face. A: I would like to tell you that my clients are very satisfied with the last delivery of your slippers. The styles and colors are very much to the taste of our market. B: Weve received some similar comments from other Australian firms too.,A: I understand you are selling the same products to some other Australian importers. This tends to complicate my business. As you know, I am experienced in the business of slippers and enjoy a good business relationship with all the leading wholesalers and retailers in that line. I have a mind to expand this business in the years to come. One of the reasons of my visit here is to sign a sole agency agreement with you on these items for a period of 3 years. As it is to our mutual interests and profit, I am sure youll have no objection to it. B: We appreciate your good intention and your effort in pushing the sale of our slippers. As you know, the demand for this item in your market is quite substantial. However, according to our records, the total amount of your order last year was moderate, which does not warrant an agency appointment. Unless you increase the turnover we can hardly appoint you our sole agent. A: Ill come to that. My proposal is as follows: Plastic slippers of all sizes, 50,000 pairs annually within the area of the whole Australian market. We expect a 5% commission, of course.,B: As far as I remember, we sold about 40,000 pairs last year to you alone. Dont you think this annual turnover is rather conservative for a sole agent? A: Well, I admit I always do business on the safe side. Could you let me have your proposal then? B: Lets put it this way. I propose a sole agency agreement for ladies and gents plastic slippers (excluding childrens) for a duration of 3 years; 60,000 pairs to be sold in the first year, 70,000 pairs in the second year, and 80,000 pairs in the third year, the area is to be within the continent of Australia (excluding any neighboring island), commission 5%. A: You certainly drive a hard bargain, Mrs. Brown. B: On the contrary, Mr. London, we value your friendship more than anything else. We both understand our slippers are very popular in your market on account of their superior quality and competitive price. And with the sole agency in your hand, there will be no competition and you can easily control the market, which would naturally result in bigger sales. Im sure you can fulfill the agreement without much difficulty.,A: Well, if you put it this way, Ill have to comply. When shall we sign the contract, Mrs. Brown? B: Tomorrow afternoon. A: Tomorrow afternoon will be fine. Section 2: Agency (2) A: I think you have known already that I want to discuss the representation for your alarm clocks. B: Yes, Mr. Bergerson. You mentioned that in your letter. To tell you the truth, your proposal surprised us. A: Is that so? Anyhow I want to go over the details with you in person, so you can give my suggestion thorough consideration. Our firm specializes in this line of business. We have six sales representatives, who are on the road all the time, covering the whole of the European market. B: Do you sell direct to shops? A: Yes, we specialize in handling clocks and watches of all sorts. We have well established channels of distribution and we canvass the retailers direct, without any middlemen.,B: Do you keep a stock of these things? A: In some cases, such as the wristwatches, which always have a steady market, we keep a stock in London and act as distributors as well as agents. Generally, however, we pass on the orders of our clients to the manufacturers for supply. We are paid for our service, of course. B: That is, your commission. A: Yes, our commission is very reasonable. We usually get a 10% commission of the amount on every deal. B: Our agents in other areas usually get a 3-5% commission. A: The European market is not familiar with your products. You have competitors from Japan and other continental countries. At the beginning of our campaign, there is sales resistance to overcome, we must send out salesmen to do a lot of traveling and spend a considerable amount of money on advertising in newspapers and TV programs. A 10% commission will not leave us much. B: According to your estimate, what is the maximum annual turnover you can fulfill, in round figures, of course?,A: We will always do our utmost to enlarge the business, as our remuneration increases with the turnover, but we will not guarantee anything, at least not to begin with. B: We appreciate very much your intention to push the sale of our products. But our suggestion to you, Mr. Bergerson, as a preliminary step, is to do a little research into the market A: Do you mean to say you refuse us the agency? B: Mr. Bergerson, you leave us no alternative. We cannot give you an exclusive agency of the whole European market without having the slightest idea of your possible annual marketing turnover. Besides our price is worked out according to the costing. A 10% commission means an increase in our price. We must have the reaction of the buyers in this respect. A: Oh, thats just too bad. I intended to make great efforts in selling your products. B: Well, we can still carry on our business relationship without the agreement. To start the ball rolling, we will provide you with price lists, catalogues and some samples. Only when you have a thorough knowledge of the marketing possibilities of our products, can we then discuss further details.,A: Ah, Mrs. Miller, but in this case am I covered? B: Oh, yes. We will give you a 5% commission on every transaction. A: All right, but Ill be back again for the Autumn Fair. And then I hope we can see eye to eye about our commission and the terms of the agency. B: Very good. We will discuss the matter again at the next Fair. Section 3: Agency (3) A: Im pleased to meet you again, Mrs. King. B: Pleased to see you, too, Mr. Brown. A: Youve had a good trip, I hope. B: Yes, a very pleasant journey, thank you. A: Its been a full two years since we last saw each other. B: So it is, Ive come again to renew our sole agency agreement for another 2 years. A: We shall be pleased to talk the matter over with you. Youve done very well in fulfilling the agreement.,B: Im glad youre satisfied with our work. I can assure you weve spared no effort and spent quite a sum of money in pushing the sales of your products. A: Yes, we appreciate your efforts in pushing the sales of our pianos. We can see you are experienced in this particular line. B: Thank you. A: But I think the annual sale of 300 pianos for a sole distributorship in Canada is rather conservative. After all, you sold around 400 pieces there last year. You can sell more this year according to the marketing conditions at your end. B: That is the result of our hard work. Well, what annual quantity would you suggest for the new agreement then? A: 500 pieces. B: No, no. Thats too big a number to be acceptable. Lets put it at 450 pieces. And well strive to sell more, of course. We wish to add another clause. For every 50 pieces sold in excess of the quota, well get 1% more in commission for our efforts.,A: All right, lets fix it at 450 pieces then. And for every additional 50 pianos sold, well give you 1% higher commission. B: I suppose all the other terms remain unchanged. A: We would like to make a specific mention of one more point. As our sole distributor, you will neither handle the same or similar products of other origins nor reexport our goods to any other area outside your own. B: No, certainly not. Thats a reasonable restriction. A: Another thing is that every six months we would like to receive from you a detailed report on current market conditions and the users comments on our products. B: Yes, weve already prepared one. Ive brought it with me. Ill put it forward when we talk with the manufacturers tomorrow. A: Good, thats all then. B: Good.,11.3 Email Communication Letter 1: Applying for Sales Agency September 1, 2011 Dear Mr. Chen Wei, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you my company Sompamith International Trading Co. Ltd. We may be able to assist you in marketing your products in Laos. At the present moment we are acting for several major manufacturers to whom we give a service based on a sole agency agreement. Our company is well established, and over the years has developed a thorough knowledge of the commercial market in Laos. We have an experienced and extensive sales organization. Our branch offices are spread throughout Laos, and are staffed with experienced sales managers and sales representatives. For some time as sole agent we have been representing a company that you may know, as its head office is also in Kunming, Jinma Electric Motor Factory.,Through collaboration with that company we have learned that you require an agent to assist you in marketing your dump trucks in Laos. Sompamith International Trading Co. Ltd. specializes in your particular line of China-made machinery and equipment for the Southeast Asian market. Sompamith International has a good track record, and we would be pleased to offer our expertise and service to promote your sales. We believe that your products add to our portfolio and would be of mutual benefit to both companies. If both our companies can agree to favorable trading arrangements as to terms and conditions, we as sole agent would be pleased and willing to represent you. It is hoped that you would give this proposal your most serious consideration. Yours sincerely Encl: Our company brochure A list of clients Referee: Jinma Electric Motor Factory,Letter 2: An Unfavorable Reply September 7, 2011 Dear Mr. Somphouthong, Thank you for your letter of September 1 suggesting that we grant you a sole agency for our dump trucks. I regret to say that, at this get-acquainted stage, such an arrangement would be rather premature. And what is more, we have appointed a sole agent in Laos already. We would, however, be willing to engage in a trial collaboration with your company to see how the arrangement works. Also, it would be necessary for you to test the marketability of our products at your end. You would also have to build up a much larger turnover to justify a sole agency. We enclose our latest price lists and catalogue covering all the products you are interested in and look forward to the pleasure of hearing from you. Yours sincerely Encl: Price lists and catalogue,Letter 3: Accepting Proposal for Sole Agency October 6, 2011 Dear Le Van Sang, Thank you for your letter of September 18 proposing a sole agency for pushing the sales of our bulldozers in Vietnam. We have examined our long and, I must to say, mutually beneficial collaboration. We would be very pleased to entrust you with the sole agency for the bulldozers in Vietnam. From our records, we are pleased to note that you have two service engineers who took training courses at our Kunming factory. The sole agency will naturally be contingent on you maintaining qualified after-sales staff. We have drawn up a draft agreement that is enclosed. Please examine the detailed terms and conditions and let us know whether they meet with your approval. We shall be very glad if you will kindly confirm it and return one of the duplicates duly signed to us if it is acceptable to you. An early reply would be highly appreciated. Yours sincerely (signature) Encl: Draft Sole Agency Agreement,11.4 Practical Skills Skill 1: Explanatory Notes on Technical Terms 1. agent n. 代理人 (1) If you would appoint us as your agent, we could give you a reasonable guarantee to sell US $100,000 a month because yours is a line we can handle well. (2) The exporter may employ an agent living in the buyers country to push the sale of his products. 2. Sole Agency Agreement November 1, 2011 Camellia Machinery and Equipment Co. Ltd., 45 Beijing Rd., Kunming, Yunnan, 650011, China (hereinafter called Party A) and Road Construction Supply Co. Ltd., 22 Tran Xuan Soan Street, Hanoi, Vietnam (hereinafter called Party B), desiring to develop business based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, have agreed as follows through friendly negotiations:,(1) Appointment of agency: Party A agrees to appoint Party B to act as its sole agent in Hanoi, Vietnam for the sale of the under-mentioned commodity, and therefore no sales of competing bulldozers shall be made in Vietnam, either on Party Bs account or on account of any other firms or companies. At the same time Party A is not allowed to appoint other sole agents in Vietnam for the same product during the life of the agreement. (2) Name of commodity: Type DJ-4 bulldozers with the brand name of Dongfeng. (3) Price and quantity: Party B is under an obligation to push sales energetically at the competitive price quoted by Party A. Each transaction is subject to Party As final confirmation. It is mutually agreed that during the validity of this agreement, Party B shall place orders with Party A for not less than 5,000 bulldozers. Party B shall order at least 2,000 bulldozers in the first six months from the date of signing this agreement. Should Party B fail to fulfill the above-mentioned quantity(namely 2,000 bulldozers) in this duration, Party A shall have the right to sell the goods under this agreement to other customers in Vietnam. In case Party B places orders for less than 1,000 bulldozers in the three months from the date on which the agreement is signed, Party A shall have the right to terminate this agreement by giving notice in writing to Party B.,(4) Reimbursement: Party A owes Party B a duty of reimbursement, i.e. Party A repays Party B for the expenses that Party B incurs in carrying out Party As instructions. But Party A pays no subsidy for Party Bs sales promotion or publicity to canvass business if any. (5) Liability: Party B is not liable for the contracts it negotiates for Party A unless it acts outside the scope of its authority, for example, Party B intentionally participates in fraud or misrepresentation. (6) Payment: Payment is to be made by confirmed, irrevocable letter of credit, without recourse, available by sight draft upon the presentation of shipping documents. The letter of credit for each order shall reach Party A 30 days prior to the date of shipment. Should Party B fail to establish the letter of credit in time, Party B shall be liable for any loss or losses including bank interest, storage, etc. which may incur upon Party A. All goods supplied are to be invoiced by Party A direct to customers, with copies sent to Party B.,(7) Commission: Party A agrees to offer Party B a commission of 3% (three percent) on the basis of FOB value of orders. For the bulldozers sold in excess of the quota, Party A will give Party B 1% additional commission. The commission is to be paid to Party B only after the full payment for each order is received by Party A. As an international practice, it should be noted that the commission shall also be paid to Party B on orders secured and executed by Party A itself in Vietnamthat is, when business is done on principal-to-principal or principal-to- customer basis. All customersorders are to be transmitted to Party A immediately for prompt supply. Customers settle their accounts directly with Party A, who sends Party B an up-to-date statement at the end of each month of all payments it received. The commission is transferred to Party Bs bank account. (8) Transactions with governmental bodies: Transactions concluded between governmental bodies of Party A and Party B are not restricted by the terms and conditions of this agreement, nor shall they be considered as the target fulfilled by Party B under this agreement.,(9) Market report: Party B shall undertake to supply Party A once every three months with a market report in writing on prevailing market conditions as well as customerscomments on the quality, packing and price, etc. of the bulldozers under this agreement. If there is any particular change of local import regulations, Party B shall notify Party A at once. (10) Validity of the agreement: This agreement is to remain in force for a period of one year, i. e. commencing on November 1, 2011 and terminating on November 1, 2012. Both parties have the power to terminate the agency relationship. If either party considers it necessary to renew the agreement, the proposing party may take the initiative to conduct a negotiation with the other party one month before its expiration. (11) Notarization and witness: The agents capacity of Party B and Party As agency authority,