新编商务英语：Counter Offer

UNIT6CounterOfferAdditionalWords41Reading2Listen&Talk11CaseStudy3ContentsListen&TalkListening

RolePlayDialogue

Listen&TalkMr.SmithisholdingacordialbusinesstalkwithMr.Wangnextmorning.Smith:Lastnight,Istudiedyourpricelist.Imustpointoutthatyourpriceismuchtoohigh.Wang:Ithinkyoucan’ttalkpriceseparatelyfromquality,andyou’dbettertakequalityintoaccountfirst.Smith:ItisbecauseIhavenoticedthequalityofyourgoodsthatIcametoyourcompanytonegotiatewithyou.Wang:That’sfine.There’recertainlycheapercommoditiesonthemarket,butwhenyoulookatthequalityofourgoods,Mr.Smith,youwillagreethatourpriceismostfavourable.Smith:Tobefrank,itwouldbeverydifficultformetomarketyourproductsatyourprice.I’llhavetoturntoothersuppliersifyoudon’tmakesomereduction.Wang:Well,then,what’syourideaofacompetitiveprice?Smith:IsuggestsomewherearoundUSD120perdozenFOBTianjin.DialogueOneCounterOfferWang:I’msorrythedifferencebetweenourpriceandyourcounter-offeristoowide.Smith:Mr.Wang,nodoubtyouhavewidecontacts.Idon’tthinkIhavetostressthatourcounterofferiswellfounded.Wang:Mutualeffortswouldcarryusastepforward.Howaboutmeetingeachotherhalfway?Smith:Whatwehavegivenisafairprice.Itisinlinewiththeinternationalmarket.Wang:Thencouldyougivemearoughideaoftheamountneeded?Smith:SilkBlousesArticleNo.285andNo.326,1000dozeneach.Wang:Allright,Mr.Smith,Asatokenoffriendship,weacceptyourcounteroffer.ArticleNo.285isavailableandcanbedeliveredimmediately.AstoArticleNo.326,itisoutofstockatpresent,butI’lltrymybesttomeetyourdemand.Smith:I’mgladwehavebroughtthistransactiontoasuccessfulconclusion.Wang:Ihopethatthiswillbetheforerunnerofothertransactionsinfuture.DialogueOneCounterOfferListen&TalkBrown:MsLi,I’mverygladtohavetheopportunityofvisitingyourcompany,andI’mindeedimpressedbysomearticlesdisplayedintheshowroom.Li:Whatareyouinterestedinmost?Brown:T-shirts.Theydolookverynice.Li:Thankyou.OurT-shirtsareagreatfavouritewithyoungpeopleabroad.Youcanseethattheyaregoodinmaterial,fashionableindesignandsuperbinworkmanship.Brown:Couldyougivemeacompetitiveprice?Youknow,thepriceofT-shirtsfromKoreaisverycompetitive.Li:It’sourpracticetosupplyhigh-qualitygoodsatreasonableprices.Couldyoutellmetheexactquantityyouwanttoorder?Brown:Ifyoucouldcomeupwithareallycompetitiveprice,Imightbeabletoplacealargeorder,say,2,000dozenT-shirts.Li:2,000dozen?Youarejoking,Mr.Brown.2,000dozenisonlyaverysmallnumber,sowecouldnotofferyouacompetitiveprice.Brown:Whatabout10,000dozen,then?Li:Oh,that’sgood.Wecanofferyou10,000dozenT-shirtsatUSD26perdozenFOBTianjin.Brown:MsLi,yourpriceisindeedonthehighsidecomparedwiththoseofothersuppliers.Tobefrankwithyou,Ihavereceivedoffersrecently,mostofwhicharebelowUSD20perdozen.DialogueTwoBargaining

Listen&TalkListen&TalkLi:BelowUSD20perdozen?Ireallycan’tunderstandhowthatcouldbe!Beforeplacingorders,You’dbettercompareourproductswiththeothers.Ifyouthinkourpricetoohigh,youmaypurchasethegoodsfromthem.Brown:Iknowthatyousellhighqualitygoodsatfavourableprices.Couldyoucutthepricealittlebit?Li:Youmaymakeacounter-offer.Brown:WhataboutUSD21perdozen?Li:Thepriceyouofferedalmostleavesusnoprofitatall.Brown:ThenUSD21.50?Li:Whendoyouexpectustomakedelivery?Brown:Asthegoodsareneededurgently,wewouldaskyoutodeliverthematanearlierdate.Woulditbepossibletodeliverthegoodsinonemonthfromnow?Li:I’mafraidwecan’tmanageitatthisprice,becausethecostwillincreaseforsuchashortperiodtodeliverthegoods.Brown:WhataboutUSD22?Li:Mr.Brown,thisisthefirstbusinesscontactbetweenus.Isincerelyhopethistransactioncanbeconcluded.I’mreadytomoveanotherstepforward.Let’sbridgethegapandmeeteachotherhalfway.That’sUSD24perdozen.Brown:Oh,MsLi,youaretemptingme.Allright,I’mgoingtoplaceanorderfor10,000dozenT-shirtsatUSD24perdozenFOBTianjinfordeliveryinonemonthfromnow.ListeningA:Yourprice

.Suchanincreaseinpriceisunusualintheinternationalmarket.It’sdifficultforustomakeanysales.B:IagreethatIhaveincreasedmyprice

.Butyoumaynoticethatthepriceofpuresilkhasincreasedsincelastyear.A:Iknowthemarketquitewell.Yourpriceisoverthemarketpricealready.Thailandgivesalowerprice.B:We

.A:Wecometobuyyourproductsonlybecauseweareoldfriends.Ifyoudon’tmakeanymove,wemight

.B:Pleasedon’t

.ThedifferencebetweenusissogreatthatifIchangemyprice,youwon’tacceptiteither.A:Butnomatter

，you’llhavetomove.Bothofusmovetogether,right?It’simpossibleformetomovealone.B:Allright,justnowyousaidIshouldcutmypriceby10%.Let’s

,howabout5%?It’salreadyasacrificeonourpart.Onlybecauseweareoldfriends,

.A：Thankyou.Inorderto

,Iaccept.B:I’mpleasedthatwehavearrivedattheagreement.Ihopewecandobetternextyear.hasgoneupby15%overlastyearbyalargemargin

providehighqualitygoodsturntoothersuppliersrushtoconclusions

howgreatthedifferenceis

meethalfway

Igiveyou5%offtheprice.closethedeal

DialogueOneA:I’vejustreceived

fromourhomeoffice.Yourpaymenttermsareacceptabletous,butthequotation,theythink,isstill

.B:Didtheygiveyouany

?A:Yes,theysuggesteda

ontheCIFpriceyoufirstquoted.B:Oh,Mr.Grant,ifyouhavealookatthismarketreport,you’llseethepriceofthisitemissoaring.I’msureourofferis

.

A:Tostartbusiness,Iwilltryto

,ifyouagree.B:I’mafraidIcan’t.A2%reductionisreally

.A:Asthismeansdevelopinganewmarket,whydon’twe

onafifty-fiftybasis?Thatwouldmeana3%reductiononthe

offer.B:

.I’llconsultmygeneralmanagerandletyouknow.A:Allright.Let’smeetagaintomorrowto

theprice,beforethemarketprice

again.Listeninginstructionsonthehighside

indication5percentreduction

inlinewiththeprevailingmarketleveltalkthemintoacceptinga4%reductionthebestwecando

bridgethegap

previous

ThatsoundsattractivefinalizefluctuatesDialogueTwoRolePlayMr.JohnsonisgoingtoimportChineseCottonPieceGoodsfromHebeiTextileImp.&Exp.Corporation.ButhefindsthepricequotedbyMr.Huang,salesmanagerofthecorporation,onthehighside.HetriestopersuadeMr.Huangtoreducehispricewithgoodreasons.ExercisesItmeanstoarriveatasellingpricebyaddingexpectedprofittothecostofproduct.Astomarginalcostpricing,whichmeansthatwhenafirmhasmoreproductioncapacitythanthedomesticmarketcanabsorb,itwillexportinordertoexploittheidlecapacity.Inthiscase,thefirmcanspreadallthefixedcostoverthehomesales,becausewhetherornotitexports,itincurstheseoverheadcosts.So,whatthefirmhastodowhenpricingitsexportproductsisonlytocalculatethevariablecostforproducingtheextraproducts.2）Break-evenpricingisamethodofdeterminingthequantityofsalesatwhichtheexporter’srevenueequalsitscosts.Thisquantityisabreak-evenpointatthespecificprice.Ifmoreunitsaresoldatthisprice,theexportmakesaprofit.So,inordertobeatothercompetitorsandexpandhisownmarketshare,theexporterdecidesacompetitivepriceandthentriesallmeanstoincreasethequantityofsales.QuestionsforDiscussion

ExercisesYourcounter-offerisobviouslyonthelowside.Andthepriceweofferedisentirelyinlinewiththemarketlevelandhasbeenacceptedbymanycustomers.Wehavetopointoutthatyourpriceissohighthatnobusinesscanbeconcludedonthatbasis.Ifyouarepreparedtoreduceyouroriginalofferby5%,wewillbeabletoclosebusinesswithyou.Ourcustomersareinterestedinyourqualitybutnotsatisfiedwithyourprice.Weverymuchregretwecannotmakeanyfurtherreductionintheprice.ThepriceofgoodsofsimilarqualityfromIndiais10%lowerthanthatofyours,therefore,wesuggestthatyoureduceyourpricetotheprevailingmarketlevel.WeregretbeingunabletosupplyatthepriceindicatedinyourletterofJuly15.Wefindyourpriceimpracticalandunacceptabletoourcustomers,whohavecoveredtheirrequirementselsewhere.ExercisesTranslatethefollowingsentencesintoEnglish

Exercises

我方报价已是最低价，抱歉不能再减让。如以此价格购货的话，我方将很难销售。如果全面考虑相关因素，你会发现我方报价低于别处水平。我们并不否认你方的绿茶质量稍高一些，但差价无论如何也不能高达20%。我们知道贵方很难再让步，但我方认为此价格偏高。我们各让一步，将价格降至15.60英镑。由于本地竞争激烈，抱歉不能接受贵方价格，该价格使我们几乎无利可图。我方愿同贵方成交才给出此折让，但要强调一点，这是我们所能做出的最大限度让步。贵方报盘不可行，因为一些日本货在本地以更低的价格出售。TranslatethefollowingsentencesintoChinese

Exercises---Mr.Zhang,I’veconsideredtheofferyoumademeyesterday.Imustpointoutthatyourpricesaremuchhigherthanthemarketprice.Therewouldbelittlelikelihoodofconcludingbusinessonthebasisofyourquotation.---Myofferwasbasedoncostandreasonableprofit，notonwildspeculations.Youknowourproductsareinsuperiorquality,betterqualitymeansahigher.Youmusttakethisintoconsideration.---Iagreewithyouonthispoint.Butwedon’tthinkwecansucceedinpersuadingourclientstobuyatsuchhighprices.I’mafraidI’llhavetocancelthedealifyoudon’treduceyourprices.---Well，inordertogetthebusiness,Iamwillingtomakesomeconcessions.Whatkindofreductiondoyouhaveinyourmindthen？---Ithinkadiscountof10%wouldbereasonable.---10%!That’soutofthequestion!Youcan’texceptustomakesuchalargereduction.Wewon’tmakeanyprofitatthatprice.Howaboutmeetingeachotherhalfway?---Whatexactlydoyoupropose?---Iproposeareductionof5%,andthatisourrock-bottomprice.---5%，that’sOK.Let’scallitadeal.Completethefollowingdialogue.CaseStudyDearSirs,ThanksforyourletterofMay16andforthesamplesofSilkBlouses.Weregrettoinformyouthatyourpriceisfoundmuchtoohigh.Toacceptyourquotationwouldleaveuswithonlyasmallprofitonoursales.Foryourinformation,someparcelsofsimilarqualityfromothersourcesarebeingsoldhereatalevelabout10%lowerthanyours.Weappreciatethequalityofyourgoodsandalsothewayinwhichyouhavehandledourenquiry.Tostepupthetrade,wecounterofferasfollows,subjecttoyourreplyhereonorbeforeMay31ourtime.200dozenofsilkblousesatUSD90perdozenFOBQingdao.OthertermsasperyourletterofMay16.Welookforwardtoyourfavorablereply.YoursfaithfullyPractice:Makeareplytosampleletter1to1)makeaconcessioninpriceor2)declinethecounter-offerandtrytopersuadethemtoacceptyouroriginaloffer.CaseStudyDearSirs,CannedBeefWelearnfromyourletterof21stAugustthatourpriceforthesubjectarticleisfoundtobeonthehighside.Muchaswewouldliketocooperatewithyouinexpandingsales,weregretthatwecannotseeourwaycleartoentertainyourcounter-offer.Asamatteroffact,wehavereceivedalotofordersfromvarioussourcesatourlevel.Ifyouseeanychancetodobetter,pleaseletusknow.Onaccountofalimitedsupplyavailableatpresent,wewouldaskyoutoactimmediately.

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