Market Leader Intermediate 3rd edition SB

AUDIO SCRIPTS
be adaptable, to be able to change your behaviour according to those
circumstances. And the behaviours that are appropriate are everything
from being able to manage conflict, be able to, er, manage the pressure
in a face-to-face negotiation, right the way through to being able to plan
effectively, to be analytical, but at the other end of the spectrum, to also
be open-minded and creative, in other words to come u id
as o
how to repackage the negotiation, and to have the self-disapline In bemg
able to communicate that with the right use oflanguage.
And when I say 'the right use oflanguage', er, effective negotiators
are able to watch for when there is more scope for negotiation. What
I mean by that is, the ability to be able to look out and listen for
what we call 'soft exposing give-aways: These are the small bits of
language around proposals that will tell you that your co
nerpart,
the person on the other side of the table, has more negOtiatIon ro
m.
And these are words like 'I'm looking for ... roughly ... in the regIon
of ... around about ... I'd like ." I'm hoping for ... currently ...
right now ... er, probably: Er, these are words that negotiators spot
to help them understand just how movable the other side is. And so
language itselfis very important and the control of that language; but
also the ability to listen. Because the more information you have, the
more powerful you become, because information is power.
CD2TRACK 21 (Bl c BUYER 1, B2 c BUYER 2. 5 = SUPPLIER)
Extract 1
Bl OK, let's go over our objectives again. What do we really want from
this deal?
B2 Well, price is the main issue, I'd say. We want Pierlucci to supply us
with some top-quality men's wallets, but we don't want to pay the
prices listed in his catalogue.
Bl I agree, they're too high for our market, the wallets would never leave
the shelves. So we need to get a substantial discount from him, at
least 20%.
B2 Yeah, we should be able to do that. There's a recession in Italy at the
moment - money's tight - so he's not in a strong bargaining position.
Bl Exactly. But he won't admit that!
Extract 2
5 I have never been to your store in Moscow. Can you tell me a bit
about your customers? What sort ofleather products do they buy?
Axe they very price conscious? Will they pay a higher price for really
top-quality products? How many men's wallets do you sell each week?
Extract 3
Bl If you can give us a discount of2S% for our first order, we can accept
a later delivery date, say the end ofJune. But I do understand it won't
be easy for you to get your new range of wallets to us by then.
5 Twenty-five per cent? I'm afraid that's far more than we usually
offer new customers, even a store like yours, which I know is very
prestigious. We could possibly send half your order by that date.
Would that help?
Bl It certainly would, as the peak buying months are July and August.
Let's come back to the discount later.
Extract 4
5 How about if we send the first consignment by express delivery? We
will probably use UPS or TNT as the carrier, they are very fast and
reliable. And we'll send the remaining part of the order by regular
airrnail -that will take a little longer.
B2 That's OK, as long as you get the first part of the order to us by the
end of June - that's vital.
5 Trust me. I can guarantee delivery by that date.
Extract 5
5 Normally, we only supply our top-of-the-range wallets in two
colours, black and brown - most customers ask for those colours. If
you wanted other colours '"
81 What? You mean the wallets would be even more expensive?
5 Well, we would have to charge a little more, because the quantities we
produced in that colour would be small, but we could do it.
Extract 6
5 Great, we agree on prices, discounts, the items you want to
buy, delivery and method of payment. I will send you an e-mail
confirming what we have agreed, and enclosing a draft invoice.
Extract 7
5 OK, I think we have covered everything. If there are any points we
have forgotten, just give me a call.
B2 Excellent, that was a very good meeting. I'm sure we'll do a lot of
business in the future.
5 I hope so. Now, about dinner tonight - what time would be
convenient for you?
WORKING ACROSS CULTURES 3:
DOING BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY
C02 TRACK 22
Martin did the right thing when he arrived for the meeting on time.
The Japanese value punctuality greatly. He shouldn't have been upset
by the number ofJapanese staff at the meeting. The Japanese are
used to working as a group. But he made a mistake with the business
card. When you receive a business card from a Japanese person, you
should examine it carefully and then put it on the table in front of
you during the meeting.
Martin asked a direct question about exclusivity. Matsumoto, like
many Japanese, didn't want to say 'no so he used an expression
that Martin had to interpret. Martin may also have had to interpret
Matsumoto's body language. Non-verbal communication is
important in understanding Japanese businesspeople.
The Japanese believe in consensus and hannony. Theywant everyone to
support an important decision, so many staff may be involved in decisionmaking,
and the process may take longer than in the Western world.
Martin made a mistake when he gave white water lilies as a gift for
Matsumoto's wife. White flowers remind the Japanese of death.
Co2TRACK 23 OF = JOHN FISHER, 55 = SVEN SELIG)
JF So, Sven, how did it go, your trip to Sao Paulo?
55 Mmm, not too well. I felt a bit out of my depth while I was there.
JF
And I'm not sure I can work with Pedro Oliveira, we're very different.
What happened?
55 Well, I set up the appointment with Pedro two weeks before and
when I got to Sao Paulo, I confirmed by phone. There was a heavy
thunderstorm that day. I arrived on time, but Pedro wasn't there.
He turned up over an hour later, said something about traffic delays
because of the storm, then shook my hand warmly, grabbed my arm
and led me into his office.
Next thing, he offered me a cup of very strong coffee. I thanked him,
but said no, I'd already had two cups of coffee at my hotel. Then he
said, 'We're very proud of our coffee here in Brazil: I wondered if I'd
made a mistake to refuse his offer.
JF Maybe.
55 Anyway, instead of getting down to business, he called three
JF
colleagues into the office. During the next hour, we talked about
everything except business - football, the thunderstorm - and they
asked me lots of questions about my family, life in Denmark and so on.
I suppose you got a bit frustrated.
55 Of course! I was impatient to start, maybe I showed it a little.
JF
Anyway, it was lunchtime, so we went to a local restaurant. Great
food, but no talk of business. So I asked them about the crime rate
in Brazil, the Amazon rainforest and what sort of government they
had at the moment, but I'm afraid the topics didn't generate much
discussion. They just didn't seem to want to talk about those things.
But we did have a more lively discussion when we started comparing
food in our two countries.
Ah, interesting. Food is always a good topic of conversation when
you're abroad.
55 Yeah. We left the restaurant over two hours later, and then we all
went to a business club. We played snooker until about six o'clock.
It was very enjoyable, I must admit. As I was leaving to go back to
my hotel, Pedro put a hand on my shoulder and said he hoped I'd
enjoyed the day.
JF So nothing happened on the first day?
55 No! If we're talking about business, it was a wasted day.
CD2TRACK 24 OF c JOHN FISHER, 55 = SVEN SELIG)
JF Tell me about the second day. Things went better, I hope.
55 Not really. I was meant to give my presentation at ten in the morning.
JF
But his secretary phoned and told me the meeting was put off until
two in the afternoon.
That must have been annoying.
55 It certainly was. Pedro invited quite a few of his colleagues to attend
the presentation. That was OK, but they kept on interrupting me
during my talk, asking lots of questions - I became very impatient.
I suggested they ask their questions when I'd finished. I don't think
that went down well because they didn't ask many questions at the
end.
In the meeting afterwards, Pedro didn't stick to the agenda. The
government had just announced a new tax policy, and they spent
most of the time discussing this and getting quite emotional.
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