Mini-Forum: Success in Business Preparation and Negotiation

Mini-Forum: Success in Business Preparation and Negotiation¹

Part 1
Frank²: What time is it tomorrow?
Lee:  Ten o'clock.
Frank: So if we meet here first...
Lee:  Yes, if we meet here about nine and leave for the hotel about half past we should be in good time.
Frank: Yes.
Lee:  I'll just get those papers copied, see you later.
Frank: Bye. Uh, there's not much time to do a full 1)tender³.
Claude: We don't need a full tender.
Frank: We will sooner or later.
Claude: Yes, but tomorrow we've just got to be nice.
Frank: And 2)efficient.
Claude: And intelligent.
Frank: What are the chances of getting the job? I mean if it's a government job it means a public tender.
Claude: Yes, probably.
Frank: If it's a public tender that means everyone can tender for it.
Claude: That's right.
Frank: The Japanese, the Americans, the Swedes, everyone.
Claude: Yes.
Frank: Well, if it's like that they take the cheapest and maybe...
Claude: No but...
Frank: But what?
Claude:  Public tenders⁴ aren't always so public and open.
Frank: They must be, it's probably a law. It is in most countries.
Claude: Yes, but there are ways around it.
Frank: Like what?
Claude: Well, like this, for an example, you put an advertisement in the different papers. You say tenders wanted for a major development project.
Frank: Yes.
Claude: Then you add, tenders must be in within 21 days. You see? Who can do a complete tender in three weeks?
Frank: Well, perhaps somebody can.
Claude: OK, in that case you put in for full details write to us duh de duh duh. Well,  they can't do the tender till they have the proper information and you make sure the proper information only gets to them a week before the closing date.
Frank: Ohh that's clever, and 3)mean-while...
Claude: Yes, meanwhile you know who you want for the 4)contract. You give them a few weeks extra and make sure they have all the information, on the day they must be the best.
Martin: Hello you two!
Frank: Hello Martin.
Martin: What are you talking about?
Frank: Can't you guess, the 5)Nigerian job, the meeting tomorrow.
Martin: Uh huh.
Frank: Claude's been telling me, public tenders aren't always public.
Martin: What?
Claude: You decide who's going to get the contract and you give them enough time to do it, you don't give anyone else anytime.
Martin: Clever.
Claude: That's only one way around it.
Frank: But doesn't it look bad having only one tender?
Claude: In that case you ask them to send in three different tenders.
Frank: Wow, I'm glad I do 6)accounts and not the marketing⁵ side. It doesn't sound fair, or honest.
Claude: That's the way the world goes, if you're in business you have to get used to it. This man probably has a 7)shortlist of people. He may have two or three other companies in his head, we must make sure he wants us to do it.
Frank: Yes, I must do some more work on the figures.
Martin: There's nothing we can do tonight.
Frank: Well, I just want to have another look, just make sure.
Lee: Hello.
Frank: Hello, Lee.
Lee: Everything ready for tomorrow?
Frank: I think so. Claude's been telling us about ways of getting round a public tender, there are some quite clever ones.
Lee: Well, that's not in our control, that's up to the contractor-if he wants us, he'll find some way of getting us. Anyway, are you locking up?
Frank: Well I want to do some more work on the figures and details.
Lee: OK, if you want. Don't work too late. See you tomorrow Claude, Frank.
Frank: No, I won't, see you tomorrow.
Claude: Night.
Lee: Bye.

Part 2
Claude: This is 8)electrically powered, it's well tried, we know it works⁶ well. Of course it does take up a lot of space and a lot of room.
Sam: We have a lot of room.
Claude: Of course you have an advantage there. You can see the mistakes we made in Europe and North America.
Sam: Hmm hmm.
Claude: Starting now you can avoid those mistakes, you can learn from it. You can plan the transport service as you plan the city.
Sam: Uh, what's this?
Claude: This is extremely high technology-it's very fast, very efficient, very low energy but of course expensive to 9)install⁷: 10)magnetic⁸.
Sam: You can supply us with any of these different systems?
Claude: We can get the systems very quickly. We can call on five or six of the best companies in the world and we can offer a lot of 11)alternatives.
Sam: Does this mean a long ordering time, a long 12)administrative⁹ time?
Lee: No, no, Sam, you can see there, there are only four of us. It's a very 13)mobile¹⁰ team, we can move very quickly.
Sam: It sounds very good. It seemed a good idea to me when I heard about it.
Frank: It also means our prices are very good, we can choose, we can shop around. We can find the best prices for everything and pass on the benefits to the customer.
Sam: When, 14)the crunch¹¹ question. When can you give me a detailed¹² tender?
Lee: What is your 15)timescale like?
Sam: We should have an outline agreement on this by the end of the year.
Lee: So you would like detailed tenders within, uh, what eight or ten weeks?
Sam: Uh, call it eight weeks.
Lee: We need to have some idea of, of what your 16)budget is.
Sam: Budget? As small as possible.
Lee: Well, we can spell out two or three of the alternatives.
Sam: That would be good.
Lee: We need to know relative fuel costs, the electricity system that you have and the costs of 17)diesel¹³, and so on.
Sam: OK.
Lee: And the costs of local labor¹⁴.
Sam: Yes, I've got figures on that.
Lee: Good, and Sam?
Sam: Yes.
Lee: ...
Sam: ...
Lee: ...
Sam: ...
Lee:  I understand but we might still do all this work for nothing.
Sam: We can't pay you expenses for preparing an offer if that's what you mean?
Lee: Fair enough.
Sam: Unofficially I don't think the other two companies are able to offer the service that you offer, unofficially, uh, but we must see.
Lee: Well that's something.

注释：
1) tender [5tendE] n. 投标
2) efficient [i5fiFEnt] a. 有效率的，能干的
3) meanwhile [5mi:nwaIl] ad. 其间，其时
4) contract [5kCntrAkt] n. 合同，契约
5) Nigerian [naI5dVIErIEn] a. 尼日利亚的，尼日利亚人的
6) account [E5kaunt] n. 计算，帐目
7) shortlist [5FR:tlIst] n. (英)决选名单
8) electrically [I5lektrIkElI] ad. 电力地，有关电地
9) install [in5stC:l] v. 安装，安置
10) magnetic [mA^5netik] a. 磁的，有磁的
11) alternative [C:l5tE:nEtiv] n. 二中选一，供选择的方法
12) administrative [Ed5ministrEtiv] a. 管理的，行政的
13) mobile [5mEubail] a. 易变的，机动的
14) the crunch 关键时刻，症结
15) timescale 时间表，时间量程
16) budget [5bQdVit] n. 预算
17) diesel [5di:zEl] n. 柴油机

小小论坛：决胜生意场——备战与谈判
第一节
弗兰克∶明天什么时候？
李：十点。
弗兰克∶那么如果我们先在这里碰头……
李∶对，如果我们九点在这碰头，然后九点半左右去酒店，这样我们的时间可以把握得比较好。
弗兰克∶对。
李：我去复印文件，一会儿见。
弗兰克∶一会儿见。嗯，要做份详细的竞标书，时间不够了。
克劳德：我们不需要详细的竞标书。
弗兰克：我们迟早都要的。
克劳德∶没错，但是明天我们只要表现不错就行了。
弗兰克∶而且要表现出工作高效。
克劳德：还要够聪明。
弗兰克：得到这个工作项目的机会有多大？我是说，如果这是一个政府项目就意味着公开招标。
克劳德：对，很有可能。
弗兰克：如果是公开招标的话就意味着人人都能竞投了。
克劳德：没错。
弗兰克∶日本人，美国人，瑞典人，谁都可以。
克劳德：对。
弗兰克∶噢，要是那样的话，他们挑开价最低的，可能……
克劳德∶不错，但是……
弗兰克∶但是什么？
克劳德∶ 公开招标并不总是那么公共、公开的。
弗兰克∶他们一定要这样做，这很可能有法律规定。大多数的国家都是如此。
克劳德∶没错，但还是有空子可以钻的。
弗兰克∶比方说呢?
克劳德∶哦，比方说，举个例子，你在不同的报纸上登一则广告，然后说有一个大发展项目要招标。
弗兰克∶嗯。
克劳德∶然后你加上，竞标书必须在21日内准备好。你瞧瞧，谁可以在三星期里做好一份完整的竞标书？
弗兰克∶噢，也可能有人做得了的。
克劳德∶好，那样的话，你提出参与竞标，写信来索取全部的资料，等等。哦，要是没有齐全的资料，他们是做不出竞标书的，那你确保齐全的资料在截止日期前一周才到他们手。
弗兰克∶噢，真聪明，而在此其间……
克劳德∶对啦，在此其间你自己清楚想把合同给谁。你另外给他们多几个星期，并且保证他们有足够的资料，到了真正竞标那天，他们当然就是最好的了。
马丁∶你们俩好啊。
弗兰克∶ 你好，马丁。
马丁：你们在说啥？
弗兰克∶ 还猜不到吗，尼日利亚的工程项目，明天就要谈了。
马丁：哦，哈！
弗兰克∶克劳德在跟我说公开招标并不总是那么公开的。
马丁：什么？
克劳德∶你决定了让谁得到合同就给他足够的时间去做准备，你不给别人一点时间。
马丁：聪明。
克劳德∶这是其中的一个办法而已。
弗兰克∶但只有一份竞标书看起来不大好吧？
克劳德∶那样的话，你就叫他们送三份不同的来。
弗兰克∶啊，我真高兴自己是管帐而不是做行销的。那听起来不公平也不诚实。
克劳德∶世界就是这样的了。如果你身处商界，你就得适应。对方可能已列了一张最后的候选名单，他脑子里可能有两个或三个别的公司，我们得让他确定他想我们接下这工程。
弗兰克∶对，我必须在数字上多下些功夫。
马丁：今晚我们什么也做不了了。
弗兰克∶哦，我只想再大致看一下，确认一下。
李：大家好！
弗兰克：你好，李。
李：明天要的所有东西都准备好了吗？
弗兰克∶准备好了。克劳德在跟我们说有什么方法可以避开公开招标。有些办法还真挺高明的。
李∶噢，那不在我们的控制之内，那要看立约人了。如果他想签我们，就会想方设法找我们的。好了，你在上锁吗？
弗兰克∶哦，我想在数字和细节上再多做些工作。
李∶好，那就随你喜欢吧，不要干得太晚了。明天见，克劳德，弗兰克。
弗兰克∶不，我不会的，明天见。
克劳德∶晚安！
李∶再见！

第二节
克劳德∶ 这是电动的，多次试验过了，我们知道它运作良好。当然了，它确实占用大量的空间和地方。
萨姆∶我们地方多。
克劳德∶当然，你们那边有优势。你们看得到我们在欧洲及北美的策略失误。
萨姆∶嗯，嗯。
克劳德∶从现在起，你们可以避免那些失误，可以从中吸取教训。在作城市规划时，你们可以计划发展运输服务。
萨姆∶啊，这是什么？
克劳德∶这是极为尖端的技术，速度飞快，效率极高，耗能少，不过，当然了，安装费用高——因为是带磁的。
萨姆∶这里头任何不同的系统你们都可以提供给我们吗？
克劳德∶我们能在很短的时间内获得这些系统。我们可以联络五六家全球最好的公司同时提供多种选择。
萨姆∶也就是说要花很长时间去订购，很长时间来管理实施了？
李∶不，不需要。萨姆，你可以看到我们只有四个人。我们是一支活动能力很强的队伍，行动迅速。
萨姆∶听起来很不错。听到你这么说，我觉得对我来说，这像是个不错的主意。
弗兰克∶这也意味着我们的价钱不错。我们可以多方选择、多方购买，可以调查出每种货品的最低价，并将得益传到客户手中。
萨姆：哦，关键问题。你们什么时候能给我一份详细的竞标书？
李：你们的时间安排是怎样的？
萨姆：年底，我们就要签一份草案协议。
李：那么，你想在，呃，八个或者是十个星期内就收到详细的竞标书?
萨姆：嗯，就说八个星期吧。
李：我们想知道一些关于你们的预算情况。
萨姆：预算？越少越好。
李：好，我们会做出两三个方案供你选择的。
萨姆：那就好。
李：我们需要了解相关燃料的成本，你们的电力系统、柴油机等的成本。
萨姆：好的。
李：还有当地劳动力的成本。
萨姆：好，我已经在上面列出数据了。
李：好，萨姆？
萨姆：什么？
李：……
萨姆：……
李：……
萨姆：……
李：我明白，但我们仍然有可能徒劳无获。
萨姆：你们为准备提议所付出的，我们补偿不了，你是这个意思吗？
李：你知道就好。
萨姆：就我的意见，我觉得其他两家公司不可能提供你们那样的服务——只是我的意见，嗯，我们要看一下。
李：哦，这已经是很重要的信息了。

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 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

3 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。

4 tenders   

n.（正式）提出( tender的名词复数 )；（在大船和海岸之间载运人和货物的）供应船；投标；蒸汽机车的)煤水车v.提出( tender的第三人称单数 )；使变温柔；使变脆弱；[法律]清偿，偿债

参考例句：

• The government invited tenders for a project to computerise the social security system. 政府就社会安全系统计算机化的项目招标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government invited tenders for a project to computerize the social security system. 政府就社会安全系统计算机化的项目招标。 来自辞典例句

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 install   

vt.安装，设置，安置；使就职，任命

参考例句：

• They will install a heating and lighting system in our house. 他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
• He's going to install an air - conditioner in the house. 他要在这屋子里装空调机。

8 magnetic   

adj.磁的，有磁性的；有吸引力的，有魅力的

参考例句：

• If we charge it with electricity,it will become magnetic.如果充上电，它就会带有磁性。
• I have a magnetic disc.我有一张磁盘。

9 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

10 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

11 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

13 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

14 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。