D： I‘d like to get the ball rolling（开始）by talking about prices.

　　R： Shoot.（洗耳恭听）I‘d be happy to answer any questions you may have.

　　D： Your products are very good. But I‘m a little worried about the prices you’re asking.

　　R： You think we about be asking for more？（laughs）

　　D： （chuckles莞尔） That‘s not exactly what I had in mind. I know your research costs are high， but what I’d like is a 25% discount.

　　R： That seems to be a little high， Mr. Smith. I don‘t know how we can make a profit with those numbers.

　　D： Please， Robert， call me Dan. （pause） Well， if we promise future business――volume sales（大笔交易）――that will slash your costs（大量减低成本）for making the Exec-U-ciser， right？

　　R： Yes， but it‘s hard to see how you can place such large orders. How could you turn over（销磬）so many？ （pause） We’d need a guarantee of future business， not just a promise.

　　D： We said we wanted 1000 pieces over a six-month period. What if we place orders for twelve months， with a guarantee？

　　R： If you can guarantee that on paper， I think we can discuss this further.

　　Robert回公司呈报Dan的提案后，老板很满意对方的采购计划;但在折扣方面则希望Robert能继续维持强硬的态度，尽量探出对方的底线。就在这七上七八的价格翘翘板上，双方是否能找到彼此地平衡点呢？请看下面分解：

　　R： Even with volume sales， our coats for the Exec-U-Ciser won‘t go down much.

　　D： Just what are you proposing？

　　R： We could take a cut（降低）on the price. But 25% would slash our profit margin（毛利率）。We suggest a compromise――10%.

　　D： That‘s a big change from 25！ 10 is beyond my negotiating limit. （pause） Any other ideas？

　　R： I don‘t think I can change it right now. Why don’t we talk again tomorrow？

　　D： Sure. I must talk to my office anyway. I hope we can find some common ground（共同信念）on this.

　　NEXT DAY

　　D： Robert， I‘ve been instructed to reject the numbers you proposed; but we can try to come up with some thing else.

　　R： I hope so， Dan. My instructions are to negotiate hard on this deal――but I‘m try very hard to reach some middle ground（互相妥协）。

　　D： I understand. We propose a structured deal（阶段式和约）。 For the first six months， we get a discount of 20%， and the next six months we get 15%.

　　R： Dan， I can‘t bring those numbers back to my office――they’ll turn it down flat（打回票）。

　　D： Then you‘ll have to think of something better， Robert.