谈判英语一日通04-15

Chapter 15

Dream Chips or Give Away Chips虚张声势的谈判筹码

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Bob:It's good to meet you, Jane. Is this your first visit to the States?

Jane: It's nice to meet you too, Bob. No, I've been here a few times in the past.

....(详细对话见 Disk 3-3)

For Your Information(背景介绍)

Thus far, all the bargaining chips have been real items that actually meant something. I mean the side that asked really thought the requsts were reasonble, and expected to get them. Thus far, the parties bargained in good faith, and every request was made in earnest. To understand the next section, you need a little backgroud.

The way negotiations² work is you give up something for every point you win, and all the issues on the table are credible³. The next step is asking for more than you need and allowing yourself to be pushed back to what you wanted in the first place. It's called puffing⁴, and it's an old tactic⁵, tried and true. The puffing up demands to the point they became ridiculous had been tried from time to time but it never works. The other side sees right through the scheme, calls you on it and it's over.

For unrealistic puffing to work, you have to do more than just act as if the issues were valuable. You have to make them valuable. You have to convince the other side you're telling the truth. The problem is how do you do that when the other team knows the playing field as well as you do ? To make it work, you need some convincing play-acting and you have to do your homework.

If the other side tries to run this tactic, you can expect some very convincing arguments to justify⁶ their ridiculous demands. So convincing that you may even start to believe it. Well, that's what the cover story was designed to do. Don't fall for it.

The first time they tried this ploy⁷; okay it worked. The other side dismissed the demands as false and without merit. They said okay to stop wasting time and tried to move on to serious discussion. But, instead of letting it go and moving on, they came up with credible arguments supporting their requests, for which their opponents had no reply. The other side was caught flat-footed; they'd been blindsided by the ploy,and won big time.

Now, nearly all big league ngotiations use them,and weeks, even months are wasted peeling away the false demands. Now, it's a standard time waster at the start of negotiations where you trade your dream chips for theirs. This tactic is most effective when the two sides have no place to go, like in a labor⁸ negotiation¹ where the two sides have no choice but to work with each other. Okay, fall for the deception⁹.

When I mentioned this to my Business English students, they became very interested. The tactic was used on them, and they didn't understand what was going on, nor did they know what to do. It never occured to them the points were give away-points made up to be traded-because there were justifying¹⁰ arguments. They negotiated them just like they were valid¹¹ points.

There's a simple defense¹² for this tactic that works like a charm in a sales negotiation. All you have to do is say "kay, we'll go elsewhere", and start to leave. If they don't offer a large concession¹³, I suggest you walk away.

A friend once said to me, "I can afford to walk away from a lot of good deals and I lose nothing, but a potential profit. True, I won't make anything , but I still have what I need to do other deals. However, if I make one bad deal I can lose it all, and I can't afford."

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 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

4 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

6 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

8 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。

9 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

10 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

11 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。