节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-28
难易度:High
关键字:vise, downward spiral, manipulate, hostile, hot potato


























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Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our lesson Customer Troubles.
Of course we've been enjoying a conversation with Ben and his Uncle Bob.
And we know that Ben has some customers who are a little bit difficult to work
with.
What's an example of a customer who is difficult to work with?
Carolyn?
Well, yesterday we were learning about one negotiation strategy called the
nibble.
They would... his customers would agree to a price quote, so they would agree on
the amount they were going to pay.
And right when they're about to make the deal, they'll ask for additional
services.
They'll ask questions like: Oh, well, this is also included in this price,
right?
And poor Ben didn't know what to do and he would make the deal anyway.
Oh.
That's right.
Well, Uncle Bob had good advice for him.
He said: Well, maybe you need to show your customer a written price list that
shows the cost of additional services and things like that.
That's good advice.
And Uncle Bob has more good advice for Ben in today's lesson.
Let's get started now.
(Music).
Customer Troubles.
I have another example.
OK.
One of my customers always responds to a price quote by saying, "You'll have to
do better than that!".
And you respond by lowering the price?
Right, but I always feel like I've lowered it too much.
That strategy is called the "vise." The best way to handle it is to ask how much
better you'll have to do.
That way, you don't end up in the downward spiral of negotiating against
yourself by offering lower prices than necessary.
I see.
I also have a customer who always responds to my prices by claiming he doesn't
have that much money.
Well, this is an interesting conversation between Ben and his Uncle Bob.
Now Gabe, before we start reading their lines, why don't we have a negotiation
on who will be who?
OK. That sounds like a great idea.
OK, Carolyn...
I will be Ben if you'd be Uncle Bob.
Well, I guess I can make that concession.
OK. OK. OK.
Good, good.
Good use of those words, Carolyn. OK.
Who starts here? Ah, me.
Ben says: I have another example.
OK.
Nice job, Carolyn.
Nice job. Uncle Bob had one line. That's great.
That's right.
Ben says: One of my customers always responds to a price quote by saying,
"You'll have to do better than that!".
Oh, my.
That doesn't sound like a very nice customer if all they say is: Oh, you'll have
to do better than that!
And that brings us to the Information Cloud.
Steve and Ken have something they would like to share with us on being cheap
versus being frugal.
Cheap people and frugal people have one thing in common - they don't like to
spend more money than they have to.
On the surface, these two adjectives appear interchangeable.
But digging deeper, we find they're really quite different.
OK. First, we should know that when we describe a person as cheap, it's not
really a compliment.
No. Cheap people are miserly and stingy.
The thing they care about most is, how much is it?
Cheap people haggle, which comes across as being pushy and demanding.
In contrast, frugal people are concerned with price and quality.
Frugal people bargain.
If they don't get the price they want, they just won't buy the item.
Perhaps the biggest difference between cheap people and frugal people is how
their desire to save money affects other people.
That's right.
Cheap people usually influence those around them in a negative way.
Their cheapness makes friends and family members feel annoyed, resentful and
embarrassed.
In contrast, frugal people put others above saving money.
Many frugal people are actually frugal with themselves so that they have more
opportunities to be generous with others.
So what kind of person are you, cheap or frugal?
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Well, which one are you?
Are you cheap or frugal? Or neither?
Well, right now it's Uncle Bob's line.
Uncle Bob?
Oh, yes. Thank you.
And you respond by lowering the price?
Right, but I always feel like I've lowered it too much.
Oh, that could be a problem if you're in this situation where a customer says:
Oh, you need to lower your price.
And he's not sure how much he needs to lower it, so he lowers it too much.
That's right.
Now Uncle Bob explains what that's called.
It's true.
Actually, this is called the "vise." And when you lower the price that much,
you're not making a lot of money.
You're not making any profits.
So that's not good for your business.
Uncle Bob says, "That strategy..." Wait a minute, you're Uncle Bob today.
I am.
Now I... I don't know what your strategy is there, Gabe, but this is my line.
Thank you.
That strategy is called "the vise." And vise is a word from our Word Bank.
Gabe, would you like to explain it?
Yes, of course. Thank you, Carolyn.
A vise, actually, is a kind of tool that you use to clamp things together.
It's very tight.
It clamps them together very tight so that it stays together.
Now the idea here is that you're lowering your price so much that it's so
close... maybe so close to the bottom - it's the vise.
You're lowering their price much more than you want to.
Yes. So you're in a position and you're really not able to move.
You want to make the deal, and you have to lower the price but you don't want to
lower it too much.
Oh, it's very difficult.
Now Uncle Bob continues.
The best way to handle it is to ask how much better you'll have to do.
That way, you don't end up in the downward spiral of negotiating against
yourself by offering lower prices than necessary.
That is very good advice from Uncle Bob.
OK. The question that you should ask is "How much better do I need to do?" So
then you let your customer say a price.
All right.
Then you can avoid this downward spiral.
Let's take a look at those words from our Word Bank: a downward spiral.
So a spiral is... is like a shape, I think, of a tornado, actually.
Um, it's kind of got a spiral shape, OK, round and kind of going down or up.
But what's a downward spiral here, Carolyn?
Well, if you are in a downward spiral, that means that things keep getting worse
and worse and worse as they go on.
Maybe the economy is in a... downward spiral.
The economy keeps getting worse as time goes by.
Now you could also have an upward spiral where things keep getting better.
It's true.
But I usually hear the phrase "downward spiral" more often.
I use... I sometimes think about people who are depressed or struggling with
depression.
Sometimes it's a downward spiral because things keep causing them to get more
and more depressed.
OK. So now you know how to use this phrase in different ways.
Well, it's time for us to learn something new with Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
And here's today's Grammar Tip sentence:
That way, you don't end up in the downward spiral of negotiating against
yourself by offering lower prices than necessary.
Notice the phrase at the beginning of the sentence: that way.
Normally we use "that way" to talk about directions like: Do I go this way or
that way?
But in today's sentence, we're not talking about giving or asking for
directions.
Instead, "that way" is a short way of saying if you follow what was just
mentioned.
In other words, Uncle Bob is telling Ben:
If you do what was just mentioned, you won't end up in the downward spiral of
negotiating against yourself by offering lower prices than necessary.
Let's look at some examples.
Pack your book bag before you sleep; that way, you will have one less thing to
worry about in the morning.
Or: Always keep an extra umbrella at work; that way, you will be prepared in
case it suddenly rains.
Be sure to check out today's Grammar Tip section for more example sentences.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
I see.
I also have a customer who always responds to my prices by claiming he doesn't
have that much money.
All right.
So it seems like Ben has a lot of customer problems here, a lot of difficult
customers.
This is his next example of one - a customer who always responds to his prices
by saying he doesn't have a lot of money.
Sounds to me like this person is trying to get Ben to feel sorry for him.
That could be one strategy trying to explain to someone: Well, you know, I
really can't afford this service. I need you to give me a lower price.
Now sometimes it is true.
Sometimes it is very true that a customer may not have enough money to afford
that service, but they still want it.
And they think it's very important.
And maybe you can give them a special price.
Other times, though, people just say this, and it may not be true.
It's true.
Well, I think that Uncle Bob has some good advice for Ben.
But we're going to hear that after the break.
For now, let's join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.