You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for this episode, the second of a three-part series about meeting with a vendor.
As we discussed last time, meeting with a vendor to discuss a proposal is partly about getting information and partly about negotiating a good deal.
You need to use your soft skills to come out of the meeting feeling positive about the vendor and confident that you are getting as much as possible at the best price.
In the last episode, we focused on getting information through different types of questions.
In this lesson we'll look at how to express concern about cost, how to introduce a topic with tact and how to show hesitation in a negotiation.
We'll also cover asking hypothetical questions and approximating numbers.
Let's rejoin Steve, who is hoping to hire someone to run language training, and Karen, whose company has bid on the project.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, what are the advantages of a blended course?
Two, what is Steve's primary concern in this part of the meeting?
Three, what can be done if the client isn't satisfied with the blended delivery?
Well I definitely like what I see here.
I think your proposal is solid and your samples are strong.
Your idea of tailoring is good.
But when I look at the final quote, it doesn't fit too well with our training budget.
I see.
Well, what can I do to address your concerns?
Well I'm curious to see if there's any way we can bring the quote down a little.
Right.
That's understandable.
But did you see the idea about using a blended approach in our proposal?
That could bring your cost down by taking a significant amount of the training online.
Um, blended?
Not a bad idea.
So instead of delivering the entire course in a classroom setting, we deliver part of it online.
Exactly.
And because the blended model has a lower cost structure, you save on the overall investment, but wouldn't that raise the development cost?
Programming and setting up the network?
These things aren't cheap.
And what would happen if the blended approach didn't work out?
Could we change over to a 100% classroom model if we wanted to?
Well, development isn't that much different.
The platform is already built.
And we have a learning management system that makes it easy to create new courses.
If you did choose to switch delivery models, it would take minimal time and cost.
OK.
So let me look at the numbers here.
If we did a 50-50 split between classroom and online, we remove half the delivery cost.
Everything else remains the same.
So we're looking at an overall cost savings of somewhere around 20, 25%.
Is that right?
Yes, that's about what it should work out to.
And I'd just like to add that our blended courses are extremely well run.
Client feedback on this type of course is consistently positive.
I see.
Well, I do find the blended model appealing.
It's just that, well... Yes?
Well, I keep coming back to the issue of cost.
Steve and Karen are trying hard to come to an agreement here.
Now let's go through the dialogue step by step.
Well, I definitely like what I see here.
I think your proposal is solid and your samples are strong.
Your idea of tailoring is good.
But when I look at the final quote, it doesn't fit too well with our training budget.
Steve says that he likes what he sees and highlights the positive aspects of Karen's proposal.
But what he's really doing here is tactfully bringing up the issue of cost.
It doesn't fit too well with our training budget, he points out.
If something doesn't fit, it means it's not suitable.
It's not right.
In this case, it's the price that isn't right.
Steve is very careful here to show his enthusiasm before his concern, and he expresses this concern gently.
How else can we express our concerns about cost?
Let's practice a few examples.
Think this might be a challenge for us on our budget.
I'm not sure we can really afford all of that.
Your services are definitely impressive, but they may be out of our price range.
We really need to keep our costs down.
I don't think we can do this at the quoted price.
Of course Steve is showing his concern about the quote because he wants to negotiate.
He wants to establish cost as an issue right from the start.
Let's see how they continue.
I see.
Well, what can I do to address your concerns?
Well, I'm curious to see if there's any way we can bring the quote down a little.
Karen responds to Steve's concern very positively.
She asks what she can do to address those concerns.
In other words, she wants to help remove his worries.
She's opening the door to negotiation.
This is where Steve shows his tact or his ability to raise an issue delicately.
He doesn't want to seem too direct or to offend Karen.
He says I'm curious to see if there's any way, when he really means I want, and he talks about bringing down the quote a little when in fact he's really looking for a substantial cut.
Notice how the following examples also introduce ideas with tact.
I wonder if there's a way that we can make this a little less expensive.
Maybe we can chat a bit about changing the timeline on this.
Would you mind, as a matter of routine, if i called some of your past clients?
Do you think it might be possible to revise parts of this proposal?
OK.
Steve is concerned about cost, so Karen suggests a blended approach to delivering the training.
This would involve doing part of the course online, which seems like a good solution.
But listen as Steve brings up some potential problems.
And because the blended model has a lower cost structure, you save on the overall investment.
But wouldn't that raise the development cost?
Programming and setting up the network?
These things aren't cheap.
And what would happen if the blended approach didn't work out?
Could we change over to a 100% classroom model if we wanted to?
Steve is speaking hypothetically here.
He is discussing imagined situations which affect the language he uses.
In particular, you hear the words would, could and if, to ask about the possibility of higher development costs and the possibility of changing the delivery model.
Let's review some other examples of asking hypothetical questions.
What might happen if we decided partway into this that we didn't actually need your services?
So if we brought your people in to do our training, would we have the same trainers for every session?
How much advance notice would you require if we wanted to back out of our arrangement?
Let's say we want to expand the website.
Would you charge us the same rate?
These questions do not trouble Karen, who has obviously been in meetings like this before, but Steve again brings the discussion back to the issue of money.
Well, development isn't that much different.
The platform is already built.
And we have a learning management system that makes it easy to create new courses.
If you did choose to switch delivery models, it would take minimal time and cost.
OK.
So let me look at the numbers here.
If we did a 50-50 split between classroom and online, we remove half the delivery cost.
Everything else remains the same.
So we're looking at an overall cost savings of somewhere around 20, 25%.
Is that right?
Notice how Karen addresses Steve's hypothetical questions directly, assuring him that development costs would not be higher and that switching delivery modes would be relatively simple.
With his calculations answered, Steve wants to look at the numbers or do some rough calculations.
He figures out that a 50-50 split or half and half of online and classroom training would mean a price reduction of somewhere around 20 to 25.
That expression, somewhere around, is used to estimate.
It's not precise, but approximate.
At this stage of the negotiation, you don't need exact numbers.
A rough idea of cost savings is good enough.
Let's practice a few more phrases you can use to approximate.
This might take three months in all, give or take a couple of weeks.
About 75% of our programmers have worked on something of this scale before.
I would say that something of that size would be in the range of five to six thousand dollars.
Outsourcing bookkeeping is now done by approximately 20% of all small and medium-sized businesses.
Right.
Back to Steve and Karen's conversation.
Yes, that's about what it should work out to.
And I'd just like to add that our blended courses are extremely well run.
Client feedback on this type of course is consistently positive.
I see.
Well, I do find the blended model appealing.
It's just that, well... Workout 2 here is used to talk about the result of calculations.
Karen is willing to talk about price, but she doesn't want that to be the only issue.
She tries to emphasize value by bringing the conversation back to quality, assuring Steve that the blended courses are well-run and that feedback is good.
In other words, clients are pleased.
So it sounds like a good idea, but Steve doesn't get too excited about it.
Notice how he pauses before saying that it is appealing.
He also uses well to show that he is unsure and says it's just that to indicate that he's not totally convinced.
He might really like the idea, but he's using reluctance or hesitation as a tactic.
If he sounds unsure, he may be able to get something through negotiation.
How else can we show tactical reluctance or clever hesitation?
Hmm, I'm not too sure about all of this.
Okay, I think we're going to need to give this some thought.
I understand what you're saying.
I just, I just don't know.
Well, this is pretty good.
Let me mull it over.
What does Steve hope to achieve with this kind of hesitation?
It soon becomes clear.
Yes?
Well, I keep coming back to the issue of cost.
Of course.
Steve wants to make sure he gets the best deal possible.
Alright, we'll leave it there for the moment.
Now let's practice language that you can use to express concern about cost.
You'll hear a statement from a prospective vendor.
Then you'll hear a prompt.
Use the language in the prompt to express your concern about cost.
For example, if you hear, We have just the right software for your accounting needs.
Sounds good.
Budget.
Tight.
You can say, That sounds really good, but our budget is very tight.
We'll play an example answer after each practice.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Situation I would be bringing over 20 years of experience to this project.
Appreciate, Not sure Afford Services.
Example Answer.
I appreciate that, but I'm not sure whether we can actually afford your services.
Situation.
Our company can vastly improve your online presence in just one month.
Impressive, your quote out price range example answer.
That's impressive, but your quote might be a little out of our price range situation.
My design team has done some fantastic work for businesses in your industry.
Sounds great.
Keep.
Cost down.
Example answer.
That sounds great, but we really need to keep our costs down.
Situation.
Our bid includes 24-7 technical support.
Can't do this.
Quoted price.
Example answer.
Well, I don't think we can do this at the quoted price.
Now, let's practice some vocabulary and idioms from today's lesson.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat each sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear... You can say...
The University of Phoenix has developed an excellent learning management system for its online courses.
After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
Answer.
After a lot of negotiation, Jones finally managed to bring the cost down.
Answer.
Tad's working style fits well with our corporate culture.
Unfortunately, the original plan didn't work, so we had to switch to a contingency plan.
Answer Unfortunately, the original plan didn't work out, so we had to switch to a contingency plan.
After the project, Brian sent Karen detailed details Answer.
After the project, Brian sent Karen detailed feedback by email.
We've reached the end of this episode, the second in our three-part series on meeting with Evander.
We've looked at a variety of strategies, including asking hypothetical questions, introducing topics tactfully and using tactical hesitation.
Tune in next week to hear the last part of Steve and Karen's meeting, when they get into the finer points of their agreement and negotiation.
For more practice, premium members can access the online quizzes and study notes for this and other episodes on the website.
If you're not a member yet, head over to www.businessenglishpod.com and sign up for a free trial.
Thanks for listening, and see you next time.
