Chapter 5 Counter-offers

Section I. Warming-up Questions ◆ After the offeree receives an offer, will the business come to a conclusion? If not, what steps would perhaps be involved then? ◆ Are there any thing in common between the process of counter-offer in foreign trade and bargaining in our daily life?

Section II. Basic Knowledge When an offer is received by a buyer, there would be three possible consequences ： –the first one is that the buyer agrees with the quotation or the offer informs the offerer of concluding the transaction; –the second one is that the buyer rejects the offer and replies with suggestions of his own terms for possible further discussion; –the third one is that the buyer agrees with the offer, yet some additional terms are proposed by him as the pre-sumption of his agreement. Both the latter two situations involve total or partial refusal. To sum up, the consequences of sending an offer would be like these three possibilities as follows ：

Entire acceptanceConcluding the businessSinging the contract Declining the offer Conditional acceptance Counter-offer Sending an offer

Strategies of refusal in counter-offer The counter-offer is very common in negotiation before an offer is finally confirmed, thus to master some strategies and skills of writing a counter-offer is very essential. A skilled writer of the counter-offer can successfully persuade the potential customers to accept his terms and conclude this transaction, while an inexperienced writer may irritates the customer and the possible deal might be totally canceled. Considering counter-offer is all about decline or refusal, so it is vital to know some strategies of refusal.

Direct refusal 直接拒绝 例. We feel we must point that our listed prices have already been cut to the minimum possible, thus we will not accept this counter-offer.

Indirect refusal 间接拒绝 Showing thanks 表示感谢 – 例 Thank you very much for your prompt offer, however, the price is on the high side. Stating reasons 阐述理由 – 例 Considering the quality of the chips offered, we do not feel that the prices we quoted are at all expensive. Making apologies 致以歉意 – 例 We regret that we cannot entertain any orders with the price given.

Proposing suggestions 提出建议 – 例 We are of the opinion that if you could increase your order to 10,000 items, we would agree with your requirement of 10% discount. Making promises 做出承诺 – 例 Our products are of the best quality and of vast popularity in major European countries.

The structure of a letter of counter-offer Firstly, the beginning part is to express thanks for the offer. Here, the information about the offer, namely the date when the offer was sent, must be stated clearly, which would be a good reminder for the offeree. Secondly, the middle part is to state where you disagree and what new terms and conditions you can put forward. Arrange them logically in separate paragraphs if needed. Thirdly, the final part is to convey your hope for a prompt response and business success.

Section III. Scene Simulation Ms. Wang is the sales manager of Qingdao Blue Bird Company, and Mr. Brown is the purchasing manager of American Broadway Trading Co., Ltd. After the contact on May 3, 2013, surprisingly, they met in Canton Fair in October of After the specific introduction of the products given by the salesman of Qingdao Blue Bird Company, Ms. Wang decides to give a firm offer to Mr. Brown. However, they haven’t reached agreement on the price, commission, discount, and minimum order quantity. The conversation is as follows.

Section IV. Specimen Letter

Specimen Letter 1: A Counter-offer on Price Notes: 1.Out of line with 与 …… 不一致 2.Such being the case 既然如此 3.Come to terms 让步，达成协议 4.Say 10% 比如、例如 5.At sb’s convenience 在某人方便的时候

Specimen Letter 2: A Reply to the Counter-offer Notes: 1.Apart from 除了 …… 2.Inferior 次的，差的 3.Raise 提高

Specimen Letter 3: Counter-offer on Discount Notes: 1.counter-proposal 反建议 2. See one’s way clear to do… 设法做某事

Specimen Letter 4: A Counter-offer on Commission Notes: 1.Definitely 肯定地，明确地 2.Domestic 国内的 3. Keep advantage of 保持优势 4.Profit margin 利润率 5. Halt 停止

Specimen Letter 5: A Counter-offer Asking for a Reduction of Minimum Quantity Notes: 1.Compromise 妥协、让步、折衷 2. Contribute to 有助于 attribute to 归因于，归功于 3. Demostrate 显示，证明，展示

Specimen Letter 6: A Counter-offer on the Minimum Quantity Notes: 1.MOQ 起订量，最低订单数量 2.Prospective 预期的 3.Entertain 接受

Specimen Letter 7: A Counter-offer Asking for Earlier Delivery Notes: 1.Make out 说明，填写，辨认出 2.Shift 移动，转变，转化

Specimen Letter 8: A Counter-offer for Total Rejection Notes: 1.Initially 最初的 2.Margins 利润，保证金（金融） 3.Overhead 企业一般的开支，日常杂项费 用等

Section V. Useful Words & Expressions

Section VI. Exercises & Case Study