Selling Online & Business Negotiations
Lesson Introduction:
Online Selling
With the continued rise in the the popularity and availability of the Internet many companies have chosen to operate online in addition to operating in their traditional stores in order to become more competitive and make more profitable. In addition to traditional companies opening up online websites in order to sell their products, many new companies have been created that operate only online and do not have traditional stores where customers may go to and buy their products. These types of companies are referred to as “.com” or “.comers”. It is important to understand how technology and the use of the Internet has revolutionized the way companies do business. These days it is extremely hard for a company to remain competitive and make large profits if they do not operate online and are not technologically savvy.
Business Negotiations
By definition, negotiations are simply talks, discussions, or communications between businesses about areas of business where two or more companies have a mutual concern. Business negotiations take place often when companies are seeking to form a partnership, create a new working relationship with one another, facilitate a company buyout, or change the terms of previous contracts made with one another. There is an art to business negotiations that company negotiators have learned to follow in order to be successful in business negotiations. This art includes individuals knowing when and what to say and how to convince others to either meet their demands or how to strike a compromise where all parties involved are content with the outcome of the talks. Business negotiations are a fine art that is mixed with an awareness of human behavior and eloquent, convincing speech.
Some Information on
“.Com Companies”
“Bad ideas don’t get better online”- IBM advertisement
“.Comers” said as “dot comers” are companies that are only online and are not in-person retailers.
.Com companies were very popular and made a lot of money in the late 1990’s and early 2000. However, many .com companies in the U.S. went out of business or failed right after the September 11th attacks. Many .com companies that operate only online are still struggling or going out of business.
Warm-up Questions
Do you enjoy shopping?
Do you shop online?
Have you ever bought something over the internet? If so, what?
Why do you think some people prefer not to buy goods and services over the internet?
What are the advantages of shopping online?
Exercise A: Fill in the blank with the correct word.
We offer a _______ to customers who buy in bulk.
a) Refund b) Discount c) Delivery
We ask customers who are not fully satisfied to _______ their purchases within 7 days.
a) Discount b) Refund c) Return
In order to get a full ______, customers must send back goods in the original packaging.
a) Discount b) Refund c) Return
Goods will be ______ within 24 hours of your order.
a) Dispatched b) Purchased c) Exchanged
Goods are kept in our _______ until ready for delivery.
a) Stock b) Storage c) Warehouse
Exercise B: Match the terms on the left to their definitions on the right.
1) Credit card details A) The time when you can change your mind and cancel an order
2) Cooling off period B) The name, number, and expiration date on your credit card
3) Money back guarantee C) The way you choose to buy the goods you want
4) Method of payment D) When you can pay some time after you buy, but at no extra cost
5) Interest-free period E) When the goods you require are not available
6) Out of stock F) A promise to give you your money back if you are not happy
7) After-sales service G) The help you get from a company when you start to use their product
“The Arrival of Virtual Pocket Money”,
an article from the Financial Times by John Willman
They like using the internet. They have lots of money to spend. And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an Internet retailer wants to sell to, and the things they want to buy-games, CD’s, clothing-are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own a credit card. Most have to use a parent’s card. ‘Kids are frustrated with the Web.’ Says Phil Bettison, European Managing Director of WorldPay, an Internet payments company. ‘They want a facility that allows them to spend money’.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyberspace are springing up on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, these products could provide an important stimulus to online sales.
In general, teenagers spend enormous amounts: Visa calculates it totaled $153 billion in the US last year, while the UK market estimated $29.4 billion. Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school-88% in the US, 69% in the UK.
One in eight of those with Internet access have bought something online-mainly CD’s and music. In the US, 12-17 year olds spend an average of six hours a month online according to Jupiter Research. One in six buys things over the Internet, with CD’s, books, games, videos and clothing being the most popular items.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children: ‘Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street. A child who sees a pair of shoes in a shop can usually persuade the parent to buy them. They’re more like to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online,’ says Mike Young of Mondex, the electronic payments company.
One way to help them convert notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as $20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.
Exercise A: Answer the following questions as True/False based upon the reading.
Adults spend a greater proportion of their money online than teenagers.
Most teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.
More than 66% of teenagers in the US and the UK have internet access.
Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online
Children find it easier to persuade parents to buy in a shop than online.
Exercise B: Place a “T” next to the statements that are true about company negotiations.
Be friendly
Have clear aims
Tell the other side what you want
Don’t listen carefully
Pay attention to the other’s body language
Don’t change your plan during the meeting
Never be the first to make an offer
Be strong and try to win
Prepare carefully before you negotiate
Ask a lot of questions
Make sure you have only one option
Summarize often the points you agree on
Change your strategy during the negotiation, if necessary
Never show any emotions
Main Strategies and Key Phrases for Business Negotiations
State your aims/your goals- “We’d like to..”, “We must…”
Make concessions- “I can do that if you..”, “That could be all right as long as…”
Rejecting suggestions- “We prefer…”, “We’d rather..”
Bargaining- “How about…?”
Focusing on the discussion- “Let’s talk about…”
Negotiations Case Study
Background Information:
Lifetime holidays is a package holiday firm. It has many high street shops and a large catalog of holidays. However, it is currently facing problems. Fewer people are visiting its shops, and demand for its holidays has fallen. Most of its customers are aged over 50, so it now wants to appeal to a wider range, especially those aged 30 to 50. The solution seems to be to sell holidays online.
As Lifetime has no experience of e-commerce, they want to join with an existing online company, DirectSun. DirectSun is a low-budget holiday website. It offers cheap flights to a small range of destinations and can arrange accommodation, insurance, and car rentals. It has a good customer base, but it wants a bigger catalog of holidays to offer.
The two firms have met several times and are now ready to negotiate the details of a possible joint venture.
Number of Lifetime Vacations Sold
Lifetime Holidays
Consumer Profile by Age
Negotiations Case Study Task
Half of the class are directors of Lifetime Holidays
Half of the class are directors of DirectSun
Activity: Each company needs to come up with their goals and demands for the negotiation of the joint venture and present these demands to the representatives of the other company.
Items on the Agenda
Length of the contract
Range of holiday destinations
Car rental and insurance
Advertising budget
The structure of the joint venture (who will be in charge of the online services, how the profits will be split, etc.)
Homework Assignment
Make up your own online company. Make sure you include all of the information below when writing about your company.
Your Company Name
Your Company Website Address
Product/Services Offered
Your Target Market
What Countries You Operate In
The Price Range of Your Goods/Services
If You Provide Money Back Guarantees
What Kind of After Sales Service You Provide to Your Customers
Lesson 4
Products and Writing Ads/Sales Presentations
Lesson Introduction
Advertising/Sales Promotions
While there are many forms and approaches to selling products, any approach will require a good command of the English language and the ability to speak to customers in a way that is convincing and appeals to their needs or desires. When attempting to sell a product, you must keep in mind the audience you are speaking to. You must remember the Who, What, and How aspects of your presentation or advertisement. You must keep in mind:
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Who will read or see what you are about to write or advertise? What point of view might they be coming from?
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What is it that you want to accomplish through your advertisement?
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What are your main points about your product? What main features are you going to concentrate on when it comes to trying to sell your product?
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How will you organize your ideas? How will you reach the customers of your target market?
Warm-Up Questions
1) Describe some of your favorite products. Why do you like them?
2) If you could afford any product, what product would you like to own?
3) Why would you like to own that product?
4) What are some words you could use to describe that product to the class?
In-Class Exercises
Exercise 1-Read this report which was written by an expert on products. Each of the underlined words is incorrect. Write the correct form of the incorrect word.
“
Can we have too many products?”
There are two cars in the garage. In the living room, there is a wide-screen TV with 100 channels, and first-class hi-fi equipment. Each child has a television in his or her bedroom. The kitchen contain a dishwasher, an ordinary oven and a microwave oven. The cupboard in the bedroom is fill of designer-label clothes. Is it possible too have so many products that we don’t need any more? Some economy think so. They points to Japan, where demand for certain goods has been flat for 10 years now. They say that one reason for this is that Japanese people have all the material goods they want and save their money instead of buying more. Compare this with the poorest countries in the world, where there is one TV set for every 60 people!
Exercise 2-Look over the words used below and define them in English and write their Russian equivalents.
Common adjectives used in advertising products:
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Attractive
-
Reliable
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Economical
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Comfortable
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Expensive
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Practical
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Popular
Exercise 2-
The opposites of these adjectives are made by adding prefixes. The prefixes are un-, in-, im-. Write the words above in the correct boxes below in order to give the adjectives negative meanings.
Exercise 3-
Compound adjectives are also common in the advertising world. Use the words in the box to complete the sentences below.
-
-
well high best long hard high
|
1) IBM manufactures ______-tech computer products.
2) Timberland makes a range of _________-wearing footwear.
3) Ferrari produces __________-quality sports cars.
4) Coca-Cola and Pepsico both developed ________-selling soft drinks.
5) Duracell sells _________-lasting alkaline batteries.
6) Levi jeans are a ___________-made clothing product.
Exercise 4- The following verbs are also terms commonly used when speaking about products and when a company is advertising their products. Match the verbs on the left to their meanings on the right.
1) launch a) to stop making
2) test b) to build or make
3) promote c) to introduce into the market
4) manufacture d) to change in order to improve
5) modify e) to try something in order to see how it works
6) discontinue f) to make a plan or drawing
7) design g) to increase sales by advertising, etc.
8) distribute h) to supply to shops, companies, customers
Business Communications
Products and Advertising
In-Class Quiz
Name: ________________
Complete the following sentences using a compound starting with the word in brackets, and using one of the words from a) to f). Each word is used only one time.
a) wearing c) tech e) selling
b) quality d) lasting f) made
1) Go to SaveMoney Supermarkets for (high-) _______ met produced with the best farming methods.
2) Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann has sold 30 million copies- it is the (best-) ______ of all time.
3) Doc Martens boots which average a life of seven years are said to be (long-) _______ footwear.
4) Buy Good Era tires. They’re so (hard-) ________ : 200,000 kilometers later and they still look the same!
5) German cars are famous for being solid and (well-) ___________.
6) No more posting of documents from one department to another- Docushare is the (high-) ________ solution to distributing information on the Internet.
Lesson 5
Email/Fax Communications and Marketing
Lesson Introduction
Email and Fax Communications
With the increased use of technology in the business world and in the workplace more and more forms of communications are emerging. With each new medium of communicatins a new procedure and style are set as the standards for formal business communications. This lesson will help you to understand the main outlines for both formal and informal communications using the mediums of email and fax communications.
Marketing
In any company, marketing is a key aspect of how a company remains in business and successful. The general idea of marketing is to let your current and potential consumers know what you have to offer them. However, marketing is not only conveying what you have to offer. In its own right, marketing is also an art form. It is the art of convincing consumers that your product is the best and that they want your product versus the product of your competitors. Marketing is the art of displaying and maintaining a positive company image while getting the attention of the marketplace.
In-Class Exercises: “An Introduction to Marketing”
Exercise A: What are the “Four P’s” of the Marketing Mix?
P
__ __ __ __ __ __
P
__ __ __ __
P
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
P
__ __ __ __
Exercise B: Using the words above, complete the sentences below.
1) The
________ is the cost to the buyer for the goods or services they want or need.
2)
___________ informs consumers about the products a company offers and persuades consumers to buy those products.
3) A
________ is where goods or services are available for people to buy them.
4)
___________ is the actual good or service that is sold to the consumer.
Exercise C: Fill in the missing vowels in the words below.
Market r_ s_ _r c h= information about what consumers want and need
Market s _g m _n t= a group of customers of similar age, income, and social group
Market s h _ r_ = the percentage of sales a company has
Consumer b_ h _ v_ _ r= where and how people buy things
Consumer p r _ f _ l _= description of a typical consumer
Consumer g _ _ d s= things people buy for their own use
Product l _ _ n c h= introduction of a product into the marketplace
Product l _ f _ c y c l _= length of time people continue to buy a product
Product r _ n g _= set of products made by a company
Sales f _ r _ c _ s t= how much a company thinks it will sell in a period
Sales f_ g _ r _ s= how much a company has sold in a period
Sales t _ r g _ t= how much a company wants to sell in a period
Advertising c _ mp _ _ g n= program of advertising activities over a period of time
Advertising b _d g _ t= the amount of money available for advertising
Advertising _ g _ n c y= a business that advises and makes ads for other companies
In-Class Assignment
Case Study
Group #
Names of the People in the Group:
1) What do you think the normal
consumer profile is for your customers?
2) If you were an advertising agency what recommendations would you make to this company?
Ex: advertise in different ways-billboards, TV, radio, magazines, etc. And WHY does the company need to use these different ways to reach its customers?
3) If you worked for this company, and had an advertising budget of $25 million, how would you try to increase their sales?
4) What seems to be the target market for this company?
Ex: children, young adults, university students, young professionals, older professionals, retired individuals, families, or any combination of the above.
5) Do you think that it would help this company to expand its advertising campaign to reach children or university students?
Class Materials
Fax and Email Forms of Business Correspondence
Things to Include in a Fax:
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Have the headings of: To, From, Fax Number, Date, Number of Pages, and Subject
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The style of the fax can be formal, as in a business letter, or informal. This depends on who you are writing to.
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Points can be but do not have to be numbered for clarity.
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“Regards” or “Sincerely” is often used for the closing of the letter.
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The person’s name and position are typed out and the individual also signs their name.
Example of a Fax:
Denton County Chamber of Commerce
FAX TRANSMISSION
To: Arnold Coleman, CEO
Fax Number: 972 298 8160
From: John Smith
Faxed From: 717 245 4356
Date: October 10, 2004
Pages: (including this page) 1
Subject: Your letter, October 2, 2004
Dear Mr. Coleman,
Thank you for your letter of 2 October 2004 asking about the possibility of opening a factory for the manufacture of your products in Denton County. Let me answer some of your questions.
1. Employees
Yes, Denton County has a large workforce of well-trained and hard-working possible employees available.
2. Infrastructure
Road and rail links to the main cities in TX and throughout the U.S., the airports and ports are excellent.
3. Local Tax
In certain situations it is possible to arrange favorable tax conditions for start-up organizations.
If you would like to discuss the possibilities further, please call my office at (972) 567- 8160 to arrange a meeting for when you are in the area. I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
John Smith
John Smith
Chief Development Officer
Things to Remember When Writing an Email:
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They can have a formal business style or a very informal style, similar to spoken English. There is also a semi-formal style which is in between these two styles.
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Remember who you are talking to in order to decide how you should compose your email.
The Semi-Formal Email:
It is similar to a standard business letter, but less formal and usually shorter. The ending is typically “Best wishes” rather than “Sincerely”. This style is best used when you are sending an e-mail to somebody who is outside of your company, or whom you do not know very well. The focus is on giving or asking for information quickly.
The Informal Email:
It is the most suitable for e-mails within your company and for people whom you know well. The greeting is often, “Hi”, “Hello”, or even “How are you?”. Sometimes endings are omitted altogether. Sometimes the writer will type only in small letters. This style is much more similar to spoken than written English. Sometimes people use abbreviations if they want to save time.
Ex: CU=See you,
Thx=Thanks,
2=to/too,
4=for,
RUOK?=are you okay?,
TTYL=talk to you later,
WBS=write back soon,
ASAP=as soon as possible,
How R U?=How are you?
Example of a Formal Email:
To:
jedwin@worldcu.org
From: tsmith@bankone.com
Cc: callen@bankone.com
Subject: Cooperation agreement
Attachments: Word Document 52K
Dear Jim,
To celebrate the signing of the agreement between our two companies we would like to invite you to participate in our annual sales meeting which is taking place this year in Hawaii, October 25-29. Please feel free to bring another person with you as our guest if you would like to join us.
I hope it will possible for you to join us. Please let us know.
Best wishes,
Tammy
Tammy Smith
Product Manager
Bank One
21 Gold Street
Garland, TX 75210
Phone: 001 972 675 8760
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