Joy English · Level B2 · Businessjoy-english.com

Negotiating a furniture order

Name:Date:

A client and a furniture maker discuss price, delivery and conditions for a large order on the phone.

Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening/supplier-negotiation

Follow the negotiation

Listen to the phone call. Choose the best answer.

What is the outcome of the call?
- a) Priya rejects Marco's offer
- b) Marco accepts Priya's first price
- c) They reach an agreement that still needs approval
- d) They decide to meet again to discuss the chairs
How does Marco explain his original price?
- a) The cost of delivery has gone up
- b) He uses high-quality wood and offers a long guarantee
- c) His workshop is very busy in summer
- d) He has to pay his team for extra weekends
Why does Marco refuse Priya's first figure?
- a) It is lower than the cost of making the desks
- b) He has another customer who will pay more
- c) She has not ordered enough desks
- d) It does not include delivery
What does Marco ask for in return for his first lower price?
- a) A larger number of desks
- b) Payment in advance
- c) A later delivery date
- d) An order for chairs as well
What is Priya's main concern about delivery?
- a) The desks might be damaged on the way
- b) Some rooms would have no desks when classes begin
- c) The new building is not ready yet
- d) Assembly would take too long
How will Marco manage to deliver everything on time?
- a) By buying desks from another supplier
- b) By making smaller desks
- c) By asking his team to work extra weekends
- d) By starting the work in September
What does Priya imply when she says she needs to run the offer past the finance director?
- a) She is likely to accept, but cannot make the final decision alone
- b) She thinks the offer is still far too expensive
- c) She plans to look for a cheaper supplier
- d) She wants the finance director to negotiate instead
How does Priya react to the offer of free assembly?
- a) She says the school can do it themselves
- b) She sees it as a real saving
- c) She thinks it is not important
- d) She asks Marco to take it out of the price

Numbers and details

Listen again and type the missing word or number. You can write numbers as words or digits.

Marco's original price is ___ per desk.
Marco's desks come with a guarantee of ___ years.
The school needs ___ desks in total.
Priya must confirm the order by ___.
Everything will be delivered by the ___ of August.
The final price they discuss is ___ per desk.

Answer key

Follow the negotiation

c) They reach an agreement that still needs approvalPriya thinks they can work with the offer, but she needs to run it past the finance director first.
b) He uses high-quality wood and offers a long guaranteeHe says the price reflects the solid oak and the long guarantee. The extra weekends come later and affect a different price.
a) It is lower than the cost of making the desksHe says it would be below what it costs them to make the desks.
d) An order for chairs as wellHe offers a lower price if Priya also orders the matching chairs.
b) Some rooms would have no desks when classes beginIf some desks arrive in mid-September, classes would start in rooms with no furniture.
c) By asking his team to work extra weekendsHe offers to ask his team to work two extra weekends if Priya confirms quickly.
a) She is likely to accept, but cannot make the final decision aloneShe adds "I think we can work with that", which shows she is positive but needs approval.
b) She sees it as a real savingShe says free assembly would save them quite a lot.

Numbers and details

one hundred and fifty / a hundred and fifty / one hundred fifty / 150Priya says the quote is one hundred and fifty per desk.
ten / 10Marco offers a ten-year guarantee.
one hundred and twenty / a hundred and twenty / one hundred twenty / 120Priya says all one hundred and twenty desks must be in place.
FridayMarco's offer depends on Priya confirming the order by Friday.
twenty-eighth / twenty eighth / 28th / 28Marco promises delivery by the twenty-eighth of August.
one hundred and forty-five / a hundred and forty-five / one hundred forty-five / 145Because of the extra hours, Marco can only lower the price to one hundred and forty-five.

Transcript

Priya: Thanks for sending the quote, Marco. We're very happy with the quality of the samples, but I have to be honest: at one hundred and fifty per desk, you're the most expensive of the three suppliers we've spoken to.

Marco: I appreciate your honesty. Our price reflects the fact that we use solid oak and offer a ten-year guarantee. But I understand you're working to a budget. What figure did you have in mind?

Priya: Ideally, one hundred and twenty-five.

Marco: I'm afraid that would be below what it costs us to make them. However, if you ordered the matching chairs as well, I could bring the desks down to one hundred and forty.

Priya: That's an interesting offer, but chairs weren't part of our plan. Can we talk about delivery? The new building opens on the first of September, and all one hundred and twenty desks need to be in place by then.

Marco: That's where it gets tricky. The workshop is very busy over the summer. Realistically, we could deliver eighty by the end of August and the remaining forty in mid-September.

Priya: That's not ideal. We'd have classes starting in rooms with no furniture.

Marco: Then let me suggest this. If you can confirm the order by Friday, I'll ask my team to work two extra weekends, and we'll deliver everything by the twenty-eighth of August. I could only come down to one hundred and forty-five, though, because of the extra hours.

Priya: So, one hundred and forty-five per desk, everything delivered on time, and the same guarantee?

Marco: Exactly. And we'll include assembly at no extra cost.

Priya: Well, free assembly would save us quite a lot. I'll need to run it past our finance director, but I think we can work with that. I'll call you back on Thursday.

Marco: Great. I'll put it all in writing this afternoon.