Establishing Business Relations建立业务关系Specimen Letters样涵Letter 1:A firm’s letter to a firm concernedDear Mr. Peng,Your company’s name has been given to us by the Bank of China, Shanghai Branch.We wish to buy quality tea and coffee cups and saucers of different shapes fully decorated with flowers or other design. If you can supply this type of merchandise, kindly airmail us a sample cup and saucer. Also, please enclose your pricelist and all suitable illustrations.We await your early reply.Truly yours,Fred JacksonLetter 2A reply to the aboveDear Mr. Jackson,We have received your letter with thanks. We are glad to inform you that we can supply quality tea and coffee cups and saucers of different shapes fully decorated with flowers or other designs. We are confident that our products will meet the requirements of the markets.Enclosed please find a catalogue and pricelist of the products you require. We are sending you by mail the samples you need.Waiting for your order.Sincerely yours,Xianjin Peng Letter 3A firm’s letter to a firm concernedDear Mr. Leeds,We have obtained your address from Internet and are now writing to you for the establishment of business relations.We are very well connected with all the major dealers here of light industrial products, and feel sure we can sell large quantities of Chinese goods if we get your offers at competitive prices.Please let us have all necessary information concerning your products for export.Yours faithfully,Ping WangLetter 4A reply to the aboveDear Mr. Wang,We thank you for your letter and shall be pleased to enter into business relations with you.As requested, we are sending you by another mail our latest catalogues and pricelists of our exports.If you find business possible, please write to us.Sincerely yours,John LeedsLetter 5An exporter’s to his bankDear Sir or Madam,We thank you for your cooperation for our business.Now we are keenly desirous of enlarging our trade in various agricultural products, but unfortunately have had no good connections in the southern part of Russia. Therefore, we shall be obliged if you will kindly introduce us to some of the most capable and reliable importers in the district who are interested in these lines of goods.Your favorable information will be appreciated.Yours faithfully,Leon AllenLetter 6A reply to the aboveDear Mr. Allen,Referring to your letter, we are pleased to introduce to you the following firms:(1)The ABC Corp., (Address…)(2)Messrs. Wolf & Green Co., (Address…)(3)The Pacific Co., (Address…)We hope this information will prove useful to you.Yours faithfully,Mark GrangerLetter 7A firm writes to a firm concernedDear Mr. Kevin,We have obtained your name and address from Aristo Shoes, Milan, and we are writing to enquire whether you would be willing to establish business relations with us. We have been importers of shoes for many years. At present, we are interested in extending our range and would appreciate your catalogues and quotations. If your prices are competitive, we would expect to transact a significant volume of business. We look forward to your early reply.Truly yours,Per AndersonLetter 8A reply to the aboveDear Per,Thank you for your letter of the 16th of this month. We shall be glad to enter into business relations with your company. In compliance with your request, we are sending you our latest illustrated catalogue and price list covering our export range. Payment should be made by irrevocable and confirmed letter of credit. Should you wish to place an order, please fax us.Sincerely yours,KevinSupplementary ReadingPart AIn international trade, the importer is usually in one country and the exporter in another. They are separated sometimes by thousands of miles. Establishing business relations is the first step in the transaction in foreign trade.Writing letters to new customers for establishment of relations is a common practice in business communications. To establish business relations with prospective dealers is one of the vitally important measures either for a newly established firm or an old one that wished to enlarge its business scope and turnover. There are several channels through which imports and exporters can get to know each other. Generally speaking, this type of letter begins by telling the address how his or her name is known. The writer should state simply, clearly and concisely what he can sell or what he expects to buy.Any letter of this nature received must be answered in full without the least delay and with courtesy so as to create goodwill and leave a good impression on the reader. The first impression counts heavily. Make sure that your letters follows the standard format and that it is neatly typed and error-free. To firms engaged in foreign trade, business connections are valuable. Therefore, traders must not only do everything possible to consolidate their established relations with firms having previous business but also develop and revitalize their trade by searching for new connections from time to time.Part BMost people today associate marketing with selling. Yet, the act of selling is only part of the overall marketing activities of the firm. The task of providing products that satisfy consumers’wants forms the basis for our current marketing systems. Marketing is an exchange process between buyers and sellers, the purpose of which is to satisfy the buyer’s needs and wants through the purchase of the seller’s products.This marketing concept evolved over the years, developing as American business matured. Initially, production-oriented American business assumed that people would buy whatever was efficiently produced. This concept gradually evolved into a sales-oriented approach in which firms generally depended on effective sales approaches to stimulate consumer demand for a product.Today’s marketing-oriented philosophy focuses on a firm’s desire to increase sales while anticipating and satisfying consumer needs. Progressive businesses today are much more consumer-oriented than firms have been in the past.The marketing mix consists of four variables-product, price, distribution (or place), and promotion. The product variable encompasses its physical attributes. Pricing involves the marketing manager, who establishes each product’s price as well as overall pricing policies. Getting that product to the right place at the right time is the distribution variable. The promotion variable increases demand by communication information to potential customers via personal selling, advertising, publicity, and sales promotion.Firms must carefully consider the role of the sales force in their promotional or promotional aspect of the marketing mix. A firm has to decide if a sales force is a viable direct marketing tool: and if so, which types of selling activities optimally promote its products. The different levels of relationship marketing (transaction selling, relationship selling, and partnering) allow salespeople to create customer loyalty. In this manner, they can keep today’s customers while generating new customers for tomorrow.The new consultative selling requires the salesperson to take on the roles of a team leader, business consultant, and long-term ally. By performing these three roles the salesperson can reduce the relationship gap so the customer is satisfied with doing business with the seller.Part CLevels of relationship marketingWhat type of relationships should an organization have with its customers? Is the cost of keeping a relationship worth it? To answer these questions, let’s define the three general levels of selling relationships with customers:Transaction selling: customers are sold to and not contacted again.Relationship selling: the seller contacts to improve its customers’operations, sales, and profits.Most organizations focus solely on the single transaction with each customer. When you go to McDonald’s and buy a hamburger, that’s it. You never hear from them again unless you return for another purchase. The same thing happens when you go to a movie, rent a video, open a bank checking account, visit the grocery store, or have your clothes cleaned. Each of these examples involves low-priced, low-profit products. Also involved are a large number of customers who are geographically dispersed. This makes it very difficult and quite costly to contact customers. The business is forced to use transactional marketing.Relationship marketing focuses on the transaction-marketing the sale-along with follow-up and service after the sale. The seller contacts the customer to ensure satisfaction with the purchase. The Cadillac Division of General Motors contacts each buyer of a new Cadillac to determine the customer’s satisfaction with the car. If that person is not satisfied, General Motors works with the retailer selling the car to make sure the customer is happy.Partnering is a phenomenon of the 1990s. businesses’ growing concern over the competition not only in America but also internationally revitalized their need to work closely with important customers. The familiar 80/20 principle states that 80 percent of sales often come from 20 percent of a company’s customers. Organizations now realize the need to identify their most important customers and designate them for their partnering programs. The organization’s best salespeopleare assigned to sell and service these customers. Let’s take a closer look at partnering since it is becoming so important to organizations.。
