Winne清早回到公司打開郵箱邊收到了一封這樣的郵件。看完之后Winne當時的反應便是很詫異。這是來自波蘭的一家大超市客戶在中國代表處這邊的跟單Sally發過來的郵件。

Winne returned to the company early in the morning to open the mailbox and received such an email. After reading, Winne was surprised. This is an email from Sally, a merchandiser in the Chinese Representative Office of a large supermarket in Poland.

事情是這樣的，Winne與客戶波蘭總公司的采購負責人一直有在溝通推進相關的產品，也順利報了價格，并且波蘭總公司負責人也非常快就將需要查看樣板的款式確定落實下來。

Winne had been communicating with the head of procurement of the customer Poland head officeto promote the relevant products, and had also successfully quoted the price,and the head of Poland head office had also determined the model styles to bechecked very quickly.

一般情況下Winne公司是不會提供免費樣機給到所有需求樣機的客戶，尤其是還沒有開展合作的客戶。特別是這次波蘭公司挑選的款式都是高貨值的款式。

In general, Winne will not provide free prototypes to all customers who needed prototypes, especially those who had not yet cooperated. In particular, the styless elected by Polish companies were all high value ones.

而客戶因為公司總部是在波蘭，在中國這邊也有采購部，他們的大部分樣機首先會經過中國辦公室的質檢檢測，然后波蘭總部則負責查看樣板的外觀而做評估。

Because the customer's company headquarters was in Poland, and there was also a purchasing department in China, most of their prototypes will first pass the quality inspection of the Chinese office, and then the Polish headquarters isresponsible for checking the appearance of the samples and making evaluation.

而現在客戶的意思是要求WINNE公司免費提供兩個的產品給他們波蘭公司總部以及中國辦各一套。

Now the customerrequests Winne's company to provide two products free of charge, one to thePolish company headquarters and the other to the Chinese office.

Winne與公司商量后，公司考慮到在現如今疫情的環境下，也想盡力給予到客戶更多的支持并且能開展合作。所以最后Winne公司的意思是一套免費樣機給到客戶進行檢測，但是如果還需要多一套樣機就得客戶這邊支付樣機費用了。

After consultingwith the company, considering that in the current situation of the epidemic,the company also wanted to try its best to give more support to customer and begin the cooperation. In the end, Winne's company decided to give a free prototype tocustomer for testing, but if a second one was needed, it will not be free.

客戶波蘭公司總部那邊很快就將Winne的聯系以及洽談樣板的事宜轉接給到其中國辦公室這邊去跟進。

The customer'sheadquarter in Poland has transferred Winne's contact and sample negotiation to China Office for follow-up.

接著客戶中國辦的跟單Sally 便與Winne杠上了。

Then, the situation was deadlocked.

Sally的意思是要Winne盡快安排兩套免費樣機寄出到他們中國辦公室，語氣生硬地說道：“樣機我們是不會支付費用的，我們所有的供應商甚至乎更高貨值的產品都是免費提供的。但是這次會先接受負責樣機的快遞寄送費用。”

Sally asked Winneto arrange for two free prototypes to be sent to their Chinese office as soonas possible, and said in a blunt voice: "we will not pay for theprototypes, and all our suppliers even provide us with higher value prototypesfor free. But this time we will accept the express delivery fee for theprototypes first. "

Winne看到此信息之后滿頭黑線，馬上回應道：“這次其實我們公司已經是給到很大的支持，同意免費提供一套免費的樣機，一般我們所有的客戶都是需要收取費用的，尤其是這次你們所挑選的款式是我們公司專利產品并且貨值也高。我們每天都那么多客戶需要提供樣機，我們是不可能全部都免費提供的，而且目前我們還并沒有合作呢？”

When Winne saw theinformation, she immediately replied: "in fact, our company has given alot of support this time, agreeing to provide a free prototype. Generally, allour customers need to charge a fee, especially this time, the style youselected is our company's patented product and the product value is also high.We have so many customers who need to provide prototypes every day. We can'tprovide them all for free. What's more, we haven't cooperated yet. "

Sally馬上回復：“寄送快遞的費用我們都已經負責了，而且我們還要負責直接寄出到波蘭那么遠，這里的快遞費用可是很高的，我們公司并沒有多余的樣板費用來支出。”

Sally repliedimmediately: "we are already responsible for the cost of express delivery,and we are also responsible for the direct delivery to Poland. These expressdelivery costs are very high, and our company does not have any extra modelcost to spend."

Winne頭上也是一只烏鴉飄過：“我們供應商安排樣板給到你們檢測，樣板和寄送快遞費用我們是不負責的，但是這次我們也額外給到了你們公司支持一套免費的樣板。如果你們實在是沒有相關的樣機費用預算，那么就先拿一套樣機檢測吧。”

Winne replied:"our supplier arranged samples for you to test. We are not responsible forthe cost of samples and express delivery, but this time we also gave yourcompany a free sample. If you really don't have a budget, take a prototype totest. "

Sally 見到Winne如此反應，簡直就是要跳起來了：“那就算了，都別寄了吧，我會直接與波蘭公司總部溝通。”

Sally was very angryat Winne's reaction: "well, don't send it. I will communicate with theheadquarter of Polish company directly."

Winne便沒有再與其糾纏。直接與波蘭總部負責人溝通了這個樣機提供的問題，客戶表示很理解，告訴Winne會了解清楚是否必須需要兩套樣機來進行檢測，再幫忙推進反饋的。

Winne did notargue with her any more, but directly communicated with the head of Polishheadquarters about the problem of providing the prototype. The customerunderstood this and told Winne that he would find out if two prototypes wereneeded for testing, and then help push it forward.

事情暫時還沒有結果，但從這件事情來看，Sally和Winne都沒有撈到好處，特別是Winne，萬一以后真的合作了，肯定是少不了要經常跟Sally接觸溝通的，第一次鬧翻，以后怎么會有好日子過呢？

Things haven'tcome to an end yet, but from this point of view, Sally and Winne haven't reapedany benefits, especially Winne. In case of cooperation in the future, it'snecessary to contact and communicate with Sally frequently. The future progressmay not be smooth after they fall out for the first time.

在于Winne看來，她覺得自己公司已經作出了讓步，由收費變為其中一臺免費，但她沒有把握好溝通的度，雖然客戶表現得很“硬”，但我們沒必要要跟她硬碰，更何況客戶的立場看來自己也是作出了給快遞款的讓步，憑什么我要跟你的安排呢？

In Winne's view,she thought that her company had made a concession from charging to providing afree sample, but she was not hold about communication. Although the customer isvery "tough", our attitude doesn't need to be tough. What's more,from the perspective of customer, they also made concessions to expressdelivery fee.（來源：外貿連）

所以我們該用柔中帶剛的方式來跟客戶溝通，例如客戶一直不愿意付費，那么可以先嘗試立在客戶的立場去跟她好好說，可以多用“我知道你們的難處……”、“我理解你……”等這樣的句式。

We should use flexibleways to communicate with customers. For example, if the customers have been delaying payment, we can try to communicate with them in the position of customers first, and use the sentence pattern, like this:" I know your difficulties..." "I understand you..." and so on.

實在不行的情況下寄一臺給客戶先做測試，檢測沒問題客戶滿意了，再來嘗試溝通第二臺樣品的問題，溝通方式可以用“不如一人讓一步……”這種商量的語氣令客戶感覺你是尊重她。適當的時候表現的弱一點沒關系的，反正自己知道原則不變就行了。

If it can't be solved, send one to the customer for testing first. If the test is OK, the customer is satisfied. Then try to communicate the problem of the second sample. It can make the customer feel respected by the way and tone ofcommunication. It doesn't matter if you are in a weak position at the righttime. Anyway, your principles have not changed.