Dan Smith是一位美国的健身用品经销商，此次是Robert Liu第一回与他交手。就在短短几分钟的交谈中，Robert Liu既感到这位大汉粗犷的外表，藏有狡兔的心思――他肯定是沙场老将，自己绝不可掉以轻心。双方第一回过招如下：

D： I'd like to get the ball rolling（开始）by talking about prices.

R： Shoot.（洗耳恭听）I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

D： Your products are very good. But I'm a little worried about the prices you're asking.

R： You think we about be asking for more？（laughs）

D： （chuckles莞尔） That's not exactly what I had in mind. I know your research costs are high， but what I'd like is a 25% discount.

R： That seems to be a little high， Mr. Smith. I don't know how we can make a profit with those numbers.

D： Please， Robert， call me Dan. （pause） Well， if we promise future business――volume sales（大笔交易）――that will slash your costs（大量减低成本）for making the Exec-U-ciser， right？

        R： Yes， but it's hard to see how you can place such large orders. How could you turn over（销磬）so many？ （pause） We'd need a guarantee of future business， not just a promise.

D： We said we wanted 1000 pieces over a six-month period. What if we place orders for twelve months， with a guarantee？

R： If you can guarantee that on paper， I think we can discuss this further.