R： Even with volume sales， our coats for the Exec-U-Ciser won't go down much.

D： Just what are you proposing？

R： We could take a cut（降低）on the price. But 25% would slash our profit margin（毛利率）。We suggest a compromise――10%.

D： That's a big change from 25！ 10 is beyond my negotiating limit. （pause） Any other ideas？

R： I don't think I can change it right now. Why don't we talk again tomorrow？

D： Sure. I must talk to my office anyway. I hope we can find some common ground（共同信念）on this.

NEXT DAY

D： Robert， I've been instructed to reject the numbers you proposed； but we can try to come up with some thing else.

R： I hope so， Dan. My instructions are to negotiate hard on this deal――but I'm try very hard to reach some middle ground（互相妥協(xié)）。

D： I understand. We propose a structured deal（階段式和約）。 For the first six months， we get a discount of 20%， and the next six months we get 15%.

R： Dan， I can't bring those numbers back to my office――they'll turn it down flat（打回票）。

D： Then you'll have to think of something better， Robert.