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Sample answer:
Well, knowing how businessmen are, they will not give a discount that they cannot af-
ford to lose in the business. I think any sensible businessmen will only give a discount
that’s within his means.

1. You are addressing your team of agents. You want to set a standard on the
kind of discounts that you can give to your clients. Elicit answers by com-
posing questions based on the following concerns. You may add more con-
cerns.

a. uniform minimum and maximum discount percentage to be granted
b. frequency of discount requests to be granted

Sample answer:
Thank you for attending this meeting. Our main objective for meeting today is to set a
standard on the discounts that we give to our clients. Recently, we got some feedback
that some of our clients are not happy about the differences in the discounts that we
offer. This gives the connotation that we have favorites, so to prevent this perception
to develop, we have to set some standards. What do you think should be our standard
minimum and maximum percentage for discounts? The figure should, of course, be
safe enough to allow a margin of profit. What do you think should be the maximum
number of discount requests that we should have for every client? Do we even have to
set a limit on this? If we don’t set a limit, will we not be affected by the discounts that
we will issue? Please reflect on these questions because we need to have a definite
answer for them.

2. You plan to ask for a special discount from your client through your agent.
Present your valid reasons
for requesting a discount. Give tips to your agent on how you can secure the
discount.

Sample answer:
Mr. Soon, I heard that you will be having a meeting with Mr. Smith this afternoon. That’s
very timely because I want you to request for a discount from him. You see, we recently
had problems at the plant due to some malfunctioning machinery. We are logging
behind with our deliveries. This has caused some of our clients to cancel big orders. We
are still recuperating from this cancellation. Thus, a discount from Mr. Smith’s company
will be a very big help. I hope that he can grant us this request, especially since this
is our first time to ask for such. We have never asked for any favor from his company.
Besides, we two have had a long and fruitful business relationship. I hope that he can
consider our situation for giving the discount. Use your skills in persuasion, if you have
to. Good luck! I hope you get to close the deal and get a discount for the company.

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