主题：【原创】中国人在北美做生意 -- 克明峻德
家园 挖坑与 speeding 是平生两大乐事
家园 【原创】平生第一次商业谈判 (一) 我是程序员, 人在北美.靠卖软件维生.
我从前的 roommate, 七八岁就过来了,他的交流技巧比我就强多了.
有一次他帮我联系了一个白人客户 Terry, 就让我去谈.出发前, roommate 看着我有竖条纹的长裤说,换一条吧.我就翻箱子, 找出了没有条纹的休闲裤,他竟然说好.
我当时连车都没有,只有坐公车去.
到了时间, 我们带着laptop 来到 Terry 的公司.
公司大约有30多个雇员, 办公室挺气派.
我把 laptop 接到了投影仪上.然后两个白人, 三个黑人坐到了桌子前面看我的演示.
最前面的白人 叫 Mike, 他对我很不感冒的样子. 看完了演示, 他反复问我: Do you have any client?
But why, why are you involved?
英语单词叫他这样的 snobbish.
我一时语塞, 略有点尴尬. 这是, 另外一个黑人也对我说: You have to answer that question.
本人这时到是不慌不忙,心平气和地说:
All right. Let me explain.
Given enough time and brain power, anybody can make it. It's just a matter of time and cost.
My software doesn't cost you too much.
If you would like to make sth similar or even better, I have no doubt you are quite able to make it.
But let me tell you how much money it's going to cost.
然后我就跟他算账, 程序员多少钱一个小时, QA多少钱一小时. Mike 终于不挑我的毛病了.
这时候, 大老板 Terry 走了进来, 让我们到他的 office 里面去谈. Terry 一看就事很 nice 的人, 修养不错. 他就对东方人没有成见. 他还对我说:
我现在雇了两个中国来的程序员, 他们干活很不错.
It has something to do with Chinese education system.
还说他计划到中国开一个分公司, 这样成本比较低.
欲知后事如何, 且听下回
家园 It has something to do with Chinese education system. But things are changing now...
家园 All right. Let me play. All right. Let me explain.
Given enough time and brain power, anybody can make it. It's just a matter of time and cost.
My software doesn't cost you too much.
If you would like to make sth similar or even better, I have no doubt you are quite able to make it.
But let me tell you how much money it's going to cost.
Well, technically, in my knowledge, I am not able to develop any software without proper communication with you guys, which are my clients. All I can do now is just to promote what I can supply to you and how I am going to do it effectively in a limited time. In order to make this one perfect, I have to say that we still need more financial support and days of hard working. At this moment, I believe that no one can do it better than mine in such low cost.
家园 你当时能临机说出那些就算口语很溜了，怎么还没有车啊？ 家园 估计是住在Boston或者New York这样的大城市，没有车很正常的