1、Section 19 代理事宜Agency,I. 要点概述Main Points 1. What is an agent?,1. What is an agent?,An agent is an individual or firm authorized to act on behalf of another, called the principal, such as by executing a transaction or selling and servicing. Unlike a dealer, the agent is a representative who arranges
2、business for other people, but does not assume any financial risk in the transaction.There usually exists the agency describing an agreement between two parties where one will be a representative of another, namely, the principal and the agent. In other words, the principal is a person who wants to
3、achieve something by hiring an agent to help achieve it. The principal-agent relationship means, that both parties agree, that agent will represent the principal in doing business. The agency relationship is based on agreement between parties. Most agency relationships in business are formed to acco
4、mplish certain task. Once the goal is achieved, the agency relationship is terminated. Since the agency relationship is consensual, it can be terminated, if either party no longer wants to continue the relationship.,2. What are the differences between a sole agent and a general agent?,In general, th
5、ere are two types of agents sole agent and general agent. A sole agent is a contract agent who represents a single company while a general agent is an independent agent who represents more than one company. When we say sole agent, it indicates that the client has appointed only one agent to act on t
6、heir behalf in the selling of the property. Appointment of a sole agent does not restrict the client from selling the property privately themselves, providing there is no other agent involved. And if we say general agent, we mean that an independent agent represents at least two companies and serves
7、 clients by searching the market for the most advantageous price. The agents commission is a percentage of the sales value paid and includes a fee for servicing the principal.,3. How can we find a qualified agent?,If we are to find a good agent, we shall have to consider the agents office and profes
8、sional staff by asking for customer references and contacting some of them to find out how they like the agent and their services. Manage to seek those enjoying a good reputation and solid financial foundation and deal only with an agent who wants to satisfy your needs. Make sure you like the agents
9、 recommendations and advices and evaluate how quickly an agent responds to your needs. Dont do business with someone you dont like and find another agent who represents the same company.,II. 商界名言 Business Sayings,1. A man cant whistle and drink at the same time. 一心不能二用。2. Lookers-on see more than pl
10、ayers. 当局者迷，旁观者清。3. Among the blind the one eyed is the king. 盲人国度，独眼为王。4. Pull yourself up by your own boot straps. 依靠自己，改变境遇。5. Service without reward is a punishment. 服务没报酬，等于是惩罚。6. Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.知己知彼，百战不殆。,III. 核心词语Core Words
11、 and Phrases (omitted)要求课前背诵重要术语IV. 经典句式Typical Sentences (omitted)要求首先思考如何翻译？有多少不同的路径？变换词性、主语、从句会产生什么不同的效果？,V. 段落写译 Paragraph Writing and Translating,1. 在代理期限内，乙方不得经营其他国家所生产的与本协议所列者相似的产品，否则甲方有权立即终止本协议，无须事先通知乙方。,1. 在代理期限内，乙方不得经营其他国家所生产的与本协议所列者相似的产品，否则甲方有权立即终止本协议，无须事先通知乙方。During the period of agency,
12、 Party B shall not deal in similar commodities to those covered by this Agreement, which are originated from other countries; otherwise, Party A shall have the right to immediately terminate this Agency Agreement without previous notice to party B.,2. 八年以来，本人受雇与国内外著名公司并担任过经理等职务，获得了丰富的行业知识和贸易经验，当能符合担
13、任代理的各项条件。,2. 八年以来，本人受雇与国内外著名公司并担任过经理等职务，获得了丰富的行业知识和贸易经验，当能符合担任代理的各项条件。The thorough knowledge and trade experience which I have gained in this branch of business during an eight year engagement as an employee and manager of prominent firms in this branch both at home and abroad will enable me to cope
14、 with all reasonable requirements for an agent.,3. 考虑了你方提议并调查了你的业务情况之后，我们决定委托你方在你所提议的地区内担任我方代理，具体条款条件如下。,3. 考虑了你方提议并调查了你的业务情况之后，我们决定委托你方在你所提议的地区内担任我方代理，具体条款条件如下。After paying due consideration to your proposals and investigating your business standing, we have decided to appoint you our agent in the
15、district you defined, subject to the following terms and conditions.,4. 我方第135号合同明确规定该笔交易的佣金为3%，但我们发现你方第557号信用证要求佣金5%，这显然与合约条款不符。为此，请通知你方银行把信用证修改为“佣金3%”，不胜感激。,4. 我方第135号合同明确规定该笔交易的佣金为3%，但我们发现你方第557号信用证要求佣金5%，这显然与合约条款不符。为此，请通知你方银行把信用证修改为“佣金3%”，不胜感激。The commission allowed for this transaction is 3% as
16、 clearly stipulated in our Contract No. 135, but we find that your L/C No. 557 demands a commission of 5%. This is obviously not in line with the contract stipulations. We shall therefore be grateful if you will instruct your bankers to amend the L/C to read “commission 3%”.,5. 请不要误解我们的上述意见，这决不意味着我们
17、有什么不满意的地方。事实上，我们对你方业已促成的业务量是满意的。但我们认为必须做到较大的营业额后才建立代理为好。,5. 请不要误解我们的上述意见，这决不意味着我们有什么不满意的地方。事实上，我们对你方业已促成的业务量是满意的。但我们认为必须做到较大的营业额后才建立代理为好。Please do not misinterpret the above remark, which in no way implies dissatisfaction. As a matter of fact, we are quite satisfied with the amount of business you h
18、ave brought us. However, we are of the opinion that a bigger turnover must be reached to justify establishing the agency.,VI. 讨论评估 Discussion and Assessment,中文里的“回扣”，通常意义是指在销售过程中买方返还给卖方的折扣，是一种促销方式和策略，但在不同的语境下有着不同的含义。语境在确定语义时的三大作用是语境消除信息中的歧义和多义、语境指出某些指称词的所指和提供被说话人和作者所省略的信息。由于在不同的语境下对这某个特定的词的中文含义具有大为不
19、同的理解，其相应的英文表达也应有所不同。下面首先分析汉语中“折扣”一词如何找到相应的英文表达，来探讨词的形式联想和和意义联想，然后通过一篇习作问题分析，探索使用短语来追求简洁表达？,1） 讨论：,在英语中，与“折扣”有关的词至少有：discount; commission; rebate; rake off; kick-back; brokerage等，但其深层的含义应当有所区分。外贸实务中，discount; commission和rebate使用频率较高, kick-back 用得相当普遍，但kick-back和rake-off则多指不正当的提成或收入, 而且，rake off事实上目前已
20、经用得极少，在二十世纪二三十年代却曾一度用得几近泛滥，多指与匪徒黑帮有关之事。如 Ill bet he gets a rake-off. “我敢打赌他拿了回扣。”If I put this bit of business in your way, I expect a rake-off. “如果我把这笔生意交给你做，我希望得到一笔回扣。”,相比之下，kick-back与 rake-off 意义最为接近，但它就用得太普遍了。kick-back特指公务人员利用职务之便与私人或私有企业私下进行的非法交易，当然，私人或私企必定要给予该官员一笔数额可观的提成，这就是人们常说的“回扣”，尤其是非法勾当。换
21、言之，能获得这种好处费也就是“回扣”的人必须具备一定的影响力，而这种的影响力往往正是其职权的产物，成为其牟利的工具。kick-back强调了回扣的产生常常是较为默契的，这就是说，送回扣与及拿回扣都是心照不宣的。Kick-back甚至也属于黑社会里诸如“保护费”之类的行话。,同kick-back进行对比，作为一个经纪人（broker） 挣来的经纪费（brokerage）要光明磊落的多，虽然它同时的确又是一个容易引起误会的词，主要在于其外形酷似break的过去式。 事实上，以broker为业者要想赚取他的brokerage往往并非易事，须得千方百计促成买卖双方达成交易，这才是赚钱的先决条件。比方说
22、一个房地产中间商安排他人卖房同时有为其寻找买主，事成之后方可从成交价中得到一笔提成，这笔提成在现代美国英语中经常被称为fee。而discount一词在英语中往往隐含着卖方有着大幅降低成本的方法，且同样利于买方。discount store折扣商店，指出售耐用消费品的商店，其价格极为低廉。一般商业信函中使用discount一词尚不至于引起太大的误解。这个表达方式是普遍接受的，事实上也构成一种优惠条款,在对外贸易中，经常会有关于代理或独家代理的情形，还会有commission house即提取佣金的商行。比如，美国的汽车销售人员一般只领取少量的salary, 如同中文的“底薪”，但他每卖出一辆汽车
23、都可以得到一笔较为可观的提成。房地产经纪人则完全按提成的办法操作，有时会有相当高的收入，但这样的收入未必十分稳定。 Rebate指债务、租税等可减免的款额；宽减额；折扣；折让。 如There is a rebate of 1.50 if the account is settled before 31Dec. 如果账目在十二月三十日前结清，可减收一英镑半。Deduction 指从全部特别是无须纳税之费用中提取的数量或部分，也指提取的过程。 allowance 也时常见诸英文报刊表示“津贴”或“特别经费”的，它表示所允许给予的数量。例如，The director has an entertain
24、ment allowance, money for entertaining important customers. 董事有一笔交际费，用于招待重要主顾等。An allowance is also money given by parents to a child every week that the child can spend.零花钱父母每周给小孩的零用钱。,2）习作评析：,得知贵方要求担任我方在贵地的代理，但我们认为目前洽淡此事的时机尚未成熟。我们的意见是你们可以先在佣金的基础上与我方展开业务，待相互熟悉之后讨论此事，这对双方都很有益。,“贵方要求担任我方在贵地的代理”，有的写成w
25、e learned that you asked us to do your agent，有的写成request us to be your agent都是把对象搞反了，应特别注意。此外，从简洁的要求考虑，使用that you want to act as our agent这样一个宾语从句，远不如使用一个分词短语来得简洁，即we know your request/desire/intention to be our agent in your area 但这还只是又进一步。 如果把“得知贵方要求担任我方在贵地的代理”整个小句换成用一个分词短语来表述，则更为理想，即knowing your
26、request to be our agent in your area,但要注意同后面的主句协调；“时机尚未成熟”，有人写成it is too early to come to this matter，属于间接表述，可以接受；“在佣金的基础上”，出现了很多“基础”的词性选择错误。正确的说法应该是on commission basis但很多人分不清bases/basics/bases这些词的区别，在没有把握的情况下，多查词典是最好的选择！ “相互熟悉”可以说be/get familiar with each other也可以说we know more about each other; “有益
27、”可以说beneficial to但实践中可见许多将to误用的现象，或者对象错误。,建议改写：,Your request for acting as our agent in your territory has been noted, but we deem it premature to discuss this matter at present. We are of the opinion that you may, first of all, do business with us on a commission basis, and it will be advantageous
28、to both of us to discuss the matter when we are well acquainted with each other.,VII. 应用写作 Applied Writing,A. Write a letter to express your desire to act as an agenta) tell the other party how you got the information about him or her;b) provide materials to show your qualification;c) what types of
29、agent you would like to be;d) offer contacting methods.,B. Sample writing,A Sample Sales Agency Agreement,A Sample Sales Agency Agreement,This Agreement is made this _ day of _, 20_ in _, _ by _ Principal and _ Agency; Whereas, the Principal is the owner and operator of a business known as _ which i
30、s engaged in the business of _; Whereas, the Principal desires to employ the Agent for, and the Agent is willing to act for the Principal in, selling _.,Now therefore in consideration of the mutual covenants and promises contained herein, it is agreed as follows:,1. The Principal shall employ the Ag
31、ent as his _ sole and exclusive non-exclusive Agent to solicit orders for the sale of_ , at the price(s) and on such other terms and conditions established by the Principal, in the following geographic area: 2. The Agent hereby accepts such appointment and agrees to devote his best efforts to solici
32、t orders but shall have no authority, right or power to accept any order, or to assume or create any obligation on behalf of the Principal.3. The Agent shall not engage in the selling of _ for any competitor of the Principal.,4. In full compensation of the services of the Agent, the Principal shall
33、pay the Agent _ % of the sales price of all sales of _ by Agent during the term of this agency. Said commission shall be paid _.5. This Agency Agreement shall commence_, 20_ and terminates _, 20_ unless earlier terminated by the Principal for just cause or by the mutual agreement of the Principal an
34、d Agent.6. This Agency is personal and the Agent shall not sell, assign, convey or otherwise transfer his rights hereunder.Dated: Party A: (Signature) Party B: (Signature)_ _,Why do we have to appoint an agent in a specific area, esp. in a foreign country?How can we find a qualified agent?What kind
35、of reply letter shall we write to unqualified applicants?,The main types of agents in buying and selling are general agent and sole agent, and what other types of agencies do you know?What should be covered in a formal agency agreement?In order to apply for the position of an agent, what you have to
36、 do?,1) The reason for appointing an agent in a foreign country:-the agent knows the local condition and the local market better, he also knows what goods are best suited to his area and what prices the market will bear,2) The main types of agents in buying and selling are general agent and sole age
37、nt a) The differences between them is that a general agent acts under some degree of instructions from his principals to sell or to buy goods on the best terms obtainable. He charges a certain percent of commission for his service under some kind of agreement or contract.,b) A sole agent acts exclus
38、ively for one foreign principal with exclusively agency rights to sell on a commission basis certain commodities in a certain area under some kind of agreement or contract.,3) What should be covered in a formal agency agreement?a) the nature and duration of the agency;b) the territory to be covered;
39、c) the duties of the agent and the principal;d) the method of purchase and sale,The commission granted for this transaction is 3% as stipulated in our sales confirmation, but we find that your L/C demands a commission of 5%. Therefore you are requested to instruct your bankers to amend the L/C.,With
40、 your excellent connections, we believe it will be possible to promote the sale of our products in your territory, and we hope your acting as our agent will be to our mutual benefit.,We have noted your request to act as our agent in your district, but before going further into the matter, we should like to know your plan for promoting sales and the annual turnover you may realize in your market.,We wish to inform you that this particular line has already been taken by, who has acted as our sole agent for quite some time.,
