Lesson 1
3) Find the words in the article to complete the following statements.
1. When a businessman develops relationships with key customers, he__________the profit.
2. It is very difficult to_______/ a company successfully.
3. If you don't have your own office,__________ it from
somebody else.
4. I saw many firms which lost their customers because people didn't have__________to them any more.
5. Businessmen who resolve all the questions_________
are the most successful.
6. Investigate the market, may be its__________are bad
at the moment.
7. Consult specialists and___________advice about potential sales.
IV. Complete the following sentences using the information from the text.
2. Flexibility in running the business means....
8. The price will go up, if ...
V. Write a dialogue between a professional adviser and a young businessman who is eager to succeed.
Student A. You have been working as a professional adviser for many years. Discuss with your client the questions of accounting policy and its reporting, the ways of reconsidering capital, the ways of conducting important negotiations.
Student B. You are rather young but own a large company. Your aim is to increase the business at first and then to sell it. Ask how you can build a good price and where you should look for potential purchasers. Don't forget to ask when and how you must solve compliance issues.
Both of you are pressed for time. Your conversation mustn't be too long.
Lesson 2
VII. Answer the questions.
1. What is the competitive environment?
2. How many basic kinds of competitive situations do you know?
3. What is monopolistic competition?
4. Who faces monopolistic competition very often?
5. How do marketing managers sometimes try to differentiate similar products? Give an example.
6. Do subtle differences always work? Why?
7. What kind of competition do the most product-markets head toward according to the economist's traditional view?
8. Why do competitive firms compete with lower and lower prices in oligopoly?
9. What are monopoly situations?
10. Why are monopoly situations rare in market-directed economies?
X. Write a dialogue
Student A. You are going to be interviewed as a potential marketing manager. You know that one of the questions will be about different types of competition but you are not good at it. Your friend is an expert in this question. Ask him to help you. Ask as many questions as you can.
Student B. You know basic kinds of competition rather well because you did some research work about it. Explain what it is to your friend.
Lesson 3
V IV. Answer the following questions.
1. What behavioral sciences do you know?
2. What do you think can affect a person's buying behavior?
7. What influences your personal purchase decision?
Lesson 4
I. Say if these sentences are True (T) or False (F). Correct the false ones.
4. Wholesaling functions are buying and selling at low price.
6. The main reason small customers use wholesalers rather than buying directly from producers is that wholesalers can anticipate their needs.
7. If you use a wholesaler, you don't need any other middlemen.
//. Find the answers to these questions.
3. How do wholesalers cut the producer's warehousing expenses?
a) they store inventory themselves
b) they supply a producer with capital
c) they speed the whole buying and selling process
///. Match the beginnings of the sentences to their ends using the information from the text.
1. It's hard to define what a wholesaler is because ...
2. Wholesaling is concerned with the activities of those persons or establishments ...
3. Wholesaling functions are ...
4. To anticipate needs means ...
5. When wholesalers provide part of the buying function
6. Wholesalers speed the whole buying and selling process because ...
7. When producers-suppliers use wholesalers ...
A. their warehousing expenses are cut.
B. buying, selling, grading, storing, transporting, financing, risk taking and gathering market information.
С there is no need for other middlemen.
D. there are so many wholesalers doing different jobs.
E. which sell to retailers and other merchants and/or to industrial, institutional, and commercial users, but who do not sell in large amounts to final consumers.
F. potential customers don't have to hunt for supply sources.
G. to forecast customers' demands and buy accordingly.
IV. Answer the following questions.
1. How do some wholesalers call themselves?
2. What is the definition for wholesaling of the U.S. Bureau of the Census?
3. How would you define wholesalers?
4. Are producers who take over wholesaling activities considered to be wholesalers?
5. What are basic wholesaling functions?
6. What does "to regroup goods" mean?
7. Can wholesalers perform any financing function? Describe it if any.
8. How can wholesalers speed the whole buying and selling process?
9. Do wholesalers benefit producers-suppliers? How?
VII. Match the verbs in the column A to the nouns in the column B.
A (set up,perform*,grade,anticipate,carry,install,hunt for,speed)
B (process, sources, equipment, stocks, warehouses, vegetables, needs, functions)
VIII. Write the following dialogues. Use the active vocabulary.
Student А, В, C... You are customers who have doubts if it is profitable to buy from a wholesaler. Meet your friend who is an experienced wholesaler and find out what advantages you will have if you use him or someone of his partners. Ask as many questions as you can.
Student D. You are a wholesaler. Your task is to convince your friends that they can benefit if they buy
products from you. Name all the activities which will help your customers to have a profitable deal.



Приложение:
SUCCESS IN BUSINESS
If you start a business of your own, your aim is to do well, in other words — to succeed. Every person under­stands the word "success " in his own way. And what does "success" in business mean for you? Tick the suitable answer and explain why you have chosen it.
Success is
♦ when you are popular with your customers
♦ when your products cost a lot
♦ a lot of money earned
♦ when you win all the competitions among other companies specializing in the same area
♦ when you reach all your goals
♦ when your company is constantly expanding
♦ when the staff is working as a good team
Now read the article which information will probably help you to succeed in running a business properly. Tips for building business value
♦ Aim to increase the business's recurring profits.
♦ Focus on maintaining long-term sales growth.
♦ Enhance the "quality" of earnings by developing relationships with key customers.
♦ Run the business with the same degree of governance and financial reporting as if it were a public company.
♦ Adopt transparent and conservative accounting policies that are appropriate to the business sector.
♦ Maintain flexibility by reconsidering large capital investment and through the ability to rent — rather than own— non-core assets.
♦ If the owner-manager is personally part of what makes the business valuable, but will not be continuing to manage it, consider how to compensate for this by, for example, bringing in new management or transferring key business contacts to existing managers.
♦ Make sure any questions over the value of business assets, tax or other compliance issues are resolved in advance of the sale — if it turns out something is awry, the seller will lose credibility and it can decimate the business's value.
♦ Identify and protect your intellectual property.
♦ Get the timing right.
lips for optimising the sale price
♦ Consult professional advisers at the outset and use the time before the sale process to build the value of the business to a potential buyer.
♦ Make sure a sale is the best route and that all the share holders are in agreement.
♦ Use all available means to identify likely buyers, in eluding those overseas.
♦ Analyze buyers' motives and what they are looking for; identify where they perceive the value in the business lies.
♦ Make sure the selling memorandum demonstrates the business's strength and potential, but is accurate. Any inaccuracies are sure to come to light and will make a buyer become suspicious or drop the price.
♦ Sell the excitement and enthusiasm of business and make the purchaser enthused and excited.
♦ Emphasize the opportunity the business presents for growth and profit.
♦ Manage the negotiation process actively and keep to a strict timetable.
♦ Keep the sale process competitive and make sure there are alternative buyers.
♦ Obtain advice in advance on the tax implications of the sale.
The timing of the sale is probably the most critical test for the entrepreneur to realize the maximum value of his efforts. Market conditions are good at the moment, with opportunities available to companies and individuals ranging from complete sales to partial disposals.

Lesson 2
COMPETITION
Everybody thinks that you are a success in business: your firm has a profit, people work as a good team and you run the company well. Nothing to worry about? Just the other way round! The more successful you are, the more concerned you are. Your trouble consists of 11 letters - C-0-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N.
Now read the text which will help you to understand the world of competition better. Say what is the most widely-spread type of it.
The competitive environment affects the number and types of competitors the marketing manager must face
— and how they may behave. Although marketing managers usually can't control these factors, they can choose strategies and avoid head-on competition. And, where the competition is inevitable, they can plan for it.
Economists describe four basic kinds of market (competitive) situations: pure competition, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and monopoly. Understanding the differences among these market situations is helpful.
In monopolistic competition, a number of different firms offer marketing mixes that at least some customers see as different. Each competitor tries to get control (a monopoly) in its "own" target market. But competition still exists because some customers see the various alternatives as substitutes. A subset of these firms may even compete head-on for the same customers with similar marketing mixes. With monopolistic competition, each firm has its own down-sloping demand curve. But the shape of the demand curve — and elasticity of demand — depends on how similar competitors' products and marketing mixes are. Most marketing managers in developed economies face monopolistic competition.
In monopolistic competition, marketing managers sometimes try to differentiate very similar products by relying on other elements of the marketing mix. For example, Clorox Bleach uses the same basic chemicals as other bleaches. But marketing managers for Clorox may help to set it apart from other bleaches by offering an improved pouring spout, by producing ads that demonstrate its stain-killing power, or by getting it better shelf positions in supermarkets. Yet such approaches may not work, especially if competitors can easily imitate the new ideas. Efforts to promote real — but subtle — differences may not do any good either. If potential customers view the different offerings as essentially similar, the market will become more and more competitive — and firms will have to rely on lower costs to obtain a competitive advantage.
The economist's traditional view is that most product-markets head toward pure competition — or oligopoly
— over the long-run. In these situations, a marketing manager competes for customers against competitors who are offering very similar products. Because customers see the different available products (marketing mixes) as close substitutes, competing firms must compete with lower and lower prices, especially in pure competition where there are likely to be large numbers of competitors. Profit margins shrink until they are just high enough to keep the most efficient firms in business. Avoiding pure competition is sensible — and certainly fits with our emphasis on target marketing.
Effective target marketing is fundamentally different than effective decision making in other areas of business. Accounting, production, and financial managers for competing firms can learn about and use the same standardized approaches — and they will work well in each case. By contrast, marketing managers can't just learn about and adopt the same "good" marketing strategy being used by other firms. That just leads to head-on competition — and a downward spiral in prices and profits. So target marketers try to offer customers a marketing mix better suited to their needs than competitors' offerings.
Most marketing managers would like to have such a strong marketing mix that customers see it as uniquely able to meet their needs. This competition-free ideal guides the search for breakthrough opportunities. Yet monopoly situations, in which one firm completely controls a broad product-market, are rare in market-directed economies. Further, governments commonly regulate monopolies. For example, in most parts of the world prices set by utility companies must be approved by a government agency. Although most marketing managers can't expect to operate with complete control in an unregulated monopoly, they can move away from head-on competition.

Lesson 3
WHY DO PEOPLE BUY WHAT THEY BUY?
To better understand why consumers buy as. they do, many marketers turn to behavioral sciences for help.
Specific consumer behaviors vary a great deal for different products and from one target market to the next. In to-day's global markets, the variations are countless. That makes it impractical to try to catalog all the detailed possibilities for every different market situation. For example, how and why a given consumer buys a Specific brand of shampoo may be very different from how that same consumer buys motor oil; and different customers in different parts of the world may have very different reactions to either product. But there are general behavioral principles —frameworks — that marketing managers can apply to learn more about their specific target markets.
Most economists assume that consumers are economic men — people who know all the facts and logically compare choices in terms of cost and value received to get the greatest satisfaction from spending their time and money. A logical extension of the economic-man theory led us to look at consumer spending patterns. This approach is valuable because consumers must at least have income to be in a market. Further, most consumers don't have enough income to buy everything they want. So most consumers want their money to stretch as far as it can.
This view assumes that economic needs guide most consumer behavior. Economic needs are concerned with making the best use of a consumer's time and money — as the consumer judges it. Some consumers look for the lowest price. Others will pay extra for convenience. And others may weigh price and quality for the best value. Some economic needs are:
1. Economy of purchase or use.
2. Convenience.
3. Efficiency in operation or use.
4. Dependability in use.
5. Improvement of earnings.
Clearly, market managers must be alert to new ways to appeal to economic needs. Most consumers appreciate firms that offer them improved value for the money they spend. But improved value does not just mean, offierig lower and lower prices. Many consumers face a "poverty of time". Carefully planned place decisions can make it easier and faster for consumers to make a purchase. Products can be designed to work better, require less service, or last longer. Promotion can inform consumers about their choices - or explain product benefits in terms of measurable factors like operating costs or the length of the guarantee.
The "economic value" that a purchase offers a consumer is an important factor in many purchase decisions. But most marketing managers think that a buyer's behavior is not as simple as the economic-man model suggests. A product that one person sees as a good value — and is eager to buy — is of no interest to someone else. So we can't expect to understand buying behavior without taking a broader view.

Lesson 4
BUYING WHOLESALE
It's hard to define what a wholesaler is because there are so many different wholesalers doing different jobs. Some of their activities may even seem like manufacturing. As a result, some wholesalers call themselves "manufacturer and dealer." Some like to identify themselves with such general terms as merchant, jobber, dealer, or distributor. And others just take the name commonly used in their trade - without really thinking about what it means.
To avoid long technical discussion on the nature of wholesaling, we'll use the U.S. Bureau of the Census definition:
Wholesaling is concerned with the activities of those persons or establishments which sell to retailers and other merchants, and/or to industrial, institutional, and commercial users, but who do not sell in large amounts to final consumers.
So, wholesalers are firms whose main function is providing wholesaling activities.
Note, that producers who take over wholesaling activities are not considered wholesalers. However, when producers set up branch warehouse at separate locations, these establishments basically operate as wholesalers. In fact, they're classified as wholesalers by the U.S. Census Bureau and by government agencies in many other countries.
Wholesalers may perform certain functions for both their suppliers and the wholesalers' own customers — in short, for those above and below them in the channel. Wholesaling functions really are variations of the basic marketing functions — buying, selling, grading, storing, transporting, financing, risk taking, and gathering market information. Wholesaling functions are basic to the following discussion because decisions about what combination of functions to perform is a key part of a wholesaler's strategy planning. Keep in mind that not all wholesalers provide all of the functions.
Wholesalers perform a variety of activities that benefit their customers. They:
1. Regroup goods — to provide the quantity and assortment customers want at the lowest possible cost.
2. Anticipate needs —forecast customers' demands and buy accordingly.
3. Carry stocks — carry inventory so customers don't have to store a large inventory.
4. Deliver goods — provide prompt delivery at low cost.
5. Grant credit to customers, perhaps supplying their working capital. Note: this financing function may be very important to small customers; sometimes it's the main reason they use wholesalers rather than buying directly from producers.
6. Provide information and advisory service — supply price and technical information as well as suggestions on how to install and sell products. Note: The wholesaler's salesreps may be experts in the products they sell.
7. Provide part of the buying function — offer products to potential customers so they don't have to hunt for supply sources.
8. Own and transfer title to products — help complete a sale without the need for other middlemen, speeding the whole buying and sell process.
Wholesalers also benefit producer-suppliers. They:
1. Provide part of a producer's selling function — by going to producer-suppliers instead of waiting for their sales reps to call.
2. Store inventory — reduce a producer's need to carry large stocks thus cutting the producer's warehousing expenses.
3. Supply capital — reduce a producer's need for working capital by buying the producer's output and carrying it in inventory until it's sold.