novelslam Chapter 94 Recruiting Soldiers
Chapter 94 Recruiting Soldiers
The day after the meeting, the office was bustling with an unusual kind of activity.
Xu Qiang and Wang Peng sat at separate tables, draft papers spread out in front of them, their brows furrowed. They had written and crossed out the job posting repeatedly.
"Channel sales, requirements: experience with digital products, able to accept short-term business trips..." Xu Qiang muttered to himself, biting his pen.
He recalled Lin Feng's description of a "ground promotion iron army" and added a sentence after "short-term business trips": "those with campus promotion experience will be given priority."
He needs five to six people, who can be divided into at least two or three groups, to travel to different cities at the same time.
What's a suitable salary? It should be a base salary plus commission. The base salary shouldn't be too low, otherwise you won't be able to retain employees; but if the base salary is too high, it's easy to breed laziness.
He went to discuss it with Liu Qian, the finance manager. At that moment, Liu Qian was typing away on her calculator, drafting travel standards.
At the next table, Wang Peng's situation was even more complicated.
There was only one line written on the white paper in front of him: "Taobao store hiring," and then he got stuck.
He recognized the words graphic designer, customer service representative, operations manager, etc., but when put together, they sounded like a foreign language.
Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned on his computer, and logged into the Taobao seller account he had just registered.
The backend interface was blank, with only a few buttons. He looked at the labels "Store Management", "Product Listing" and "Transaction Management" and moved the mouse meaninglessly across the screen.
"The graphic designer needs to attach their portfolio..." Wang Peng muttered, writing this line on a piece of paper and drawing a circle next to it. He himself didn't understand design, so how could he judge whether a piece of work was good or not?
A few days later, the first wave of applicants arrived.
In the morning, Xu Qiang had his channel sales interview. Seven or eight people came, all between twenty-two and thirty years old, wearing shirts and carrying those faux leather briefcases.
The first person to come in was a man wearing glasses. He habitually pushed up his glasses as he spoke: "I used to sell language repeaters. I'm familiar with the campus channels. I've been to Sichuan University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China..."
Xu Qiang asked, "If you were to go to Chongqing, how would you penetrate the university market?"
The man hesitated for a moment: "Shancheng... I'll go look around near the university gates first and talk to some digital stores?"
"How do we negotiate?"
"Just...introduce the product, give them the price, and see if they want the goods."
Xu Qiang made a few notes in his notebook and told the other party to wait for notification.
The next one was a dark-skinned young man who spoke with a suburban accent: "I've worked at a computer mall counter and traveled to various districts and counties. Business trips are no problem; I can even sleep in a guesthouse."
"What if the other party lacks confidence in our product?"
"I'll bring a demo unit for him to try! 'Lilac' is quite popular right now, lots of students know about it." The young man was full of confidence. "Besides, we have the official license, right? It's made in a legitimate factory, and it comes with a warranty."
Xu Qiang nodded and glanced at him again.
By noon, Xu Qiang had shortlisted three candidates: Li Jianjun, who spoke with a suburban accent; Zhang Wei, a girl who had previously worked in campus promotion for fast-moving consumer goods; and Zhou Ming, who was not very talkative but whose resume stated that he was "familiar with universities in Central China."
He told them to report for duty the day after tomorrow, to undergo two days of training, and then to set off separately.
In the afternoon, Wang Peng's e-commerce team conducted interviews. The scene was somewhat chaotic.
The applicant for the "Taobao Operations" position was a recent college graduate who stammered nervously, "I...I've bought a lot of things on Taobao, and I think...I think opening an online store is just uploading pictures, and then shipping the goods when someone buys them..."
Wang Peng asked him if he knew about "direct trains," and the boy shook his head blankly.
Two graphic designers arrived.
One of the works they brought was a colorful game poster with flame-shaped lettering, while the other was a delicate pen-and-ink landscape painting that had nothing to do with digital products.
Wang Peng looked at the paintings and his head began to ache.
In the end, three people were barely retained: Chen Hao, a college student with extensive online shopping experience, worked as customer service; Liu Xiaoyu, a girl who claimed to "know Photoshop," worked as graphic designer; and Zhao Qiang, a young man who had previously worked in a printing shop and said he "wanted to learn something new," worked as operations assistant.
The team was finally assembled, but Wang Peng had no confidence whatsoever.
At the same time, Xu Qiang had already started making phone calls with his "equipment".
On the table lay a thick address book, containing contact information for digital stores across the country that he had collected over the past six months.
On the left is a prototype of the "Lilac" commemorative edition MP3 player, with a simple lilac pattern engraved on the front; on the right is a copy of Tang Lei's official authorization document.
He cleared his throat and dialed the number of a digital store near a university in the mountain city.
"Hello, is this Mr. Chen? This is Xiao Xu from Rongcheng Fengchi Digital... Yes, we've contacted each other before. Here's the thing, we have a campus agent cooperation opportunity..."
The sound of mahjong tiles clattering came from the other end of the phone, mixed with the muffled sound of a television. The other person seemed distracted.
Xu Qiang quickened his pace: "Our main product now is the 'Lilac Flower' commemorative edition MP3, which is officially authorized, produced by a legitimate manufacturer, and comes with a nationwide warranty. You can rest assured about after-sales service."
Furthermore, we'll be releasing a new product next month—a limited edition commemorative version of the hottest song online right now…”
"The most popular? Which song?" The other person's voice became slightly more focused.
"This... the specific song title is a secret for now, but it's definitely the most popular song among students right now." Xu Qiang gripped the microphone tightly.
"What I mean is, if you become our agent now and secure this qualification, you'll be among the first to receive the new products. Students will definitely be scrambling to get them."
The other party was silent for a few seconds: "What does the new product look like? Do you have any pictures?"
"We are currently applying for a patent for the design, so we cannot disclose it to the public at the moment," Xu Qiang said sincerely. "But rest assured, the design is very unique, and students will definitely like it. Moreover, we only do officially licensed products, so quality and after-sales service are guaranteed."
If you become a distributor for the 'Lilac' version MP3 player now, I can apply for a discounted price for your first order. When the new product arrives, you'll be given priority in supply, and you'll also have a price advantage.
"Talk is cheap," the other party laughed, a shrewd laugh laced with businessman's shrewdness. "You have to show me something. We don't know what the new product looks like; just saying it's popular is just your own assumption."
Xu Qiang took a deep breath: "Boss Chen, here's what I'll do. I'll send you a sample of the 'Lilac' model so you can try it out first. I'll also send you a copy of the authorization document."
If you're interested, please send a deposit first, and I'll reserve an agency opportunity for you. Once the new products arrive, I'll send you the official products immediately. After you review them and are satisfied, you can decide how much to order, okay?
There was silence on the other end of the phone, only the clattering of mahjong tiles.
After a long while, a voice finally came through: "Okay, send it over for me to take a look. How much is the deposit?"
"Three thousand for the exclusive agency rights to a campus area," Xu Qiang said quickly. "If you receive the sample and don't like it, your deposit will be fully refunded."
"...Okay, do you have the address? Send it over so I can take a look."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Qiang's back was already covered in a thin layer of sweat. He looked down and wrote in his notebook: "Mountain City University Town, Boss Chen, interested in Grade B, needs to send a sample machine for follow-up."
Then he dialed the next number.
In a corner of the office, Wang Peng's "e-commerce team" is experiencing its first major clash.
"This background image won't do, it's too busy!" Chen Hao pointed to the computer screen, which was the homepage background that Liu Xiaoyu had just created for the shop.
A dazzling starry sky, complete with twinkling star animations, proclaims, "We sell MP3 players; we need a high-tech feel, and we need simplicity!"
Liu Xiaoyu bit her lip, her face showing displeasure: "Isn't the point of technology to be cool? Isn't the starry sky cool?"
"It's cool, but customers come to buy things, not to see the stars!" Chen Hao had bought a lot of things online before and felt he had some experience.
"Look at those big stores, their backgrounds are all very clean, highlighting their products!"
Zhao Qiang tried to smooth things over, saying, "How about... we see how others do it?"
Three people huddled around one computer, opened Taobao, and searched for "MP3". They clicked on each of the top-ranked shops to browse.
After looking at more than a dozen stores, they gradually figured out the tricks of the trade: stores with good sales usually have a simple and clear homepage with clear categories, clean and beautiful product photos, and descriptions that combine text and pictures to clearly explain the functions, parameters, and free gifts.
"This..." Liu Xiaoyu pointed to one of the product description pages, "Their layout has an image on the left, text on the right, and a real photo in the middle... It doesn't seem messy."
"The customer service response is quick too." Chen Hao opened the customer service chat window, pretending to ask a question. "Look, their first message is 'Welcome, dear customer,' and then they ask what kind of help you need. Shouldn't we get a script like that too?"
"What are the sales pitches?" Zhao Qiang asked.
"It's just... the standard answer! For example, if a customer asks, 'Are you in stock?' we reply, 'Yes, we are. We will ship within 24 hours after you place your order.'"
Chen Hao got more and more excited as he spoke: "Also, when customers ask 'How's the sound quality?' we can't just say 'good,' we have to be more specific, such as 'It uses XX decoding chip, the sound quality is clear, and the bass effect is good'..."
"But we don't know what kind of chip to use," Zhao Qiang said softly.
The three men looked at each other in bewilderment. The office fell silent, save for the hum of the computer fans.
The sky outside the window darkened, and the streetlights lit up one by one.