KC | Chapter 45

Hot tea gave off the fragrance of tea, and Wang Yaohua lifted the tea cup to take a careful sip, as if he was truly enjoying the fresh aroma of aged tea leaves. The tea in the cup was gradually cooling, but Chen Xi’s brain was getting hotter and hotter, constantly thinking about how to talk next.

Negotiation, to put it in a grand and fancy way, was both sides confronting each other head-on, a standoff of strategy, for example: lawyers in court, debate competitions, variety shows; a normal negotiation was mutual tugging, both sides saying one thing and another, for example: salespeople fighting over a deal, divorce over property, car accidents and shifting blame; but most negotiations were one side not acting like a person and suppressing the other side unilaterally, for example: the beast Lin Yiran, the dazzling Sun Xingshun, and now the old fox Wang Yaohua from Gulin…

Rushing in recklessly was definitely not the way. He still had to come at it step by step, taking a roundabout route.

The 18th-tier actor picked up the script again, becoming the client of the client, and, with clumsy acting that was half true and half false, forced himself to keep making up the story: “Before I bought a house, I had imagined what my future home would be like, but under financial pressure, the location, the property management, and the surrounding facilities could not all be had at once. I looked at a lot of houses, and in the end I bought one from Huanyu Real Estate because I fell for their model apartment at first glance.”

Wang Yaohua said with a smile, “The greenery in that community was done pretty well. Many of our recent clients are from there.”

“Haha, seems like my taste is the same as Gulin’s clients.” Chen Xi was secretly delighted in his heart. Since Wang Yaohua followed his lead, that meant he was very interested in this topic. It looked like he had hit the mark.

KA had to be good at reading people’s expressions and keenly grasp the client’s focus, only then could he control the pace of the negotiation.

“When I was buying the house, the salesperson said that as long as I opened up the bay window, knocked down a wall, and built a closet, I could renovate it to be just like the model apartment, but when I bought the house and was about to start renovating, I found out it was not like that at all. Renovation required measuring dimensions, design drawings, choosing main materials, and also considering soft furnishings and accessories… it was really such a hassle.” To make it more believable, Chen Xi deliberately took a deep breath here, as if he really had been suffocating under the trivialities of renovation, “So I was thinking, is there a renovation company that can work within my budget and help me solve all the problems of renovation?”

Chen Xi threw the topic back to Wang Yaohua in the form of a question, taking back the initiative in the negotiation.

In recent years, as the real estate industry rose and then declined, it had driven the downstream renovation industry to change in an instant. Gulin had been established for 15 years and adjusted its development strategy at all times according to market demand, which was also why it had become an evergreen in the renovation industry.

The demand Chen Xi mentioned was to change Gulin’s operating model, first having designers match needs according to budget, then handing it to sales to negotiate, and finally, based on the plan, having the construction department choose the main materials. Changing the operating model involved quite a few departments, so it was hard to adjust. That was why even if someone had noticed the problems Gulin was facing before, they had never brought such a bold solution to Wang Yaohua.

Wang Yaohua was not opposed to change and was willing to accept adjustments, as long as they were beneficial to Gulin. He thought for a moment, then made a decisive call: “We can satisfy renovation users’ needs by changing Gulin’s operating model.”

“That’s right, anyway, you have to quote a price in the end. It would be better to be more straightforward and have a little less of that roundabout stuff, so everyone saves time.” Chen Xi emphasized “more straightforward” again, hinting that Wang Yaohua was not straightforward enough.

“We white-collar workers work hard every day. We really don’t want to be worn down to the point of mental and physical exhaustion by renovation.” Chen Xi stated his need, “I just need to find the drawings of Huanyu Real Estate’s model apartment, and the renovation company can use that drawing to give me a specific quote; or if I like a certain renovation style, after I send over my home floor plan, the salesperson can quote online; or they can combine my budget and recommend several styles to quote on.”

Wang Yaohua laughed. “So what you care about is only the quote?”

Chen Xi spread his hands. “Yeah, because I have no money.”

“Manager Wang just said that he could make my needs happen, but as a consumer I only know Gulin’s ‘Huipai craft’, and I don’t know our service advantages.” Chen Xi went around in a circle and finally got to the point, “So, Gulin’s advertising slogan might as well be planned from the user side’s perspective, that way you can seize users’ minds and grab the target users.”《Positioning》 talked about seizing the mind of the target user, and Chen Xi applied what he had learned on the spot. The books he had read these past few days had not been for nothing.

Wang Yaohua clearly understood and no longer beat around the bush: “Starting from the user side and planning an advertising slogan, I agree with that view.”

Although what Chen Xi said sounded logical, he was still young. Wang Yaohua could absolutely not hand over the company’s marketing planning to a young guy who looked like he had just graduated, based on only a few words.

“You talk to me about renovation, I can chat with you all day, but I’m really not professional in marketing. Wait a moment, I’ll call General Manager Xu to come talk to you.”

Wang Yaohua sent Xu Dongxu a WeChat message. The corners of Chen Xi’s lips went from raised to drooping, instantly turning into a little bitter gourd.

How are you not good at marketing? You know target audience, advertising strategy, and strategic layout planning all clearly and perfectly. When you were using Huipai craft to seize the market, I hadn’t even taken the college entrance exam yet! Something you could decide yourself, why did you have to bring Xu Dongxu in to meddle? After talking for half a day, how did it circle back here again? Just dealing with you alone was already making my CPU feel like it was about to smoke, and now if Xu Dongxu comes too, how am I supposed to survive?

Chen Xi’s brain went offline, and a cold sweat was pinched in his palm.

Wang Yaohua on the opposite side leisurely drank tea. Before the tea in the cup had even fully gone cold, Xu Dongxu arrived.

“Brother Wang is meeting an important guest today, huh, you even took out this tea set, and I haven’t seen you use it in a year.” Xu Dongxu’s voice came from behind.

Help! Xu Dongxu called Wang Yaohua “Brother Wang,” the two of them had an unusual relationship, today was definitely a bad one.

“Haha, you exposed me the moment you came. This purple clay teapot really hasn’t been used for a year, and the tea leaves are also from last year.” Wang Yaohua added another tea cup on the table, signaling Xu Dongxu to sit, and said to Chen Xi, “Sorry for the poor hospitality, forgive me.”

“Manager Wang, you’re too polite.” This fat guy had not used the tea set for more than a year, which meant either no one had found him here at all, or those who did find him had been directly rejected. He was entertaining me today, which meant I still had a chance.

Chen Xi silently cheered himself on. What should come would always come, just go all out!

The 18th-tier actor pulled out a stiff smile, turned to Xu Dongxu, and said, “General Manager Xu, hello, we meet again.”

Chen Xi’s serious and noble outfit was worlds apart from the last time’s little Chanel-style look. Xu Dongxu took two seconds to match Chen Xi to the face, then his brow slightly furrowed, and he sneered, “Yeah, Manager Chen’s tentacles are just like an octopus’s, long and many. You can even dig up my information and hook up with Brother Wang’s bridge. Being a salesperson is wasting your talent, you should go be a spy.”

Chen Xi felt a chill down his spine, as if sitting on pins and needles.

Why was this guy Xu so overbearing? He did not even give him a few minutes, did not even let him say a single sentence, that arrogant dead look of his, how had he not been beaten to death by now?

We had only met once before, and he did not even know which company I was from, was it really necessary to target me like this?

You sarcastic, petty bastard, you go be a spy, your whole family are spies!

“Oh, so you two know each other.” Wang Yaohua had worked with Xu Dongxu for ten years, and with just one look, the two knew what the other meant.

So you ran into a wall with Xu Dongxu before coming to me. That means you’re just a vase who knows how to package yourself, your marketing isn’t up to par.

At this moment, Chen Xi was caught between a rock and a hard place, stuck neither up nor down. The three little people in his head instantly turned into cowards, and not one of them dared to come out with advice.

Opposite him were two big shots, one a private entrepreneur worth over a hundred million, the other a marketing veteran who had been roaming the advertising world for more than ten years. The rookie marketing consultant deeply felt the pressure in negotiations when the identities of the client and the contractor were unequal.

In a negotiation, if the client suppressed the contractor, then that negotiation was doomed to collapse.

Chen Xi clenched both fists, lit the fuse on the powder keg, and blew out courage from a broken jar.

When all else failed, treat a dead horse as if it were alive, go all out!

“The last time I visited General Manager Xu, I already said it, I came because I saw Gulin’s advertisement, and I wanted to learn ad planning from you. Last time you did not even let me speak and just drove me away, so of course I had to come again. Manager Wang just said there was a demand for ad placement. Thanks to me coming today, otherwise how much would Gulin have lost!”

Xu Dongxu had never seen such a shameless contractor before, and for a moment he was stunned.

When I was doing ad planning for Gulin, your hair had not even grown in yet! Really good at slapping some gold onto your own face!

Wang Yaohua said amusingly, “Xiao Xu, they came to me through the tax office route, at least let them finish speaking.”

The powder keg exploded, and after exploding, he regretted it. He had scolded Xu Dongxu in front of Wang Yaohua. If Lanhai and Gulin cooperated, I would not even think of having an easy time in the future.

Xu Dongxu tilted his neck and gave Chen Xi a sideways look. “Go on.”

Spilled water could not be gathered back up, so now he could only try to make it right. What was fortunate was that Xu Dongxu had let him speak, after all.

Chen Xi put on a stiff smile and started flattering Xu Dongxu: “Planning promotional slogans from the perspective of renovation users, I thought of a few directions, but I found that our Gulin had already used them a few years ago. General Manager Xu’s marketing idea was really ahead of its time.”

Xu Dongxu had seen countless people and did not like beating around the bush in speech. He also disliked pretentious showiness from people trying to curry favor, and he looked down on Chen Xi even more.

There were three people at the table, two of them each had their own thoughts, and only Wang Yaohua kept smiling the whole time, not knowing what he was thinking.

After Chen Xi finished flattering him and still did not see any response, he forced himself to change the opening and continued acting as a renovation owner: “These past few days I have been thinking that renovation is a time-consuming and labor-intensive job. Since it is so troublesome, why should I even renovate? Now there are fully renovated apartments inside the second ring road, wouldn’t it be better to just move in with my bags?”

Xu Dongxu gave a light snort and teased, “Fully renovated apartments have unreasonable space layouts, low space utilization, and no individuality at all. People in Yu City who can afford fully renovated apartments inside the second ring road would not be short of the money to renovate.”

“General Manager Xu, what you’re saying is too professional. Space layout and all that, I don’t really understand…”

“Hah, you don’t even understand the most basic industry knowledge, and you still have the nerve to say you specifically do marketing planning for the renovation industry?” Xu Dongxu interrupted Chen Xi’s words, rattling on like a Gatling gun, “I’ve seen plenty of salespeople like you, all mouth and no real ability, no understanding of marketing ideas, no advertising planning skills, and they can’t even fully explain the industry knowledge. Some shameless salespeople even overpromise just to sign the order!”

He could remember Lin Yiran’s overpromising for ten years and tell everyone about it everywhere. Looks like this petty bastard Xu had fire in his heart.

That old beast was not doing human things, so I still had to take this pot.

Chen Xi chuckled and said, “I just want to renovate a house, why would I need to understand so much. General Manager Xu talked to me about renovation layout planning, and I couldn’t understand it, so naturally I would not come to you to renovate my house.”

You understand industry knowledge, I can’t beat that. But now I am the “client,” and the client cannot understand what you’re babbling about, so you should just obediently speak human language.

“Haha.” Wang Yaohua glanced up at the teapot and signaled Xu Dongxu to pour tea. Xu Dongxu, a bit dazed from being pushed back, quietly rinsed the tea and stopped talking.

Wang Yaohua followed Chen Xi’s train of thought and asked further, “Then why do you want to renovate?”

“Because I said before that it was only because I saw Huanyu Real Estate’s model apartment decorated so nicely that I bought the house. Living in a house that is not renovated according to my own ideas is not the life I want.”

“No matter man or woman, young or old, at whatever stage of life, whatever kind of house they buy, whatever identity or status they have… I think they renovate in order to live better.”

“Different segments of Gulin can take on all renovation business and help all renovation clients live better.”

Wang Yaohua split Gulin into segmented sections precisely because he wanted to satisfy the needs of all renovation clients. Chen Xi had already sensed his real intent, so he went along with it and said, “Gulin needs to take in all the target renovation groups, do differentiated marketing for different groups, and stand alone in the renovation industry market.”

Xu Dongxu had originally thought the person opposite him was just some arrogant young guy, but at this moment he took away the disdainful smile from the corner of his mouth, sat up properly, and finally started talking about the real topic: “So, what slogan did you plan for Gulin?”

The situation had turned, the negotiation had gone through twists and turns. Chen Xi had moved Wang Yaohua with the client identity, used negotiation tactics to temporarily hold down Xu Dongxu, and finally reached the point where he was about to reel in the net. The industry data studied over several days, the intelligence gathered over half a month, all for this moment.

Chen Xi: “Understand life, then renovate.”

Just 6 words, tightly linking life and renovation, every word hitting Wang Yaohua’s heart, every word brilliant.