dognovel Chapter 12: What is a Win-Win Situation?
Chapter 12: What is a Win-Win Situation?
Early in the morning of Friday, July 20th.
"Old Wu, you must arrange for someone to clean the factory inside and out today, understand?" Early the next morning, Zeng Jiahua, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, trousers, and leather shoes, was busy instructing Old Wu, the office director, to arrange for someone to clean the factory.
Huang Xiaochuan shook his head inwardly as he looked at Zeng Jiahua's outfit. Why wear a tie in such hot weather? He'll definitely get heat rash all over his neck later.
"Old Li, the workshop must be tidy and organized, not a mess. Foreign businessmen are coming today, don't let us ruin things, you hear me?" Zeng Jiahua was nagging and giving instructions like a housekeeper.
"Don't worry, factory manager, it'll all be done in two hours. If you find even the slightest flaw, you can deduct my bonus," the workshop director assured, patting his chest.
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you?"
"Ah Liang, hurry up and drive to the train station to pick up Engineer Cai. Go early, and come back early after you pick him up. Don't forget what I told you to tell Engineer Cai."
"Understood, factory manager, I won't forget."
Zeng Jiahua sent out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes last night and borrowed a Toyota Previa minivan from a joint venture in Suzhou through a friend. The van arrived at the factory at 8:30 this morning.
After the car arrived, Zeng Jiahua hurriedly urged Huang Xiaochuan to get in, and then headed straight for the Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel.
Suzhou and Shanghai are right next to each other, so the distance between the two places is very short. A little over an hour later, the big truck stopped in front of the Hongqiao Hotel.
After they met, they introduced themselves to each other.
"Hello, I'm Eric Chen from Jiadao Trading. You can just call me Eric. This is my assistant, Mark Assam."
"Hello, this is my boss, Mr. Zeng Jiahua. I am his assistant, Huang Xiaochuan. I was the one who spoke to you on the phone yesterday afternoon."
"Mr. Huang, your English is excellent."
"Eric, your Mandarin is also very good. People who don't know you would think you are a native Chinese."
"Hahaha! My grandfather was from Chaoshan, so we have to learn Mandarin from a young age. I think it's about time, shall we set off?" Eric raised his wrist and looked at his watch.
"Of course, gentlemen, please get in the car." Huang Xiaochuan invited the two men into the car, while Zeng Jiahua sat in the passenger seat, leaving Huang Xiaochuan in the back to chat with the two Singaporean clients.
On the way, Eric asked, "Mr. Huang, I'm curious how you found us?"
Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Eric, would you believe me if I said it was pure luck? I overheard someone say that you were coming to China to purchase industrial products, so I tried to contact you. I didn't expect to get in touch with you so quickly. Don't you think that's luck?"
"Haha, it really is! This just means you're lucky."
Huang Xiaochuan held up one finger and waved it from side to side: "No, no, no, Eric, it should be said that we are both lucky. I believe that our cooperation in the future will be a win-win situation."
"Win-win? What is win-win?" Eric was a little confused by this new term invented in the 21st century.
Huang Xiaochuan explained, "Win-win means that our cooperation will bring substantial returns to both of us. You need our products, and we need US dollars."
Eric, understanding, gave a thumbs up: "Win-win! We want a win-win!"
As planned by Huang Xiaochuan, lunch was arranged at "Songhelou" in Suzhou. Several classic Suzhou dishes completely won over the stomachs of the two Singaporeans.
From the moment the food was served, the two of them kept exclaiming in surprise as they ate: "Wow!...Wow!...Oh my god!...It looks so good...Oh!...It tastes so good!"
During the meal, Zeng Jiahua quietly asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Are these two foreigners? They seem so unsophisticated. It's just squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, braised eel in sizzling oil, emerald shrimp, and snowflake crab, what's so special about that?"
Huang Xiaochuan also whispered to Zeng Jiahua, "Singaporeans generally don't cook at home. They're used to eating at canteens or food stalls near their homes, mostly Southeast Asian or Cantonese cuisine. The dishes we have here are rarely seen there, so it's normal for them to find them unusual."
Zeng Jiahua nodded in understanding: "Oh, I see?"
The two businessmen were very satisfied with the working meal. After getting into the car, they kept groaning and rubbing their stomachs. Eric even looked apologetic: "I'm sorry, I made a fool of myself today, but it's because the food you arranged was so delicious that we are both stuffed."
I have to say, Eric is quite good at talking.
They arrived at the factory before 2 p.m. Zeng Jiahua led the two on a tour of the factory, while Huang Xiaochuan accompanied them and provided translation and explanation services.
After receiving a call from Zeng Jiahua last night, Engineer Cai took a day off and rushed over from Shanghai early this morning.
He explained the various data, product types, and production processes of the flanges in the factory to the two Singaporean customers. The factory mainly produces stainless steel flanges for petrochemical applications and flanges and valves for pressure vessel connections.
These products are characterized by corrosion resistance, long service life, smooth surface, acid and alkali resistance, high temperature resistance, beautiful appearance, and strong texture.
Eric and Mark also checked the product quality standards and certificates of conformity, and inquired about production capacity.
After a comprehensive evaluation, Eric and Mark initially concluded that the product specifications and quality fully met their requirements; it was exactly what they had been looking for, only to find it without any effort at all.
They have been in China for almost a month and have inspected several state-owned factories that produce flanges. Unfortunately, the stability of their technical parameters did not meet their requirements, which disappointed them greatly.
Just when they were about to give up on this spare parts procurement project, they unexpectedly received a call from a professional manufacturer that claimed to produce flanges. Mark answered the phone at first, and he was surprised by the other party's fluent English. He had been in Shanghai for almost ten days and this was the first time he had heard such pure British English.
After a conversation lasting more than ten minutes, the two sides made a last-minute decision on the site visit itinerary.
Although the factory is located in a remote area, it is indeed a professional flange manufacturer. It not only has skilled workers, but also highly professional technical engineers to guide the production process.
The product specifications covered all the products they needed to purchase, and the inspection reports and on-site sampling products fully met their requirements. Most importantly, the technical parameters of the factory's products were very stable.
If it weren't for the price issue, Eric would have signed the contract immediately.
These products will be re-exported to Southeast Asian countries, where there is a strong demand for flanges as these countries are building new oil refineries and large chemical plants.
Compared to similar European products, although the flanges produced by this factory can only reach 80% of the quality of European products, this is enough, because Chinese products have a very important advantage, namely low cost. This means that once the business is completed, the company will have a substantial profit.
Even Japanese products, which are slightly cheaper than European products, are not as good as the products from this factory. The price is absolutely crushing. Although the quality cannot be compared with European and Japanese products, the specifications are sufficient to meet the usage requirements.
Eric and Mark exchanged a glance, and both saw joy in each other's eyes.
However, they didn't reveal it easily, but Huang Xiaochuan saw everything. Their actions and expressions couldn't fool him.
Eric asked Huang Xiaochuan for flange samples and related test reports. Huang Xiaochuan, of course, fulfilled all their requests. In addition, Zeng Jiahua allowed Eric and Mark to go directly to the warehouse and choose any samples they wanted to take away.
The reason they dared to do this was because they had confidence in the quality of their own factory's products.
That evening, Huang Xiaochuan had Zeng Jiahua arrange for Eric and his companion to stay at the Friendship Hotel in Suzhou, and then hosted another banquet for the two businessmen at the hotel's restaurant.
That evening, Zeng Jiahua tried his best to win over the two Singaporean clients with his years of experience in business, but his experience was completely useless against them.
Eric and Mark are open to all kinds of delicious food, and as long as the conversation doesn't involve business, they are happy to talk to the uncle and nephew about the customs and culture of Southeast Asia and their feelings and opinions about China at this stage.
Whenever Zeng Jiahua brought up business, the two of them would change the subject and never talk about business.
Zeng Jiahua could only blink at Huang Xiaochuan, the meaning being, "You're the one who brought this person here, I can't handle it anymore, it's your turn."
Huang Xiaochuan roughly guessed what the two men meant; they simply wanted to lower the price. He would then spend several days giving them the cold shoulder, making the suppliers anxious, until they would contact them on their own initiative.
This way, they can take the initiative in the next stage of negotiations, as maximizing profits is in the nature of businessmen.
So Huang Xiaochuan simply encouraged the two of them to eat more, and chatted with them about some trivial topics, telling jokes to liven up the atmosphere. These exchanges were mostly in English, so Zeng Jiahua couldn't understand a word and was extremely frustrated.
After escorting the Singaporean businessmen back to their rooms, on the way home, Zeng Jiahua anxiously asked, "What did you talk about with those two Singaporeans?"
Huang Xiaochuan casually said, "Just chat with them, discuss the international situation, tell jokes about foreign leaders, ask them if they're used to life in China, that's all."
Zeng Jiahua's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth: "What? You didn't talk to them about business?"
Huang Xiaochuan rolled his eyes: "They never intended to discuss business with us over drinks, okay? Just you wait and see, they won't contact us for the next few days. If you get impatient and call them, they'll be at your mercy later!"
Zeng Jiahua, who was in his late forties, realized what Huang Xiaochuan meant, but then looked at Huang Xiaochuan with a puzzled expression and asked, "How do you know these things? Did you learn how to do sales in high school?"
Huang Xiaochuan chuckled and said, "I read a book called 'Marketing Psychology,' which said the same thing and included case studies."
"Really? There are books like this? Can I buy them at Xinhua Bookstore?" Zeng Jiahua immediately wanted to buy the book upon hearing this.
This is a university textbook, and Huang Xiaochuan had no idea if it could be found in bookstores. He could only say vaguely, "I'll try to find it for you at a bookstore when I have the chance."