Chapter 203: The Only Hope for a Big Order

The day after the contract was signed, at noon, two Santanas drove to the West Lake Hotel, one in front of the other. Zhou Mingsu Han, Li Qingyuan, and Lin Yang's General Manager of the Hangzhou City branch, Zhao Jun, got out of the cars and walked into the hotel. The hotel manager personally greeted them at the door and led them into a private room.

When they arrived in the private dining room, the waiter served the food. Zhou Ming poured wine while introducing Zhao Jun and Li Qingyuan: 'Manager Zhao, this is Li Qingyuan, the former chairman of the company Baby Smile. Now that we have acquired Baby Smile, I plan to appoint him as the marketing manager of our new Baby Smile Congee. He will be responsible for the marketing and future development of our congee throughout Hangzhou. As the general manager of the company, I hope you will cooperate with each other in the future.'

After Zhou Ming's introduction, Li Qingyuan first raised his glass to Zhao Jun: 'Hello, Manager Zhao, I'm Li Qingyuan. I'm very happy to be a part of the new Baby Smile company. Although I have some experience in food sales, I'm still a novice compared to you. Manager Zhao, you alone generate millions of dollars in sales in Hangzhou City. This is very impressive. I hope you can help me out more.'

'Manager Li, you are too kind. My achievements are all due to the brand advantage of Zhou's Congee established by Boss Zhou. I am just doing things step by step. It is Manager Li's name that I have heard so much about. He has turned a company on the verge of bankruptcy, such as Baby Smile, into the most successful company in Nancheng District. This ability is admired by many people, including me.'

Zhao Jun also politely said to Li Qingyuan, and Zhou Ming could tell that he was just being polite when he said this, and was not really praising him. On the contrary, he still felt quite resentful towards Li Qingyuan.

In fact, this is a normal reason. After all, Zhao Jun has been the general manager of Hangzhou City's Eight Treasures Congee Branch since its establishment. Now, suddenly, there is a Li Qingyuan who wants to be the marketing manager of the entire city. How can he feel good about it? Even if this is Zhou Ming's decision, and even if he understands that the company has acquired the Doll's Laugh company and must make arrangements for Li Qingyuan, it still doesn't make it any less unpleasant.

If it were okay after it had developed into a large group, then Zhao Jun, the general manager of the provincial branch, naturally would not have any objections to adding a city marketing manager. But now that the market for eight-treasure porridge is mainly concentrated in the provincial capital, it would be strange if Zhao Jun would be happy with an additional city marketing manager.

As for Comrade Li Qingyuan's previous performance at Baby Smile, what can someone with less than one million yuan in monthly sales compare with someone who easily makes millions?

'Manager Zhao, Manager Li, Hangzhou City is currently undergoing major development, and it can be predicted that the future development of Hangzhou and even this side of Binjiang Province will definitely be very good. The new Baby Smile company here will definitely reach new heights along with the development of the city and region. Therefore, I hope that you can work together to develop Baby Smile even better!' Zhou Ming just gave his usual encouragement and did not say much about Zhao Jun's attitude.

It's not that Zhou Ming can't mention Li Qingyuan, but he hasn't achieved anything at the company yet, and forcing him to do so would not be convincing.

After all, in Zhou Ming's understanding, a company is not a powerful institution where the leader says yes and the subordinates nod their heads, as that would lose the overall vitality. What Zhou Ming needs is for Li Qingyuan to use his abilities in his work, prove himself with facts, and use his performance to get promoted.

One is to be appointed general manager directly after joining the company without doing anything; the other is to start from being an ordinary manager, and after bringing huge benefits to the company by completing several major orders, to be appointed general manager. Which method is better? This is obvious. Zhou Ming also intuitively chose the latter, because Zhou Ming believes that as long as Li Qingyuan remains the same Li Qingyuan, he will be able to do it. Trying to force the growth of seedlings will only harm him.

Li Qingyuan was well aware of Zhou Ming's considerations. After the meal, when Zhou Ming asked him, Li Qingyuan said, 'It's normal for Manager Zhao to feel this way, because strictly speaking, I have never done food marketing before. And the sales performance of the past Wawa Xiao oral liquid is just that to him. Now that they have suddenly given me a manager's position, of course he will be dissatisfied as the general manager.'

Li Qingyuan said this and then changed the subject, adding, 'But it doesn't matter, I will use my practical actions to make everyone accept me!'

'I believe in your determination and ability, Manager Li, but you'd better not be too confident,'

Zhou Ming said this to Li Qingyuan, and it turned out to be prophetic, because over the next week or so, Li Qingyuan ran around trying to do marketing promotion, and visited many units, but in the end, there was little effect. On the one hand, he didn't have any connections, and on the other hand, there were salespeople in so many different departments of the company, and as long as they could easily open up a market, they would have done so long ago, so where would there be any room for Li Qingyuan?

It got dark before Li Qingyuan returned home. After he arrived home, he sat directly on the sofa without moving. His wife, Zuo Huizhen, came over and asked with concern, 'Qingyuan, did you make any progress when you went to the countryside today?'

Li Qingyuan shook his head and looked tired, 'I visited several supply and marketing cooperatives, but they all have cooperative agreements with the eight-treasure porridge factory. And as far as I know, the volume of these agreements is not large. Even if I can find supply and marketing cooperatives that have not been developed, I'm afraid their demand will be too little to meet the supply.'

'Even if Mosquito smiles, it's still meat. Qingyuan, if you visit more supply and marketing cooperatives, you will definitely get results. As long as there are more supply and marketing cooperatives, won't Qingyuan's sales also go up?' Zuo Huizhen said.

'This is a good way to be diligent, but I can't do it!' Li Qingyuan sighed.

Zuo Huizhen asked curiously why, and Li Qingyuan replied, 'It's simple. If I were an ordinary salesman, there would be nothing wrong with me doing this, but I am now the marketing manager appointed by Boss Zhou. If I do this, I will not have enough time, and secondly, I will be competing with ordinary salesmen for the market, which will cause internal conflicts in the company. Even if I achieve results, it will not be conducive to my management.'

'This is not allowed, that is not allowed, Qingyuan, what exactly are you going to do?' Zuo Huizhen said with great distress.

'I have to close a big deal quickly, only in this way can I best prove myself quickly and directly, so that everyone recognises my abilities!' Li Qingyuan said.

'Big deal? Now there aren't even small deals from the rural supply and marketing cooperatives, so how can there be any big deals?'

While Li Qingyuan and Zuo Huizhen were chatting at home, on the other side, in the hotel room, Zhou Ming and Su Han also talked about Li Qingyuan's current situation, and Su Han asked at that time:

'Zhou Ming, I have great faith in your judgement, and I believe that Li Qingyuan is capable of handling the big orders. But almost all the big orders in the company are in the hands of Manager Zhao and the two deputy general managers,' Su Han analysed. 'Should Li Qingyuan take the orders away from them? If he does, he will be creating conflicts within the company, or even conflicts at the top level, which is very bad for the company's management.'

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'Xiaohan, don't worry. He is Li Qingyuan, and his pride will definitely not allow him to do this. If he really plans to do this, then even if he is very capable, if his intentions are wrong, I will fire him.'

Su Han was not surprised by Zhou Ming's answer. Zhou Ming is Zhou Ming, a man she deeply loves and respects. He will not change his own principles for anything.

However, at the same time, Su Han became worried: if Li Qingyuan didn't do this, how could he make achievements in a short period of time?

At this time, Zhou Ming suddenly asked Su Han, 'Xiao Han, if I remember correctly, didn't a state-owned unit of Binjiang Ocean Shipping Company recently put out a tender for ocean food? This order sounds like it should match our customer's needs, so why does it seem like there's a problem?'

Su Han thought for a moment and nodded, saying, 'There is indeed such a tender, which is a one-year supply contract with the shipping company. If we can win it, it will be a big order of at least one million, and more than ten million is possible. Moreover, eight-treasure porridge is a very suitable product for ships, both in terms of nutrition and taste and ease of storage. The general manager of the company, Zhao Jun, is currently responsible for following up on this tender, but he doesn't have much confidence in winning it.'

'Why is that? Since we have such a big advantage, why aren't we confident? Did he offend the shipping company boss?' Zhou Ming asked curiously.

Su Han shook his head and said, 'No, it's just that this shipping company has always cooperated with Hangzhou City Supply and Marketing Company, and the supply provided there is also the most comprehensive, and the price is also relatively fair. Compared with them, we don't have much of a competitive advantage. So Zhao Jun's idea is to go and talk to the supply and marketing company to see if he can take out a part of this big order to do.'

Zhou Ming laughed: 'It seems that Zhao Jun is a realist. Since he can't have the meat, he'll be happy with some soup. But I'm afraid Li Qingyuan won't be so generous.'

Su Han immediately understood Zhou Ming's meaning: 'Zhou Ming, you mean Li Qingyuan will come and compete for this project? He wants to take the whole order?'

Zhou Ming nodded and said yes, and Su Han let out a gasp. He said, 'This is a head-on confrontation with the supply and marketing company. If we rely solely on the Binjiang branch or even Li Qingyuan's strength, there is no way we can win. And we are just a company that makes eight-treasure porridge, so it is impossible for shipping to supply only eight-treasure porridge. I'm afraid that even the vegetables, rice and flour they want, we won't be able to supply!'

'I don't think this is a problem, because our company already has partnerships with some farms. Now we're just importing the ingredients for our eight-treasure porridge, so we can definitely import some rice, noodles, and vegetables as well. Even if we don't know anything about this, we can simply split up the list and send it to other people, or we can think of other solutions. But the prerequisite is that we must keep the list in our own hands!' Zhou Ming said.

Su Han looked at Zhou Ming in admiration: Zhou Ming is Zhou Ming, and the decisions he makes and the words he speaks all have such an air of authority. But this is Zhou Ming, so will Li Qingyuan have the courage?

Su Han expressed doubt about this, but Zhou Ming reassured her, saying, 'Don't worry, Han. As long as Li Qingyuan is still the same Li Qingyuan, he will have the courage, because this is the only big order he has any chance of getting right now to prove his worth.'

As if to prove Zhou Ming's words, as soon as his voice had finished falling, the phone he had placed on the table suddenly rang. Zhou Ming picked it up and connected the call, and immediately Li Qingyuan's voice came from the other end: 'Boss Zhou, I want to be in charge of the shipping company's bidding for that order...'

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