Sail across the sea

How do you explain Chapter 353?
At the same time, in an office of the expanded Xinglong Coatings Company in Yanzhou County, Shuainan Province, Gao Min, sitting behind a large desk, asked a question with a stern face to a man sitting opposite her:
"Chen Chuanhua, regarding this business with the Fengqiao City Highway Bureau in Muyang Province, you wrote in the business record that you contacted Kang Jianlin, the head of the Engineering Section of the Highway Bureau, directly. However, when the company's after-sales service called to follow up, they said that the person you contacted directly was Yu Zhao, the director of the Highway Bureau. How do you explain this?"

“I met with Director Yu twice. Director Yu told me to talk to Section Chief Kang about the specific matters, so when I filled out the business record, I wrote down Section Chief Kang’s name.”

The man named Chen Chuanhua mumbled his reply, a hint of reluctance on his face.

"You met with Yu Zhao twice, why wasn't that recorded in the business records?" Gao Min asked.

“I only met him twice, and we didn’t talk much. I didn’t think it was important, so I didn’t write it down. Mr. Gao, as you know, I only have a primary school education, and I write slowly,” Chen Chuanhua explained.

Gao Min said coldly, "During the business department meeting, I clearly stated that everyone a salesperson comes into contact with must be recorded in the business log, even if it's just a few words exchanged, the time and place must be noted. The company has repeatedly emphasized this requirement, why can't you do it?"

Chen Chuanhua remained silent.

The business record form was something that General Manager Gao implemented in the company. All the sales staff understood that the purpose of this record system was to transform the personal relationships held by each salesperson into company relationships.

Once the business resources you have become company property, the company can easily arrange for someone else to replace you, and your value to the company will be greatly reduced.

When Gao Min first introduced this system, the entire business department was in an uproar. Since no one felt comfortable saying anything to this vice president who had been parachuted in from Maolin, they collectively went to petition the company's general manager, Chen Xingquan. Their reasons were naturally high-sounding, such as the client not wanting anyone else involved, and that they had spent a lot of effort developing this business relationship, and so on.

Almost all of Xinglong Company's salespeople were relatives of the Chen family. For example, Chen Chuanhua, who was standing in front of them, was a distant cousin of Chen Xingquan. They all surrounded Chen Xingquan, complaining about him and saying that if Chen Xingquan didn't trust them, they would rather leave the company.

Chen Xingquan himself came from a sales background, so he was well aware of the ulterior motives of these salespeople. The sales relationships were in their own hands; when it came to things like sales expenses and customer rebates, the company had no way of knowing. Whatever the salespeople said, the company had to accept.

Furthermore, the sales representatives possess extensive client relationships, which facilitates negotiations with the company. If a disagreement arises, they can easily leave with their clients to other companies, a loss that Xinglong Company cannot afford.

Township enterprises in Shuainan have developed rapidly, and almost all of them have problems with managing sales representatives.

Some companies have always had the owner personally handle business negotiations, with all business relationships held by the owner or their immediate family. This approach might work when the company is small, but once the business grows, the owner can no longer manage so many clients, and problems arise.

This was exactly the case with Xinglong Coatings Company. Initially, Chen Xingquan handled all the company's business. At that time, the reflective coating business had just started, and Chen Xingquan's business scope was mainly limited to various cities and counties within Shuainan Province, which he could barely manage.

After achieving a certain level of success in the provincial market, Chen Xingquan set his sights on markets outside the province. At this point, it was impossible for him to handle everything alone. Business deals weren't closed in a single visit; sometimes it required multiple trips. The other party needed to hold meetings, consult with superiors, and if a leader had a single idea, the salesperson had to rush over to communicate. How could one person possibly manage all of that?

So Chen Xingquan found some resourceful people among his relatives and formed a business department, with each person responsible for a province, allowing everyone to use their unique skills.

Currently, many domestic companies have noticed the reflective coating market and have launched their own products. However, Xinglong Coatings Company's products still have the most advanced technology. In addition, it entered the market relatively early and has a certain degree of brand recognition, so its business is developing smoothly.

Business was picking up, but most of the business relationships were in the hands of the salespeople, which made Chen Xingquan very uneasy. He discussed this with Gao Min, who took the opportunity of visiting her family to ask Gao Fan for advice, and brought back this set of business record-keeping systems.

As required by the regulations, all sales representatives must fill out a business record form for each transaction they conduct. The record form must include basic information about the other party, details of the sales representative's communication with them, including the person and main content of each meeting, and the other party's requests, etc.

Chen Xingquan immediately understood the purpose of this system. With these detailed business records, the company's reliance on salespersons was reduced. If a salesperson resigned or went to a competitor, the company could quickly fill the gap by relying on past business records and retain business to the greatest extent possible.

Admittedly, the personal relationship between a salesperson and a client cannot be replaced by a sales record sheet. However, business itself is not entirely supported by personal relationships. Most clients buy your products because of the product quality and service.

Xinglong Coatings Company possesses leading technological advantages, coupled with excellent after-sales service, making it highly attractive to customers. The personal relationship between customers and sales representatives is often not that close; if the company replaces one, the kickbacks are still paid in full, so why would customers care who they sign the contract with?

Having understood this principle, Chen Xingquan naturally wanted to strongly support the system. Considering that the sales staff were all his relatives, there were some things he couldn't say, so he handed over the task of implementing the system to Gao Min.

When Gao Min first joined Xinglong Company, she was assigned to work in the finance department. After a few months of adjustment, she gradually adapted to her new role and left the finance department to become the company's executive vice president. Her first task was to implement a customer management system for the business departments.

When Chen Xingquan assigned Gao Min to this task, he revealed to all the sales staff that Xinglong Coatings Company had two shareholders, each holding half of the company's shares. Besides Chen Xingquan, the other shareholder was Gao Min.

(End of this chapter)