Xu Xiuwen likes to do things in a bold and sweeping manner.
In simple terms, he acts boldly and ends things quickly.
In contrast, Xu Chengde is much more cautious.
Xu Xiuwen delegated the appointnt power of seven departnt managers to him.
In the end, Xu Chengde promoted the forr deputy section chiefs of each office to new managers.
In departnts without a deputy section chief or where the deputy had left, he promoted the most senior person in the departnt.
There was a reason Xu Xiuwen didn’t hand over the sales departnt to Xu Chengde.
After understanding the situation of the distillery, Xu Xiuwen discovered an incredible fact.
Guangming Distillery had a sales departnt, but there were only five salespeople in the entire departnt.
Guangming Distillery used to be famous nationwide, with countless people lining up outside the distillery every day to buy liquor.
At that ti, there indeed wasn’t a need for many salespeople.
But as the distillery gradually declined, everyone still clung to the old mindset, waiting for custors to co to the distillery instead of increasing the number of salespeople and having them go out to expand the market.
This explains why the distillery deteriorated and eventually went bankrupt.
People at Guangming Distillery didn’t value sales, but Xu Xiuwen did.
With his experience from a past life, Xu Xiuwen knew very well the importance of sales to a factory or company.
A good salesperson can revive a factory and elevate a company.
The most typical example is Miss Dong.
She was originally an insignificant salesperson.
Mingzhu Air Conditioning was just an ordinary ho appliance company. But because of Miss Dong, Mingzhu Air Conditioning gradually developed into a leading company in the ho appliance industry.
Therefore, Xu Xiuwen planned to reorganize the sales departnt.
The existing salespeople were all old and clearly just waiting to retire.
Xu Xiuwen fired all of them without exception.
He planned to recruit a new batch of salespeople quickly. Experience in sales wasn’t a requirent; youth was more important. It didn’t matter if they had never done sales before.
Xu Xiuwen had t and interacted with salespeople from various industries in his past life and was quite familiar with sales experience and techniques.
Sharing these with the current people would be enough to make them excellent salespeople.
…
On the morning of April 1st, Xu Xiuwen ca to the distillery and summoned all the departnt managers for the first eting of the new distillery.
In the conference room of the distillery’s office building, all the newly appointed managers were present.
If anyone was most welcoming of the new boss, it was definitely these managers.
The oldest manager among them was the manager of the production departnt, with twenty years of work experience like Xu Chengde, a backbone of the distillery.
But despite this, he had always been an ordinary employee because he wasn’t good at networking.
Now that the new boss had promoted him to manager, he was more welcoming of the new boss than anyone else.
The eting was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
Xu Xiuwen walked into the conference room at exactly nine o’clock.
All seven managers scrutinized the new boss.
This was their first ti seeing the new boss.
Seeing that the new boss was so young, there was a buzz of whispers in the conference room.
Xu Qian and Zhao Yatong also attended the eting.
Xu Qian knocked on the table and said, “Quiet.”
Many employees in the factory knew Xu Qian.
When they found out that Xu Qian was the new boss’s secretary, they couldn’t help but have the sa thought: What is the relationship between Xu Chengde and the new boss?
Xu Chengde had beco the factory director, and his daughter had beco the new boss’s secretary. It was hard not to speculate.
Could it be…?
Xu Xiuwen didn’t know what the seven managers were thinking.
He knocked on the table and said, “Let’s start with self-introductions.”
At the boss’s command, the seven managers didn’t look down on Xu Xiuwen because of his young age.
Hundreds of employees had been laid off in the past three days. They had families to support and didn’t want to follow in their footsteps.
The seven managers looked at each other, unsure who should start. Xu Chengde took the lead and introduced himself. With Xu Chengde leading, the introductions flowed smoothly.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Xu Xiuwen stood up, looked around, and said, “My na is Xu Xiuwen. I don’t like to waste words. Since I bought the distillery, my only goal is to make it profitable. Everyone, share your thoughts.”
The seven new managers then began to express their views. After going around, all they offered were pleasantries with no practical ideas.
Xu Xiuwen felt a bit helpless.
These people had beco set in their ways in the distillery environnt, afraid to offend anyone and unable to co up with effective thods to save the factory.
He glanced at Xu Qian and nodded.
Xu Qian, seeing this, nodded back and stood up to read a prepared speech:
“The distillery had many problems in the past. To avoid these issues, President Xu has re-established the rules and regulations.”
“First, employees must sign in when they arrive and leave work. Those who are late or leave early will have their wages for the day deducted. If this happens three tis, their wages for the month will be deducted. More than five tis, and they will be fired. Second, employees must wear uniform clothing to work, especially in the workshop. No casual clothes are allowed in the workshop. Those who do not comply will have their monthly wages deducted, and repeated violations will result in dismissal. Third, strengthen supervision and managent. This requires the cooperation of the security departnt. If any employee is caught stealing, they will be fined and dismissed imdiately. If there is a theft in the warehouse, the security departnt will be held responsible. Fourth,…”
Xu Qian announced eight new regulations in a row.
After finishing, she paused to give everyone ti to process.
Seeing that the managers had no objections, Xu Qian continued, “Next is the issue of the brand na. The reputation of Guangming Liquor is already tarnished. Many people now associate it with low-quality liquor, making it hard to sell. We must change the na of the distillery. What do you think?”
Despite Xu Qian’s nurous regulations, the managers had no objections.
However, upon hearing the na change, everyone beca restless and started voicing their opinions.
The consensus was clear: the distillery na couldn’t be changed.
Guangming Liquor was a decades-old brand, and the long-term employees had a deep attachnt to it and couldn’t accept a na change.
Xu Xiuwen hadn’t discussed this matter with anyone before, not even Xu Chengde, who was hearing it for the first ti and instinctively opposed the na change.
As the discussion went on, Xu Xiuwen remained silent.
Gradually, everyone quieted down, looking at Xu Xiuwen to see what he had to say.
Observing everyone’s expressions, Xu Xiuwen said, “The na Guangming Distillery is indeed a decades-old brand and doesn’t need to be changed.”
Hearing this, the long-term employees breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Xu Xiuwen continued, “But the liquor na must be changed, and it has to be done imdiately. Previously, the distillery used inferior raw materials, leading to inconsistent quality and ruining the liquor’s reputation. As a result, it was abandoned by the market and the public. Even if we now use high-quality raw materials to improve the liquor’s quality, people will still think our liquor is inferior based on the na alone, and it won’t sell. Liquor that doesn’t sell is aningless.”
Xu Xiuwen’s words left everyone speechless.
Previously, so people in the distillery had made money by buying inferior raw materials, damaging Guangming Liquor’s reputation.
If not for this, even relying on its past glory, the distillery wouldn’t have fallen into bankruptcy within a decade.
Xu Xiuwen continued, “The distillery needs to survive for the liquor to survive. If the distillery can’t survive, what’s the point of keeping the liquor na? If you’re still attached to it, we can reintroduce a nostalgic ‘Old Guangming’ version once the distillery is back on its feet.”
Xu Xiuwen’s reasoning quickly convinced the seven managers and Xu Chengde.
Seeing their agreent, Xu Xiuwen smiled inwardly.
Mr. Shuren was right in understanding the Chinese ntality.
He said: The Chinese character always prefers compromise and moderation. For example, if you say this room is too dark and suggest opening a skylight, people will object. But if you propose removing the roof, they will compromise and agree to the skylight.
That’s exactly what Xu Xiuwen did.
He never intended to change the distillery’s na, just the liquor’s na.
But if he proposed that directly, many, including Xu Chengde, might oppose it.
By suggesting a na change for the distillery first, and then proposing changing just the liquor’s na, it beca much more acceptable.
Xu Xiuwen continued, “I’ve already decided on the liquor na: ‘Nianfen Yuanjiang’ (Aged Original Brew).”
This na wasn’t Xu Xiuwen’s invention; it was a series na from the previous world’s Laogong Liquor.
Wuliangye even sued Laogong Liquor over this na but lost.
‘Nianfen Yuanjiang’ was an innovative white liquor product launched by Laogong Liquor in 2008.
This ans it hasn’t been introduced or trademarked yet.
The success of the ‘Nianfen Yuanjiang’ series was largely due to the liquor’s quality, but a good na was also a crucial factor.
If Laogong Liquor could have ‘Laogong Liquor Nianfen Yuanjiang’, then Xu Xiuwen could create ‘Guangming Liquor Nianfen Yuanjiang’.
This strategy would block Laogong Liquor’s future path.
Moreover, the ‘Nianfen Yuanjiang’ series allows for different age versions, catering to various market segnts, which benefits the distillery’s future developnt.
After finishing, Xu Xiuwen paused to gauge everyone’s reactions.
The managers didn’t object, which pleased Xu Xiuwen. They didn’t seem to be troublemakers.
Turning to Xu Qian, Xu Xiuwen said, “Xu Qian, arrange to register the new trademark as soon as possible.”
Xu Qian replied, “Okay, President Xu.”
Nodding, Xu Xiuwen said, “You can continue.”
The content Xu Qian was reading mostly ca from Xu Xiuwen, so it wasn’t for him but for everyone else.
Xu Qian continued, “Next, we need to focus on our product’s market positioning. Previously, Guangming Distillery’s products had simple packaging to save costs, but this also ant low prices and low profits. President Xu believes that the newly produced Guangming Liquor should not continue this approach. The low-end market, though profitable, is highly competitive in terms of channels, production, and pricing, where we have no advantage. Hence, we should target the mid-to-high-end market. The bottle and packaging need a complete redesign to look as premium as possible. Custors should perceive our product as high-end just by looking at it.”
Xu Qian’s words actually reflect Xu Xiuwen’s thoughts.
Abandon the low-end liquor market and shift to the mid-to-high-end market.
This is a last resort.
To establish a foothold in the low-end liquor market, the primary factor is the distribution channels.
With nurous channels and distributors, selling the product isn’t a problem.
In this regard, Guangming Distillery has no advantage.
Next is production capacity.
With Guangming Distillery laying off so many people, the production capacity is predictably low.
Then there’s pricing.
Large distilleries can afford to sell at a low margin with high volu, but this approach requires significant upfront investnt and yields low profits later on.
Given Guangming Distillery’s precarious situation, it’s difficult to adopt this strategy.
However, pursuing the mid-to-high-end market is different.
Initial production can be smaller, focusing on ensuring high-quality liquor and building a strong reputation.
Positioning in the mid-to-high-end market also ans higher profits, which might be the only way to save this dying distillery.
After Xu Qian finished speaking, all the managers present fell silent, pondering the feasibility of this plan.
Xu Chengde knew the distillery best.
Guangming Liquor had indeed followed the low-end route with low profits in the past.
Despite many efforts, the distillery couldn’t reverse its decline.
Xu Xiuwen’s radical changes offered no guarantees but at least provided a glimr of hope.
Continuing the previous path left even Xu Chengde with little confidence in the distillery’s future.
Xu Chengde, not one to hesitate or waver, quickly made up his mind.
“I support this proposal,” he said.
The managers present weren’t fools.
Beyond being Xu Chengde’s daughter, Xu Qian was also the new boss’s secretary.
Her words naturally represented the new boss’s intentions.
With both the new boss and the factory director supporting the plan, opposing it would be sheer foolishness.
Moreover, deep down, they harbored expectations for this proposal.
One by one, the managers expressed their support.
Seeing this, Xu Qian continued, “The final point concerns the sales departnt.”
The managers were taken aback; there was no sales manager present.
In fact, not only was there no manager, but there were also no employees—the entire departnt had been laid off.
Xu Qian continued, “Guangming Distillery used to be well-known, and we could sit back and wait for custors to co. But now, apart from so market presence in Langya City, we’ve lost our market share in the rest of the province. We need to abandon our old mindset, proactively approaching major distributors and stores, promoting and seeking potential custors. Even the best product needs promotion and sales. Xu intends to recruit new staff and expand the sales departnt, with independent reward chanisms for the departnt.”
The seven managers, knowing it was not their place to interfere with the sales departnt, remained silent.
Having finished her speech, Xu Qian looked at Xu Xiuwen.
Xu Xiuwen nodded to her, and she took her seat.
Clearing his throat, Xu Xiuwen drew everyone’s attention and spoke slowly, “Next, each departnt has tasks to accomplish.
Security Departnt Manager, go back and organize shifts. Decide how to arrange day and night shifts, whether patrols are needed, how to conduct patrols, their frequency, and how to handle issues if they arise.
Procurent Departnt Manager, prepare a report on where to procure raw materials, which materials to buy, when to buy them, and the quantities needed.
Production Departnt Manager, check the equipnt and report daily production capacity and raw material consumption.
Warehouse Manager, develop a plan to ensure warehouse security, prevent theft, and secure raw materials.
HR Departnt, you know what to do without telling you.
Office Manager, refine the regulations I’ve ntioned and ensure the new rules are clearly communicated to every employee.
Finance Departnt, keep the accounts clear. If I find any discrepancies, don’t bla for being ruthless!”
All the managers, except for the sales departnt, straightened up and quickly expressed their commitnt.
With the new boss laying down the law, failure to comply could an losing their positions.
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