2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 436 Building momentum
How great is it to be rich and powerful?

People with money and status are living the high life!
Tan Jincheng now understands a little why Old Ma was so arrogant and gave all sorts of strange and greasy speeches.

Tan Jincheng has only achieved so much, yet he receives incredibly good treatment wherever he goes. Old Ma, on the other hand, flies all over the world and is treated like a VIP by world leaders. It's impossible for him not to get carried away.

This wasn't the first time Tan Jincheng had been a guest of honor in the local area. Unlike usual, this trip was much more high-profile; he didn't sneak around with a few people before setting off.

Before departing from Beicang, Flash's public relations department announced that the group president would be conducting a month-and-a-half-long nationwide inspection tour.

That's right. After returning from Luzhou, the first thing Tan Jincheng did was not to poach Huang Ming, but to immediately set up a public relations department. This is really important for large corporations.

The surprise attack last time put Tan Jincheng and FlashTech in a somewhat passive position, and it also had a certain impact on the group. The most important thing was the morale of the employees, but core companies like FlashTech were okay.

At that time, the employees of Dexian Electronics, which had just been acquired, were already somewhat unstable. Tan Jincheng spoke well at the meeting, but people's emotions are uncontrollable. Seeing too much negative news will cause anxiety.

The boss is already too young, and I heard his family isn't from a wealthy family. Now so many people are saying he's broke. What if he can't pay salaries?
At this point, Tan Jincheng's initial salary increase seemed like self-deception. Why should he try to please employees if he wasn't short of money? The treatment in the electronics factory was already poor, so why was he trying to be different?
During that period, quite a few employees had to run away with the electronic buckets, leaving Tan Jincheng both amused and exasperated.

However, this is not hard to understand. Ordinary employees earn only a pittance a month, so there is no need for them to take any risks with the boss. If they feel that something is not reliable, they can just run away. After all, there are electronics factories everywhere in Shenzhen, just like pork trotter rice.

The public relations department is responsible for more than just dealing with public opinion; it also plays a role in stabilizing employee morale in the face of emergencies. In this regard, belt companies are probably the most outstanding.

The company was on the verge of bankruptcy, yet it still managed to persuade its own employees to buy financial products. You tell me, isn't that quite an impressive feat?

Tan Jincheng's trip to Luzhou to discuss a power battery cooperation project was such an important matter, but he only communicated the itinerary with Luzhou officials privately and did not announce it to the public. This high-profile trip seemed very unusual.

For this nationwide inspection tour, a staff member from the public relations department also accompanied the team, responsible for collecting information on Flash's external news statements. Whether the press release could satisfy General Manager Tan was the first test facing Flash's public relations department.

The treatment Mr. Tan received in Yiwu this time was much better than last time. Orange Technology's warehousing center was built using intelligent methods. In addition, Tan Jincheng also helped Yiwu attract large group companies like SF Express.

SF Express has almost monopolized the market in the entire South China region. This year marks the beginning of their expansion. With the advent of the online shopping era, the Yangtze River Delta region has become a battleground for express delivery and logistics companies. Due to the influence of unit price, the growth rate of SF Express's online shopping orders is very slow.

It turns out that even a major client like JD.com is on the verge of disappearing. Having a core warehousing and logistics hub in the Yangtze River Delta region is crucial for SF Express's online shopping order business. Wang Wei also attaches great importance to the cooperation with Yiwu.

Yiwu's natural conditions may be viewed differently by other industries, but in the eyes of someone like Wang Wei, who has deep experience in the logistics industry and has a forward-looking vision, they are truly unique.

With an international trade city and countless individual businesses, the logistics industry is already highly developed. In the future, if these individual business owners devote some of their energy to online stores, their express delivery volume will be astonishing.

In fact, there are already quite a few individual business owners opening online stores here. Small commodities here are cheaper than in many other regions, so they are very popular online, and the number of logistics and express delivery orders is higher than in most other regions.

Many express delivery companies in Zhejiang Province already have stations in Yiwu. Without a price advantage and operating independently, it will be very difficult for SF Express to gain a foothold in Yiwu in a short period of time.

However, with the large orders from Orange Products Fair, things are different. A large portion of the express deliveries from Yiwu to all parts of the country are handled by SF Express, which is faster than other express delivery companies, offers better service, and naturally provides a different user experience.

This also creates a new consumer impression for users, showing that SF Express not only has an advantage in the South China market, but also across the country.

Cultivating consumer habits is something every brand CEO needs to study.

Wang Wei could certainly see the future trends of the express delivery industry in Yiwu, but he was still curious as to why Tan Jincheng was so optimistic about it. Was it just because of e-commerce? Probably not.

However, it is quite pleasant to have a partner with the same mindset. Only with the same ideas can the cooperation continue for a long time. Unlike pure investment institutions, SF Express and Orange Technology have specific business dealings.

Such a cooperative model is bound to have many clashes in specific business ideas. Both parties have their own interests and demands, so friction is normal. However, as long as they are aligned in the overall vision and future direction, things will be easier to handle. Wang Wei also visited Yiwu the day after Tan Jincheng arrived. The Yiwu side warmly welcomed both parties. On the third day, important figures from all three parties, including Gu Qingqing, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Orange Technology Warehousing and Logistics Park.

"Using the internet to solve more real-world problems and employment issues is Orange Technology's pursuit. We hope to leverage the internet's convenient communication capabilities to combine with the offline economy to bring profits and employment to the company and the local community."

Gu Qingqing, who was making such an official and formal speech in front of the camera for the first time, was still a little nervous, even though she had practiced many times in private.

On the podium, Gu Qingqing, dressed as a mature urban woman, didn't wear her hair in a ponytail as usual, but instead let it fall casually to one side. Her makeup also leaned towards a mature look.

Makeup, as one of the three great sorceries, is truly amazing. A 20-year-old girl can look much more mature than her actual age through changes in clothing and makeup style.

"Fortunately, people's development is still relatively normal these days, so you can generally tell their actual age. Unlike in later years, when scumbags could end up working on sewing machines if you're not careful."

People of Tan Jincheng's generation in the South are generally of average height. Tan Jincheng's actual height of 175 cm, with shoes and a little extra effort, could barely pass for tall. Among his peers in southern Anhui Province and Ningbo, he was not considered short.

In addition, the people he came into contact with were all one or even two generations older than him, people who had lived through the hard times, and they were not very tall, because Tan Jincheng usually appeared to be quite tall in front of the camera.

However, this thing is afraid of comparison. In the group photo, Tan Jincheng, who is standing next to Gu Qingqing, is obviously at a disadvantage in height.

Gu Qingqing is 1.68 meters tall, which naturally makes her appear taller. Coupled with her mature outfit today, she exudes a powerful aura, making her even more visually striking.

Boss Tan could only lament that she was lucky she wasn't wearing high heels today. However, today was meant for her to shine, so Boss Tan, dressed casually, didn't care.

It is both a work necessity for a company's CEO to attend such public events and to make some high-sounding speeches, and also an important way to enhance their own image.

Gu Qingqing rarely appears in public, especially at official events, which diminishes her presence as CEO. In contrast, Cheng Hao, who often travels in her place, has seen his fame rise rapidly.

In the short term, it doesn't matter, but in the long run, it may not be a good thing. A technical director who frequently appears in front of the camera is replacing the CEO's job title. In addition, the CEO also has shares, which could very likely lead to power struggles in the company in the future.

This nationwide inspection, which lasted for more than a month and a half, had, after the previously prepared tasks, the most important remaining task was to build momentum for Gu Qingqing and further enhance her fame.

Internet companies crave exposure; without exposure, there's no traffic. It's fine to be low-key, but you absolutely must appear in front of the camera from time to time.

If we were to describe the purpose of Tan Jincheng's high-profile trip in two sets of words, it would be to leverage existing momentum and create momentum.

By leveraging the influence of local governments and their networks, and integrating the various businesses of the Flash Group, specifically in the area of ​​car manufacturing, there was no longer any need to hide the fact that the Flash Group had the idea of ​​manufacturing cars.

You can choose not to admit it or make it public, but you still need to prepare for the actual actions. Our CEO Lei Jun prepared for three years before building cars, which was already an era when the electric vehicle industry was quite advanced.

For Flash Motors to build electric vehicles in an era dominated by gasoline-powered cars and joint venture brands, it was essential to make many preparations in advance.

As for creating hype, it's for Orange Technology and Gu Qingqing. The development speed of physical enterprises is relatively slow. No matter what, it takes at least half a year to several years to build a factory. Time is always necessary.

Internet companies, on the other hand, develop very quickly. There are many that start in one year, become successful in three years, and reach a certain scale in five years. Orange Technology must catch this fast train.

"No wonder Qidian's rebirth novels like to focus on the internet. It's really easy to write about because the development speed is too fast. What can you write about the physical world? You can't exactly write about how to build factories or how to move bricks, can you?"

(End of this chapter)