Rebirth of the Rich Second Generation's Growth Diary

Chapter 201 Low-end Sales and High-end Sales

When Lina heard Xia Xiaohe say with such certainty that she could help her, she couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Then, feeling that this kind of smile seemed a bit impolite, he extended it and naturally transformed it into a polite smile.

In her view, Xia Xiaohe's academic qualifications are undoubtedly excellent, but how could a college student from the ivory tower understand the dangers of society?

Lina wasn't some greenhorn just entering society. She had been working in sales for many years and had seen all kinds of people. The darker side of society had long since changed her perception of the world.

Whether or not someone buys your products, it all comes down to a single word from their boss.

If you can keep your boss happy, you can close big deals.

Last night, she finally managed to get in touch with the deputy director of the management bureau through her old connections, arranged a reception, and got herself completely drunk, but she still didn't get any useful information.

And this Xia Xiaohe, shamelessly claiming she can help me, what can she possibly do for me?

She's probably not good at drinking.

However, Xia Xiaohe's advantages are also obvious. First, she is young, and second, she is a top-notch beauty no matter where she is. If she is willing to lower herself to please the client, it is possible.

However, Lina had also heard that Xia Xiaohe was brought in by President Li, so it was impossible for her to do the kind of reception and socializing. Besides, how could Xia Xiaohe herself be willing to do that?
So ultimately, her confidence is like water without roots, carrying the unique clarity of a college student.

Lina shook her head and said, "Thank you. I'll ask you for help if I need anything."

Even Xia Xiaohe had to admire Lina's excellent social skills at this moment.

Even though they clearly don't need my help, they say that they'll contact me if they need it. This way, they neither directly refuse nor offend anyone, and they still achieve their goal.

But Xia Xiaohe didn't care and continued talking to herself: "To sell something, the first thing to do is to accurately identify the other party's needs. I carefully studied the bidding announcement of Jindong Ancient City and also paid attention to some major news of Jindong Ancient City in recent years."

As she spoke, Xia Xiaohe placed her notebook on Lina's desk and opened it, saying, "I've made a simple summary. From 10 years ago to now, there have been a total of 23 news items about Jintong Ancient City. I'm talking about negative news, not the kind where some leader comes to inspect and there's not much information to dig out."

"Among these 23 news items, there are two: one is about a child getting lost in a scenic area, and the other is about graffiti being carved on the city gate of an ancient city, which raises the question of how minor damage to cultural relics can be difficult to monitor."

"But apart from that, the remaining 21 news items are also very valuable. I have summarized them into five pain points for ancient city scenic spots. First, there is the problem of crowd control and the risk of sudden gatherings: When a Hanfu parade was held in an ancient city scenic spot, due to the large number of tourists participating temporarily, a large number of people suddenly gathered in the narrow alleys. Traditional manual guidance could not respond quickly, resulting in local congestion and panic among tourists."

"Next comes the dilemma of cultural relic protection. In addition to the problem of minor damage to cultural relics that I mentioned earlier being difficult to monitor, there are also some small corners where changes in environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and air quality inside ancient buildings can cause irreversible damage to cultural relics..."

Xia Xiaohe spoke with utmost seriousness, while Lina listened in utter astonishment.

Despite her limited education, she was deeply impressed by Xia Xiaohe's eloquent analysis, even though she didn't fully understand it.

He then shook his head and said, "Let me interrupt you for a moment. What's the point of your analysis? What do these things have to do with how we sell our products?"

Lina's view was that since the bidding platform had already put forward the relevant requirements, the company's technical team would definitely design the relevant solutions according to the bidding requirements, so this was not something she needed to worry about. All she had to do was keep her boss happy, and her boss would sign the contract.

Lina then openly shared her thoughts with Xia Xiaohe.

Xia Xiaohe was equally shocked after hearing this. She never expected that Lina's thinking was so simple and linear. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

However, her more rational intelligence prevailed. Xia Xiaohe sorted out her thoughts and decided to try a different approach to guide Lina.

She said, "Sister Lina, you're right. We really need to please the leaders in order to close the deal."

Lina felt relieved to hear Xia Xiaohe agree with her point of view; thankfully, this female college student wasn't so stubborn.

But Xia Xiaohe changed the subject and said, "How to make the leaders happy is a real art. Sister Lina, what do you think we can do to make them happy?"

Lina smiled and said, "Then I'll take it as you asking me for advice. I wouldn't dare say I'm an expert at making female leaders happy, but making male leaders happy is quite simple. First, you have to be sweet-talking. No man dislikes being praised by a woman. But when you praise him, you can't seem too fake. You have to be specific so that the leader feels you're sincere. And then..."

Lina launched into a long explanation of her experiences and insights on the subject. Xia Xiaohe didn't interrupt and patiently listened to Lina finish speaking.

After Lina finished speaking, Xia Xiaohe said seriously, "Sister Lina, you're right. These methods are very effective and can indeed make the leader happy for a while, but..."

Smart people know that, but the key point is what comes next. Lina's eyebrows twitched slightly; she knew Xia Xiaohe must have something else to say.

Xia Xiaohe looked into Lina's eyes and said seriously, "But these are all temporary pleasures. For men, a girl's flattery at the dinner table can indeed bring temporary pleasure, but it cannot bring lasting satisfaction."

Lina blinked. "Long-lasting satisfaction, what, do you want me to keep praising you?"

After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but laugh.

Xia Xiaohe smiled helplessly before saying, "Actually, whether it's men or women, what can satisfy them in the long run is a higher level of need."

Xia Xiaohe recalled Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which her professor had taught her in her professional course. Being complimented by a pretty young woman at a dinner party, or even going a step further, was only the lowest level of physiological needs. Above that was the need for safety, then the need for belonging and the need for esteem, and at the very top was the need for value. Each of these needs could bring a much greater sense of pleasure than physiological needs, and the pleasure increased progressively.

But how can these needs be met?

It is associated with one thing: the elevation of one's status!

A rise in status brings greater respect, a greater sense of security, and even the realization of self-worth!

This theory was a bit too complicated for Lina, so Xia Xiaohe decided to explain it in the simplest terms.

She said, "For men, the greatest satisfaction comes from power, promotion, being promoted, and controlling more resources. Do you agree?"

Lina was stunned for a moment.

Xia Xiaohe continued, "For example, on one hand, you can do a good job on this project and be appreciated and promoted by your superiors; on the other hand, you can choose a female salesperson who knows how to flatter and please you, but if you choose her proposal, you may not get the appreciation from your superiors. Which one do you think your superiors would choose?"

Lina was stunned. In the years she had been working in society, she hadn't met people of such a high social standing, and the things she sold didn't involve such complicated matters. She had never thought about things from that perspective before. Xia Xiaohe's words, however, revealed to her the deeper underlying logic of how this world works from another angle.

Xia Xiaohe continued, "So if we really want to sell this solution, we must truly find the needs and pain points of the decision-makers. If we can't find them and just provide them with temporary emotional value, we will only make ourselves very tired, but we will not achieve the desired effect."

Seeing that Lina had fallen completely silent and was seriously considering what she had said, Xia Xiaohe realized that Lina had finally taken her words to heart, and then continued:
"I've carefully studied the organizational structure of the Jinjiang Ancient City Management Bureau and their funding sources, trying to find their real pain points. But there's one thing, Lina, you're right, we still need to start with specific individuals. There are a few key figures we need to win over for this project. The first one is the person who evaluates the professional and technical scores, which account for 50%, the same weight as the commercial scores. The person in charge of scoring the technical scores is the director of the scenic area's information center, and several professors from universities that are paired with the Jinjiang Ancient City scenic area as judges, but the one with the most say is the director of the information center. What kind of attitude this director of the information center has is very important, so we must find a way to contact this director."

As Xia Xiaohe spoke, she wrote the words "Information Director" in her notebook and then circled them to mark them as important.

Xia Xiaohe then added, "Besides the technical score, the next one is the commercial score. The commercial score isn't actually that important because it's based on the price. The lower our price, the higher the commercial score. Assuming all the parameters and functions required by the tender are met, the lower the price, the higher the score. There's not much room for maneuver in this area."

After a pause, Xia Xiaohe continued, "However, as you know, Sister Lina, this society is far more complex than we imagine. Even if you have an advantage in both technical and business skills, you may not necessarily win the bid. This is because the real decision-makers can always find some unexpected reasons to choose the solution they truly favor. And this real decision-maker is undoubtedly the director of the Administration Bureau."

At this point, Xia Xiaohe wrote "Director of the Administration Bureau" in her notebook, circled it, and said, "So we also need to find a way to contact this director, at least to figure out what his focus is on this system."

After hearing Xia Xiaohe's explanation, Lina was completely stunned. After a while, she picked up her notebook, looked at the words, and asked with a complicated expression, "Where did you get these theories from?"

Xia Xiaohe smiled gently and said, "I summarized it myself, and I've sold quite a lot of things."

She recalled something Li Xu had told her a long time ago: "Low-end sales rely on providing emotional value, while high-end sales rely on manipulating customers' pain points and needs."

Clients who can be won over solely through alcohol and women won't be big business.

Lina took a deep breath and said seriously, "Okay, I'll listen to you. You tell me what to do, and I'll do it your way. What do we do next?"

Xia Xiaohe pursed her lips and thought for a moment before saying, "With the bidding about to begin, let's first collect information on the pain points of their scenic area, and then try to reach out to the two people I just mentioned."

(End of this chapter)