sinovels Chapter 96 Impartial and Unyielding
Chapter 96 Impartial and Unyielding
In May, Chengdu enters summer, and temperatures rise rapidly.
The oleanders on campus have bloomed sometime ago, clusters of pink and white blossoms hidden in the dense shade, their sweet fragrance carried far on the wind.
The windows of Fengchi Digital's office on the second floor of the startup incubator are often open. The sweet fragrance of oleander blossoms can frequently be smelled from outside.
More than half a month has passed since Lin Feng returned from Shenzhen and held the meeting where he deployed "three major tasks".
Although progress has been made on each of the three major tasks, the process has been far more difficult than anticipated.
Xu Qiang and his channel team traveled back and forth between several first- and second-tier cities designated by Lin Feng.
People got tanned, leather shoes wore thin, and phone bills were outrageously long. There were over twenty potential agents, but only seven actually paid deposits.
Most people are taking a wait-and-see approach. The official commemorative MP3 of "Mice Love Rice" has not yet been seen, and they are unsure whether it will be a bestseller.
"They just say they have authorization and patents, but what are the products actually like? It's hard to say whether they'll sell well." Mr. Chen from Chongqing said this, which represents the sentiments of many distributors.
Xu Qiang talked himself hoarse, but all he got in return was, "We'll see when the goods arrive. If they sell well, we'll become agents."
Wang Peng was also extremely stressed about setting up the online store.
Fengchi Digital's Taobao store is like a premature baby; it barely opened, but it's riddled with problems.
The product details page designed by graphic designer Liu Xiaoyu always had the wrong color scheme. It was either too flashy, making it look like a knock-off website, or too plain, failing to attract any purchase desire.
Customer service representative Chen Hao was enthusiastic, but he got stuck when faced with slightly complicated issues, and the shipping process and inventory management were a complete mess.
Zhao Qiang, the operations manager, was full of energy and thought about "direct traffic" and "keywords" every day. He spent a lot of money, but didn't see many more orders. He could only worry anxiously.
Within the team, Wang Peng, the "store manager," couldn't keep things in check. Everyone thought their ideas were right, leading to constant bickering and low efficiency.
Lin Feng attended a meeting about online store operations. After listening to the debate for half an hour, he stood up and only said one sentence to Wang Peng: "You are in charge, you need to make the decision."
Wang Peng's face turned bright red. That night, he kept the three of them behind, slammed his fist on the table, and set the most basic work processes and responsibilities. The argument subsided slightly, but efficiency remained very low.
The "Campus Original Musician Support Program," which Shen Jingyi and Su Wan were in charge of, also faced numerous difficulties. They had done all the promotional work and contacted more than a dozen campus musicians.
However, truly inspired works are rare, and those that meet the collaboration threshold of "Swift Sound" are even rarer.
Zhou Ran, a student at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music who is receiving special attention, did attract some attention after her song "Wutong Leaf" was played on several university radio stations. A local music newspaper even wrote a short music review about it.
However, this is still far from creating enough "popularity" or "market value" to impress SP companies.
Shen Jingyi was in no hurry. Like a patient gardener, she continued to water and loosen the soil, waiting for the flowers that might never bloom.
Lin Feng spoke privately with Xu Qiang, Wang Peng, and Shen Jingyi, offering them support.
We approved higher travel allowances for the channel team to boost their morale.
Wang Peng's online store team recruited new people with experience in Taobao online stores.
To Shen Jingyi, he only said, "Go at your own pace, there's no rush."
Lin Feng knew that "everything is difficult at the beginning," and all the attempts, adjustments, and even setbacks were accumulating experience for success.
In the second week of May, Wu Wenjie called from Shenzhen.
"Brother! There's been a bit of a problem with production..." Wu Wenjie said urgently.
"explain."
"Xiaowen and Xinfa had a conflict! The first batch of 5000 units rolled off the production line. During her random inspection, she said that the color of the casing was slightly uneven, the buttons felt inconsistent when pressed, and there were dust spots inside the screen..."
Wu Wenjie said with a hint of helplessness, "Director Chen was almost jumping up and down, saying that this little problem is nothing at all and is within a reasonable range."
But Xiaowen absolutely refused to sign! She said ours was an "official commemorative edition," not some cheap knock-off. She said if we went out like this, it would ruin our brand! The vice president in charge of production under Factory Director Chen got into a fight with her!
Lin Feng asked directly, "Does the problem she mentioned exist or not?"
"Yes, there is..." Wu Wenjie paused, "but to be honest, by industry standards, especially for MP3 players at this price point, it's really not a big deal. Old Chen said that if we followed Xiaowen's standards, the production line would have to stop, the process would have to be adjusted, and this batch of goods would be delivered at least several weeks late..."
"I understand." Lin Feng hung up Wu Wenjie's call and then dialed Lin Xiaowen's number.
"Brother Feng." Lin Xiaowen was very excited when she received Lin Feng's call.
"Xiaowen, you found a problem during the random inspection. How serious is it? Tell me about it."
Lin Xiaowen explained earnestly and methodically: "The color difference can be seen upon close inspection, the button resistance value fluctuates beyond my internal standard, and although the dust particles are small, they are indeed present."
Lin Xiaowen was adamant and refused to accept the substandard products.
Lin Feng remained silent for a moment. He looked out the window into the distance, weighing the pros and cons.
Delayed delivery, the agent's patience, the potential loss of market interest... these thoughts flashed through my mind quickly.
But the thought of failing on the first shot, making up for it later, is unbearable. Licenses and patents are just for branding; the product itself is what truly matters.
He finally made up his mind to support Lin Xiaowen, and said into the microphone, "Xiaowen, thank you for your conscientiousness. We'll follow your standards. Anything that needs changing must be changed, until it meets the requirements."
"Okay." Lin Xiaowen breathed a soft sigh of relief.
Afterwards, Lin Feng personally called Mr. Chen, the owner of Xinfeng Electronics Factory, and agreed that both parties would share the cost of the delay. He instructed Mr. Chen to negotiate with Wu Wenjie. However, the quality of the delivered goods must meet the standards.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Feng returned to his seat. Shen Jingyi and Su Wan looked up at him.
He told Su Wan and Xu Qiang that the delivery time for the MP3 players would be delayed. Promotional efforts were also slowed down, while Xu Qiang continued to communicate with the distributors, remaining patient and stabilizing the distribution channels.
Later, through negotiations between Boss Chen and Wu Wenjie, Xinfeng Electronics Factory reproduced all the substandard products.
This delay lasted about ten days.
Finally, Lin Xiaowen inspected the products again, and they all passed inspection. Afterwards, Wu Wenjie supervised the manufacturer's shipment, sending the MP3 players to first- and second-tier cities across the country where a distribution network had already been established.
Almost at the same time, the fax machine in the office rang, spewing out two documents.
At the top is the national emblem, and one of the documents reads: "Notification of Acceptance of Design Patent Application".
Another document shows receipts for the trademark registrations of "Fengchi Digital" and "Little Mouse".
After a long and anxious wait, the legal documents for the patent application and trademark registration have finally arrived.
The days of continuous rain have finally stopped. Outside the window, the sky is a brilliant blue, the sun is shining brightly, and the air is filled with the rising steam.
Lin Feng immediately convened a meeting of core personnel to officially launch the promotion and sales of the official commemorative MP3 of "Mice Love Rice".
The energy that had been building up for so long was released all at once.
Su Wan, who was in charge of publicity, was well prepared. She was no longer a lone commander; Lin Feng had recruited two experienced assistants for her.
Online, website banners, forum posts, and QQ group messages spread like wildfire.
Offline, university bulletin boards were plastered with light blue posters overnight, and flyers were scattered everywhere.
The poster's theme is "Official Genuine Commemorative MP3 of 'Mice Love Rice' Now Available for Sale!", accompanied by images of MP3 players in four different colors shaped like mice.
After some adjustments, the Taobao store managed by Wang Peng has a completely new look. Large images of the actual products, scanned copies of patents and authorization documents, and screenshots of quality inspection reports are all clearly displayed.
Xu Qiang's channel team set off again, this time carrying real information.
When the adorable little mouse-shaped MP3 player was actually placed in front of the distributors, they were pleasantly surprised.
Many digital store owners and student agents completely changed their attitudes after touching and listening to the machines:
"Let's start with fifty units to try!"
"One hundred units! Reserve one hundred units for me!"
The rented small warehouse became the busiest place. MP3 cases were piled up like a mountain, then quickly dwindled in size.
The sounds of printing shipping documents, tearing tape, and moving boxes echoed from morning till night.
Liu Qian's eyes were blurry from checking the accounts, while Xu Qiang and Tan Zhao's voices were hoarse and their eyes were bloodshot, yet their energy was frightening.
Offline stores sell the fastest, especially those near schools; dozens of units can be set up and sold out in a day or two. The phone rings day and night with calls urging delivery.
In contrast, Wang Peng's online store is struggling to keep up. There are too many inquiries, and Chen Hao simply can't respond; if he's even a little slow, customers complain.
With a large number of orders, shipping became chaotic, with frequent instances of missing or incorrect shipments, leading to a surge in negative reviews and refund requests in the system.
After learning about the situation, Lin Feng called Wang Peng and the online store staff over.
Wang Peng, along with Chen Hao, Liu Xiaoyu, and Zhao Qiang, stood in front of Lin Feng's desk, their heads bowed. On the desk were customer service chat logs, problematic orders, and sales data.
Lin Feng didn't curse. He pointed at the paper and said, "It's a good thing that we're getting more orders. But if we have a lot of orders and the service is chaotic, we're asking for trouble. People aren't just buying machines; they're buying peace of mind."
He pointed out each issue one by one: customer service couldn't respond because there weren't enough staff and there were no established procedures; the wrong item was sent because the process was chaotic and no one was checking; few people were buying from the page because they only presented the facts and didn't know how to entice people to buy.
Lin Feng announced personnel adjustments: Chen Hao was deemed incompetent in his customer service role and was reassigned to manage shipping and warehousing. The customer service position will be re-hired, with experienced candidates required, and the number of customer service staff will be increased.
After the meeting, Lin Feng kept Wang Peng behind. Looking at his roommate, he said, "You need to get things in order, keep a close eye on the processes, and manage the people well. If things continue to be this chaotic, you'll be the next one to be reassigned."
"I understand, Brother Feng." Wang Peng lowered his head.
Of the people who followed Lin Fengqian from the very beginning, Wang Peng was the one he trusted the most. He was serious, responsible, and had strong execution skills.
However, if an individual's ability and growth rate cannot keep up with the needs of the company's business development, Lin Feng has no choice but to be impartial and incorruptible.