2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 325 Poaching by the Rival

In 2006, the most bustling and lively area in Beicang District was naturally the small night market near the post office and Xinhua Bookstore.

Every evening, the area is bustling with all sorts of stalls and vendors.

But if we're talking about the most upscale area, it has to be the Changjiang Road area, which has high-end shopping malls, the Gangkou Building, and the Songshan Road food street nearby.

There is also the only Starbucks in Beicang District.

These days, Starbucks is still considered a high-end place. However, as the marketing director of FlashTech, Zhou Ao is no stranger to such places. Unfortunately, he really can't stand the taste of the coffee. It's so damn bad and ridiculously expensive, more than 40 yuan a cup!
Zhou Ao, 27, fits perfectly into the age structure of Flashpoint Technology's employees, all of whom are relatively young. He came into Tan Jincheng's view when Flashpoint's first self-operated store in Beicang was being planned.

He then took charge of several projects, eventually rising to his current position as marketing director.

It was working hours, and there weren't many people in the coffee shop. Zhou Ao had been invited by a client to discuss a collaboration, but after looking around, he couldn't find the client anywhere.

Just as she was wondering, a mature woman walked over from around the corner and extended her hand, saying, "You must be Director Zhou from FlashTech, right? Hello, my name is Xu Qihua."

"Hello, I don't know?" Zhou Ao mechanically shook hands and asked with a puzzled look.

Xu Qihua smiled and said, "Please take a seat. I've called Director Zhou here because there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

After taking her seat, Xu Qihua took out a business card from her handbag, handed it over with both hands, and said with a smile, "Let me introduce myself. I am the Director of Human Resources at Shenzhou Talent. Shenzhou Talent is a recruitment company dedicated to providing comprehensive and refined services to enterprises and job seekers across the country."

Seeing that Zhou Ao had no reaction, Xu Qihua continued, "It's what's commonly known as a headhunting company."

Zhou Ao frowned. It seemed that talking about cooperation was a pretense, and his real intention was to poach people: "I am very happy at Flash, and I have no plans to switch jobs for the time being."

"Director Zhou, aren't you going to ask about the compensation package? And which company is trying to poach you?" Xu Qihua asked with a smile.

Zhou Ao's reaction was within her expectations. When someone tries to poach someone without any trust between them, the first reaction is usually to refuse. As a headhunter, she was used to this kind of opening.

In 2006, headhunting companies were still a relatively unfamiliar term. Zhou Ao had never heard of them before; he only learned about them once from his boss.

One of the managers at the boss's Orange Technology company was poached through a headhunting firm.

There's no need for headhunting firms when poaching ordinary employees; they're all high-level professionals. Zhou Ao was quite proud that he'd managed to get headhunting firms to come knocking on his door.

"Dude, you've made it big now? So I'm a celebrity in the industry now. Let's hear what she has to say."

Zhou Aozhan smiled and said, "Alright, then please tell me, Mr. Xu."

"Director Zhou, you must have heard about Tianjin's Aima Automobile Industry entering the electric vehicle industry, right?"

"Yes, I know about this," Zhou Ao nodded.

Xu Qihua continued, "The purpose of my visit is to invite Director Zhou to serve as the Marketing Director of Aima, on behalf of Aima, to be responsible for all of Aima's marketing plans, and to create a brilliant future together."

“Aima is a long-established bicycle company. They are newcomers in the electric vehicle industry, but that doesn’t mean they lack strength. In addition, the new company will be more conducive to Director Zhou’s performance. Imagine how glorious it would be if a new company, under Director Zhou’s planning, could become as well-known as Flash Motors is now.”

"Mr. Tan of Flash is very good at marketing, but precisely because of this, the brilliance of everyone in Flash's marketing planning department is overshadowed by Mr. Tan. But at Aima, Director Zhou can show his talent and become just as dazzling as Mr. Tan."

Drawing promises right from the start is a negotiation tactic. After a barrage of grand promises, Xu Qihua was somewhat surprised to see that Zhou Ao still hadn't made any move.

According to the information, Director Zhou was just an ordinary marketing planner a year ago. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be that cunning. Aima's interest in him wasn't entirely based on his abilities; their ultimate goal was simply to learn about the marketing skills of General Manager Tan from Shanchi.

In just over a year, the diverse advertising campaigns, eye-catching designs, and the selection of spokespeople were all industry firsts, which is why FlashCheer rapidly expanded its brand awareness.

Today, not only the electric vehicle industry, but also the advertising industry and other industries are analyzing Tan Jincheng's marketing plans.

As the marketing director personally promoted by Tan Jincheng, Zhou Ao should be the person most trusted by Tan Jincheng and also the one who has learned the most from his marketing skills. It is indeed worthwhile to poach such a person, and in addition, we can also learn some secrets of Flash.

Since they weren't moved by empty promises, they decided to unleash their ultimate weapon.

"In terms of personal benefits, Aima offered Director Zhou an annual salary of 30 yuan plus year-end bonus, as well as other incentives such as housing subsidies. If Director Zhou were to work for Aima, his annual income should reach more than 50 yuan."

Spending 50 yuan to poach a director-level talent is absolutely phenomenal in the electric vehicle industry. With over a decade of family business experience, Aima has strong capital and is indeed a company with deep pockets and great ambition.

But if you think about it, spending 50 yuan to learn the true essence of Tan Jincheng's marketing and some of the secrets of Flashcar is not expensive at all.

Upon hearing the figure of 50, Zhou Ao took a deep breath, clearly stunned.

This is just the apparent income.

His current monthly salary is 1.2 yuan, and with year-end bonuses, his annual income is around 20 yuan, which is honestly a lot.

Furthermore, Tan Jincheng has always treated his subordinates well. The principle that "too much purity leaves no fish" is something Tan Jincheng has largely tacitly accepted within FlashCheap. He understands that human greed is unavoidable. He has spoken to managers who have access to related business and can reap some benefits, allowing them some gray income, but absolutely not too much. The first principle is that it cannot affect the company's interests, and the second is that they cannot be too demanding; the service providers must be given a livelihood.

A colleague in the marketing department once made demands that were too high, which caused an advertising backlash, which was then reported to him, and the boss found out about it.

The boss is usually lenient, but he can be really ruthless when he gets angry. He immediately threatened to call the police, which scared the guy so much that he knelt down. In the end, he investigated all the business the guy had handled since he joined the company and made him vomit up every last penny before letting him go.

It was that shock that made Zhou Ao and other novices with little legal awareness realize that even if you embezzled money in a private company, you could end up working as a sewing machine operator.

Since then, the company atmosphere has improved a lot.

What's given to you is yours, and what's not given to you you can't take a single thing; but overall, the boss is indeed a very good person, one of the few exceptionally generous bosses Zhou Ao has ever met.

"Please thank Aima for his high regard. 50 yuan is indeed a lot, more than double my current income, but I still have no plans to change jobs."

After a long silence, Zhou Ao suppressed his inner turmoil and answered in a deep voice.

The fact that Aima was willing to offer such a high price clearly indicates that they valued not only his abilities, but also the fact that he was personally trained by the boss and knew many of Flash's secrets.

Aima is based in Tianjin, but don't forget that Flash Motors also has the largest electric vehicle industrial base in the country in Tianjin. I have signed a non-compete agreement and a confidentiality agreement. Whether I can get this 50 yuan safely is another matter.

If he were to betray information, it would be quite easy for the boss to get rid of him. Besides, Zhou Ao didn't think he was capable of single-handedly supporting the entire marketing department of a company. Perhaps he could in three to five years, but definitely not now.

Unexpected, yet also expected, Xu Qihua didn't think she could win over Zhou Ao on her first try.

"I understand, but Director Zhou can think about it again after you go back. You can also make other requests. We can discuss the price further."

Zhou Ao smiled and stood up, saying, "Thank you, but no need. My boss once said that it's impossible for a person to earn money beyond their understanding. I'm very tempted by 50, but my current ability is not enough to earn an annual income of more than 50. But it doesn't matter. I believe that in a few years, I can earn that income at Flash."

"On another note, Manager Xu underestimated me a bit too much. I don't know if he did any research before finding me. If he did, he should know that I don't like coffee. I really hate the taste of coffee."

Xu Qihua was taken aback: "Didn't you say that Mr. Tan from FlashChe really likes to drink coffee?"

"Yeah, but so what? Our boss won't force us to do things we don't like. Also, if you want to poach other people from Flashpoint, you'd better do your homework. Flashpoint's compensation is well-known in the industry, and the price you have to pay is not small just in terms of money."

After saying that, Zhou Ao left gracefully.

After leaving Starbucks, Zhou Ao called Tan Jincheng. "Aima is really going all out. They're willing to spend 50 yuan to poach someone like him. I'm sure other departments are doing the same. Whoever tells the boss first will gain more of his trust."

"Idiot, my child was just born, and my wife's job was arranged by my boss through connections. Do you think I'd risk going against my boss at a time like this?"

Yes, it's a weakness, those who know, know.

Besides, the boss had indeed treated him well and could be considered his mentor. If it were just a normal resignation, Zhou Ao wouldn't say anything, but selling Flash's secrets was definitely unacceptable.

When he received the call, Tan Jincheng was comfortably lounging in the CEO's chair at Orange Technology, his legs propped up on the desk without any regard for appearances.

"What, someone poached your right-hand man? Didn't he sign a non-compete agreement?" Gu Qingqing asked nonchalantly.

It was too hot after running around all day, and Tan Jincheng was too lazy to move. Gu Qingqing put the phone on speakerphone for him.

"What's the point of that? It's just fooling a bunch of clueless people in the company. If I really want to poach people, I don't need to spend a penny. I'll put the people I poach under ByteDance's advertising platform, give them the title of investment advisors, and then have them actually work for Flashpoint. What can they do to me?"

Lei Jun did exactly that back then. He visited Meizu and took away a large number of talented people, which infuriated Huang Jingyu so much that he cursed him out.

However, this move was a bit too shameless, and under normal circumstances, Tan Jincheng would not dare to use it easily. Gu Qingqing was also dumbfounded after hearing it, exclaiming that it was shameless while also saying that she had learned something.

"So how are you going to deal with this? Zhou Ao is right, if Aima is going to poach someone, it's definitely not just him."

"What can we do but deal with it? It's normal for competitors to poach each other, but this opponent seems to have a lot of money and resources," Tan Jincheng sighed.

Tan Jincheng had previously poached talent from Xinri and Yadi, and now he's getting his comeuppance.

And they're even more ruthless than me, poaching the absolute core of the marketing department. If we don't handle this well, the losses to the company will be enormous.

Fortunately, Zhou Ao called me immediately, giving me enough time to react. It seems that being nice to employees usually does have an effect.

Damn, 50 a year, he really dares to drive that kind of car.

This was in 2006. Even in 2023, 50 would still be an explosive number. It seems there was a reason why Aima was able to break through so quickly in his previous life.

(End of this chapter)