Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 72 The Origin of the Conflict
After being discharged from the hospital, Yan Hui found Lao Guo and the others and first split the money spent that night. Everyone was scared and apprehensive, and no one dared to boast about how great they were.

“Old Guo, I’ll never brag again. I’m going to find Old Song,” Yan Hui said, softening his tone, “to talk about what’s next.”

"Sure, but now that you have Old Song and Little Song, the team is getting bigger. You need to be careful, it's too easy to touch some people's interests," Old Guo reminded him.

"Have you heard any news these past few days?" Yan Hui seemed to have traveled through time; he had no idea what had happened in the past few days.

"Do you still remember Da Kai?" Lao Guo asked.

"Huh?" Yan Hui was taken aback. "I remember, what's wrong?"

“I saw him in the market yesterday. He was with someone, trying to attract customers and negotiate prices, just like your model.”

"Him?" Yan Hui looked puzzled. After a few seconds, his expression returned to normal. "If it's him, I don't think it will affect me much."

"How could that be?" Old Guo said with a serious face. "Some people are more trouble than they're worth. If they make a mess of the market, no one will trust them."

"Hmm?" Yan Hui thought for a moment, "It's okay, Lao Guo. My uncle contacted me. I'll be going to Factory 239 at the end of next month. My uncle's factory has been renovated and will start production next month."

"Huh? It's not over at 724?" Old Guo felt a little disappointed when he heard that.

"Isn't 239 closer? It's over by the freight station." Yan Hui was quite familiar with this place, after all, he had slept at the freight station for a while and had also helped his fourth uncle look after the timber for a period of time.

The 724 bus route is about five kilometers away, which is quite far to walk there; you usually need to borrow a bicycle. The 239 bus route, however, is less than three kilometers away, and it's not difficult to walk there. Last winter, Yan Hui walked back and forth every day.

"That's true. I have my own bicycle now, so I can come visit you more often. The freight station area is quite fun too."

"Yes, there are places to sing in the square we pass by. If I find any profitable business opportunities there, I'll definitely call you."

“I have no doubt about that. You have the ability,” Lao Guo nodded. “My dad said that people have to keep moving around. The more places you change, the more successful I feel you will be.”

"I hope so." Yan Hui nodded.

The next day, which happened to be Saturday, Song Zhiyuan also came over. Yan Hui pulled Old Song and Song Zhiyuan together for a short meeting.

Song Zhiyuan will be on summer vacation next week. He is ambitious and wants to come here to make some money. He was a little worried when he heard that there was a competitor, but seeing that Yan Hui didn't care, he was not afraid.

"Our customers are mostly new customers who don't understand the market, so there's no such thing as a reputation. As for some timber shops, they certainly understand the difference between us and them, so that's not a problem. The issue now is that Da Kai is working with Xiao Bao. Although Xiao Bao is generally not in the market area now, he still has a lot of people on his side. We need to reduce conflicts, especially between the two of you. Fighting is definitely not an option."

"This Brother Bao is said to be very capable." Old Song had also heard some things about him. "He just has a cart team, that's all. He's almost 30 years old, and all he can do is this much, what kind of skill is that?" Yan Hui wasn't afraid of this Brother Bao.

“Yes, we’ll try to avoid conflict.” Song Zhiyuan nodded.

"What do you do if you encounter clients who also want to talk?" Yan Hui asked.

“Then let them have it, and we’ll move on to the next one,” Song Zhiyuan replied.

“If we do this, how are we supposed to make money?” Yan Hui didn’t intend to do this. Even though he hadn’t been here long, there was no need for him to surrender.

"Huh? Brother Hui, then what do you suggest? I'll do whatever you say."

“I don’t know what your standards are like now,” Yan Hui pointed to his eyes, “Can you tell the probability of a client making a purchase?”

"Probably. Some customers are easy to talk to, while others are not and will start cursing," Song Zhiyuan said.

Old Song nodded in agreement. Although he hadn't been doing this job for long, he had some experience, since his family owned a processing plant, so he spoke with confidence.

"I've summarized it up: old customers will never contact us again, while new customers generally fall into three categories. The first type is those with strong resistance. These people are actually quite smart; they don't easily trust others. But these people are suitable for secondary contact. After letting them understand the market, we can then approach them with a suitable price. So, if someone else snatches this type of customer, let them try. We still need to be the good guy. At first, just show a smile and walk away, then keep an eye on this customer. After they've tried several stores, we'll go back to talk to them. The second type is those who are willing to communicate. You also need to analyze these people..." There are two types. Some are too clever and try to trick you into revealing information. There's no point in talking to these people; they have their own ways of getting the lowest prices in the store. If you chat with them for a few minutes, they'll easily expose your bottom line. With these people, just let them go; talking to them is pointless. The third type is the ordinary person who is willing to communicate. With these, you must establish trust immediately. You both have your advantages. Old Song, you can immediately say that your family has its own store here. Little Song, you can communicate in the local dialect. In short, you must quickly establish trust with these people; you absolutely cannot let go of the customers you want to grab.” Yan Hui shared all his experience with the two of them.

In short, most customers can be accommodated first, but some high-value customers still need to be won over. Conflict can be reduced, but it cannot be avoided forever.

"Mmm-hmm," Song Zhiyuan mumbled in his notebook.

"The problem now is, what if a conflict arises from competing for customers?" Old Song asked.

"Never appear unprofessional in front of clients, and never get into conflicts with them. If they insist on taking something, just give it to them, but in that situation, the client won't trust them. Wait until they can't reach an agreement before we go. If they come looking for trouble when we don't have any clients, then we'll have to fight. Call me then," Yan Hui pointed out the most crucial issue.

Sometimes, the struggles in small markets are unavoidable; they have no choice but to fight like this. Who's afraid of whom?
Rather than a meeting, Yan Hui was actually explaining some methods to Lao Song and Xiao Song. After saying this, Yan Hui looked at Song Zhiyuan: "I'll be going to the freight station at the end of next month. Lao Song probably won't be too lazy to do this anymore, so you'll be all alone here. Since you have a small target, there won't be any conflicts. Just do your best in your work, and focus on your studies."

"I understand, Brother Hui." Song Zhiyuan also knew that all of this was for his own sake.

“Hmm,” Yan Hui glanced around the market but didn’t say anything more.

Even though he was leaving, he still hoped that his friends wouldn't be pushed away. Before he left, there were some things that seemed necessary to be done.

(Extra chapter tonight, updating is really difficult, I'm just too busy)
(End of this chapter)