Confessions of a Salesman

Chapter 554 The Last Class
Standing on the stage, I looked down the stage. There was a huge crowd of people, and countless pairs of eyes were staring at me. I was somewhat nervous. I am no stranger to giving speeches. I have often been on stage since I was in school.However, this time is different. The following are teachers and college students. They are not my subordinates or colleagues. They have all kinds of weird ideas and profound theoretical knowledge. I will be criticized, I will be singled out, and I will mislead my children. Therefore, every word I say must be rigorous.

I thought for a while and said, "Female students here, there must be a lot of clothes in the closet that you buy and never wear. Male students should also have a lot of sneakers that you buy and never wear. Are these counted as inventory?" ?Strictly speaking, those that depreciate are called inventory, and those that will increase in price are called collections. So, female students, my suggestion is that if you have beautiful clothes, wear them as soon as possible, or wait until the season is out and it will no longer be popular. Your clothes No one will read it, and it will depreciate. Male students, unless the sneakers you bought are collector's editions, my advice is the same, wear them if you have them, don't put them there, and wait to get hairy.

Why am I saying this?This is actually the same as a company managing inventory.What happens when a company generates large quantities of inventory?This requires us to judge in time, how much is the value of this batch of products retained?If it is found that it has no value at all, then deal with it as soon as possible, by any means, at a low cost, regardless of cost.If it is not handled in time, it will not only take up inventory space, but also make your products on the market less valuable.

So how can we control our own production inventory well?This is to look at the estimated market level of a company. Our company calls this department the marketing department, which is dedicated to predicting the market prospects of a new product, the consumption ability of consumers, and their good work in the early stage, so naturally the inventory pressure in the later stage will be much smaller.But I can tell you clearly that there is no product on the market that can achieve zero inventory.Although all of our companies are advocating zero inventory, none of them can do it [-]%.If zero inventory is achieved, it can only show that the company's production capacity and sales ability are not good enough!

We just talked about how to control the inventory well in the early stage, so let’s talk about how to deal with it once the inventory is generated?First of all, it is to look at your inventory products and see if there is any remaining value. If you determine that they are worthless, such as BB players and VCDs, even if you keep them until 2020, they are still worthless, so deal with them as soon as possible. , Those that can be sold at a reduced price are sold at a reduced price, and those that cannot be sold at a reduced price are thrown away directly. Remember not to give them away, and do not let them circulate on the market.Why do you do that?Wouldn't you say that you can earn favors by giving away people, and wouldn't it be better to earn a reputation?wrong!Big mistake!Doing that will not benefit the society, the enterprise, or even the individual at all.Outdated products and eliminated products should be thrown away without hesitation, just like your bad habits.It will only hinder your progress. If you have something that works, will you still pursue better things?Even if you do, your desire will not become as strong. "

At this time, some people raised their hands eagerly and asked questions. I pointed to one of the gentle glasses men, and the glasses men boldly stood up and asked: "As far as I know, you Wanzhong have sold at a high price. The bladeless fans that are stuck in the backlog are not thrown away without hesitation as you said, how do you explain this?"

I smiled and nodded and said: "This classmate's question is very good. It seems that he has done some homework. You know such a secret business practice. Okay, I can give you a clear answer. The product was upgraded and optimized before returning to the market. And the cost of upgrading is not lower than the cost of researching new products. This is actually a mistake in my management. I misestimated the market at the time and thought that this As soon as the bladeless fan came out, the supply would be in short supply, and the orders at that time were indeed in short supply, but when it came to the market, it was found that the cost of the product was too high, resulting in a sales price that was difficult for consumers to accept. Compared with ordinary fans, the cost performance is not high. Therefore, in the end, the products we produced have a large backlog.

The second mistake I made was trying to recover the losses as much as possible, so I tried every means to deal with this batch of inventory. The only way I thought of was to upgrade this batch of products, adding a water cooling device on the basis of the bladeless fan, In this way, its price is lower than that of air conditioners, and its function is stronger than that of ordinary fans, so it is barely sold.But we paid a heavy price. Not only did we not earn back the cost, but we also lost the cost of later upgrades.I don't know, can my answer satisfy you? "

The man with glasses nodded.

I went on to say: "I just talked about inventory. Next, let me talk about the balance between supply and demand. The so-called short supply means insufficient productivity and insufficient market forecast. When a product comes out, the market response is much better than expected. As a result, it is difficult to find goods and the production capacity cannot keep up. This situation is also common in every enterprise. You may think that this is a good thing, which means that the products you produce are popular and out of stock. But this is not the case. Once If the supply exceeds the demand, someone will fill your market immediately. When you put the production line on, you will find that the market is basically saturated. Your production line is wasted money, but the market no longer needs it.

This is like a scale. On the one hand, you need to control your own empty warehouse, and on the other hand, you need to increase your production capacity. This balance point is difficult to achieve. You can only try to measure it. The best way is not to Be optimistic and too conservative to estimate the market, don't follow the trend, create and develop the market by yourself, so that you can know the prospect of the market.If, like everyone else, you see other people's things selling well, you sell them immediately. In the end, they have predicted the saturation point of the market early, but you foolishly think that the market has just begun, and of course you will be left behind. A warehouse has a backlog of goods.

So where is the core of this problem?It lies in innovation, walking in the forefront of the market, thinking what others dare not think, and doing things that others dare not do. "

Someone raised a question again, and a slightly fat female classmate asked: "But I know that the first person to try may not necessarily make money? Those who have patented inventions, what they get is nothing more than a body covered in copper." Smelly merchants, a meager fee for invention patents, most of the money is still earned by these merchants."

I smiled and said, "This classmate is hostile to rich people? When RMB is printed, there is only the smell of books on the printed paper. It is because more people use it that there will be other smells. This has nothing to do with the money itself." , It has nothing to do with people who have money. The question you asked is related to the work I do. I am in sales, and I am a businessman full of money in your eyes.

Even if you have the best product, someone must promote it for you, otherwise your product can only serve you alone, and you will not get patent fees.If you want your product to be mass-produced, then you have to find investors like us to launch your product into the market. When any product is not launched into the market in batches, it is just an experimental product and cannot be called product.What is the original intention of your invention?If you want to serve the society, then you should let it be widely promoted. If you want to make a fortune and honor your ancestors, then you should sell it to people who know how to make money!

Having said that, I want to tell you that our country now attaches great importance to intellectual property rights and invention patents, and has introduced many related laws. It is not that the country does not pay attention, but that many of you have not understood it. Even a paper clip, as long as it is a patented product recognized by the state, you also have the property rights, and no one is allowed to copy it or use it for commercial purposes without your consent. "

Questions were raised constantly, and the classroom atmosphere became active.

I gave full play to my eloquent sophistry skills.Fortunately, most of the students still asked questions with the idea of ​​seeking knowledge, and did not pose some problems for me.

Of course, there were also some discordant voices. A tall man stood up and asked loudly: "I want to ask you, is it possible to not be polite and shameless, and to do things that are immoral? Is it OK to not have money?" Moral limit?"

I froze for a moment, wondering who the hell are you?Aren't you scolding me directly?

But he still replied very calmly: "That depends on what career you choose!"

The tall man snorted and said, "There is no distinction between high and low occupations. Doesn't any occupation have to lose face?"

The more you say it, the more it goes too far, and it has something to say.

I asked curiously: "I don't understand what you mean, why not explain clearly what you want to express."

The man asked directly: "Do you know Han Feifei?"

I nodded in surprise and said, "I know me, she's my sister, what's the matter? You know me too?"

The man said loudly: "Since it's your sister, why did you do such a careless thing?"

The people present were in an uproar and whispered to each other.

Yuan Lihong also looked at me suspiciously.

I blushed and asked anxiously: "What do you want me to do with her? She is my brother-in-law's half-sister, so I call her sister. We have always met each other like guests. She is now When we were studying in your university, when did we do something outrageous?"

After thinking about it in my heart, we almost did all the ambiguous things, but almost, besides, Feifei won't say it by herself, right?This person really can't have any ghosts in his heart!

Gao Danan said confidently: "Feifei was drunk once, and she admitted it to herself. She likes her brother the most, and it's you! She even said that she would marry you! You still don't admit it!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "You said that she was drunk, isn't it normal for a younger sister to like her elder brother? This kind of love is brother-sister love, family affection, isn't this the most common? Please control it Your own emotions, if you like my sister, you can go and confess to her, please don't disturb the classroom, this is a place for learning knowledge and learning, if you want to talk about love, please go out!"

Gao Da Nan was very dissatisfied, and even shouted loudly: "I know you must not be brother and sister! Otherwise, she wouldn't reject me so decisively!"

As soon as these words came out, the truth became clear.

The vice-principal couldn't stand it anymore, and hurriedly found someone to drive him out!

Then the vice principal said sorry to me first, and said seriously to the people in the audience: "I will emphasize the classroom discipline again. This is a rare class for learning and knowledge. Please abide by the classroom discipline and don't lose us The faces of people from Zhuhai University!"

I stood on the stage again and said: "Rumors stop at wise men, I don't think I need to explain too much! I have enough negative news, and it's okay to add one more. But I hope everyone's focus today, Don’t be on these gossip news. The purpose of everyone’s coming here today is not to see me make a fool of myself, let alone to discuss my interesting articles. However, through the matter of this classmate just now, do you feel that you want to sell it as soon as possible? For yourself, the fastest and most effective way to sell products is to create topics that people are interested in. It’s not a good thing to be grandstanding, but it also shows from the side that as long as you arouse the curiosity of consumers, it will make consumers Generating the desire to buy is the most effective shortcut to sell products.

Of course, this is within the scope permitted by the law. You can sell and advertise unrestrainedly, but you can’t fabricate facts and hurt people, so you have to bear legal responsibility. "

Next, Yuan Lihong came to the stage to explain the next topic.

It was almost noon, and Yuan Lihong was showing a little tiredness, and I was going to take over from her to end today's class.

Suddenly, she coughed violently, and then wanted to take a sip of water. When she picked up the thermos cup and wanted to drink, she spit out a mouthful of blood into the cup.The people in the audience couldn't see it very clearly, thinking that she had choked on a mouthful of water.

I hurried over and helped Yuan Lihong, who was about to fall down, and she turned to me weakly, and said in a weak voice, "Let's end the class, from the beginning to the end!"

I nodded, helped her to sit aside, and then stood on the stage and said: "Then let's do this for today. Professor Yuan will rush back to BJ in the afternoon. Thank you for listening, goodbye!"

I turned around to help Yuan Lihong up, but she shook her head at me and said, "We'll wait until someone is done!"

I knew she wanted a perfect curtain call and didn't want people to see her like this, so I stood beside her and watched the crowd go away.

They were almost gone, so they helped Yuan Lihong up and said, "Let's go to Zhuhai People's Hospital first!"

Yuan Lihong refused: "I want to rush back to BJ this afternoon, Lao Sun is still waiting for me, I want to see him one last time!"

　We know they're lying, they know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, we know they know we know they're lying, but they're still lying. -Solzhenitsyn

　　
　
(End of this chapter)