At 9am, the meeting officially began. Corporate meetings are not as formal as government meetings, and Yijia is influenced by Feng Yiping and has always been highly efficient. After a brief welcome speech, Zhou Xinyu summarized last year's work, saying what everyone at the meeting wanted to hear.
As of yesterday, Jia has opened a total of 373 stores in five provinces and one municipality, and achieved sales of 112.73 million yuan in the past fiscal year.
At the beginning of the meeting, people kept answering the phone. As Zhou Xinyu reported the various indicators from the previous year one by one, the venue fell into a rare silence.
Xiao Zhijie and Wang Changning, dressed in suits and dressed as office workers, sat in the seats of Jiasheng Food Factory, pretending to listen to those around them either discussing last year's sales or talking about their company's sales commission policy and how much commission they would receive at the end of the year. They felt both novel and envious, as if they had entered a brand new world.
Hearing the numbers that Zhou Xinyu mentioned, they all saw the surprise in each other's eyes. They knew that Feng Yiping had invested a lot of energy in the convenience store and had high expectations, but they didn't expect it to have reached such a large scale in just a year or two. Xiao Zhijie calculated the minimum amount that would have resulted in a good profit last year based on the minimum standards. Wang Changning listened, and at first he didn't quite believe it. That was money that his two noodle shops, which were doing well, could only earn after decades.
Xiao Zhijie gave him a look, then listened attentively to Zhou Xinyu's report. Wang Changning understood the meaning of that look: 'Don't believe it, do the math yourself.' He roughly did the math, and sure enough, the figure just reported by Xiao Zhijie was indeed the discounted and discounted amount. At that moment, he had no heart to daydream anymore and listened attentively.
After Zhou Xinyu finished his summary, there were a flurry of questions from the floor. The most common question was about the specific sales figures for each category. Everyone wanted to know the total sales for the sector they worked in, so they could get an idea of the market potential.
'Everyone, please calm down,' Zhou Xinyu said with a smile, patting the microphone. 'Our system will provide you with the sales figures for each category of goods every month. Next, I would like to welcome our group president, Ms. Jin Ling, to give her speech.'
Jin Ling's speech was just as concise. 'The problem of staff training, which has been the biggest obstacle to our expansion, has been solved. We have two training bases of our own and have established contacts with 15 schools, signing commissioning agreements with seven of them. Therefore, this year, we will accelerate the pace of opening new stores, with plans to add at least 500 new stores and at least eight new distribution centres this year.'
These words were like cold water splashed into a pan of hot oil, and the room immediately became lively. The number of branches will increase by at least 1.3 times, which means that sales will at least double this year, and possibly more than that, because many of the 373 branches from last year were added in the second half of the year and only operated for half a year.
Once these words were released, at the end of the meeting, Jin Ling and Zhou Xinyu received a celebrity-like reception. Suppliers one after the other made appointments with them to discuss business. Purchasing department employees simply could not eat in peace at lunch, as they were being urged on by their accompanying guests. Those suppliers who had not come also called one after the other to inquire.
It was all good news, especially from the suppliers who didn't come. They all said various concessions over the phone. The promotional support that was previously difficult to give was now very generous. Although many were verbal promises, it was already much better than before when they tried hard to persuade them and the manufacturers still wouldn't budge.
So, this is actually their most glorious moment. These are mostly young people who have graduated from university a few years ago. They quickly grab a few mouthfuls of rice, grab a bottle of water, and keep talking on the phone while they trot over to the head of the purchasing department, Gao Zhiyi, in the office. They hope that when they negotiate the new contract with the supplier, a senior executive from the company will be there to show the other party that they are being taken seriously, which will make it easier to negotiate the terms.
The company employees who were temporarily assigned to reception saw the reaction of these guests and were deeply proud of their company. Usually, when they read the internal announcements about the number of new employees, new branches, and new sales, they were not excited, just some numbers, and they felt quite justified. If the number of new branches in a certain month was less than the previous month, they would mutter, 'Why is there less new branches this month? What are those guys in the marketing department doing?'
But today, they felt from the enthusiasm of these suppliers that their own company is actually so good.
The afternoon schedule was divided into two groups. One group returned to the hotel, where one-on-one negotiations took place in the hotel office and the small meeting rooms on the second floor that had been temporarily converted from guest rooms. The executives, including Jinling, were the busiest. The meeting rooms where they were sitting were brought in one after another, and after finishing with this one, the next one came in a few minutes.
Another group was taken on a tour by Gao Zhiyi, focusing on Jiasheng Holiday Inn, which had entered the interior decoration stage, Zhitong Company, and the flagship store of the furniture and cabinet factory in the provincial capital.
Looking at the hundreds of acres of land and the magnificent hotel, the visitors once again had a direct experience of the strength of the group behind Youjia. Because Gao Zhiyi casually mentioned during the introduction, 'For the hotel project and all other investments of the group, we have not taken a single cent in bank loans. On the contrary, several banks are now after our group, wanting to give us credit and have us open accounts with them, whether basic or general.'
For these daily necessities and fast-moving consumer goods, what matters is quick turnover, so customers like Yijia, with its large sales volume and prompt payment upon receipt of invoice, are their favourites. Several of them are thinking, when the time comes for negotiations tomorrow, whether to reduce the settlement price by a few stores and increase the promotional expenses appropriately.
Among all the companies in the group, Zhitong has the best office conditions, because the boss Feng Yiping promised to reinvest all the profits from last year. In addition to hiring a lot and buying horses, Hong Haoran also generously expanded the company's office area. The decoration plan jointly designed by Chen Xuefeng and Ying Anjie incorporated Feng Yiping's memories of some second-rate swords. It is modern and people-oriented in every way. Without mentioning the international level, the office conditions and atmosphere of Zhitong are definitely at the forefront among domestic software companies.
These visiting customers can also be regarded as potential customers of Zhitong. Hong Haoran personally went into the meeting room and took the trouble to explain Zhitong's several flagship products to them, striving to give them an intuitive and deep impression. Even if their company does not need them, it would be a great help if they could mention Zhitong's software a little when visiting customers.
However, the biggest gain has to be the furniture and cabinets. During the visit, many people took the initiative to ask for product samples. Some people asked, 'Are these sold in our area?'
Some even went further, asking, 'Can you open a franchise for furniture or cabinets? Do you have a franchise plan?'
I have to say that these people have travelled extensively over the years and have good taste. The styles and workmanship of the furniture and cabinets are quite outstanding, and the prices are reasonable. It would definitely be a good investment for their wives or friends to open such a store.