boyutpedia Chapter 16: I Know Your Trump Card
Chapter 16: I Know Your Trump Card
That afternoon, the uncle and nephew prepared the formal quotation and set off early the next morning to Shanghai to submit it to Eric of Jiadao Company.
Just as the uncle and nephew were about to go home, they received a call from Lao Huang.
The main purpose of this phone call was to inform Huang Xiaochuan that his college entrance examination scores were out and what his scores were.
Although he already knew his score, Huang Xiaochuan still pretended to be very happy and accepted the congratulations from his father and uncle Zeng Jiahua. In the end, his father told Huang Xiaochuan to go back and wait for his admission notice as soon as possible.
After hanging up the phone, Zeng Jiahua happily rubbed his hands together and paced back and forth in the office: "Now you're definitely going to university. We're going to Shanghai tomorrow anyway, so I'll buy you a pager so it'll be easier to contact you in the future."
Huang Xiaochuan chuckled and thought of something: "I don't want it. What's so good about that thing? It'll be obsolete in a few years. I saw a news article in the newspaper saying that a new type of mobile phone has started to become popular in Shanghai. I estimate that it won't be long before we have it here too. Wouldn't it be more convenient to just buy a mobile phone?"
Zeng Jiahua didn't know what a mobile phone was, so Huang Xiaochuan explained it to him.
"A mobile phone is a device that allows you to carry your phone with you and make and receive calls anytime, anywhere. It uses a technology called wireless communication."
Zeng Jiahua didn't quite understand: "How can you hear a sound on a phone without a cord?"
"Uncle, you've seen the walkie-talkies in movies, right? In 'Heroes and Daughters,' Wang Cheng used a walkie-talkie to call 'Fire at me!' That walkie-talkie used the wireless communication technology I'm talking about." Huang Xiaochuan explained this technology to Zeng Jiahua in a very intuitive way.
Zeng Jiahua's eyes widened in disbelief: "Are you kidding me? Does that mean you have to carry such a huge backpack to make phone calls outside? I don't think that's convenient at all."
Huang Xiaochuan chuckled and said, "What are you talking about? Wireless communication technology has become much more advanced. You don't need to carry around such a big walkie-talkie to make calls anymore. I heard that mobile phones nowadays are only the size of a brick. You can hold them in your hand or put them in a small bag."
Zeng Jiahua became interested upon hearing this: "That's fine. Since they sell them in Shanghai, once this deal is done, I'll buy you one, no! Two, one for each of us."
Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan immediately provoked him, saying, "Uncle, you have to keep your word! A gentleman's promise is as good as his bond!"
Huang Xiaochuan chuckled inwardly. A mobile phone costs tens of thousands of yuan, and both incoming and outgoing calls are charged separately. He just hoped he wouldn't feel bad about the cost later. Besides, current mobile phones don't have roaming capabilities. If he bought one, once he left Shanghai, the thing would really be useless as a brick.
Zeng Jiahua wanted to give his debt-collecting nephew a good thrashing again, but Huang Xiaochuan had already learned his lesson. Sensing his uncle's unfriendly expression, he took precautions in advance and quietly kept a distance of more than one meter between the two of them.
At 7:30 a.m. on July 28, the uncle and nephew saw that the factory driver, A Liang, had already parked his car in front of their house as soon as they went out. The two got in the car and headed straight for Shanghai.
At nine o'clock, the uncle and nephew were already seated in a small conference room at the Hongqiao Hotel. After exchanging pleasantries, they took their seats, and Huang Xiaochuan handed the quotation to Eric from Jiadao Company.
It was arranged before we arrived. This meeting was mainly led by Huang Xiaochuan, mainly because Zeng Jiahua couldn't understand English and his Wu dialect Mandarin was incomprehensible to the two Singaporeans.
When Eric saw the final offer, he looked incredulous. He glanced at the offer sheet, then at Zeng Jiahua and Huang Xiaochuan sitting opposite him, before handing the offer letter to Mark next to him.
Mark's expression was the same as Eric's after reading it; he gave a disdainful look and casually tossed the quotation back onto the table.
Only then did Eric speak up: "Mr. Huang, are the figures on this quotation correct?"
Huang Xiaochuan calmly replied, "I can say with certainty that $230 million is our final offer."
Huang Xiaochuan's answer almost made Eric lose control of his emotions, but fortunately he managed to control himself well. He suppressed his dissatisfaction and said, "Mr. Huang, I can tell you frankly that we have requested quotations from six companies in total. Your quotation is the most unrealistic one I have seen. We hope that you can submit a new quotation."
Huang Xiaochuan knew perfectly well what was going on. Six companies? Don't be ridiculous! If there were other manufacturers that could replace them, how could they possibly give them a chance to renegotiate? They would be out of the game.
Huang Xiaochuan offered a reasonable explanation: "Eric, our quote is very reasonable. It includes material costs, labor costs, tax costs, time costs, and of course, a reasonable profit margin."
Eric retorted without backing down: "As far as I know, even with all your costs added up and a reasonable profit, it couldn't possibly be this much, could it?"
Huang Xiaochuan retorted sharply, "That's a misunderstanding on your part. There's an old Chinese saying, 'Good things aren't cheap, and cheap things aren't good.' You get what you pay for, and our price is quite reasonable."
"Your products are already close to the prices of similar products in Europe and Japan. Instead of that, we can simply purchase their products."
Huang Xiaochuan looked at Eric with a mocking expression: "Eric, do you think we don't know the prices of similar products in Europe and Japan?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Xiaochuan pushed a chart that he had prepared overnight to the other side.
When Eric picked up the chart and started looking at it, Huang Xiaochuan began, "I've listed the prices of similar products abroad on this chart. I don't know what your basis is for saying the prices are similar? Is a price difference of nearly ten times what you mean by 'similar prices'?"
After carefully examining the chart that Huang Xiaochuan had given them, Eric and Mark's expressions were a mix of surprise and embarrassment.
After a moment of panic, Eric calmed down and abandoned the idea of continuing to argue about the price. He then decided to force Huang Xiaochuan to make concessions on the sales channels.
"As things stand, without our Jiadao Company, your products simply cannot be sold. If you insist on not changing your price, then I can only express my regret that our cooperation will not be able to continue."
Seeing that the other party had revealed their true intentions, Huang Xiaochuan didn't want to waste any more words. "You have your tricks, but I have my countermeasures. Let's see how you try to mess things up."
He picked up a pen and started writing on the paper. There weren't many words, just a few lines.
After writing it down, he pushed the paper back to the other person and looked at them with a smile, waiting to see their reaction.
Eric took the paper and glanced at it casually at first. After seeing the contents, he was startled and his expression instantly became tense. He looked at the paper carefully again and again, and then looked at Huang Xiaochuan sitting opposite him with an incredulous expression.
The names of the projects listed on this paper are Jiadao Company's so-called clients. The flange products they purchase are resold to these petrochemical projects that are about to be built or are under construction.
Seeing that the time was right, Huang Xiaochuan stood up, placed his hands on the conference table, and began to speak: "We sincerely want to cooperate with Jiadao, and from the beginning I expressed our good vision of a win-win situation, where everyone prospers together. But what you're thinking about is maximizing your own interests. You not only take all the meat but don't even want to leave us a drop of soup; all we're left with are scraps. Have you ever thought about a win-win situation with us?"
"Comparatively speaking, we are much more honest than you. If we directly report this information to our country's foreign trade department, we can export the products directly to your customers without you having to go through the middle. You should know that once we do this, with the quality and cost advantages of our products, this business will be out of your reach."
"But we didn't do that. We still adhered to the most basic principles of buying and selling and wanted to have a fair transaction with you. We only earned our rightful share of the profit, and we also left you with more profit than we did. Ask yourselves honestly, compared to what you did, how have we treated you? Do you still think our offer is unreasonable?"
This was the first time Eric and Mark had suffered such a crushing defeat in business negotiations. The other party not only knew their customer channels, but also had found out their prices clearly. What was the point of negotiating?
We're completely under their control now. Do we dare say we won't do business with them? We really don't dare gamble. Because if they report this information to their country's foreign trade department, our company will definitely lose the deal.
Because Jiadao Company operates on information asymmetry, and now that everyone knows their cards, what's the point of doing business? You think you can do it? Why can't others?
Fortunately, the other party did not go all out and was willing to continue the transaction, leaving a considerable profit. In this case, the deal can still be done, although the profit is much less than originally planned, but it is better than nothing, right?
After considering it for a long time, Eric and Mark discussed it quietly for a moment, and then Eric stood up and politely said to Huang Xiaochuan, "Excuse me, I need to make a phone call."
Huang Xiaochuan smiled and gestured for him to do as he pleased: "Please!"