Chapter 90: The Horn of War
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Staring at the financial report on the monitor, Cao Yong’s eyes stared at a few critical data on the report. His face was as peaceful as water.
Although there was A/C in the room, Chen Taitong, who was standing next to Cao Yong, could not help but sweat nervously. He bent his back down slightly and didn’t dare to stand up straight. He looked as if he was a Eunuch who was carefully taking care of and waiting for questions from his master. The longer it took, the more uneasy he felt.
Chen Taitong knew that today would be a rough day. Sales had dropped significantly. The accident didn’t help the situation. Also, corporate had announced again and again that this year was the most critical time for the preparation of going public and all branches were required to not have any scandals.
Finally, Cao Yong’s eyes landed on the dropped percentage of sales. Chen Taitong almost stopped breathing.
"Manager Chen, is it wrong?" Cao Yong asked pointing at the number. He was being polite and indirect.
"Uhm…This is…uhm…" Chen Taitong was sweating like crazy. He forced a smile and said, "Sales dropped a bit. Now school started. Sales were way better during summer…"
Cao Yong was the regional sales director of Stars Pet Chain Supermarket. Honestly, his position was only a bit higher than Chen Taitong. Most importantly, Cao Yong was from corporate. Chen Taitong was only a manager from a chain store. Cao Yong had a much greater influence in the company.
Cao Yong looked him in the eyes and said, "Manager Chen, it is normal that sales go down a little after school starts. It happens to every store. however, none of the stores dropped 50% in sales. What is going on?"
Outside the window across from Stars Pet Chain Supermarket, about twenty people were holding up signs and watching the store entrance. Some pedestrians slowed down to read the signs curiously.
"Stars Pet Chain Supermarket hires internet water army! They swindle money out of us!"
"Stars Pet Chain Supermarket sells second quality pets for full price and doesn’t admit it!"
"Stars Pet Chain Supermarket plays foul with customers. They hide their pets’ health problems!"
There were people from all age groups. They were holding signs, but remained silent. They were trying to put pressure on Stars Pet Chain Store and warn the new customers. It was very effective. Some people had second thoughts once they saw the signs, while some still trusted a super enterprise like Stars and ignored the signs.
Chen Taitong could not do anything about it. The group stayed across from the road, which was not on their property. He could not kick them out. There were also some senior citizens who were seventy or eighty years old. No one wanted to talk to them in case anything happened.
He called the police. The policemen came but could not do anything about it. They didn’t kick anyone out. In the contrary, they asked Manager Chen to compensate the group some money to deal with the matter.
Chen Taitong could not open a can of worms. If he started paying those customers money, more customers would ask for more money. The policemen then went talk to the group, told them to go to the business bureau, the consumer protection bureau, or the courts. Chen Taitong was pissed off. Those policemen only knew how to make arbitrary suggestions.
The group didn’t achieve an agreement internally neither did they take the advice from the police. The policemen went back knowing that neither side was going to take their suggestions. However, since Chen Taitong called the police, although the problem wasn’t solved, there was always a police car nearby. The policemen were observing the situation and they would take action once anything happened.
Chen Taitong was trapped. The group had nothing better to do. The elderly people sat there all day. Someone would send them food and drinks at noon. They had nothing but time. However, if they sat there all day, it would be an extremely negative influence on his store.
At this point, Chen Taitong could not hide it anymore. He had to tell Cao Yong about what happened and see what he could do. A huge enterprise like Stars Pet Chain Superstore had to have some ways to resolve problems like that. What seemed to be difficult to him might not be a problem to Stars Pet Chain Store.
Cao Yong’s face was pulling longer and longer. He was knocking his desk with his fingers. He looked like a bomb that was about to explode. Corporate cared about the enterprise’s image very much because of the plan to go public. Hiring an internet water army was quite normal in the industry. It was highly effective and inexpensive. It was an open secret; however, it could be very troublesome once found out.
After thinking about it, he said, "Manager Chen, you have to resolve this problem as soon as possible and can’t let corporate know. This is an order. Don’t count on corporate to clean up the mess for you; otherwise, corporate will only fire you to set an example!" Chen Taitong was shocked. He was counting on corporate to help him through the problem. Now it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Corporate might close this store to keep its reputation. It was only a small store after all.
The pet industry was a high-turnover industry. Chen Taitong chose to join Stars Pet Chain Supermarket because it was a huge chain. Its purchasing price was a lot better than other stores and it had its own transportation team. It was the best fit to his business model. It was all fine when nothing went wrong. However, when something was wrong, it was not going to fight for a small chain store.
Although sales went down significantly, the licensing fee could not be late. Otherwise, the deposit would be taken by corporate and the licensing contract would be cancelled.
"Director Cao, you have to help me! I have to close the business if this situation continues. My whole family is counting on this business for a living. Please help me!" Chen Taitong’s legs felt weak and he almost kneeled down in front of Cao Yong.
Cao Yong wasn’t going to get involved. However, if this store failed, he as the regional sales director would be accountable for it to some degree. He had been competing with the regional purchasing director, Qian Fang, for the general manager position. If he could get that position and make some good contribution, it was highly likely that he would be promoted as a middle or high-level manager in corporate. Even if he could not get promoted to upper management, as a regional general manager he would get stocks from the company, which was also great.
Considering the above, Cao Yong said, "I couldn’t do anything to the people outside, but I might be able to do something to increase sales."
Chen Taitong saw the light. "How?"
"Very simple. Say the total sale in this area is constant. The sales in your store dropped. It means sales in another store has gone up. Think, which store is it?"
"It seems to me that the Amazing Fate Pet Store is quite popular these days," he responded. The information had to come from his staff, who was also an internet water army.
Cao Yong Laughed, "I know that one. It is an old store. it wasn’t a big threat before. Your purchasing price is a lot lower; you should be able to win the competition. A price war takes care of everything."