Chapter 17 Chapter Four

As a scholar, Xu Zhao has never stopped his pursuit of knowledge and knowledge, especially in the theoretical pursuit of politics, economy, trade and national conditions. the point.From a bachelor's degree to a master's and a doctor's degree, he kept improving and changed his major.In his own words: "If you study economics and don't understand politics, you are blind without a crutch; if you are engaged in trade, you don't understand the national conditions of your own country and the history and cultural knowledge of the trading country, as well as astronomy, geography, customs, and national habits. It's like the kite has broken its string..."

The difference between a wise man and a fool lies in the unequal distance in knowledge.A wise man adds thought, pursuit, and diligence, which are the three steps to build a "doctoral quotient".And by incorporating the unique personality and affinity of the innate Suzhou people, the special brand texture of Suzhou Boshang is created. Doctor's level of knowledge is very high.However, Xu Zhao told us that as a foreign trade businessman, a doctoral businessman must first have the most basic shrewdness and diligence of a businessman. There is a saying that there is no evil and no business.Xu Zhao believes that for a businessman who wants to make some achievements in the business world for a long time, "traitor" can gain some small profits temporarily, but it will not become a big weapon in the end.Only by being honest and shrewd can we obtain long-term benefits, and this benefit should always be shared by both trading parties.

Smart business intelligence is not created out of thin air, it comes from the accumulation of diligent study and hard practice. When Xu Zhao worked as a department manager at Suzhou Minmetals Import and Export Corporation, two things made him famous in the company: one was playing with typewriters, and the other was looking through telephone directories.The former is to record the list of imported and exported commodities, so he always types and enters it in his own database.When others got off work, Xu Zhao began to "close contact" with the typewriter in the company building. Although the sound of the old-fashioned typewriter was not very pleasant, Sha Jinxing, the company's general manager, spoke highly of it: "Xu Zhao Not a musician, but he played our Minmetals best business music on a typewriter!"

What is the mystery of flipping through the phone book?It is one of the easiest and easiest "technical jobs" in the business world, and anyone can do it, because there are directories of various companies on it, and you can know whether the company has any contactable relationship with your business with just one phone call. information.But this simplest "job" can be done by different people with completely different levels of quality.Xu Zhao's ability is that he does not ignore the low-level skills of ordinary people to turn numbers and make phone calls, but also because he can go to all the manufacturers after obtaining the business information of related companies, and find out the bottom of their factory conditions and products.And this, Xu Zhao still thinks it is far from enough.He believes that for an excellent foreign trader who wants to make a difference, knowing the manufacturers who are familiar with the source of goods is only the most basic part. The manufacturers of the plant are nurtured and cared for as "natural children".

"Xu Zhao, what are you thinking? Are you planning to get married?" On this day, Xu Zhao was in a gadolinium diamond factory in Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province. Mrs. Xu Zhao's "bride" called and asked him angrily.It is no wonder that the wedding will be held tomorrow, but the groom is tinkering with a bicycle part with the master worker in a bicycle parts factory in a small county far away from Suzhou. Xu Zhao is not the kind of wooden man who does not eat fireworks in the world. He is a man who is very loyal and affectionate to his family and friends.The only difference between him and ordinary people is that he also pays this passion to those customers and suppliers who have business dealings with him, which also makes him gain the highest reputation in the business world.

"Thirty cents for face." This is a catchphrase that colleagues praised Xu Zhao.What's the meaning? "That is, as long as Xu Zhao comes forward, those suppliers can give him a discount of about 30 cents on the price of the product. Don't look at the face of the 30 cents! Bicycle accessories are as large as hundreds of yuan, as small as a few cents If Xu Zhao can get back the "thirty cents face" of the supplier, this may be the entire profit of our exporter!" I see! But the reason why Xu Zhao was able to gain "thirty cents face" from the supplier was because he was able to lay a solid foundation with the spirit of forgetting even "marriage".

China's foreign trade basically emerged after the reform and opening up, especially the small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises with a shorter history. They usually do not have much experience. Although they produce and manufacture products for foreign trade, they do not know much about the international market.In view of the situation of his suppliers, Xu Zhao dedicates himself to cultivating suppliers' thinking, product development and market concepts as an equally important task as the company's wealth creation. "Many of our company's suppliers have been able to cooperate with us for a long time because most of them have grown up under the support of Manager Xu Zhao." Xu Zhao's past and present colleagues have expressed such pride to us Introduced.

A sachet factory in the suburbs of Suzhou has been exporting sachets for more than ten years, but what is the foreign market like?How do foreign businessmen view their own products?The factory manager Lao Cai's eyes were actually darkened.The factory director is like this, how much future does this company have?Xu Zhao and this sachet factory only had a business relationship at the beginning, but the eager eyes of Lao Cai, the factory manager, who longed for his products to go global, made Xu Zhao pay attention to those popular in the world market when he participated in international exhibitions. Sachets, incense balls, incense sticks, etc.When he brought this information to Director Cai and the others again and again, the factory quickly got on the road, and the product style and quality followed suit.When Lao Cai's factory manager and his company were booming, Xu Zhao used his years of experience in the Canton Fair to set up a booth for Lao Cai's sachet factory at the Canton Fair, and acted as an interpreter and salesman himself.

The market development of Lao Cai Factory is getting bigger and bigger, and at this time, the company's capital turnover usually encounters some difficulties. "Mr. Xu, I'm really an ant on the hot pot right now! I finally signed a batch of supply contracts with foreign companies, but my family told me that there was a big problem with capital turnover. Don't you think this is a matter of urgency!" One late night in August, Xu Zhao received an overseas call from Lao Cai from abroad. "Don't worry about Lao Cai, let me think about it..." Xu Zhao received the call, as if his company had a problem, he comforted Lao Cai while thinking about it.Immediately he dialed the phone: "Financial Xiao Zhang? I have something urgent to call you..."

"Mr. Xu, you, your brother are really sending charcoal to our factory!" It was another overseas call from Lao Cai from a foreign country.This time Lao Cai was a little choked up with excitement.what happened?It turned out that Lao Cai had just received news from the factory: Xu Zhao remitted a sum of emergency funds to Lao Cai's factory in time in the name of the company... "In just a few years, our factory has changed from a small factory that only made gift sachets to a foreign trade designated enterprise that has dozens of popular products and can compete for a seat in the international aromatic products market. This is In the middle, Dr. Xu Zhao’s selfless help is indispensable.” The year before last, the factory manager Lao Cai, with the gratitude of all factory employees to Xu Zhao, wanted to give Xu Zhao 10% of the company’s shares.

Xu Zhao naturally did not accept it.He said to the factory manager Lao Cai: "You are wrong. I will help you. In fact, you have also given my company more benefits." Yes, Lao Cai's luggage factory now has several million dollars in revenue every year. The export order was for Xu Zhao and the others. Achieving a win-win situation is exactly what Xu Zhao seeks as a foreign trader between suppliers and customers seeking goods. "Trade is sometimes like a barrier, you can't break it without attacking; sometimes it is a front, and you can't win the final victory if you focus on one thing and lose the other; sometimes trade is like English words, you have to memorize them one by one; Like positions, you have to occupy them piece by piece; trade, sometimes like love, if you don’t care about love, you won’t be able to cultivate the fruit of happiness in marriage..." Xu Zhao, a Ph. The second prize in the competition, so once his poems surged, philosophical lines popped out frequently. However, Xu Zhao's poems are by no means from the study, but are honed in the bloody business war. We often hear the words "trade barriers", but only a master like Xu Zhao who has been fighting on the trade front for many years can appreciate its true blood and cruelty. The business world is like a battlefield. There are no victorious generals here, but there are endless "capturing" and "jumping" people. Being in the center of the battlefield, Xu Zhao couldn't always be so lucky. Many people think that those who do foreign trade business are very attractive, wear the most fashionable clothes, ride the most foreign-style cars, travel around the world all the year round, and get US dollars for eating and playing.But they don't know what it's like to "capsize" and "jump off a building" once they are in distress. "Capsizing" and "jumping off a building" are not something you can avoid if you want to.On the red carpet for negotiation and signing, there is only champagne and music, and there will be no stormy waves, let alone earth shaking, but in a blink of an eye, you may fall into the abyss from the red carpet... This is not malicious exaggeration, nor is it false description. "OK, we are true friends, and we promise to respect your preference: you can set the FOB price or the CIF price..." Mr. U, a foreign businessman with a mustache, was tolerant and generous while sipping red wine. "Then - if it is FOB price, how much can you pay? If it is CIF price, what price can you offer?" Mr. J, a Chinese foreign trader, tried. "In the words of you Chinese, our friendship comes first. It's easy to talk about. The FOB price is naturally much lower than the CIF price..." "Then—I choose CIF." "Mr. J's choice is really full of wisdom! Okay, I will give you the CIF price." Mr. U shook his mustache and signed his name on the trade contract. "Please." He handed the pen to Mr. J and added lightly: "Looking at our friendship, I only attach a small condition to the CIF price I promised you: the goods are in transit. In case of loss and failure to arrive at our port on time, you can buy it for me—" "That's natural." At this moment, Mr. J's eyes are all on the preferential CIF price offered by the other party.The moment the signature was signed, the treacherous and cunning Mr. U was shaking his beard and smiling. "OK, deal!" Mr. U and Mr. J walked on the scarlet carpet, surrounded by charming music... "Dinglingling—!" A few days later, Mr. J, who was waiting for the foreigner to remit a large sum of dollars to his account, was awakened by a sudden ringing of the phone. "What? Has the ship really capsized?" Mr. J's first reaction was that he rolled down the red-carpeted stairs and was hit on the sharp wooden pillars again and again. That hurt! The boat didn't turn over, but that's not much different from capsizing. Mr. J’s subordinates told him: The goods shipped by the company to Mr. U in foreign countries were not allowed to be transshipped because the HNA ship encountered a storm in the Indian Ocean. According to the terms, Party J must pay Mr. U the delay fee and cargo damage fee for not being able to arrive on time. The sum of the two is almost the trade price of the entire batch of goods. "Mr. J, should you pay me two sums of compensation first, or should we return the goods to you?" Mr. U sent an overseas fax from a foreign country. Mr. J looked at the fax and wanted to cry, but finally he could only say: Don’t return the goods, can it be used for the two compensations? Mr. U told Mr. J straightforwardly: For our better cooperation in the future, I agree. Another new collaboration begins.This time, Mr. J kept in mind the lesson of "CIF price" and resolutely proposed "this time the bill will be settled at FOB price". Mr. U shook his beard again: "OK, I always leave the top priority to your Excellency." The moment he signed the contract, he was so chic.Just smiling, he whispered to Mr. J: I have a small suggestion, a small one. Say, as long as it conforms to convention. In Mr. J's heart, there is only the idea of ​​recapturing the past losses as soon as possible. happy!Okay, my little suggestion is: if you can't ship the goods offshore within the agreed time, can I claim the detention fee from you? This is natural. Mr. J felt that the "suggestion" made by the other party was reasonable. Amidst champagne and music, the contract was signed again.In the following days, Mr. J and his colleagues from top to bottom of the company were busy organizing the supply of goods, and handed over the goods to Ocean Shipping Company during the appointment time with Mr. U.Sinotrans also clearly stipulated in the contract with Mr. J that it would compensate Mr. J's company if the offshore time was delayed. However, an accident still occurred: Sinotrans was unable to leave the shore within the scheduled time, and it took ten and a half days to delay... pay! After receiving the goods, Mr. U faxed a claim bill to Mr. J with a smile. Mr. J was taken aback when he saw the figure - even though he had glanced at the amount when he signed the contract.In pain, Mr. J suddenly remembered that he had a contract with Sinotrans that could also claim compensation. We fulfill the contract, compensate!Sinotrans did not break its promise.But after receiving the compensation, Mr. J burst into tears: This is less than one-tenth of what I paid old U! Mr. J really jumped off the building later, and his figure and voice are no longer seen in the foreign trade circle... In fact, Xu Zhao encountered far more such trade traps than Mr. J encountered.He has never jumped off the building because he has accumulated more knowledge on how to avoid pitfalls before signing contracts again and again.He didn't capsize, because the rudder he steered was cast with a combination of honesty and wisdom—— That year, Xu Zhao and the others received 10,000 bicycle locks from a merchant, who insisted that the quality of the locks was defective.The salesmen found the supply factory, but after checking and checking, they failed to find out where the problem was, so they felt that the customer was deliberately picky.However, the merchant insisted that the quality of the lock was problematic, and declared that if Xu Zhao and the others did not make compensation and improve the quality of the supply, the business between them would come to an end. "If you don't do it, don't do it. If there is one less monk, there will be no temple in the world? Damn it!" Some salesmen muttered. Xu Zhao resolutely said: "No, since the customer insists that there is a problem with the lock we supply, it must be that they have discovered the problem. We must not only compensate the full amount, but also find the crux of the problem." After Xu Zhao found the supply factory, he and the technical factory manager devoted themselves to analysis and research, and finally found the root of the problem: it turned out that there was no quality problem in the lock itself, but that some locks had fewer pins. Although this ratio was only 4% One, that is to say, among the 400 or so locks, one of the locks lacked a marble, which caused the problem that the lock had to be reopened.According to the contract, the re-opening rate of the locks supplied by Xu Zhao and the others is 1 in 600, that is, one of the 600 locks is allowed to be re-opened. If one of the 599 locks needs to be re-opened, This is considered unqualified.When the foreign trade business is severe, you are so ruthless. If you fail to meet other people's standards, even if it is only a little bit short, the fault lies with you, and the other party has the right to demand compensation from you.This is the rule of international trade, and it can also be said to be the law of international trade. If you cross the line, you will lose. "Compensation! The problem belongs to us, so we must pay the exact amount." After Xu Zhao found out the facts, he ordered his subordinates to compensate the merchants with 1,200 locks without saying a word.This move of his satisfied the client, so this client has always regarded Xu Zhao as the most reliable and trustworthy partner, and Xu Zhao also wins 4 million profits for the company from this client every year with his integrity. Many people think that it is easy to make money in foreign trade, but when you step into this "fortress", you will find that this field is the most difficult to make money. "It sounds like a paradox, but it's actually true. In foreign trade business, it seems that gold is everywhere, but if you don't handle any details well, not only the gold will run away, but even the money in your pocket will fly away." Xu Zhao said this because he had a personal experience.