After returning from Beijing, Liu Chen placed a laptop in their shop and taught Liu Fang how to use it so that orders could be processed by computer. Although Liu Fang felt writing them by hand was faster, Liu Chen explained that this way they could directly see how much they had sold, what their profit was, and the inventory status.
With these carrots dangling in front of her, Liu Fang, despite her age, began to learn typing with Pinyin and grudgingly started using the computer for order processing.
The business of hand-grabbed pancakes was now on track, and several hot pot restaurants had even approached them. The daily sales volume was slowly increasing.
With the start of school looming on August 25th, Liu Chen, seizing the opportunity after a customer left on the morning of the 22nd, grabbed Liu Fang and asked:
"Mom, what are your thoughts on signing a contract with Meili Brand Hams?"
Liu Fang was sitting at the laptop, processing the orders that hadn't been entered into the computer earlier. Without looking up, she said, "Our hand-grabbed pancakes are doing well, and the profit is good. Why sign for those hams? We'll be too busy."
Liu Chen sighed inwardly.
"But Mom, don't you remember? The current high profit for hand-grabbed pancakes is because we bought that batch from Wang Dong Ge at almost cost price. Once this batch is sold, do you expect Aunt to negotiate with Wang Dong Ge to continue selling to us at cost?"
Hearing this, Liu Fang's head shot up from the laptop.
"How is that possible? Wang Dong would look down on your Aunt. Absolutely not!"
Liu Chen nodded in agreement with Liu Fang, "Exactly! That's out of the question. So, we'll just have Wang Dong Ge supply us at the normal price. Currently, our selling price per case is 105, and the normal cost is 93, making a profit of 12 per case. However, after accounting for cold storage costs, our actual profit in hand is about 9 yuan."
Liu Fang started to feel dizzy after this string of numbers.
"What does this have to do with selling hams?"
"Mom, have you forgotten? Didn't we want to distribute to our neighbors in the market? Since they want Meili Brand hams, they might give us some face and let us set up a hand-grabbed pancake sample. This way, wouldn't distribution become feasible?"
Liu Fang frowned slightly, feeling that something was not quite right. However, her reliance on Liu Chen since the summer vacation prevented her from overthinking this subtle feeling.
Seizing the momentum, Liu Chen, worried that his mother might procrastinate after he started school, thought that if others got ahead and signed an agency agreement, they would regret it terribly.
With Liu Chen constantly urging her forward, Liu Fang made a call to the salesperson who usually delivered goods to their shop.
"Hello? Xiao Ai? It's me, Liu Jie. The one selling hand-grabbed pancakes in the wholesale market! Yes, yes, it's about this. Haven't I been asking for hams recently? I order today and they arrive tomorrow?
Oh, I'm not criticizing you for being slow, I'm just thinking that since my sales here are quite fast, why don't I become an agent for your market in C City?"
A month ago, if Liu Fang dared to say this, the manufacturer of Meili Brand would have laughed. But not now.
Who didn't know that a dark horse had emerged in C City's frozen goods district, stocking tens of thousands of cases of hand-grabbed pancakes at once?
After hearing something on the phone, she said, "Alright, then we'll discuss it in detail when your boss comes today. Bye."
The call ended. Just then, a customer arrived outside the shop. Liu Fang got up to sell, Liu Chen handled the order, and Sister Li and her husband pushed a small cart to transfer the hand-grabbed pancakes from the large cold storage in the back to the smaller one at the shop.
In the shop, everything else has to take a backseat when a customer arrives. The priority is always to serve the customer first.
This busyness lasted until the afternoon when the so-called boss of the Meili Brand salesperson arrived.
---
Chen Long, at 38, was the Sales General Manager for Meili Brand in the Southwest region. He had only been in office for six months, but he was already disgusted with how frozen goods dealers in C City placed orders.
His father had founded Meili Brand, which was a well-known local brand in S Province, yet not a single frozen goods merchant was willing to stock more of their products in their shops, and they complained daily about slow delivery. Why was Meili Brand's delivery slow?
It was because each shop ordered only twenty to thirty cases, some even just five or ten. To fill a truck, deliveries were slow!
In fact, Chen Long had also begun to consider recruiting a dealer in C City's frozen goods district. However, the first few big frozen goods bosses he approached found the profit margin on Meili Brand hams too low and refused to become agents.
---
When Liu Chen saw Chen Long standing outside the shop, his eyelashes blinked rapidly. Isn't this...
Isn't this the boss of Meili Brand hams???
Was it necessary for the boss himself to show up just to discuss a dealership for C City's frozen goods district?
Chen Long didn't notice Liu Chen's odd reaction. His attention was entirely focused on Sister Liu, whom his salesperson had introduced.
"Sister Liu, hello, hello. I've always heard about the dark horse emerging in C City's frozen goods market. I finally get to meet you in person today. You look much younger than I imagined!"
Which woman doesn't like compliments? At least Liu Fang couldn't resist. She smiled, took off her gloves, and walked from inside the shop to the outside. "Not at all, Boss Chen. You look so young, and you're Xiao Ai's boss. Your attire is also much more fashionable than ours in the wholesale market."
Indeed, Liu Chen had glimpsed Chen Long's LV belt as he'd passed by – still as flashy as ever, Boss Chen.
Chen Long, who loved to dress up but was repeatedly mocked as nouveau riche by his ex-wife, instantly relaxed as he heard the compliment about his fashion sense.
"Since Boss Liu is a straightforward person, let's sit down and discuss your specific ideas?"
Liu Chen quickly cleared the more spacious area inside the shop – behind the office desk – and pulled out three stacked plastic stools from the corner, placing them behind the desk.
"Please, come and sit down," Liu Fang said to the two from Meili Brand, gesturing for them to sit behind the office desk after seeing her daughter's actions.
Once everyone was seated, Liu Fang said:
"Look, what are your general requirements for an agent? Let's discuss it. I'm very sincere."
"Sister Liu, it's like this. I don't have many requirements for agents, but there's one condition: you must take delivery of enough to fill a van each time, three hundred cases."
After saying this, Chen Long paused, observing Liu Fang's reaction. Based on the sales volume in C City's frozen goods district, about 150 cases were sold per day. Three hundred cases would take two days to sell.
This meant that if Liu Fang agreed to this condition, she would have to rent a small warehouse specifically for three hundred cases of hams, and hire an additional person for delivery.
Liu Chen also realized this, but she had already planned to rent a warehouse to store the hams separately, so she didn't say much.
Liu Fang, however, was taken aback and asked very seriously:
"If we order three hundred cases at once, will you give us a discount?"