Three years ago, with a small trunk, I came to this beautiful small city. Like most of college graduates, I feel very confident in finding a job and to create a bright future. In fact, I grasped my first chance of interview and my boss carried me in his Benz to my first company. He did not like to say much things and weared so rustically that I mistaken him as a driver. Only after I heard the HR manager called him boss that I know he will be my future boss who owns three factories. With a total wealth of billions, he is actually a easy-going person. I did not feel nervous at all during one hour chat with him and signed contract with him without any hesitation.
First several months in my new job was full with happiness and curiosity. Every day, after several hours of interesting trainning courses, we went back to our dorm to spend some happy hours together, playing cards, watching TV, writing to family, wandering in the street... Some times I even felt that I was a college student again. What is more, I no longer need to face those boring books everyday.
Time passed quickly. With the quitting of some old hands, I had to take on the important task on my own. After the rejoicing and pride of becoming a businessman, there are mistakes, negligence, remorse, and depression. My customer complained me several times before my boss. I saw the big gap between my ideal and the reality. But I could not find my way out. What was planned to be a bright future seemed to be covered with traps and dense fog ahead. A voice deep in my heart continuously talked to me:Give up! Give up and find a new job. Fortunately, I was not defeated by myself. If I quit before difficulties, I will also loose my confidence. I stayed in the company late in the night to do extra jobs, to file the old documents and papers, and to summarize the mistakes I have made before. I stipulated two principles in doing my job: 1.Never repeat the same mistake. 2.My customer and me are equal. We are business partners. I mustn't let him feel that I am a green hand with poor abilities.
Next 3 years could be described in one word: Busy. Over one 100 customers from all over the world was distributed to us 18 sales representatives. I was lucky to be responsible for the business with 5 key customers of our company, covering 1/10 of our whole sale. Frankly speaking, it is really not easy to work in a company with it’s own assembly factory, especially when it is a private company. Every friend of mine knows that I am a traditional young man with good temper. I seldom show my fury before another person. But it was in my first company that I began to roar to the factory guys face to face, I interrupted their words and threw the handset heavily back. In most cases, the reason is that they made me break my word to my customers. Sometimes those factory guys complained before my boss because I pushed them too hard, also because they are relatives or private friends of my boss. But the man that created billions of wealth is not easily hoaxed. He has keen eyes to see the facts. Without his encourage and support, I should have already quitted from there years ago.
But I believe that“happiness is always accompanied by tears”. I could always see the achievement and feel the happiness. There are some stories that I would like to share with you, my friend.
My first meet with foreign customer
Always try to be a friend of your customer. No matter he or she is the president or only a clerk, try sincerely to make friends with them. Help them and let them do their own jobs easier and better. You can see the good of doing this with time goes on.
Just after about 4 months after I got my first job, one of my customer wanted to pay a visit to our company, to meet me and discuss some price issues with my boss (All price issues can only be decided by my boss in our company). Things went smoothly before we sit down and start to discuss. While the customer was talking to my boss, I was absent-minded and thinking about if my behavior before my customers and my boss was good enough just now. Suddenly I was interrupted by a Chinese: “What did he say?” and I found my boss is looking at me for my answer. My gosh! How could I forget that my dear boss could not understand the damnable English. I was just making up stories in my mind and heard our sales manager saying to himself: “These foreign fellows are really vicious. The price is too low for us to accept ”. “How low?”, my boss turned his face to him and asked…… I breathed a sigh of relief and pay attention to everyone’s talk. After these guests left our company, I showed a detail and clear meeting memo to my boss.
My first night of working till 3 o’clock
Like most of friends engaged in foreign trade, I always have to do some overtime job. There is no overtime pay and sometimes even no supper. But I do not mind this. In fact, I enjoy working in the quiet evening. (There are over 30 colleagues in my office. I would rather call it Police Station as they always shout to the telephone.) And one day, I completely enjoyed this quiet evening. Thanks to my supervisor, he left the GOOD chance of following up shipment of one important order from a very important customer. The task was very simple: Wait for the inspection result and contact American customer to solve the problem found during inspection. I am very confident in doing this because the American engineer is also my private friend. Each time he comes to China, we will go out in the evening and drink beer together. In fact, he always helps me to waive some minor problems found in inspection that the inspector could not release. Or else, we will have to rework our products just because of some minor problems that will not have effect on product quality. So I felt very confident that this shipment could be effected tonight. (In fact, for those urgent and important orders, our customers seldom hold shipment because of some minor problems.) I waited calmly in the office. After all other colleague left, I began to listen music, surf internet, chat with friends, and even play small computer games. I recalled my time as a college student. In same way, I spent several whole nights in the net bar.
Of course, the inspection result is “Reject”. I always think these inspectors hired by our customer want to show their abilities by finding some unintelligible defects on our products. But this time it surely was our factory’s fault. They missed Accessory Order Card, using this card the end user could purchase replacement spare parts by mail. Again, they put me into a crag-fast situation. Whenever at this moment, I would call myself sandwich biscuit between factory and customer. I thought of calling the engineer, my private friend. But I did not do this. This is not an engineering problem. Friend is friend, but business is business. Swallowed a saliva, I dialed the number of my customer’s marketing manager. She is also one of the founder of the company, an intelligent and capable woman in her fifties, but also very strict with us. I never talked to her. But I can feel this in her emails. To my surprise, she talked to me in a very kind voice and very slow speed. After heard my description, she said: “Not all end users use this card to buy spare parts. You can effect the shipment. But you must control this in your future production.” Then she talked with me for a while, thanking me for following up their orders so late. There was even no a single word to blame me because our fault. Later, I notified my factory to load the containers…
Next morning, I had a good sleep. After arrived at the company in the afternoon, the first thing I did was to walk to my boss’s office and complained the factory.
Thank you all, my dear friends.
My first “business trip”
Frankly speaking, I do not have good impression on my former manager. I came to previous company almost 3 months earlier than him. He used to be an engineer before he joined our department as a salesman. He taught me nothing about trade. Instead, I told him how to operate in our position, although I myself was a new comer. However, he is my manager and I have to report to him. Like most underlings, I always help my manager in some personal affairs. Several weeks after he came to our company, the poor notebook PC, he got it from our former manager, could not bear his torture and the battery refused to work any longer. Of course I was assigned the task to go to Shanghai and replace the battery for him.
Next morning, our driver took me to HongQiao airdrome as he planned to pick up some foreign guests and carry them back to our company. He told me how to reach the computer maintenance station, first take No.1 subway, then by bus. That was the first time that I had been to ShangHai. While on the bus, I enjoyed the beautiful scenes of this modern city until I found that the bus have passed my destination. I got off the bus in a hurry and walked back toward the PC maintenance station, thinking that I was lucky to recognize it on the bus. It did not take them a long time to replace the battery. My manager had discussed the price with them by telephone. I passed the money to the cashier, a beautiful and kind young girl. “Sorry sir,” she said to me with a shame-making expression on her lovely face, “We have used up the invoice. Is a receipt acceptable?” Invoice? Each time I bought something from the supermarket, they will give me this paper. But I just threw it away after I came out. “Of course, a receipt is also OK.” I told the beauty. Time was still early after my mission had been completed. I went to visit one of my old friend and was treated to a wonderful meal.
Next day I learned from my manager that usually a receipt is not valid to claim the money back from our account department. And I became understand why my boss had invited a experienced engineer with few knowledge in foreign trade to be our group leader.
