12dz Chapter 526 Cannot Be Exclusive
Chapter 526 Cannot Be Exclusive
That evening, the partners booked a small private room at the best restaurant in town.
Old Ma raised his glass, his face beaming with excitement: "Come on, let's toast to our first big client!"
"Cheers!" the group responded in unison, their glasses clinking together with a crisp sound.
Li Xiangyang took a sip of his drink, his feelings complicated. In his previous life, he had seen too many businessmen who got carried away by a single deal, and they all ended up failing.
"Third Brother, how much do you know about this General Manager Chen?" Li Xiangyang asked, putting down his wine glass.
Ma Laosan picked up a piece of food: "General Manager Chen has been in the health product business in the south for several years, with more than twenty directly operated stores. He's very powerful."
“Third Brother, it’s not that I don’t trust your connections, it’s just that he’s so powerful, he’s definitely supplying more than just us.” Li Xiangyang thought carefully. “So we need to seriously consider the exclusive agency offer.”
"Why?" Fatty Ma asked, puzzled. "His eagerness for exclusive distribution means there's a market for our product."
“That’s the problem,” Li Xiangyang put down his chopsticks. “Relying on just one client is too risky. If something goes wrong with them, we’ll be in a passive position.”
Ma Laosan thought for a moment: "But they're willing to pay 30% upfront, that's a very tempting offer."
"The advance payment did solve the funding problem," Li Xiangyang admitted, "but we also need to consider long-term development."
A brief silence fell over the private room as everyone pondered the question.
Wang Ergou suddenly put down his wine glass and looked at Li Xiangyang: "Xiangyang is right. There's an old saying, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.'"
"Ergou's words hit the nail on the head," Li Xiangyang nodded. "We're just getting started, so we need to be even more careful."
Fatty Ma was puzzled: "But Mr. Chen seems quite capable, and he even made an advance payment. Where can you find a client like that?"
“He has the capability, but there are too many variables in business,” Li Xiangyang said slowly, taking a bite of food. “For example, what if his sales channels run into problems, or he suddenly decides not to buy it? Wouldn’t we suffer as a result?”
Upon hearing this, Ma Laosan frowned slightly: "So you mean we won't cooperate with him?"
“It’s not that we’re not going to cooperate, but we need to renegotiate the terms,” Li Xiangyang said seriously, putting down his chopsticks. “We can grant agency rights, but not exclusive rights. At the very least, we need to retain the right to explore other markets.”
“In that case, the price might need to be renegotiated,” Ma Laosan said with some concern. “President Chen is after the exclusive agency, which is why he’s offering such a high price.”
Li Xiangyang smiled and said, "Third Brother, you have more experience in business than I do, but there's one thing we need to understand. Right now, we have the advantage; he's come all this way to us, but he won't have any bargaining power later."
These words silenced the private room once more. Ma Laosan picked up his wine glass and slowly took a sip.
“Xiangyang, you’re right,” Ma Laosan put down his wine glass. “But what if President Chen doesn’t agree?”
“If they don’t agree, we’ll think of something else,” Li Xiangyang said firmly. “Good products don’t have to worry about selling; the key is to have confidence.”
Wang Ergou added from the side, "Moreover, we control all our raw materials, ensuring stable quality. That's our confidence."
Fatty Ma thought for a moment: "Then how should we talk to General Manager Chen tomorrow?"
“To be honest,” Li Xiangyang poured himself a glass of wine, “we can grant him the agency rights for South China, but not an exclusive one. At the same time, we promise not to dump products at low prices in the same region, protecting his interests.”
"What about the price?"
“Prices can be reduced appropriately, but not too much,” Li Xiangyang calculated carefully. “Ginseng slices can be reduced to eleven yuan, and forest frogs to twenty-three yuan. Any lower and there will be no profit.”
Ma Laosan nodded: "This price is reasonable. The key is whether President Chen can accept a non-exclusive agency."
Just as the group was discussing, the door to the private room was pushed open. A waiter walked in carrying a plate of food.
"Gentlemen, this is the restaurant's signature dish, the owner is treating," the waiter said with a smile.
"The boss is treating?" Fatty Ma was a little surprised.
"Yes, our boss said you guys are in big business, so he specifically asked the kitchen to add an extra dish."
Li Xiangyang chuckled inwardly. It seemed they had made quite a commotion at the factory today; even the restaurant owner had heard about it.
After seeing the waiter off, Ma Laosan raised his glass: "Regardless of how tomorrow's talks go, the fact that we brothers have come this far is something to celebrate."
“That’s right,” Li Xiangyang raised his glass as well, “but we need to make an agreement.”
"What agreement?"
"No matter what difficulties we encounter, we must tell the truth and not hide anything," Li Xiangyang said earnestly, looking at everyone. "Business deals can fall through, but brotherhood cannot."
"Great!" they all responded in unison, and drank it all in one gulp.
The next morning, Li Xiangyang and his group arrived at the town's guesthouse. General Manager Chen was already waiting in the lobby, looking to be in good spirits.
"Mr. Chen, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Ma Laosan stepped forward to greet him.
"It's alright, I just came down too," Mr. Chen said with a smile. "How did your consideration go last night?"
“We would like to discuss the specific terms of our cooperation with you in detail,” Li Xiangyang said, getting straight to the point.
Mr. Chen nodded and led the group to the conference room at the guesthouse.
“First of all, we are very willing to cooperate with you,” Li Xiangyang said after sitting down, “but we hope to renegotiate the issue of the agency rights.”
Mr. Chen frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"
“We can grant you the agency rights for South China, but not exclusive rights,” Li Xiangyang said calmly. “At the same time, we promise that you will not sell directly at a price lower than the agency price within your sales territory.”
“That increases my investment risk,” Mr. Chen said with some dissatisfaction. “What if you find other distributors? My market share will be taken away.”
“Mr. Chen, you can think of it this way,” Ma Laosan interjected. “The market is only so big, and having more distributors means more promotional efforts. Besides, we promise price protection, so your profits won't be affected.”
Mr. Chen thought for a moment: "Then how about the price?"
"Considering the adjustment of the agency rights, we can make some concessions on the price," Li Xiangyang said. "Ginseng slices are eleven yuan each, forest frogs are twenty-three yuan each, and the gift box packaging cost remains unchanged."
"It's still a bit high." Mr. Chen shook his head.
"Mr. Chen, let's do the math." Wang Ergou took out paper and pen. "For the 10,000 gift sets you mentioned, let's break down our costs and your profit margin."
Over the next half hour, the group analyzed the cost structure and profit distribution in detail. After repeated calculations, General Manager Chen basically approved the price.