KA | Chapter 21

Helping the boss negotiate a deal, employees definitely had to show some appreciation, giving gifts was too contrived, it was better to buy breakfast.

Early in the morning, I opened the door of the Mercedes S400.

“Brother Lin, do you want the barbecue chicken thigh burger or the cheese egg burger?”

Lin Yiran rubbed his temples, casually picked a breakfast bag, took a sip of black coffee, and asked, “Did you talk to the principal about the proposal before?”

“I did.”

“Did you give a quote?”

“I quoted 300,000, and the principal asked me to provide a detailed breakdown.”

“Send me both the proposal and the quote.”

“Okay.”

I sent the documents to Lin Yiran, then sent a WeChat message to Sun Qiongyin, asking her to come pick us up at the entrance.

Lin Yiran leaned against the car door, drinking coffee while looking through the proposal. He wore an IWC watch on his wrist, and an Hermès belt around his waist.

The belt style was the same as the one Chen Xi had worn yesterday.

“The client boss doesn’t have much of an idea, and there is too much homogeneous content in this plan. If she doesn’t want to see you, it’s very likely because she is comparing prices with other advertising companies.”

Before, no one had taken me to meet clients, and if I wanted to close a deal, I had to rack my brains and use every trick I had. Now someone was taking me to meet clients, and I had a backing, so I became a little obedient piece of trash who just listened to everything.

I asked, “Then what should we do?”

Lin Yiran said, “If the principal is comparing prices, then we have to win with creativity. If the principal is indecisive, then we have to make the decision for her.”

Those two sentences sounded like they said a lot, but also like they said nothing. I half understood, half didn’t, and let out a confused “ah.”

“You don’t understand theory, so you’ll learn while doing it later.” Lin Yiran sounded a little helpless. “What are you ‘ah’-ing for if you didn’t understand? Keep your eyes wide open, your brain is even dumber than Chen Xi’s.”

I: “…”

You keep feeding me dog food all the time, is having a partner such a big deal?

You people have partners, but I still have a master!

Sun Qiongyin came to pick us up. When she saw the Mercedes S400, her eyes lit up. “Yo, this car really has attitude. As expected, the people around handsome guys are all handsome guys.”

The morning light fell on Lin Yiran. His well-tailored suit made his shoulders look broad and his legs long. He was middle-aged without getting fat, rich, good-looking, and even had a wife… I really didn’t know which window heaven had closed for him.

Only after standing close did I realize my height was a tiny bit taller than Lin Yiran’s, and then I felt a little more balanced.

“This is my leader, Lanhai’s vice president, Lin Yiran.”

“Hello, President Lin.” Sun Qiongyin took the initiative to chat. “Tiannai used to never worry about students, but this year there are fewer students in the autumn recruitment, so Principal Jiang wanted to do advertising.”

She smiled at the old man like a flower. You weren’t looking at his face, you were looking at the car and his status, right!

Lin Yiran also smiled along, only his smile was a little fake. “Thank you, beautiful lady, for coming to pick us up. Let’s have a meal together when you’re free.”

“Sure thing, President Lin.”

After Sun Qiongyin walked away, Lin Yiran dropped the smile and said, “That girl is useful. If Tiannai signs, you’ll need to spend more time with her in the future.”

*

Jiang Feifan was wearing a pink floral dress today, and she looked somewhat surprised when she saw us.

“Principal Jiang, after negotiating with you last Friday, I had a deep discussion with the company leadership about Tiannai’s enrollment plan. Lanhai attaches great importance to our autumn recruitment project.” Jiang Feifan didn’t want to see me, so I had to speak first and block her mouth. The opening had to both show Lanhai’s emphasis on Tiannai and raise Lin Yiran’s value. “This is our company’s vice president, Lin Yiran.”

Jiang Feifan immediately changed her expression and said warmly, “Tiannai is just a small school, yet it still troubles company leadership to make a trip. This really is a big deal.”

“President Lin, please sit.”

Lin Yiran took a seat and said slowly, “Principal Jiang, you flatter me. The country advocates developing vocational education, and what we are doing is all responding to the policy call, so how can it be called trouble? Twenty years ago, family planning caused the number of students to keep decreasing now, so even with support from the education bureau, art exam schools still face bottlenecks in enrollment. The reason I came today is to discuss with the leading art exam training institution in Yucheng on how to break through the enrollment deadlock.”

First Lin Yiran linked the work both sides were doing to the national strategy, raising its value. Then he made it clear that the enrollment difficulty was not Tiannai’s problem, but the result of the sharp drop in the high school student population. Finally, he stood at the highest point of the vocational education industry, with a rather commanding, big-picture air… giving Jiang Feifan such a flattering hat to wear, the way he spoke was really brilliant!

Jiang Feifan instantly became an industry leader and sat up straight at once. “I wouldn’t dare say discuss. For Tiannai’s enrollment matters, I still need to ask President Lin for guidance.”

After some small talk, Lin Yiran cut straight to the point. “Right now there are too many wolves and too little meat. When parents enroll their children in a school, first they want reputation, second they look at strength. Tiannai has been established for over 20 years, and its teaching level is definitely among the best in the industry, so if we want to enroll more students, the top priority is to raise its reputation.”

The common technique in negotiations was to shift the concept, and raising reputation and raising brand awareness were basically the same thing, just saying it differently.

Jiang Feifan didn’t buy it. “President Lin, I already discussed this kind of issue with Manager Zhao last week.”

“The content of Xiao Zhao’s last proposal focused on Tiannai’s brand promotion planning, while I am more inclined to build a personal IP for you. This is also the main reason I came to see you this time.”

“Personal IP?”

Lin Yiran nodded. “Right now art exam schools are a mixed bag. If you want to stand out among so many schools, you have to make parents remember you. For example, use a cross-dressing influencer to package a makeup school, use a singer who sings Korean songs to package a vocal music school… As long as the influencer’s traits match the school, it will bring brand reputation to the school.”

Jiang Feifan asked relentlessly, “Then may I ask what kind of influencer Tiannai should find, and in what form should it be packaged?”

Lin Yiran said, “The most suitable spokesperson for Tiannai is you.”

This time, not only Jiang Feifan was surprised, even I was a little stunned.

Lin Yiran hadn’t told me we were changing the proposal either, so why was there suddenly an on-the-spot addition?

There were so many teachers at Tiannai with good images, but he specifically picked a woman in her sixties. How could Jiang Feifan’s image endorse Tiannai?

Jiang Feifan pointed at herself, unsure. “Me?”

Lin Yiran was certain. “Yes, you.”

“Cases of hiring KOLs in the industry are common, but they cannot output the core value of the brand. Only the founder or CEO can endorse a brand, for example: Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, Jumei’s Chen Ou, Gree’s Dong Mingzhu…”

“I suggest using your personal image as Tiannai’s IP to output externally, thereby building Tiannai’s brand.”

Lin Yiran’s words were like a sudden enlightenment, instantly opening up my Ren and Du meridians.

Catering to clients was much easier than educating clients. Lin Yiran didn’t talk about market demand, he only talked about the client’s needs.

Jiang Feifan wore a pink dress, which showed she was extremely confident in her appearance. Having her endorse Tiannai really hit her right in the heart.

Sure enough, Jiang Feifan became interested. “President Lin, how exactly should this be done? How many press releases are needed, how much traffic should be topped up, how long should the ad placement period be… there should be a detailed breakdown.”

The old lady was indecisive, and this circled back to the quote breakdown again, just like last time.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I clenched my fists, my palms full of sweat.

Lin Yiran only used three sentences and instantly broke the deadlock. “Companies that sell logo design for millions are everywhere, while printing costs only need 10 yuan. What Lanhai does is brand planning, not mass production. What I can promise you is this, for the same quality of service, Lanhai’s price is absolutely the lowest on the market.”

I had thought that analyzing the parents’ needs would let me control Tiannai, but the parents’ needs were not Jiang Feifan’s needs. I stood from the angle of execution and sold the product cheaply, while Lin Yiran did not talk in detail about the product or break down the prices specifically. Instead, he emphasized cost-effectiveness.

Only with comparison did one know how high the sky was and how thick the earth was.

The head of the enrollment office knocked on the door. When he saw us, he was obviously stunned, and said to me, “Didn’t I say…”

Jiang Feifan interrupted, “Is Xiao Zhang here? Tell him I’m not convenient right now.”

Making the director take the blame, those words were fake to the extreme.

Refusing the advertising company we had already arranged to meet, and not mentioning a word about changing the time with me, made it seem as if we were originally going to meet, and there was never any other company cutting in.

It seemed Jiang Feifan was not only arrogant and self-important, but also kind-faced on the outside and black-hearted on the inside.

After the director left, Lin Yiran didn’t pay attention to the little interruption just now, and followed the established line of thought to continue, “Right now is the peak autumn recruitment period for broadcasting, hosting, and flight attendant and air security specialties. Lanhai will take about a week from planning to execution. If you need time to consider, you might miss the autumn recruitment window.”

Jiang Feifan looked troubled. “I do want to cooperate with Lanhai, it’s just that this cost…”

Lin Yiran flashed his signature smile. “Let’s treat the first cooperation as making a friend. Principal Jiang can name a price. As long as it’s not too far off, I can approve it.”

This was using the time point and favorable policy to force Jiang Feifan to make a decision.

Now I finally understood what Lin Yiran meant half an hour ago when he said, “If the principal is comparing prices, then we have to win with creativity; if the principal is indecisive, then we have to make the decision for her.”

Jiang Feifan thought for a moment and said, “I have a friend introduced by the education bureau who said the brand planning can be done for 200,000. I get along well with President Lin today, so if Lanhai can also do brand planning for 200,000, then I won’t talk to him anymore and will directly cooperate with you.”

Ha, I had stupidly been so confident that I thought our chat was going pretty well, but I didn’t expect that there really was a strong competitor getting involved through connections!

“Principal Jiang, please wait a moment, I need to confirm labor costs with the execution team.” Lin Yiran crossed his hands on his lap and made revisions on his phone.

He said he was confirming labor costs, but in reality he was revising the quote. The quote sheet he sent me was the one I had sent him half an hour ago, with the specific execution standards deleted, leaving only the category content and execution time.

I instantly understood and immediately forwarded the quote to Jiang Feifan.

“Principal Jiang, please take a look at the execution breakdown. If there are no problems, we can sign the contract now.”

Jiang Feifan definitely couldn’t understand the quote sheet filled with technical terms. Lin Yiran had just promised her the best cost-performance ratio, and Jiang Feifan, concerned about face, asked a few symbolic questions before signing the contract.

After many twists and turns, the hanging heart finally settled down.

If Lin Yiran hadn’t given me such strong help on this deal, Jiang Feifan would never have made a decision so quickly, and it might even have been poached by a competitor.

From small talk to signing the contract, Lin Yiran combined effective information in his negotiation, and not a single word he said was wasted. Every time he spoke, it hit the key point.

He brought up national policy, brought up Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, deliberately making the project sound bigger, building a top-level structure at the macro level, and thereby prying open the client’s budget.

Although the final output format was the same, he was selling logo design money, while I was selling printing money.

That was the gap.

No matter what problem Lin Yiran encountered, he could remain calm and unhurried. His strong control over the situation and excellent negotiation skills made me deeply admire him, like an unscalable high mountain, peaceful yet powerful.

I thought that one day, I could also be like him.