9: Chapter 9 Cleaning up domestic channels

"Understood. The delegation is returning to China this afternoon. I'll handle everything once I'm back," Shen Fei said very calmly.

Was this the counterattack they had spent days planning? Their methods were really... incredibly weak!

Compared to the online reports and internal power struggles he had read about in his past life, this was absolutely nothing.

Hanging up the phone, Li Qing asked worriedly, "Mr. Shen, about the situation back home..."

"An expected backlash," Shen Fei sneered.

"Vice President Zhang Mingyuan and his people have neither the qualifications nor the strength to oppose my projects in Africa. They can only try to strike from within the country, hoping to use the stock inventory to fight back and cut off my retreat. Unfortunately for them..."

"Brother Wang, you guys stay in Lagos and work with Mr. Adebayo to push forward the store expansion plan. If you have any questions, ask Mr. Li.

Engineer Chen, you guys return to China with me. I'll need you to personally oversee the upcoming algorithm optimization and the creation of this phone.

We'll go back and swat those little bugs to death."

"Yes, sir!"

...

Twelve hours later, at the Transsion headquarters in Yangcheng.

The conference room was filled with smoke. Vice President Zhang Mingyuan, Manager Li Xiuyun, and others were all present, along with several channel distributor representatives, all of whom looked displeased.

"Mr. Shen, it's not that we're being unreasonable," said President Wang, the representative of Jisuda, the largest mobile phone retail chain in South China, as he flicked some ash from his cigarette.

"The market is sluggish right now, and Transsion's brand power is continuously declining. We have to maintain counter space, train sales staff, and run promotions. The costs are right there.

A forty-two percent rebate is really not a high demand. Any lower and we'll definitely lose money."

The other two representatives didn't speak, but they both nodded subconsciously.

"President Wang is right," Manager Li Xiuyun chimed in. "Little Shen, you have to understand the difficulties of the distributors. Right now, Bird is offering rebates of over thirty-five percent, along with various subsidies.

If we still stick to the old rules, who would want to sell your products?"

*Cough, cough!*

"Manager Li, whose side are you on?" Chen Hai glared at her. After his trip to Africa, he was completely won over, believing that following the Young Mr. Shen would surely lead to a bright future.

"I... I'm doing this for the good of the company! Otherwise, if those goods just pile up in the warehouse, we might as well just shut down.

Engineer Chen, don't be unreasonable. I'm doing this for everyone's sake."

Shen Fei sat at the head of the table, flipping through the official letters sent by the distributors, without saying a single word.

Li Qing did some quick math and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Mr. Shen, if we really go with forty-two percent, our gross profit on each T100 sold will be less than two yuan.

And that's not even counting shipping and after-sales service... It's practically bleeding us dry."

"I know."

After a brief pause, Shen Fei finally looked up. His gaze swept across everyone, his eyes still showing no trace of anger.

Yet Vice President Zhang Mingyuan could still feel a hint of coldness. But since they had already dropped all pretenses, they had to see this through to the end; there was no turning back.

"Transsion cannot meet your demands. Please look elsewhere."

"What?" President Wang frowned, flicking the ash off his cigarette once more.

"Mr. Shen, I'll call you Mr. Shen one last time. You'd better think this through. The three of us account for eighty percent of Transsion's sales volume. If all three of us pull your products at the same time, the consequences..."

He contemptuously flicked his cigarette ash in Shen Fei's direction again...

"Then pull them."

Shen Fei closed the folder and tossed it lightly onto the table. The document slid slowly across the surface, finally stopping right in front of President Wang.

"I announce that starting today, Transsion is officially launching a nationwide trade-in program for old phones.

Any brand of old mobile phone can be traded in for Transsion's new T100 series with a discount of up to three hundred yuan. At the same time, all Transsion phones will come with a one-year free warranty, which includes accidental damage."

The conference room erupted into an uproar.

"Shen Fei, you're crazy!" Vice President Zhang Mingyuan slammed his hand on the table.

"Trade-ins? Do you have any idea how much that will cost? We barely have any profit margins to begin with.

"And a one-year warranty for accidental damage? Do you know how high the after-sales costs will be? Running a business isn't child's play.

Old Shen, oh Old Shen! How could you... *sigh*..."

After speaking, he sat back down with a look of helplessness, putting on a perfect act of a loyal veteran who cared deeply about the company, only for the useless heir to come in and immediately try to execute the founding members.

He was practically a useless Adou who couldn't be helped...

Li Qing, however, clapped and cheered internally. This was an absolutely perfect marketing strategy.

Feature phones were already incredibly durable. Even if there was accidental damage, how many cases could there possibly be? As for the trade-in program, with a maximum discount of three hundred yuan, the minimum discount... just needed to be worth slightly more than a kitchen knife.

"President Zhang, we're all sly foxes here. There's no need to play these theatrical games."

Shen Fei also stood up. Utilizing his height advantage, he looked down at Vice President Zhang Mingyuan. "The domestic mobile phone market is about to shift from 'channel is king' to 'user is king'."

"Instead of handing over our profits to these ungrateful, white-eyed wolves, we might as well pass the savings directly to the consumers."

He turned his head and glanced at the distributor representatives. "You all can pull Transsion's products right now. Next, we will open our own exclusive retail stores.

"What you're losing isn't just the profit share from the Transsion brand, but also the foot traffic from customers coming in for the trade-in program. All of that was originally yours, but you've handed those customers over to me on a silver platter."

Shen Fei kept driving wedges into their alliance, and their once-solid front instantly began to crack.

President Wang's expression shifted.

The other President Li, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, "How will those old, discarded phones be handled, and will Transsion bear the corresponding costs?"

"We have our own disposal channels... As for the costs, of course they'll be ours. In fact, we can even provide an additional twenty percent subsidy for promotional expenses.

What's the matter, President Li? Have you changed your mind?"

That President Li took a deep breath, stubbed out his cigarette, and said with a look of determination, "I agree. We'll stick to the five percent rebate.

I only hope that Mr. Shen can deliver on what he has promised."

"Old Li... you..."

"The world ultimately belongs to the young. Old Wang, you were too greedy this time." That President Li patted President Wang on the shoulder. "Mr. Shen, can we sign the contract today?"

"Yes! But the trade-in standards must follow ours, otherwise you'll have to bear any excess costs yourself."

Half an hour later, the two distributors who were willing to sign left the conference room satisfied, taking the optimized trade-in plan with them.

As for President Wang, he slammed the door and left in a rage.

Only the internal staff of Transsion remained in the conference room. Vice President Zhang Mingyuan said with a grim face, "Shen Fei, if you persist in acting so willfully, you'll drag the company down."

"Uncle Zhang," Shen Fei looked at him. "You've worked hard following my father all these years. I heard your son bought another sports car, worth over seven million yuan, wasn't it?

But according to bank records, your income over the past three years hasn't even reached five million. Where did the rest of the money come from?"

Manager Li Xiuyun's face paled. Last time it was her, and today it was...

"Young Mr. Shen, you secretly investigated me?"

"It's not a secret investigation; it's necessary evidence collection." Shen Fei pulled several documents from his briefcase.

"Vice President Zhang, in March of last year, you approved a marketing promotion fee of two million yuan from the company's accounts. The recipient was Yangcheng Mingyuan Consulting Company.

The legal representative of this company is your wife."

"And Manager Li, you..."