Luo Junjie also joined through last year’s campus recruitment. He is about the same age as Lu Nan and wears a pair of black-framed glasses, giving off a rather scholarly appearance. 

When he heard Lu Nan call his name, he pushed up his glasses, picked up his work notebook, and began the report: “The distributor for the commercial supermarket channels in Hua’an city is also Hongtu Liquor Industry. Our specific assistance to the distributor in this channel is as follows: There are two large supermarkets in the city, Walmart and Century Hualian, and we have over four varieties of products in both of them. Last year, the total sales were 120,000. Additionally, the local chain ‘Baihui Supermarket’ is quite dominant, with eight stores in the city and six in surrounding counties, totaling fourteen stores. All of them stock over three varieties, with sales of 280,000 last year. The main focus for this year in the supermarket channel is to improve communication with the supermarkets regarding product displays, implement promotional activities during holidays, and…” 

It was clear that Luo Junjie was quite familiar with the data for the supermarket channels he managed, though he was lacking in the annual planning aspect. 

In contrast, Huang Dafang, although appearing to be somewhat of a slacker, was still able to pinpoint the core issues. 

Lu Nan knew that this was a common area for all campus recruits to improve—learning how to connect theory with practice and strategize based on actual market conditions, as well as developing a broader perspective. 

Given Luo Junjie’s current performance, Lu Nan would rate him at 50 points. He seemed obedient and had plenty of room for improvement. 

After listening to Luo Junjie’s report, Lu Nan nodded. “Supervisor Luo’s data is very thorough, but I have two new pieces of information. This year, one Jiaxifú supermarket will open in both Hua’an and Wucheng. Additionally, Baihui Supermarket plans to open 30 new stores across four cities outside the urban area. With so many new supermarket outlets launching, if Hongtu Liquor Industry decides not to renew their contract with us and we fail to recruit a new distributor in time, competitors will inevitably seize the market share in both supermarkets and high-end alcohol stores. This ties in with what Supervisor Huang mentioned earlier—his main task this year is recruitment.” 

With that, Lu Nan gave Huang Dafang an approving nod. 

Huang Dafang, who had just been shut down by the new city manager, felt a little more at ease: See, young people really aren’t reliable, right? It’s still people like me, old hands in the business, who understand the market better. 

However, Huang Dafang didn’t even realize that he didn’t categorize the similarly young Manager Lu into the “unreliable youth” group. 

“Manager Lu, are your sources reliable? I haven’t heard that Jiaxifú is entering Hua’an,” Luo Junjie asked, not trying to argue but genuinely curious. He thought that since Manager Lu had only just arrived yesterday, there was no way she could have more accurate information than someone like him, who had been working in the Hua’an market for a longer time. 

“After New Year’s, Jiaxifú’s Greater China regional annual plan showed that Hua’an city and Wucheng are both confirmed sites, and the locations for the city stores have basically been decided. I also spoke with the real estate agent yesterday, and there’s been noticeable activity with Baihui Supermarket in other county-level cities of Hua’an. Whether it’s for renting properties or hiring staff, there’s been a lot of movement. They even had a big lease deal last year, which made their competitors quite envious. Additionally, Baihui Supermarket’s job postings have been up on local forums for over half a month now,” Lu Nan explained, looking at Luo Junjie before turning to Huang Dafang and asking, “Supervisor Huang, you should have heard about this, right? After all, you’re local.” 

Huang Dafang glanced at Luo Junjie before replying, “I think I’ve heard something like that from people in the village.” 

Luo Junjie felt a bit awkward after being looked at by Manager Lu. He had thought of himself as a person with a good work attitude compared to other seasoned employees, but he realized now that his information collection was lacking, and he had made a mistake during his first meeting with the new city manager. 

Lu Nan gave him a reassuring smile and said, “It’s alright, Supervisor Luo. Keep maintaining our current supermarket relationships. As for new store openings, it all comes down to whether we have a distributor in the city this year. We’ll talk about that later.” 

Luo Junjie thought that Manager Lu would quickly provide a solution, but instead, she simply repeated what she had said earlier to Huang Dafang. 

What’s this supposed to be? Delaying the issue? Can she even handle it? Luo Junjie felt unsure. Recruitment isn’t that simple—if the situation in Hua’an weren’t this bad, Manager Liu wouldn’t have tried so hard to get transferred. 

After Lu Nan finished speaking, she turned to Liu Yang—an old acquaintance—and greeted her with a smile, “Sister Liu Yang, long time no see. Please, tell us about the group purchase situation.” 

Half a year ago, Liu Yang was the senior, Lu Nan the newbie—Liu Yang even took Lu Nan shopping to slack off; 

Half a year later, Lu Nan had become the city manager and Liu Yang’s direct supervisor. 

What a dramatic turn of events. 

Liu Yang pursed her lips, picked up a sheet of paper she had been fiddling with, unfolded it, and began reading it aloud: “The distributors for the group purchase channel are Sifang Construction and Hongtu Liquor Industry. Last year, Sifang Construction made a return of 1.5 million, and Hongtu Liquor Industry had a return of about 500,000. If Hongtu Liquor Industry doesn’t renew the contract this year, Manager Lu can consider having Sifang Construction increase the contract amount and return amount.” 

Lu Nan furrowed her brow slightly, “If I remember correctly, Sifang Construction’s contract was signed at the end of June last year, right?” 

Liu Yang glanced at Manager Liu, then nodded. 

That’s right, Sifang Construction had signed the contract at the end of June last year, for a single group purchase channel worth two million. Given Hua’an’s economic level, a distributor for a single channel worth two million, although considered a small distributor at the company level, was still of significant importance, comparable to a medium-sized distributor. 

It was only after the contract was signed that Manager Liu applied to the provincial office to transfer a group purchase manager to work with the distributor. No wonder when Manager Liu made the request, Xiang Yunfeng and Wang Xinglong had arranged for an experienced group purchase manager to be transferred. 

So, Lu Nan shook her head. “In that case, what you just said doesn’t make sense.” 

Afterward, she glanced at Manager Liu. 

Manager Liu remained calm. 

Liu Yang opened her mouth, as if to say something. 

Lu Nan raised her hand, “Alright, I understand the situation with the group purchasing channel.” 

She looked past Liu Yang and turned to a young man with distinct European-style double eyelids. “Feng Yi, right? Since your supervisor, Guo, is based in Wensui County, go ahead and report on the restaurant channel—just focus on the city.” 

Feng Yi, also a campus recruit from last year, had been placed in the city area to serve Hongtu Liquor Industry while his supervisor, Guo Yu, stayed in Wensui County to serve the client. Feng Yi, having spent half a year in the city, hadn’t learned much but had perfected the art of slacking off from Huang Dafang. Now, when Lu Nan asked, he took out the data he had obtained from sales assistants yesterday afternoon and began reading it aloud to Manager Lu. 

Whether during her time as a salesperson or later as a city manager, Lu Nan had seen all kinds of employees who were just passing the time. When it came to evaluating whether an employee was actually doing the job, she could tell just by listening to their work report. 

After Feng Yi finished speaking, Lu Nan did not offer any comments, as there was nothing worth commenting on. 

She simply nodded and said, “Next, circulation channel… Qian Xin, you’ve been with the company for three years now, right? Your supervisor, Li, is stationed long-term in Weipu City. Last year’s report shows that Weipu and Huaqian both had great circulation channel sales, each bringing in a 500,000 contract and achieving full payment. I think Wucheng and Wensui also have potential—if Supervisor Li can’t be everywhere, maybe you could try talking to the local level-two wholesalers or distributors.” 

Qian Xin quickly waved his hand. “I… I can’t handle it. I don’t know anything about business development. This kind of thing needs the leadership to step in to get it done.” 

“Your distribution channels are deeply integrated into the suburban areas and various county markets. If we’re talking about sensitivity to changes in the end-market trends, you would rank second, while other channels wouldn’t dare claim first. Plus, you’ve been with the company for a while. What’s going on? You’re too afraid to negotiate a 500,000 yuan contract?” Lu Nan glanced at Qian Xin. “I’ve seen the annual contract and return data for Hua’an. The circulation channel has a lot of untapped potential. If Hongtu Liquor Industry truly doesn’t renew, your channel will be affected the least. I suspect that’s exactly why Supervisor Li arranged for another employee—oh, Li Ziheng—to also stay stationed in Hua’an.” 

After finishing her sentence, Lu Nan didn’t wait for Qian Xin’s reaction. She turned to the others and said, “I have a general understanding of the situation now. To be honest, the situation in Hua’an City is not optimistic. The most important task for the city office right now is business development. Either we renew with Hongtu Liquor, or we immediately find new distributors. Considering that Sifang Construction had a lot of stockpiled goods at the end of last year, their receivables for the first half of this year can be neglected. The pressure for the mid-year receivables task is huge. This is not just my pressure; it’s the pressure on everyone in the city office. If the receivables do not meet the target, the most direct consequence will be everyone’s bonus going down the drain. I’m sure none of you want that to happen, right?” 

“Business development is of course my main responsibility as the city manager, but since I’m new to Hua’an City and have limited knowledge of the market, I’ll still need everyone’s help.” Lu Nan closed her notebook and addressed her subordinates, “So, in the next few days, I’ll have Manager Liu take me to visit the current distributors. In the meantime, please help me organize the client data you have, and see if we can identify potential distributors. Zheng Jing, please help me send out the email. I’ve prepared the format for the potential client statistics table last night. Everyone, please fill it out according to that format.” 

At this point, Lu Nan paused for a moment, wearing a smile that seemed intentionally exaggerated to ease the atmosphere. “To be honest, everyone’s ability to report and summarize needs improvement. In sales, everything is based on data. For contracts worth hundreds of thousands or millions, I just ask that you round to the nearest ten thousand. Is that too much to ask?” As she said this, Lu Nan turned her head and looked at Huang Dafu. 

Huang Dafu shook his head: “Well, you’re the leader, so if you say it’s not too much, then it’s not too much. Sigh… But the forms, that’s really annoying!” 

Lu Nan didn’t care how displeased her subordinates were about having yet another task—especially one with a set format. If you want to get things done and make progress, you first have to eliminate the laziness and unprofessionalism that has been rampant at the Hua’an City office. 

She had already taken on the biggest pressure for business development, and if her subordinates couldn’t keep up with her pace, she didn’t have the authority to dismiss them, but it would be entirely reasonable for work assignments to be adjusted within the city or county. Right? 

***

Hua’an City is divided into five administrative regions: Hua’an City, Wucheng, Wenxiu County, Huaqian City, and Weipu City. 

The distribution of the sales staff is as follows: 

• Internal staff: Zheng Jing, a local resident. 

• Group purchasing: Supervisor Liu Yang, located in the city center, with no subordinates. 

• Dining services: Supervisor Guo Yu, in Wenxui; Salesperson Feng Yi. 

• Premium tobacco and alcohol: Supervisor Huang Dafu (a local), in the city center; Salesperson Hu Yueqing, also in the city center. 

• Supermarkets: Supervisor Luo Junjie, in the city center, with supermarket promoters under him. 

• Distribution: Supervisor Li Bin, in Weipu City; Salesperson Li Ziheng in Huaquan City, Qian Xin in the city center.