GBP Chapter 528 Expanding the Customer Base
Chapter 528 Expanding the Customer Base
At night, Li Xiangyang lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) unable to sleep.
Although Mr. Chen had successfully closed that deal, he knew in his heart that relying on just one client was not enough.
"What are you thinking about?" Li Xiaoyun asked softly from the side.
“We need to think about how to find more clients.” Li Xiangyang turned around and looked into his wife’s eyes. “We can’t just rely on Mr. Chen’s company.”
Li Xiaoyun nodded: "You're right. So what do you plan to do?"
"I'll go to the provincial capital tomorrow," Li Xiangyang said, already having a preliminary plan. "There are many pharmaceutical companies there, and the health supplement industry is also well-developed; I should be able to find suitable clients."
The next morning, Li Xiangyang drove to the provincial capital.
He first went to several large pharmaceutical companies, but the results were not ideal.
The situation only improved slightly after they arrived at a pharmacy called Kangningtang.
As luck would have it, the company's purchasing manager happened to be there. After contacting him through the front desk, a middle-aged man in his forties came out about ten minutes later.
"I'm Liu Hua, the purchasing manager of Kangningtang. I heard you have some medicinal herbs to recommend?"
“Yes, Manager Liu.” Li Xiangyang stood up and shook hands. “We are from Sanheshan Zhenbao Agricultural Products Company, specializing in the deep processing of high-quality medicinal herbs from Northeast China.”
Liu Hua's eyes lit up: "Northeast medicinal herbs? Those are good stuff. Please sit down, and tell me more."
Li Xiangyang took out the prepared samples and materials and gave a detailed introduction to the company's products.
"This ginseng slice is of good quality." Liu Hua examined the sample carefully. "Wild?"
"They're wild-caught, and we get them directly from the villagers to guarantee their quality." Li Xiangyang nodded, trying his best to promote them.
"How much is it?" Liu Hua asked, getting straight to the point.
"The wholesale price of ginseng slices is 12 yuan per box, and frog oil is 25 yuan per box." Li Xiangyang's quote was slightly higher than the one he gave to General Manager Chen, after all, this was a direct sale.
Liu Hua pondered for a moment: "The price is acceptable, but the key is to guarantee a stable supply. If we're going to cooperate, our annual purchase volume won't be small."
"Don't worry about that, we have stable raw material supply channels." Li Xiangyang was secretly pleased. "What is your expected annual procurement volume?"
“If the product sells well, the annual procurement amount will be at least 300,000,” Liu Hua said. “However, we need to get a batch of samples for trial sales first.”
Li Xiangyang quickly calculated that a purchase amount of 300,000 yuan meant sales of at least 20,000 boxes, which was even larger than the amount from General Manager Chen's side.
"Trial sales are fine. How much do you need?"
"Let's start with a thousand boxes: five hundred boxes of ginseng slices and five hundred boxes of frog oil," Liu Hua said. "If the trial sales are successful, we'll sign a formal contract immediately."
The two parties quickly reached a trial sales agreement, and Li Xiangyang received the deposit on the spot.
Li Xiangyang was in a good mood after leaving Kangning Hall.
However, he did not stop there, but continued to visit several health product specialty stores.
"Your product packaging would be even better if it were more attractive," suggested the owner of a specialty store. "Consumers these days pay a lot of attention to packaging."
“We will consider making improvements.” Li Xiangyang noted down the suggestion.
In the afternoon, Li Xiangyang went to a large department store.
"The health supplement counter is on the third floor," the salesperson pointed out.
The health product counter on the third floor was quite crowded. After observing for a while, Li Xiangyang found that the customers were mainly middle-aged and elderly people.
"Sir, are you buying these ginseng slices for yourself or as a gift?" Li Xiangyang casually asked a customer who was selecting ginseng.
"I bought this for my elderly father; his health isn't very good," the man said. "I've heard this brand is good, but it's a bit pricey."
Li Xiangyang glanced at the price tag; ginseng slices of the same size were selling for over twenty yuan.
This made him realize that there was a large profit margin in terminal sales.
"Hello, may I speak with the manager?" Li Xiangyang approached the sales clerk at the counter.
"Are you here to supply goods?" the salesperson asked.
"Yes, we have some high-quality medicinal herbs from Northeast China that we'd like to sell in shopping malls."
The salesperson called the floor manager.
"Entering our mall requires a deposit and an entry fee," the manager stated directly. "And you must pass our quality inspection."
"How much will it cost approximately?" Li Xiangyang asked.
"A deposit of 50,000 yuan is required, and the entry fee is 15% of the sales revenue," the manager announced.
Li Xiangyang clicked his tongue in surprise; this fee was not low.
However, considering the profit margins at the retail level, it seems acceptable.
"We'll consider it. Could you leave your contact information?"
It was already dark when we came out of the mall.
Li Xiangyang found a guesthouse in the provincial capital to stay in, preparing to continue visiting clients the next day.
The next day, Li Xiangyang continued his visits to the provincial capital.
This morning I went to the pharmacies of several traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and found that they were very interested in ginseng tablets.
“Our hospital’s traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy does need some high-quality ginseng slices,” a pharmacy director said, “but it has to go through the hospital’s procurement procedures.”
"What is the program?" Li Xiangyang asked.
"First, you need to provide relevant qualification certificates, and then participate in the bidding process," the director explained. "Only after winning the bid can your product be included in the procurement catalog."
Li Xiangyang learned that the hospital system's procurement process is quite complicated, but once you get involved, sales will be very stable, although winning the bid will be extremely difficult.
During his two-day trip to the provincial capital, Li Xiangyang visited more than twenty potential clients.
Three companies ultimately agreed to cooperate, with Kangningtang being the largest.
Several other companies indicated they needed to consider the matter further and asked Li Xiangyang to leave his contact information.
On the third day after returning to Xiaoliang Village, Li Xiangyang was checking the production situation in the factory when Ma Laosan rushed over.
"Xiangyang, there's an opportunity!" Old Ma exclaimed excitedly. "I ran into an old friend yesterday who deals in mountain products, specifically supplying high-end hotels."
Li Xiangyang stopped what he was doing: "What's going on?"
"He said that hotels in the city are looking for high-quality mountain products, like hazel mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and bracken, and the prices are much higher than we expected." Old Ma took out a cigarette. "A pound of dried hazel mushrooms can sell for over twenty yuan!"
Wang Ergou, listening nearby, had his eyes light up: "Really? These things are everywhere in our mountains!"
Li Xiangyang seemed to be deep in thought. In his previous life, he had witnessed too many city dwellers' enthusiasm for mountain products, and it was indeed a promising direction.
"What did your friend say?" Li Xiangyang asked.
"He said if we could guarantee the quality and supply, he was willing to cooperate long-term," Ma Laosan said, flicking his cigarette ash. "But he had one requirement: the packaging and grading had to be done according to their standards."
"What standards?"
"For example, hazel mushrooms need to be sized, have a uniform color, and be free of wormholes. Wood ear mushrooms need to be thick and have a high rehydration rate," Ma Laosan said, pulling out a piece of paper. "He wrote me a list."
Li Xiangyang took it and looked at it carefully. The standard was indeed high, but it wasn't impossible to achieve.
"How's the price?"
"Dried hazel mushrooms, grade one, are twenty-five yuan a pound; grade two, twenty yuan. First-grade wood ear mushrooms are thirty yuan; grade two, twenty-five yuan," Ma Laosan quoted the prices. "More than double the prices we usually sell them for."