sbdcsierra Chapter 125 Clever Counterattack
Chapter 125 Clever Counterattack
Chapter 125 Clever Counterattack
In a coffee shop near Shenzhen Science Park, Zhao Cheng, a sales manager at 51job, was having a lively conversation with the owner of a technology company.
The other party is a startup company that makes smart hardware. The boss's surname is Han, and he is worried about not being able to recruit suitable embedded engineers.
"Mr. Han, that local life website you mentioned is a long story—" Zhao Cheng took a sip of coffee, his eyes filled with disdain.
"They started out as small vendors and blue-collar workers, so their methods are rather unconventional. That feature they recently implemented that allows employees to anonymously rate the company is very risky."
What will happen to your company's image if a competitor or a former employee maliciously leaves negative reviews?
And their "speed dating" approach, which skips the normal screening process, makes it difficult to guarantee the authenticity of resumes and the match between people and jobs.
We're hiring skilled workers, not assembly line workers. We need reliable people; we can't be greedy for quick results.
O
President Han frowned. He was interested in the recently emerging local life service websites, but Zhao Cheng's words made him hesitate.
Seeing this, Zhao Cheng seized the opportunity and took out a well-designed plan from his briefcase.
"This is a rapid recruitment support package specially launched by 51job for innovative technology companies in Shenzhen. The price is very favorable, offering excellent value for money. We can mobilize our nationwide talent pool and conduct a rigorous review process to ensure the quality of our recommendations."
Zhao Cheng successfully persuaded the other party to cooperate with 51job.
Similar scenes have occurred in cafes and meeting rooms in several office buildings in Shenzhen.
With new low-price packages and carefully prepared sales pitches, 51job's sales team focused on visiting tech companies that had been contacted or already partnered with by the local network's "high-end recruitment expansion team."
The conversation reveals a disdain for the "grassroots" origins and "unregulated" model of local life websites, while emphasizing its own "legitimacy" and "safety".
The pressure quickly reached the local life website.
First, two existing clients who had already activated the "interview feedback" function called to subtly inquire about information security issues.
Then, a game development team that had initially reached an agreement suddenly changed their minds the night before signing the contract. The other party's representative vaguely stated that "after evaluation, the company has decided to choose a more mainstream platform."
Even Mr. Zhang from Spark Interactive, with whom they had previously enjoyed a pleasant collaboration, reminded Xie Xiaodong during a phone call: "Manager Xie, there's been some discussion in the industry lately about your platform, saying that you're moving a bit too fast, and some features are quite controversial. You should pay more attention to that."
Xie Xiaodong put down the phone and walked to the whiteboard in the corner of the office. It displayed the key clients the team had been following up on recently and their progress.
Two items have been marked in yellow to indicate "suspended," and one item has been crossed out in red to indicate "lost."
Qin Lang just reported that a young consultant in the team, who was poached from 51job, has been somewhat restless these past two days and has received private calls from former colleagues.
The opponent's counterattack was swift and vicious.
Price pressures, brand skepticism, and attempts to undermine morale by poaching talent.
After receiving the news, Lin Feng summoned Xie Xiaodong, Qin Lang, Lao Sun, and others to his office and explained the next steps to them.
First, the previously compiled success stories have been condensed into a one-page "proof of value," highlighting how the local life website serves its clients and helps them save time and quickly recruit staff.
Second, arrange for Xie Xiaodong and others to revisit all hesitant clients, especially those who had been contacted by the Founder Group sales team. Avoid arguments and belittling competitors; simply focus on what we did and what we accomplished.
Third, Lin Feng personally spoke with the consultant who received the call from Qiancheng. He laid everything out on the table and told him about the company's future plans. He encouraged those willing to shoulder the burden together to stay and work hard.
Those who feel they can find better shelter under a big tree should part ways amicably, but all necessary non-compete and confidentiality agreements must be in place.
Fourth, send someone to find out who is leading the charge against our company recently, and how much pressure they are under.
Additionally, check if there are any frontline sales or consultants within their organization who are dissatisfied with the status quo and feel stifled. There's no need to poach them; just make friends and gain a better understanding of the competitors' actions.
Lin Feng told them, "The more frantically our opponents attack us, the more it proves that the path we're taking is making things difficult for them. We're on the right track!"
On the other hand, Lin Feng used his expertise in organizing student activities to arrange for people at Shenzhen University to contact two of the most dynamic student organizations, the Entrepreneurship Association and the Internet Technology Club, to launch a school-enterprise cooperation.
The local online community will provide sponsorship and resources to support the school's student organizations in organizing a "Micro-Roadshow for Innovative Enterprise Recruitment" open to the entire school.
After a period of preparation, a "Rising Star" innovative enterprise micro-roadshow, jointly organized by the "Entrepreneurs Association" and "Tongcheng Life Network", was held at Shenzhen University in the student activity center.
There were more than a dozen companies present, including those that make smart hardware, those that develop independent games, and those that create new media content.
The activity center was packed with students.
Each company's founder used the simplest language to describe their product, their dream, the challenges they faced, and what kind of partners they needed.
The atmosphere was lively, with questions coming in constantly.
Wang Rui and Chen Jing, who were in charge of student activities, moved among the students, guiding the exchanges and showing them the pages of these star companies and the "interview feedback" content on the "Recruitment" section of the local life website.
A third-year computer science student, after listening to the founder of a company that makes AI educational robots, excitedly said, "I used to think that finding a job meant going to a big company, but today I feel that working together with an innovative company is another kind of highly fulfilling experience!"
His words resonated with many of his classmates.
News of the event and photos from the scene quickly appeared on Shenzhen University's BBS and several student communities.
Keywords such as "local life network", "startup", "direct dialogue with founders", and "different recruitment" have quietly left an impression on some students.
At the same time, Xie Xiaodong acted quickly, targeting a small cross-border e-commerce company that had previously been snatched away by 51job with a low-price package.
The boss's surname is Wu. He is a young man who dares to work hard. After two years, the company has made some progress and urgently needs an operations manager who understands both overseas marketing and supply chain experience.
I was persuaded by a salesperson from 51job to sign up for their "express package," but the resumes I received were either from people who only knew about overseas marketing and didn't understand the products, or people who only knew about domestic e-commerce. I interviewed five or six people, but none of them were suitable, and it was a waste of time.
Xie Xiaodong didn't mention the package price, but went straight to General Manager Wu: "General Manager Wu, may I take ten minutes of your time? I know you've been having trouble recruiting lately."
We've just met a suitable candidate who previously worked for three years at a medium-sized cross-border e-commerce company in Taiwan, handling everything from marketing to supply chain management. He's returning to Shenzhen for family reasons and is currently looking for opportunities.
I've spoken with the person; they seem very genuine and interested in your small but exquisite brand model. Would you like to meet them?
It's free; consider it having more options. If it works out, you can then consider future collaborations. If not, you won't lose anything.
Mr. Wu was in a terrible predicament, and with no other option but to try his luck, he agreed.
Xie Xiaodong personally arranged the interview, which took place the following afternoon. The two sides quickly reached an agreement: the candidate was attracted to the development potential and flat organizational structure of Mr. Wu's company, while Mr. Wu valued the candidate's comprehensive abilities and pragmatic attitude.
One week later, the person was on duty.
Mr. Wu was overjoyed and called Xie Xiaodong to express his gratitude. He was completely disappointed with 51job's "massive resume" system and offered to hand over all subsequent recruitment to Tongcheng.com. He was even willing to become a deep cooperative client for "interview feedback".
In the backend of the "Enterprise Edition" of Tongcheng Life Network, several newly added "Strategic Partner" icons have quietly lit up.
Among them was Mr. Wu's cross-border e-commerce company. Xie Xiaodong kept his promise and provided more detailed "interview feedback" operational support for these clients.
Tongcheng.com staff regularly and selectively send brief, anonymous survey invitations to candidates who have interviewed with these companies to collect their opinions on the interview process, communication experience, and other aspects.
After being organized, the data is displayed on the company page in a more structured way, such as with star ratings and keyword tags, and obviously emotionally charged attacks are filtered out.
In this way, "interview feedback" has transformed from a potentially controversial "free forum" into a relatively controllable "experience survey" guided by the platform, which retains authenticity while reducing companies' concerns.
Mr. Wu looked at the few new comments that appeared on his company's page: "The interviewer was professional, and the questions were insightful."
"The process was very efficient; they responded the very next day."
He nodded in satisfaction and casually shared the link in his small group of entrepreneurs.
Mr. Wu also said, "The 'light headhunting' service on Tongcheng Life Network truly helps you screen resumes, instead of just sending out countless resumes for you to review. My operations manager was recommended by them, and now he's doing very well."
He also attached a screenshot of his company's message page on a local online forum.
Silent word-of-mouth is more powerful than any GG (government-backed product) within the small circles of small and medium-sized business owners.
Qin Lang also made some gains. Through an intermediary, he treated a sales manager who had worked at 51job's Shenzhen branch for three years, whose performance was mediocre but who always felt frustrated, to drinks.
After a few drinks, the other person started talking.
"—The pressure is immense. General Manager Li is focused on market share and major clients. Those of us who work with small and medium-sized clients have high targets, but the company's support is limited. They can lower prices on packages at any time, and our commission rates will shrink accordingly."
Those small business owners are shrewd; when you compare them, sometimes it's not that we're not hardworking enough.
The other party couldn't help but admire, saying, "Your local life website's approach is quite clever. Some of us internally have been discussing whether we should learn from it and do something more flexible. But the higher-ups—humph—think it's beneath them, that it's not the right way."
Qin Lang poured him more wine and asked, "So, what exactly is President Li's plan for our side right now?"
"Regulations?" The other party scoffed. "It's just suppression. The price war is open secret, and they also have their sales staff relentlessly claiming you're irregular and risky. But I don't think it'll be very effective—"
"You've hit some sore spots for the bosses. Just scaring them won't scare away those who are truly hurt. Mr. Li hasn't been in a good mood lately. I heard that headquarters isn't very satisfied with the growth in the Shenzhen market, and Zhilian seems to be thinking of new tricks as well—they're under a lot of pressure too."
These fragmented pieces of information reached Lin Feng's ears. Both sides were consolidating their existing base and desperately vying for intermediary clients. The key to victory would be who provided better service and who possessed more information about "job seekers."
Li Mo's anxiety confirmed his judgment.
Large ships are difficult to turn around, especially when they consider themselves aircraft carriers, and it is impossible for them to imitate the agility of speedboats.
Price wars consume profits and patience.
Public opinion attacks may influence some people, but they cannot cover all those who genuinely feel the "pain" during the recruitment process.
Our customers.
Lin Feng circled the words "job seekers" with his pen, noting that college graduates each year constitute the largest group of job seekers. He considered that the campus "micro-roadshow" model could be formalized and developed into a series.
Not only Shenzhen University, but also many other universities in Shenzhen and Guangdong Province. Businesses have a high demand for talent and are eager to recruit.
Lin Feng told the companies participating in the campus micro-roadshow that this was not a one-off recruitment event. Through the local life network, they could continuously connect with young talents passionate about these innovative fields. At the same time, it helped companies build their employer brand.
On the other hand, we need to encourage more "General Manager Wus" to speak out, so that their reputation for being quick, accurate, and good at solving problems can outweigh the noise of "non-standard and risky".
A few days later, a new section called "Customer Chat" quietly went online on the homepage of the "Recruitment" section of the local life website.
Each square contains the logo of a partner company, along with a quote or two from the company's representative or HR.
Mr. Wu's company was among them. He commented, "Other companies gave me a hundred resumes to choose from, but I couldn't find a single suitable one. Tongcheng Life Network gave me three resumes: two were good enough for interviews, and one was usable. I need people who can do the work, not a bunch of useless resumes."
Not long after, Li Mo from 51job learned from his marketing manager about Tongcheng Life Network's "Innovative Enterprise Recruitment Micro Roadshow" held in various universities in Shenzhen, and the fact that a group of companies, including General Manager Wu, ultimately chose Tongcheng Life Network.
Li Mo locked himself in his office alone.
He initially thought that Tongcheng Life Network, a website that mainly recruits blue-collar workers, was overestimating its capabilities by trying to expand into the high-end talent market. He believed that 51job could easily defeat it with just a little effort.
Unexpectedly, the price war and media suppression did not seem to kill the other party's vitality. Instead, it was like punching a sand pile, and the other party reappeared in a different form from somewhere else.
That "peasant" he initially looked down upon has now rapidly extended its claws towards white-collar workers and campuses.
Li Mo picked up the phone, wanting to ask the person in charge of the campus channels, but hesitated for a moment and then put it down.
He reprimanded his subordinates for not keeping a close watch. But the campus wasn't run by 51job.com; if Tongcheng Life Network wanted to break in, they couldn't stop them.
I can only blame myself for not thinking of such a great idea.
A sense of unease, a feeling of helplessness, lingered in Li Mo's mind, and he felt a dull throbbing pain in his temples.