Interview with General Ceramics
General Manager Liu Xiaolei
Liu Xiaolei, general manager of brand marketing of General CeramicsInterview video
Dajiang Ceramics has always been recognized both inside and outside the industry for its low-key and pragmatic industrial spirit. Since the launch of the first piece of porcelain in October 2003, Dajiang Ceramics has conquered the city and made great progress, composing a song. The myth of leapfrog growth.
Behind the myth is the founding background of General Ceramics. It is reported that it transformed from a dealer of building ceramicsSince the establishment of General Ceramics, the top leader has been down-to-earth, following the company's expected trajectory, not seeking speed but stability.
We have repeatedly won various awards in the ceramic industry, sales have doubled every year, special team training camps have continued, reality show designer salons have attracted great attention, and brand upgrades have been successful from the inside out...< /span>
Next, how will General Ceramics maintain the style of a general, capture the "city" and "kill" out of the siege?
With the above questions, a reporter from China Ceramics Network interviewed Liu Xiaolei, general manager of sales of the Dajiang Ceramics brand, to explore the development changes of the industry and the secrets of Dajun Ceramics (hereinafter referred to as "Dajiang")'s growth against the trend.
Liu Xiaolei, General Manager of Brand Marketing of General Ceramics
"When soldiers come, water comes and earth covers them"
Standing under the market conditions, in addition to being low-key and pragmatic, we must also keep pace with the times< /span>
This year is Liu Xiaolei’s 6th year in General. From ordinary salesman to sales general manager, Liu Xiaolei has witnessed the ups and downs of the ceramics industry.
In the early days of the ceramic industry, the entire industry was booming. Managers' thinking models and systematic marketing were blurred, personal comprehensive abilities were downplayed, and brand strategies did not require special insight. Instead, they focused more on maintaining customer relationships to achieve sales results. By 2015 and 2016, market demand began to decline and dividends declined, forcing the company to transform and grow from both management models and external marketing.
In recent years, the ceramic industry has experienced reorganization and reorganization, and many companies have gone bankrupt. Regarding the current situation of the industry, Liu Xiaolei said that although the curve is dangerous, overtaking is easy.
In Liu Xiaolei’s view, since the establishment of the factory in 2003, General’s annual sales growth has been achieved with a calm and low-key work style, which is the result of products, marketing, management and terminal strategies advancing with the times.
1. Product: “Product upgrade too fast is not conducive to the development of the enterprise”
Products are the soul and foundation of a brand. In the era of product homogeneity, General focuses on quality, adheres to the cost-effective route, and always adheres to the principle of system + skeleton to develop products. Even if large-sized products become the mainstream trend, it will not blindly and never rush into it. The maximum size is only 900X1800mm, and there are many different colors. Multiple processes are superimposed to produce only the products that the terminal really needs. Liu Xiaolei said that product upgrades that are too fast or product lines that are too long are not conducive to the development of the company because the pace of terminal development cannot keep up.
2. Marketing: "The general rule is painless, and the pain is painless"
In terms of marketing system, Liu Xiaolei adheres to the principle of "it doesn't hurt if it's normal, and it doesn't work if it hurts". The company hired high-quality third-party resources to provide assistance at the terminal, and dispatched personnel from various internal departments to provide professional guidance; taking advantage of the rising trend of designer channels, it launched the "reality show" "Dream Space" 2018 China Annual Interior Design Competition Salon to In the name of design, we help industrial development.
3. Management: "Cognitive improvement is more important than material rewards"
In terms of management, according to Liu Xiaolei, the General spent millions to invite third-party companies to build special training camps for corporate teams, and carried out "Effective Communication", "Negotiation Skills", etc. from the top, middle and grassroots levels. Targeted practical internal training continuously sharpens the organizational efficiency and execution capabilities of internal personnel, so as to cope with the era of traffic competition with a calm attitude.
The growth of an enterprise and the growth of a professional manager complement each other. Liu Xiaolei has gradually established a mature thinking mode through learning, training and practical experience, and the systematic strategic planning is becoming more and more perfect. He believes that on the road of career development, recognition Intellectual improvement is more important than material rewards, and implicit gains are more valuable.
In the team led by Liu Xiaolei, he adheres to the one-to-one job responsibility system and hierarchical sales management. Team members are required to continuously change and improve, to be more professional externally and more principled internally, forming a closed cycle chain, and constantly improving organizational efficiency and execution capabilities to achieve the same frequency of execution thinking and improve the efficient collaboration of the entire team.
In recent years, as the ceramic industry has been undergoing in-depth reform, due to the general decline in market conditions and the decline in returns, many practitioners have become impetuous and anxious.
In this regard, Liu Xiaolei gave his own suggestions: First of all, don’t be too ambitious and think too low, and always maintain an empty-cup mentality and learning ability; then improve your professional quality and responsibility from the three major aspects of leadership, speech, and execution. Systematically cultivate comprehensive strength in aspects such as attitude and attitude.
4. Terminal: "Customer value-oriented"
Yu Feng, the full-time vice president of the Marketing Branch of the China Ceramics Association, once said: "There were many dealers who transformed during that period in 2003, but only General Ceramics was the only company that could make it solidly today."
It is reported that the dealers that Dajun has cooperated with for more than ten years account for about 60% of the total dealers. Regarding the "career community", Liu Xiaolei always adheres to customer value as the direction and makes three calculations every day: What customer needs are met? What needs of customers are not being met? What deep needs of customers have not been discovered?
Liu Xiaolei not only keeps the three major pain points of terminal dealer inventory, store decoration, and team operating costs in mind, but the solutions also keep pace with the times.
In the future, General will scientifically screen and evaluate 10 strategic central warehouses across the country, using the Internet + trend to improve turnover rate and timeliness of supply, and relieve dealer inventory pressure;
Store decoration reduces the burden on dealers in the form of subsidies, and the amount of subsidies increases every year, and the intensity continues to increase;
Team salary costs are oriented to improve creativity and results, and terminal training assistance improves order efficiency.
Remove attackTo break through the three major pain points, Liu Xiaolei deeply elaborated on the importance of dealer rear combat support in terms of designer resources, 3rd and 4th line masonry foreman resources, and other aspects of the strategic transformation from dealers to service providers.
According to Liu Xiaolei, with the gradual advancement of the national fine-decorated housing policy, the general has paid more attention to the workwear channel, expanding from the first strategic engineering department to the sixth strategic engineering department, which just proves the continued development of the general in the workwear channel. The company has achieved remarkable results and provided strong resource support for dealers to transform into service providers.
The “survival of the fittest by natural selection” mentioned in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is an appropriate description of the current situation of the ceramic industry. Whether it is a general or a practitioner, on the "battlefield" full of gunfire, only by continuous growth and evolution can we calmly deal with various unknown variables. Only a brave general can gallop on the battlefield. From the interview, it can be seen from the interview that Liu Xiaolei was polite to others, talked eloquently, and analyzed every detail, showing the demeanor of a general in every detail.
