Gan Tu Ba Diao, operating partner of Gaoling Capital, president of Meituan Internet University, former chief operating officer of Meituan, former vice president of Alibaba sales, employee No.67 of Alibaba, and representative of Zhonggong Tiejun, was called "Forrest Gump".
Justin Cheung, the partner and main director of Puhua Capital, worked in Top Sales in Ali for many years, and was also responsible for projects such as Tmall Think Tank. At present, the investment direction is brand, e-commerce, technology and S2B, and the representative projects include Shi Lan Science and Technology, Dingding Fresh Food, Panda Youxuan, Star TV, soulsense and AstroReality.
( 1)
Thinking about the Construction of Sales Team from the Commercial Essence
Justin Cheung: What is the biggest influence of Ma Yun or Wang Xing on you and the sales team of Ali or Meituan?
Gan: Ma Yun believes that sales is a process of creating value for customers. He often gives an example, saying that when a good doctor treats a patient, he first asks if he has a headache and foot pain, and how it hurts, and finally prescribes medicine, instead of looking at the file directly without asking about the illness. This has a great influence on Ali's sales concept and on me personally.
Frankly speaking, Wang Xing has little influence on my sales, but his understanding of the whole business and strategy has made me gain a lot.
Justin Cheung: Is it possible to build an excellent sales team only with strong execution?
Gan: Execution is very important to sales, but it is a necessary condition and also an insufficient condition.
Justin Cheung: If we give up Ali's cultural aspects, such as team friendship, can we still build a strong sales team?
Fuck the sable: Ali's sentient and righteous culture is still related to the characteristics of its business itself. At that time, the value of Ali B2B business was not obvious, the prepaid and customer unit price was high, and the effect was uncertain. Moreover, the Internet was not popular at that time, so its entry threshold was very high, sales were very difficult, and the team's ability to attack was very high. At this time, the whole team needs to help, share and encourage each other, otherwise it will be difficult to go on. Including the "political commissar" system is also a way to unite everyone.
Ali's sentient and righteous culture has really played a great role in the whole team, but I don't think this is a universal and inevitable law. Just a small methodology, methodology has its own size. More importantly, we should think from the essence of business.
In Ali, I personally don't participate in the inner circle, and there are fewer cards and mahjong parties. It is good to be affectionate and righteous, but this is more about the personal style of managers, or the business characteristics of Ali at that stage led to a higher density of people in this style.
Justin Cheung: Did the founder play the role of "political commissar"?
Fuck the sable: see how you define it. Managers must understand HR, which is the basic knowledge. Some founders and company executives feel that there is something missing in the company culture, or what kind of team needs to be established, they should go to HR, which is actually a misunderstanding.
Because what a company looks like must be related to its founder. Functions such as HR or finance are just landing in their professional fields or amplifying your ideas, but they have not changed, because the company is yours, not others'.
Justin Cheung: What is the biggest difference between Ali and Meituan in building a sales team?
Gump: The US Mission pays according to the effect. Relatively speaking, it requires higher efficiency or refinement. For example, after it is put on the shelves, you will only make a profit if customers have sales. If you get a lot of unsuitable products, the company will have to pay more. Therefore, for Meituan sales, how to operate customers, how to classify customers, and how to propose different solutions for different customers will have higher requirements.
(2)
As the core methodology of enterprises;
Strategic execution and tactical execution
Justin Cheung: You just mentioned that we should think about methodology from the essence of business, so what is the core methodology of doing business?
Gan: I think being an enterprise needs to be implemented. I divide execution into two types, "strategic execution" and "tactical execution". Their importance is different, equivalent to before and after the decimal point.
It is normal for tactical execution to have problems, just like a headache and a cold. It's all minor problems. But in the process of strategy implementation, it is often a matter of life and death, which is the most valuable place to do business.
Therefore, in the implementation of the strategy, don't fiddle around. Recently, I have seen many enterprises talk about strategic transformation at every turn, and they are all in at every turn, several times a year. Unless he is talking nonsense, or trying to make everyone work harder, if it is really all in, it will be scary several times a year and do great harm to the organization. Most enterprises are killed by themselves, not by others, which is a big problem in the implementation of the strategy.
In addition to "strategic execution" and "tactical execution", there are some common ways of thinking about entrepreneurship.
The first is vertical and horizontal integration. Doing a platform is horizontal integration, but when the conditions are not available in the early stage, it may be necessary to integrate vertically first, starting from a business. For example, we can solve the food problem first, and then make delivery after doing this business. Only after the organizational capacity overflows can it become a platform for sending clothes, medicines and other items.
The second is focus. At the beginning, the benefits of group buying were considerable, and hundreds of thousands of jeans could be sold at once, but Meituan insisted on only doing local life because of limited resources and capabilities. The core and scarcest resource of an enterprise is not money, but the attention of the founder. Money can melt, but time cannot.
The third is Porter's competitive strategy. Although it is called "competitive strategy", I think it is a basic methodology of enterprise strategy. Porter's competitive strategy divides all enterprises in the world into three categories. The first category is differentiated products, such as luxury goods and apples. The second category is to make cost-leading products, such as made in China, Amazon and Meituan. The third category is focused products, such as focusing on a certain group.
The choice of what kind of enterprise to become is related to the nature of the business itself on the one hand and the competition on the other. Wang Xing first defined Meituan as a "cost-leading" enterprise, which led to the theory of "three highs and three lows". The learning object of Meituan was Amazon, a model of cost-leading enterprises.
The fourth is Buffett's four moats, brand, transfer cost, network effect and structural cost advantages. Enterprises with moats are not easy to be robbed across borders, such as Meituan Hotel.
Compared with Ctrip, which is like an elephant, Meituan Hotel at that time was a mouse. But our advantage is that with a movie ticket, a box lunch or a take-away package, we can get customers in 20 yuan cheaply, while the cost for Ctrip to get customers at the same time has surpassed that of 200 yuan, which is the structural cost advantage of Meituan Hotel.
Justin Cheung: During the Hundred Regiments War, when were you sure that the Meituan would win? How to judge?
Gan: Actually, it was basically decided in 20 12 years, otherwise I wouldn't go to the US delegation. Judgment, in fact, was when my circle of friends replied to Allen Zhu at that time, and told me three main questions I was thinking about at that time:
1, is this big?
2. Can this buddy get into the top ten of the Internet in the future?
3. Are they just short of me?
At that time, Wang Xing looked for me for half a year, and I really hesitated, because Ali was getting better and better at that time. But after asking these three questions, I made a decision.
First, it's no big deal. Looking at the opportunity of the business itself is also the first step of "strategic implementation", which can be analyzed by "three layers and four sides".
"Four aspects" means that all businesses can be divided into customer quantity, frequency, customer unit price and monetization rate.
"Three layers" refers to the current market situation, online rate and market share.
This direction of thinking is not necessarily the best, but it is safer. From top to bottom, there are no factors overlapping or missing.
Generally speaking, the business itself has nothing to do with whether you are smart or not. The potential market is an objective physical world.
At that time, I looked at the "Sifang" of group buying. The number of users was very large, the transaction frequency was high, and there was a certain unit price. Of course, there is also a problem in this industry, that is, the previous monetization rate is very low.
Looking at the "three floors", the market is in its infancy, and the online rate and market share are low. I think this is a good opportunity. As you can see, the tertiary industry will definitely surpass the secondary industry in the future, and it is at a very early stage. So, this thing is really big.
After "three layers and four sides", it is necessary to take stock of the marketing organization ability, which is also the answer to the second question. Is this person reliable? Is the team reliable?
Organizational ability covers a wide range, but for all companies, strategic ability is undoubtedly the first, which includes learning, products, technology, management, financing, marketing, culture and so on.
From my experience, startups can beat most competitors on the track as long as they clearly understand and establish 3-4 core organizational capabilities.
No matter from Wang Xing's understanding of the whole Internet or his technical background, this person is reliable.
At that time, O2O was relatively hot, requiring the ability to do business both online and offline. Online toC and product-driven technology, Wang Xing's team can't be said to be the strongest in China, but more than 5,000 in the group buying field are completely different from them; If I go, the offline level should be higher. But in general, the two core competitiveness of Meituan are very strong. As long as the track has a chance, the probability of success is relatively high.
It is worthwhile to do something big and reliable.
Justin Cheung: Is this team short of you? Joining can operate better.
Fuck the sable: That's for sure.
Justin Cheung: Before you joined us, did you think it was too bad to invest in the American delegation?
Gump: The fact is, without me, there will be others in the Meituan, who are stronger than me and weaker than me. The revolution may win sooner or later.
This is the so-called strategic execution and tactical execution. Where does Wang Xing go to find what kind of person? This is the strategic execution, which determines the life and death of the enterprise. However, finding a stone in this direction is tactical execution, which has certain contingency.
Justin Cheung: You're right. Strategically, the US Mission must find such a person. If it finds that someone is weaker than you, it will be a few years late and maybe it will win.
Fuck the sable: not maybe, but definitely. So for me personally, it is accidental. I was lucky enough to go to the US Mission, and of course I made a great judgment.
Justin Cheung: How did you find the sales champion after you went to the Meituan?
Fuck the sable: because many things on sale are unrepeatable, unmeasurable and even incorrect. For example, being lucky, talented or handsome, and having resources can't be copied. If you take these as examples, it may be a blow to the team.
So my logic at that time was to find a valuable sales crown that could be copied and scaled up, and then copy it to others through management. Management itself is a lever to pursue certainty. As long as 80% people reach 80% of the best people, life can be very happy.
A common problem in the group buying industry is that there are various definitions of "selling the crown", one of which is "sense of consumption".
The so-called "sense of consumption" means that you can eat and play, put it online, and have a good group plan. Sales must have personality, otherwise it won't sell. At that time, it was the mainstream scheme, but in this way, the business could not be effectively managed, and it was impossible for me to let employees eat, drink and be merry all day.
Finally, through various analyses, it is found that the correlation coefficient between sales performance and supply is the largest regardless of quality factors. After that, it was verified in some cities and the supply was opened. It turned out to be very effective, and then it was enlarged.
20 12 crazy visit to place an order, 20 13 crazy visit to open a shop. The same scheme, the competitor will go online in a week, and we can go online on the same day. This is the difference between life and death.
Group buying in China and groupon, the originator of American group buying, parted ways in this link. Before, we copied groupon, took the marketing path, poured traffic into limited supply to make explosive orders, and then took 20% off or even 1 off the orders.
But since then, we have taken the road of e-commerce and unlimited supply. Of course, unlimited supply will also have "shelf cost", so the next task is to optimize tools and sell your own list.
At that time, we reduced the commission four times a year, and you (sales) must have scolded me, but the big fight was efficiency. Every penny saved by the list can be used to buy traffic, so that the sales volume can be higher, the market share can be increased by one point, and then there will be more lists, which can form a positive cycle.
When I first went, Meituan's market share was a little over 10%. After we discovered and practiced the law, the market share in March of 20 12 exceeded 13%, and reached 18% by the end of 20 12. This game is cost-leading and efficiency-leading, so we will definitely win, and other peers have no chance.
Justin Cheung: How did the supply efficiency improve so quickly?
Gan: During the Thousand Regiments War, as CEO, one of Wang Xing's important jobs was to chat with people from all walks of life outside, and often told me how others innovated, such as offline visits in different industries, but I insisted that regardless of the industry, the efficiency of visits was the most important issue for offline teams.
The biggest problem a qualified salesman faces is not the difference in knowledge structure brought by industry differences, which is not even the threshold. If you say that you only talk about hotels and don't talk about hotels, then I will think that you are not a qualified salesman.
In contrast, how to optimize the access path and improve the access efficiency is the main problem.
There must be a methodology for offline visits, but many people don't study them, just tinker with them and use the wall as a door. It seems to be innovative, but actually they just make various meaningless attempts.
Justin Cheung: Looking back on the experience in the US Mission, what do you think is the most important strategic stage in the Thousand Regiments War? How is the core strategic advantage of each stage obtained?
Fuck the sable: there are two stages. One is mentioned earlier, choose to take the marketing route or the supply route. The second is that we merged with the public comment. If the take-out of the US group does not merge with the public comments, then our competition in "eating in the store" still exists. Meituan now has at least one "in-store dining" base.
Justin Cheung: Every year or two, there will be a highly competitive track. How do you judge whether a team will win on such a fierce track? What is the key point for the team to win in this situation?
Gan: The fierce competition itself can't show the team's ability and characteristics. No matter whether the competition is fierce or not, what kind of business should have what kind of team. This logic has always been and is very clear. Fierce competition will only amplify it. If it is fierce, you will die quickly, if it is not fierce, you will die slowly.
(3)
Management is not how many people you manage.
It depends on whether you have mastered the basic methods.
Justin Cheung: The next question is more specific. At that time, how to achieve cross-regional management through daily and weekly newspapers?
Gump: Daily newspaper and weekly newspaper are just one of the management tools, which are separated from tool management by many layers. Cross-regional management is more of a terminal team or a sales team. The product technology or functional management of the headquarters cannot be divided into many levels. In the cross-regional management of sales teams, there is a larger methodology, and weekly newspapers and daily newspapers are only a small part.
There are not many big methodologies themselves. I've been in Meituan for five years, and I'm talking about sales management. Only a few PPT, a total of 1 1 page. There are only a few effective bottom-level methods, and we must focus on it for ten years.
Justin Cheung: Continuously ensure optimization.
Fuck the sable: Yes. Management is not about how many people you manage, but whether you master the basic methods. Really mastered, there is no essential difference between managing 500 people and managing 50 thousand people. If the basic method is wrong, even 50 people can control the chicken flying and the dog jumping.
Justin Cheung: Next is a very specific question. How to better report on work, and achieve the purpose of effective resumption, organization and talent diagnosis through reporting on work?
Gump: As I said just now, in the PPT on the page of 1 1 of the five years of the US Mission, there was a page about debriefing. This is the basic behavior of management. I am not an investor, but according to limited observation and understanding, this methodology is obviously established in investment.
I sometimes get depressed after talking to some good investors and feel that I don't know anything. But then I figured out why, because he saw more than me. He has seen all the teams in China, and he certainly has a better chance to see good teams than I do.
I was still telling Gaochun's people that day that if I were a professional investor, I would definitely go out early and return late, check your investors' visits and give full play to the leverage of the organization. Nothing is born smarter, you just watch too much.
Similarly, assessment is also one of the most important ways to cultivate teams and promote subordinates. To put it bluntly, the superior is helping the subordinate to benchmark. Your superiors tell you what you did, how you did it and how you looked at it. Subordinates will listen and give him practical guidance.
Training is also an effective method. 20 14 years, the gross profit of group buying is low, but we still squeeze out money to train new employees. The last part of the training is sharing, and the US delegation still retains it. 20 14 I played a total of 99 games, each game was more than 2 hours, basically 2 games a week, and I was very tired.
There are only a few effective management methods, as we all know, that is, to see who is persisting in doing those truly valuable things.
Justin Cheung: The most important thing in cultivating talents is review. How do you select talents?
Gan: Selecting talents belongs to the organizational capacity building of "tactical execution". We also encountered many problems in the management of the team, including recruitment.
Talent recruitment is prone to problems, and the key is the lack of coordinates.
What do you mean by lack of coordinates? I just don't know the level of employees now, and I can see that a person has many shortcomings, but he does a good job and knows the business. It is difficult to decide whether to take this man or replace him. Including this person's resume is very good, recommended by headhunters. After coming, I found myself unaccustomed to the environment, and it was also because of the lack of coordinates for the identification of people.
So I invented a talent triage, which is "wild and natural", "seen a good system" and "built a good system". Although this dichotomy is rough, it is simple and easy to use.
The first layer is "wild nature", and most people belong to this category. This means that although many people look very experienced, have worked in a certain industry for many years and have beautiful resumes, in fact, those things may just happen objectively, and anyone who works in that position will have such a beautiful resume.
What's more, he saw a good system, that is, he gained basic study and exercise in the fields recognized by the industry, such as the sales of Alibaba B2B in our early years, the products of Tencent, and the promotion of Meituan. Besides, there are enough smart people in this field. To do this, he must have strong organizational skills and systematic methodology.
The top-level configuration is "a good system has been established." He has not only seen a good system, but also knows that oranges are born in Huainan and oranges are born in Huaibei. He can use system methodology to build a good system according to local conditions. Many airborne executives were killed because they didn't have this ability and just copied the previous system.
(4)
There are only a few narrow doors to success.
Justin Cheung: The previous sharing was all about business, including how to manage, how to match and how to make strategies. The next one is about individuals. Over the years, how have you achieved self-improvement and breakthrough?
Fuck the sable: when it comes to personal growth, attitude is the first thing. The so-called attitude means that you have desires or ambitions, and Buddhism is far from making rapid progress. If we must talk about methodology, we must have a tossing heart and have higher expectations for ourselves. Most people are forced to resist because of their expectations. Only a few people pursue the stars, the sea and happiness, and only a few of these people can achieve great things. Wang Xing certainly didn't force himself to rebel. Frankly speaking, if I had his financial conditions, I wouldn't work so hard.
Justin Cheung: Is there any understanding and judgment that you are contrary to most people at present, but you are convinced?
Fuck the sable: the road to success. I think there are only a few narrow doors to success objectively, so we should try our best to get in. Too many people spend time thinking about how to find another easier door. The same is true for repeating everything mentioned above.
It is difficult to win in succession by luck, and it is very likely that you will not reap the fruits of victory in the end. Meituan said it was too early to succeed. The success or failure of an enterprise is also related to the times. At present, the two most valuable companies, Microsoft and Apple, were established around 1975.
Meituan is on a hard, not so fertile land. In the face of Ali, the most powerful Internet company in China, we can assume some accidental factors, such as switching to any other company instead of Wang Xing. Is it possible to leave today?
Think about it and you'll know it's impossible. Therefore, the most important thing for an enterprise is the founder and the top leader. There is no doubt that this is before the decimal point. If you don't think clearly about these things, it's a chance to win. Texas, for example, may be done in the end.
Justin Cheung: Among the best entrepreneurs you have met in recent years, who will be the next Jack Ma or Wang Xing?
Fuck the sable: Wang Xing and Ma Yun are hard to copy. This should be done in the right place at the right time. Frankly speaking, the most powerful thing is the times. Or a lower level, the most powerful is geography. What kind of geography has what kind of country, and what kind of development law will there be. By contrast, everyone is very small.
Justin Cheung: Finally, recommend some good books you have read recently.
Fuck the sable: there are not so many good books. I read it again and again. General History of the World is a good book about history and geography. To some extent, geography is a more basic methodology. What kind of geography there is, what kind of country and nation there is. History is only an extension of geographical laws in time.
Many times, when we look back on our mistakes, we are actually walking in the jungle without a map. From a larger perspective, both geography and history can help you build a coordinate system, which is quite helpful.
In addition, I also like lean entrepreneurship, which has a reliable methodology, especially for start-ups. It is also good to talk about Amazon's "take all". I've seen my eyes wet and my hair stand on end many times. This book made me a big fan of Amazon. I bought its stock as a belief stock and passed it on to the next generation.