Author｜Cao Yuyong
Senior marketing planner in the ceramic industry, executive vice chairman of the Interior Design Committee of the China Building Materials Circulation Association
Original title: "Dangers" and "Opportunities" of professional managers in the ceramic industry
01
The glory of the past has disappeared
As an old man in the ceramics industry, the author has witnessed the entire process of the ceramics industry from barbaric growth to difficulty; I have also witnessed countless brands acting like a big show, from rise, prosperity to decline; I have also witnessed countless brands. Countless professional managers have gone from calling the shots to disappearing. This land, known as the "Pottery Capital of the South" and the "Ceramic Jianghu", is just like "Liuyuan Road", the ceramic people's base, where people come and go and get together and disperse; all kinds of past, like the Shiwan jade ice burning, pass by. Passed through the throat, leaving only the burning numbness.
As a professional manager in the ceramics industry, his former glory has long since faded away. In his daily life in Foshan, he smokes Huazi and drinks morning tea; during his business trip, he spends his time drinking, eating and ordering local specialties. In the era when the traditional terminal building materials market is crowded, relationships are the most important thing to maintain. As the saying goes, the amount of wine represents sales, and the quality of wine reflects character. There is nothing that cannot be settled at the wine table. After a few years, terminal competition has become increasingly fierce, and competition in traditional sales channels has intensified. If you can train, help dealers open up channels, and conduct promotional activities, you have become a qualified marketer. Nowadays, there are almost no customers in terminal stores. National policies, industry situations and consumption habits have all changed. A series of changes such as hardcover centralized purchasing, Internet decoration, new media, new retail, etc. are rushing towards us. Our marketing The staff began to feel confused, hesitant, and at a loss.
Since then, cigarettes have changed from Huazi to Furong Wang, and I don’t go to nightclubs anymore. Even if I drink until I get angry, I won’t say that Foshan is my home. People have begun to mature. Don’t talk about getting promoted when changing jobs. A salary increase would be a good thing if it can be shifted horizontally, but if it really doesn't work, dimensionality reduction is acceptable. Those who have some capital should either go back and open a store, or leave Foshan and start over in another industry.
But this kind of maturity is actually forced to mature, just like a frog in warm water. After lying down for a long time, it is no longer able to jump. It can only suffer, waiting for the cells in the body to be scalded by boiling water. Before the lump, stick out the residual wineThe tasteful tongue swallows up the occasional moth to maintain its livelihood.
02
The tragedy of cross-industry talent mobility
The fact that foreign monks can chant sutras is not just a proverb, but more like a curse, which has led many aspiring large and medium-sized enterprises to introduce cross-industry talents, including home appliances, customization, lighting, even those who make hardware, sell houses, and sell insurance. , have entered the ceramic industry one after another. Of course, there are also sporadic young people with ambitions in the ceramic industry entering other general home furnishing industries. But the strange thing is that whether it is a layman who comes by air or we go across the industry, the survival rate seems not to be high. I don’t know if it’s a soil problem or a climate problem. Maybe oranges growing in Huainan are called tangerines, and oranges growing in Huaibei are called tangerines.
The flow of cross-industry talents is necessary. If any industry does not have new blood and new thinking, it will become a stagnant water. But how courageous the entrepreneurs are and whether the atmosphere of corporate reform is thorough enough has become a matter of life and death for professional managers across industries. There is another strange phenomenon in the ceramic industry. Companies that are growing rapidly are often not run by professional managers across industries. They are often led by a group of industry prophets who have a keen eye for both the company and the industry. This is actually related to the product attributes of the industry. The attributes of semi-finished products determine the differences in distribution channels, sales models and service systems. Entrepreneurs’ strategic vision and knowledge of people are prerequisites for building channels and service systems.
However, we really can’t blame these entrepreneurs who intend to change. Who doesn’t want his business to prosper? We should look for the reasons from ourselves as professional managers. Up to now, the ceramic industry is already an enterprise with uneven development. Some companies rely on strong production scale and supply chain control system to occupy the top of the manufacturing side, while others rely on continuous brand building and intensive cultivation of terminal channels to become the industry leader. Brands, there are also some small and beautiful companies that thrive through personalized product design and differentiated market positioning. But our professional managers rarely have the ability to iterate, self-deny and innovate. They hold 1982 Lafite in a 2021 bottle.
Whether it is an enterprise or a talent, if it remains stubborn, it will naturally face the fate of being eliminated. Is there a steady stream of hematopoietic functions to achieve the core competitiveness of its own capabilities and break through the career development bottlenecks of the enterprise itself or the professional managers themselves? , are new topics faced by everyone. But some people may ask, why do I keep doing sales according to the old routine? Although it is more difficult to do, I don't starve to death. It is true that during the brutal growth period of the past few decades, experience and network resources were very important, but one day when they are overdrawn and become negative, they will become pale and powerless. The same is true for enterprises. Even though many enterprises are still struggling to survive, the law of conservation of energy speeds us up. AnyWhen the quantitative change reaches a certain peak, a qualitative change will occur. Didn’t you see that the capital giants are rushing towards you, and the torrent is forcing ceramic companies to adopt a new attitude and marketing model to adapt to the huge changes in the industry?
03
Where is the way out for professional managers in the ceramic industry?
Once upon a time, professional managers in the ceramics industry were still a hot commodity, because the ceramics industry was the first industry in the building materials industry and even the general home furnishing industry to deeply develop terminal channel providers, earlier than customized cabinets, let alone doors and windows. But this is the dividend of the industry, not how good the professional managers are, just like the current climate of many talents from listed companies entering the ceramics industry. It is true that the internal management system and operating model of listed companies are much higher than those of ceramic companies. However, in addition to the product attributes analyzed above, companies should use different talents at different stages. In the early stage of reform, junior managers from listed companies should be used. Management is an extremely risky thing. They are just a screw in a giant. They are like a blind person touching an elephant when it comes to the true core competitiveness of an excellent enterprise. They know it but don't know why.
Yes, this is what professional managers in the ceramic industry should change first. Don't regard the success of the platform as personal success, and don't regard past experience as a bargaining chip for the future. The author believes that the development of any industry or even enterprise can be traced. From a macro perspective, it is closely related to national development and even global economic development. From a micro perspective, it is inseparable from market development situations and consumer changes. As for why the ceramic industry has grown from barbaric growth to difficulty, and where the ceramic industry is headed, I will not elaborate here. But another rule of thumb is that there are no failed industries, only failed companies. Some people say that digital cameras revolutionized camera film. Looking at it from another perspective, it might not be that the demand still exists, but it has just changed its form of existence.
Individuals and enterprises are the same. When they develop to a certain state, they will encounter a bottleneck. At this time, new trends of thought are needed to promote the second rise of the development curve (both Midea and Huawei have encountered similar problems. situation). Therefore, being good at learning and daring to clear things up are the common denominators of excellent professional managers and excellent companies. It is gratifying to see that some professional managers in the ceramic industry have also realized this and dared to venture out across industries and go into customization, furniture, and even the home appliance industry. This may not be a good way to stimulate a new development curve. After clearing the industry, learn the excellent operating models outside the circle. Even if you return to the ceramics company one day, you can still observe the inside circle from the perspective of outside the circle. At the same time, there are also some people of insight who want to expand their horizons and structure through further studies, and apply for EMBA from well-known universities, so that they can always be among the best in all walks of life.
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The wheel of history is always moving forward, and the transformation of the ceramic industry and the replacement of ceramic managers are also unstoppable. As old myths are shattered, new legends are about to be born. This is the best of times, and it is also the worst of times. Today, with the prevalence of mobile Internet and new media, Chicken Soup for the Soul has long been as strange as the hot and humid weather in Foshan. Therefore, whether it is the first wave or the last wave, we should really calm down, think about the present and future of the industry, explore the market and user needs, be down-to-earth, work hard, and then wait for the flowers to bloom.
(Author: Cao Yuyong)
