If look at the red carpet, with a cup of champagne waiter and a huge sign board, September held in Shanghai Sinan mansions of the cocktail will be nothing new. The only exception is the called gesture of office chair, it is party lead in the middle of the meeting.
It comes from 1974 onwards has won the global office furniture sales of the first American furniture brand Steelcase.
The company is famous for its high office furniture, which is usually the price of an office chair, usually in the range of several thousand dollars. Expensive international office furniture brand in recent years, gradually in the Chinese market to find their own position, in addition to Steelcase, there are also the same from the United States Miller Herman and Japan's Okamura production agency (Okamura).
The company's products are high technology known, both from the aerospace and automotive manufacturing industry of special materials or after lifting, luffing and durability test of the production process, the ultimate expression of information is: This is a very comfortable chair. Because of the conventional design of subversive seats, such as Miller Aeron production of Herman seats also become a classic case of industrial design teaching materials. And in the decades after the development, Steelcase such companies have the business model from simple furniture design to a set of office space design consulting. In the United States, such as the development of more mature markets, their products are not only tables and chairs, as there is space.
But in China, the chair is probably the most eye-catching products. Entrepreneurs overheating in phone venture team at the beginning of the recruitment notice specially marked he will use the Herman Miller and Okamura's Contessa seats, the Internet can also see consumers released out of the box and high-definition video details larger - usually people to buy your favorite digital products will appear similar behavior.
With the increase in working hours and intensity, many people believe that having such a high profile is a long-term health investment. And for the company, this is to show their attention to talent and the pursuit of quality of corporate culture logo. Steelcase customers in almost all the Fortune 500 companies, which has often been referred to the demonstration case is mobile operator Vodafone and technology giant Google. Sometimes, these seats will be highlighted in the business report, the reporter to show the company in the hardware investment extraordinary.
In order to highlight the product innovation means, Steelcase, usually held a grand press conference for new products, or in quite fashionable sense of place with a cocktail party held in the form, or placed directly in the brand's flagship store. Steelcase Greater China Lei Zhenyu, director of the dealer for the first financial weekly concluded that, in China, as long as there is a close range of opportunities to show and contact, the possibility of final sales will be greatly improved.
When the end of 2006 Steelcase set up factories in Shenzhen and set up direct sales outlets in Shanghai, it found that the establishment of foreign countries in the past hundred years to accumulate up the visibility here is not useful. The original business can only rely on customers who signed a global purchase agreement, such as GE. This situation in July 2007 Steelcase established direct sales office in Beijing has been significantly changed.
In order to enhance the awareness, Zhen Yu Lei and other sales team members choose to actively contact some office space design and project management company as the breakthrough point, especially in some of the early years to enter China's international well-known architectural design firm, for example, Gensler and Hok. On the one hand, with the business owners than these professionals of office furniture industry to a more in-depth understanding, so basically all know Steelcase status in the world; on the other hand, they in the early stages of the project planning stage will provide customers recommended list of a few brands, and final acceptance rate is very high. This allows Steelcase to have the opportunity to participate in the major local enterprises in the office of the project bidding competition.
The first Chinese customers from large state-owned enterprises and the central enterprises, the second group is a Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, such as private giants, and now more private companies have joined the ranks. Their purchase is not only the Steelcase, there are some high-end European brand of office furniture, such as by a called Matsu agency of the German brand Kusch+Co it is including the use of fixed Daimler, the German company brand. In all of these brands and marketing of education, coupled with the enterprise's own needs, let some Chinese business owners office decoration budget gradually from seven or eight years ago, hundreds of thousands, millions of ascension to today's tens of millions.
In order to allow more people to recognize the value of these expensive products, Lei Zhenyu can not just put a few samples in the bidding on the past show it. He called the contact including invited the Chinese company responsible for the people to visit the factory and showroom, even is the headquarters of the United States; will go to the field for products to display sample, that is, the sample directly to customers in the office site a a installation and demonstration, and let the staff and management team probation for a period of time.
Trial is the most important link. For Steelcase this company's products, only the actual use, not just watch, in order to understand their own money in the end to spend where. Once, Lei Zhenyu and colleagues to participate in an office of China's Mainland Company bidding conference, Steelcase assembly process is the process of assembling the crowd, and even some people shot the video. But when all the people are assembled to show the product, the tender side eventually chose a cheaper brand, because it looks almost".
If you can persuade Chinese the responsible person of the enterprise into the factory or workshop hall, everything becomes much easier. At that time the sales staff will become a demonstration of Steelcase lean production management system, and even the application of environmentally friendly materials. "When it went to visit the headquarters of the United States, 100% will become our customers." Lei Zhenyu said.
Nanjing metro development Limited by Share Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Metro shares) is also true. This real estate development based company recently opened a new building, 5000 square meters of the group headquarters, some of their own use, other rental. This company is founded in 1999, the real estate industry organizations in the city alliance members, the organization also includes Vanke and other companies, and the new town of CEO Chen Jun in 2013 to become chairman. In the building at the beginning of 2012 just Kaijian, they want to borrow this opportunity to make the real estate industry advanced office concept model and example, reception came to visit members of the alliance.
In the same year, Steelcase in original Shanghai, Beijing two straight camp shop open China dealer network and invited Metro shares of the new building interior design team went to the headquarters of the United States to visit. Team members came back excitedly to the management of Metro shares have made a report. Metro, deputy director of the office of Ding Feng also attended the meeting. Steelcase, the headquarters of the United States open staff is most impressed him, he thinks, metro should "like Google that big companies in the United States, set up afternoon tea time, provide employees between communication communication environment and platform". Actually appear in Metro shares decoration new headquarters office is not just an employee. Almost Steelcase U.S. headquarters of the scaled down version, complete products even more than the Nanjing dealer showrooms. "We are now the best exhibition hall of Steelcase, with a large area, and we can see every piece of furniture that is used every day." Ding Feng said.
Steelcase the importance of this project from the very beginning is not the same general, after all, in China, it has little chance to be in a building in the early stage of the construction will be involved, can play a considerable space. A few months later, Steelcase headquarters from the United States to send to the team and to Metro shares each department from the executives to ordinary employees one by one for a period of a week of work habits survey, problems and details to be left-handed or right-handed, clothes and bags are usually in where. Then according to the survey results, Steelcase gives a very detailed space design recommendations.
That originally all people are impressed the staff it when really with it, employees was rather uncomfortable up: people just to see it, to sit for a while, but soon everyone would feel helpless, returned to their seats. Ding Feng to this end also requires the company's subordinate departments organized to take turns to staff bar office, and provides drinks and snacks. A few months down, employees will gradually take the initiative to go there. Ding Feng also set the standard for everyone to put personal items on the desk. "These products will let you do not consciously develop good office habits. For example, the design table of white color will make people not scribble, if the desktop is very messy dirty himself could not stand." Ding Feng said.
"Compared with large state-owned enterprises and foreign enterprises, these private enterprises to spend money to buy high-end international furniture brand more consideration is that it can bring to the enterprise itself, the image of what the added value." Lei Zhenyu said.
Metro shares of the original plan to invest millions of new headquarters of the interior decoration, if the configuration of some domestic furniture brands, this budget is complete procurement enough. But in the end, to strive for Steelcase, budget was increased to nearly 10 million, or Steelcase's president personally clappers to preferential price, dealers in Nanjing also conceded the lot of profit. For some of the high price of high-tech products, such as remote conference room control system media:scape, Metro shares only a symbolic to buy a. "This product is more suitable for the United States that open office, the Chinese people have a meeting or like a little private space." Ding Feng said.
In addition to the characteristics of each company to give personalized space solutions, Steelcase also want to go one step further, the front end of the trend of research into the sales.
Steelcase each year in China will host two grand new conference, behind a certain research department to cooperate with a summary of the new trend report or theoretical model. You can get a global posture investigation report, covering more than 2000 people in 11 countries around the world, this study, jointly conducted by Steelcase "future workplace research team and design studio, nine in the mobile Internet era, new posture is summed up, in the report at the end of the tail, Steelcase will tell you gesture seat is designed for the new demand.
In addition, Steelcase also has its own office space research magazine "360", regularly publish the latest trends and reports. It will take the initiative to share these reports with designers, and so have the right projects to be able to seek cooperation for the first time.
Metro shares of the demonstration effect has been generated. According to Dingfeng, Renzhiqiang, Pan Shiyi, in Union City, business leaders are in the meeting visited the new office, the feeling is very good, also arranged for responsible person approached with the Steelcase, not to mention the other companies in the same building building settled. In the entire Nanjing area, Metro shares are represented as advanced enterprise environment to promote.
In addition to the Metro shares, the world's largest concentrated apple juice producer and exporter of Shaanxi Haisheng fruit and started Wenzhou high-end leisure men's clothing brand agents and OEM Difeng group are Steelcase's new customers.
This experience as the core of the sales approach is changing over the past few decades office furniture sales in the minds of customers left the stereotype. "Our dealers and many have past experience in domestic sales of office furniture, their business is completely on the wine come out fighting. Now I tell them, later you will because to win the respect of customers and received the order." Lei Zhenyu said.
Some from Xi'an, Nanjing and other places of dealers to understand this point, they from a grand new release party back to their own companies, in addition to pass out the concept of gesture, also intends to in their own exhibition hall also hosted a cocktail party though in Shanghai Sinan public museum site, they always in doubt. Why didn't greet people sat down to eat.