E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 54 - Episode 54 Not So Demanding Client A vs. Newbie B

Chapter 54: Episode 54 “Not So Demanding” Client A vs. Newbie B Part 1

Chapter 54: Episode 54 “Not So Demanding” Client A vs. Newbie B Part 1

“Uh, ah, comrades…” Zhou Xueyin lifted her head, looking at the three people who were still discussing going back home and hadn’t noticed her.

“Speak up if you have something to say!” Li Jiniant was the first to react.

“We’ve got an advertising order!” Zhou Xueyin had originally intended to ask if it was good or bad news, but then thought it better to just state the result.

“Oh? That’s great news! Getting an advertising order means…” Li Jiniang deliberately drew out her words, waiting for Kang Siyin and Yao Shanshan to join in, “we’re going to make money!”

“Really? An advertising order! How much did the other party quote? Or is it us who are setting the price? Yinyin, don’t be too greedy! Just make it reasonable, if we ask for too much and they turn to someone else, won’t we lose out?” Yao Shanshan propped up Zhou Xueyin’s shoulder, chattering away at length.

“An advertising order? What kind? Does it match our website’s style? If not, we cannot take it. Imagine if it scares away our users, that would be a loss not worth taking!” Kang Siyin pulled Zhou Xueyin over.

“Stop, stop, stop!! Everyone, don’t be too anxious… I’ll explain it slowly… Here, look at the client’s requirements!” Zhou Xueyin posted a screenshot in the group chat.

“A jewelry business, huh? That’s pretty good! It fits our forum’s needs!” Kang Siyin was relieved.

“A Christmas theme… This is too easy, right? There is a plethora of materials online!” Yao Shanshan was also reassured.

“For the offline part, we can collaborate with Ya Rui and his team! This won’t be a problem either!” Li Jiniang also felt relieved.

“The key point is, the other party didn’t mention a price. And then, Sister Chunming’s idea is that they will give a quote based on our proposal! The most important thing is, they need it by December…” Zhou Xueyin looked at the other three people, “which means, you might have to go to the train station to return your tickets…”

“It’s fine! We call the shots at the company; we can go home anytime. But if we miss out on this advertising order, who knows when the next one will come…” Li Jiniang reassured Zhou Xueyin, “Settle down, settle down. We won’t be in a hurry to go home now…”

“Although I really do want to go back and visit, if someone is coming to give us money, let’s make money first!” Yao Shanshan said this, though her face betrayed a reluctant expression, “It’s just a shame I bought so many Beijing specialties… Ah…”

“We can just share the specialties among us, making money is what’s most important! Oh no, I need to hurry up and tell my mom I’m not coming back, or she will nag me to death…” Kang Siyin thought of her mother’s nagging and felt a headache coming on.

Seeing everyone working together so wholeheartedly, Zhou Xueyin felt truly gratified, so she called Jiang Chunming back and told her they would take the job.

Jiang Chunming clearly knew that it was Zhou Xueyin and her team’s first time dealing with a client’s request, and that they certainly would not be clear about many industry rules. Thus, she explained in detail over the phone about scheduling, how to draft a proposal, how to negotiate with the client, and how to understand the client’s true intentions, among other things…

Zhou Xueyin put the call on speakerphone, so the other three could also learn together.

“Alright, I’ve basically finished explaining everything. You guys should quickly develop a proposal and send it to the client. Let me know when you sign the contract, and I’ll come over to help you check things out. Keep it up, girls!” Jiang Chunming, before hanging up, kept reminding them.

“Sister Chunming really is our benefactor!” Zhou Xueyin said sentimentally, “By the way! Speaking of benefactors, remember when we were in college and used playing cards to predict that I would meet a female benefactor at 22! Wa! Could it really be Sister Chunming?”

“Don’t say, it might really be!” Li Jiniang nodded in agreement.

“Yinyin, do you think it’s okay to design the requirement like this?” Yao Shanshan quickly sketched out her idea of a Christmas-themed advertising order on her sketchbook.

“Shanbao, you’re quick with your hands…” Zhou Xueyin took the sketchbook, “Are you planning to draw a Christmas tree and hang their company’s jewelry on it? Is that the idea?”

“Yeah!” Yao Shanshan nodded, “What do you think of this idea?”

“I’ll be honest… it’s too cliché…” It wasn’t that Zhou Xueyin was deliberately nitpicking; it was that Yao Shanshan’s idea was indeed too stereotypical.

When it comes to a Christmas theme, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely a Christmas tree.

Wanting to display their own merchandise, they would hang it on the Christmas tree. For several years now, it’s been such a customary routine.

If they still used this plan, it would definitely be rejected.

“So, what do you think is not tacky?” Yao Shanshan felt genuinely uncomfortable after her idea was negated.

“Let me think about it…” Zhou Xueyin wandered around the room, wracking her brain recalling the advertisements she had seen done by online media.

But it seemed like for Christmas there was only one plan – other than the Christmas tree, what else could there be?

That’s right! Greeting cards!

I vaguely remember when I was in elementary school, right before Christmas started to become popular, I’d go to the small wholesale market near my house to buy all kinds of greeting cards.

“KK! Flash animation, you know how to do that, right?” Zhou Xueyin thought of electronic greeting cards and hurriedly went to Kang Siyin to confirm whether it was feasible.

“Yeah, I’ve always been studying it… What do you want to do?” Kang Siyin looked at her puzzled.

“Electronic! Greeting! Cards!” Zhou Xueyin said the four words as if she was playing a riddle.

“Electronic greeting cards?” Everyone was even more confused.

“Yes… It’s like this…” Zhou Xueyin shared her childhood memories with them, hoping the three would understand why she wanted to do electronic greeting cards.

“This… We really haven’t been very into it; back then we were all busy with our studies and didn’t have time to think about sending greeting cards,” Kang Siyin said regretfully.

“I haven’t sent any, but I have received some,” Yao Shanshan thought for a moment.

“Sent a few, received quite a lot…” Li Ji’s mother was indeed a popularity queen from an early age.

“So, you see, greeting cards carry most people’s impressions of Christmas. And these people now have a certain purchasing power. Let’s start with electronic greeting cards, how about we make an advertising flash?” Zhou Xueyin looked at Kang Siyin with hopeful eyes.

“I’ll try my best!” Kang Siyin wasn’t very confident internally, unsure if she could produce the effect Zhou Xueyin wanted.

“Alright, then I’ll start writing the proposal…” With the general direction set, Zhou Xueyin opened PPT and began working on the advertisement plan.

Kang Siyin also searched online for tutorials on making electronic greeting cards, while Yao Shanshan casually sketched Christmas elements that came to her mind.

Li Ji’s mother and Fashion Xinrui discussed the offline promotion plan; however, Ya Rui regretfully informed them that just yesterday, the chief designer had taken a month’s leave for medical treatment and to visit family…

“Yinyin, Ya Rui said from their side they can take care of the offline part,” Li Ji’s mother relayed the discussion results to Zhou Xueyin, “But their chief designer is on leave…”

“What about their other designers? It will work as long as they can be put to use,” Zhou Xueyin was somewhat overwhelmed at the moment.

After completing a version of the plan, she suddenly realized she couldn’t just show one plan to the client – that would far from meet their expectations. She needed to design a few more, without simply rehashing the old ones.

This was indeed challenging for Zhou Xueyin, who was handling a project like this for the first time.