Chapter 88: Driving Force

However, no one stepped forward to apologize first.

For the seasoned operations manager and PR manager, the smart move was to listen first before responding.

Liu Yue continued, "When revenue drops, the corresponding costs go up."

"So I hope everyone can give me a reason."

Liu Yue paused, quietly waiting for a response.

Director Zhan and the others immediately understood — they needed to offer her a way out.

The five exchanged a glance. The eldest, Director Yang, spoke up: "Director Liu, I think the main reason our subsidiary's revenue is declining is the talent allocation — PR and sales channels."

"Personnel authority sits with the Group, and the people assigned to us have been getting worse and worse."

"Take design talent — without good designers, our image keeps slipping, and we're stuck in a vicious cycle."

"Same goes for sales channels and PR — no one to develop them."

"And the PR resources the Group headquarters allocates to us have been shrinking too."

"That's what's caused our brand competitiveness to gradually decline, and revenue to drop."

The operations manager and PR manager caught on.

This was the subsidiary making a move against them.

Well, not quite — they'd come to ask for benefits.

But it was understandable — they wanted to make money too.

Liu Yue had someone summon HR Director Yan Jie.

The moment Yan Jie walked in and heard what was being said, she immediately spoke, expression flat: "The subsidiaries do have the right to recommend talent."

"All five directors here today have recommended people in the past. Our HR department would run a basic review and hire them right away, then assign them under the recommending director."

"I admit that I, as HR director, bear some of the blame, but I won't accept that it's all my responsibility."

Yan Jie spoke with force and directness.

She had backers within the Group too — she wasn't afraid of the other side at all.

Shen Mo was a little surprised; yesterday those five directors hadn't mentioned having the right to recommend personnel.

Director Yang and the others kept their composure. They exchanged a glance, and Director Zhan continued: "Now that Director Liu has brought it up, I believe the point isn't to assign blame, but to make the Group better."

"After all, only when the Group does better can we all do better."

"Take the options and stock for directors like yourselves — only then do you get dividends. Take our subsidiary shares — only then do we make money. Right?"

That line of talk steered the issue right back around.

The meeting wasn't about fighting for power.

What Director Yang had meant earlier was to raise the issue, not to shirk responsibility.

Everyone should be working together to make the Group better and better, to earn more and more.

Liu Yue smiled and nodded, saying calmly: "Uncle Zhan is right. Today's meeting isn't about shirking responsibility or assigning blame for the revenue drop."

"Our Group has never had that kind of tradition anyway — we've always focused on solving problems."

"The reason I called everyone together on short notice today is mainly to discuss a new PR channel."

Down to business.

The sharp people in the room all perked up.

Liu Yue gestured, and Shen Mo rose with Qiang Ni.

Shen Mo smiled and said: "Everyone, this is my company's PR Director and VP. He'll walk you through the new project next."

Qiang Ni stepped up confidently under everyone's gaze to the big screen and began presenting the project he'd prepared long ago.

"Our Baiyin Game Company has just developed a dress-up game called 'Cloud-Raising Nuannuan.'"

"One feature is called 'I'm a Big Designer' — it lets players design home decor and outfits."

"Our idea is to import all kinds of furniture data into the game and list the brands alongside."

"Once players finish their designs, we'll render the results and use that for brand promotion."

"And our game currently has players in the tens of millions." "Most importantly, they're all real players."

"Since this feature is free, plenty more people will play it in the future."

"We don't know the conversion rate yet, but during the trial phase we'll offer the service free of charge."

After Qiang Ni finished, the PR manager, operations manager, and all the directors began murmuring and discussing among themselves.

They'd definitely go ahead with it — after all, all they had to do was provide some data.

Besides, this was brought in by son-in-law Shen Mo, and it was his first time bringing something in — turning it down flat was out of the question.

So now everyone was discussing the feature's usefulness, its long-term value, the projected price once it went paid, and so on.

Before long, Director Wang spoke up unhurriedly: "Qiang Ni, right? How do you plan to price this ad slot in the future?"

Qiang Ni smiled calmly and gave an answer that stunned everyone in the room.

"Going forward, we'll focus on the Liu Group's furniture."

"The pricing model will be revenue sharing."

"In the future we'll partner with third-party platforms and charge via redirect links."

A freebie.

This was a blatant freebie.

The Liu Group people were stunned.

Regardless of future sales or promotion, they'd gained an extra channel.

And for businesspeople, one more sales channel meant one more way to make money.

Done deal — they'd follow up on it right away.

The operations manager thought for a moment and said, "In that case, why don't we just put all the brands under our name on the shelves in the game."

Boss Yang and the other five bosses grew anxious at once and hurriedly said, "That won't do."

"A new channel can't be staked on all of the Liu family's products — we subsidiaries have to be allowed to test the waters first."

Regardless of how this channel turns out in the future, they had to get the first bite, and besides…

"This was the rule set for us when the subsidiaries were first established."

"It's our duty as subsidiaries to expand territory for the group."

The five bosses spoke with ringing conviction, their faces brimming with loyalty.

But the operations manager rolled her eyes and said, speechless, "Cut the crap — you just want the first bite, don't you."

"Once this channel takes off, you first-bite folks will have staked out your turf, and everyone else will only get the leftovers."

Everyone here is a thousand-year-old fox — maybe the ages differ, but the cunning really isn't that far apart.

So, refuse — firmly refuse.

Boss Zhan started crying outright, saying their subsidiary's performance had been poor these past two years and they had to be given priority.

The operations manager sneered, "You can put in the effort yourselves."

"Besides, when headquarters makes money, that's the group making money too."

Arguing on principle, yielding not an inch.

Before long, Shen Mo saw a fifty-year-old man slam the table and stand up, while a forty-year-old strapping fellow cursed him for being shameless.

The two sides tore into each other quite disgracefully; a large group of subsidiary bosses who weren't on-site were also raging on video, frantically fighting over an unknown channel for their respective brands.

Same old saying — first in, first served; even if it doesn't blow up, no big deal, but if it does, that's a massive windfall.

Because the Liu family really does pay out dividends, and everyone really is anxious.

It concerns their own earnings, after all.

At this moment, Shen Mo understood something.

【Money is everyone's driving force forward.】

(End of chapter)