When a big company decided to expand its business scale, it hired a marketing director with a high salary. As soon as the advertisement came out, the candidates gathered. Facing many applicants, the supervisor in charge of recruitment said, "It's not as good as horse racing. In order to select high-quality marketers, we have a practical test: find ways to sell wooden combs to monks as much as possible. "
Most applicants are puzzled and even angry: what's the use of a wooden comb when a monk shaves his head? Isn't making fun of others insane?
The candidates left one after another and almost disappeared. Finally, there are only three applicants left: Xiao Yin, Xiao Shi and Xiao Li.
The supervisor explained to the remaining three applicants: "Only 10 days, please report the sales results to me then."
When the deadline for the 10 project arrived, the supervisor asked Xiao Yi, "How much did you sell?"
Silver replied, "Only a handful."
"How much is it?"
Xiao Yi described the sufferings he experienced and the grievances he was scolded and beaten by all monks. Fortunately, on the way down the mountain, I met a young monk who was basking in the sun and scratching his dirty and thick scalp. XiaoYi a brainwave, hurriedly handed the wooden comb. The young monk was filled with joy after using it and bought one.
The supervisor asked Xiaoshi again, "How much did you sell?"
Xiaoshi replied: "10."
"How much is it?"
Xiaoshi said that he went to a famous ancient temple. Due to the high mountains and strong winds, the pilgrim's hair was blown out of order. Xiaoshi found the abbot of the temple and said, "unkempt appearance is disrespectful to the Buddha." A wooden comb should be placed in front of the incense table in each temple for good men and women to comb their temples. "The abbot took Xiaoshi's advice. There are 10 temples in that mountain, so the abbot bought 10 wooden combs.
The supervisor asked Xiao Li, "How much did you sell?"
Xiao Li replied, "I sold 1000 wooden combs."
The supervisor was surprised and asked, "How much is it?"
Xiao Li said that he went to a famous temple in the deep mountains, where incense was very strong. Pilgrims are like clouds, and donors are in an endless stream. Xiao Li said to the abbot, "Everyone who comes to worship the Buddha has a sincere heart. The temple should give something back as a souvenir to bless his peace and good fortune and encourage him to do more good deeds." The abbot nodded and then said, "I have a batch of wooden combs here. Your handwriting is great. You can engrave the word' Jishan comb' first, and then make a gift. " The abbot was overjoyed and immediately bought a wooden comb of 1000 and invited Xiao Li to stay for a few days. * * * Attended the gift ceremony of' Jishan comb' for the first time. I am very happy to get the benefactor and pilgrim of Jishan comb. When the news reached ten o'clock, there were more pilgrims and more incense. The abbot hopes that Xiao Li will sell him more wooden combs of different grades and give them to donors and pilgrims of different levels.
Being able to think of ways that others can't think of and make things that others think impossible possible must be extraordinary in imagination, and his innovative ability and flexibility are extraordinary. The position of marketing director belongs to Xiao Li.
If you want to do things that others can't think of, a rich imagination is essential. Imagination-the creativity of the soul, it can be created out of nothing, can bring innovation and creation, can bring countless novelty, and make our life better. It can be said that imagination is a great wealth that God has given to each of us.
After World War II, the construction industry in the United States developed greatly, and the price of bricklayers rose, which was a rare opportunity for the unemployed.
Poor Mike came to Chicago from Minneapolis to make a living. After seeing the mason's advertisement, he didn't throw himself into the mason's competitive torrent. And published an advertisement in the newspaper "You can also be a bricklayer". Mike rented a shop, hired a bricklayer, bought 1500 bricks and a pile of sand and gravel as teaching materials, and started the training business. Many workers flocked to pay high prices for training. As a result, Mike made a profit of $3,000 in 65,438+00 days, which is equivalent to a bricklayer's income in 200 days.
When developing one's own career for destiny, rich imagination, like resources such as wisdom and judgment, can be directly or indirectly accumulated and transformed into wealth and success.
Napoleon Hill once received a letter from a young man who just graduated from a business school, hoping to work in Napoleon Hill's office. He attached a brand-new 10 dollar bill to his letter. The content of this letter is as follows: "Oh, I just graduated from a first-class business school and hope to work in your office. Because I understand that it is really valuable for a young man who has just started his career to be lucky enough to work under the command of someone like you. The attached bill of 10 is enough to cover the time you instructed me in the first week. I hope you can accept this bill. In the first month, I am willing to work for you for free, and then you can decide my salary according to my performance. I hope to get this job. I want it more than anything else in my life. I am willing to make any reasonable sacrifice in order to get this job. "
The young man finally entered Napoleon Hill's office to work. His thinking ability beyond others' expectations gave him the opportunity he wanted. When the first month of work was about to expire, the president of a life insurance company knew about it and immediately asked the young man to be his private secretary, with a fairly high salary. Today, he is the backbone of the largest life insurance company in the world.
Of course, with a rich imagination, it is not enough to think of things that others can't think of. In the fierce market competition, most competitors can perceive the opportunities brought by changes in the external environment and respond accordingly, which requires us to respond faster and seize the opportunities. At the same time, we should have the determination and courage to do what others are unwilling, afraid or unable to do. At this point, Chang Dechuan's efforts for the strategic upgrade of Qingdao Port set a good example for us.
There is no doubt that Qingdao port is weak in all aspects under the situation that the national port ranks second to last. Even in 199 1, Changde Sichuan resolutely sacrificed its immediate interests and transformed the largest bulk cargo terminal in China into a modern container terminal. Or because you can't get enough supply from obscurity.
As long as you prepare carefully, opportunities will always appear. 1995 65438+1October 17 A major earthquake occurred in Hanshin, Japan, and the whole Osaka pier was paralyzed. At this time, China Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO), which has a large number of international sources of goods, suffered the greatest impact in China. Because Osaka is an important transit point for the "China Tour" (at that time, there was no port in China to undertake this important task), the ship could not enter the port, which led to the delay in loading, which meant that it was ashamed to play the role of "sulfur master" to deliver the news every day, and "China Anti" was eager to find a new transit port ... The opportunity for Qingdao Port came! Chang Dechuan, who has a global strategic awareness, was alert to this and immediately sent a telegram to COSCO Group. On the one hand, he expressed sympathy for the loss of "China Exemption", and more importantly, he proposed to "COSCO" to move the transfer station from Japan to Qingdao, and repeatedly said: No matter what difficulties "China Opposes" have, our Qingdao Port will help you solve them! Even willing to provide free services. Of course, it is far from enough to rely on telegrams for such an important matter. So the sick Chang Dechuan immediately rushed to the "China Patrol Headquarters" in Beijing with a bottle.
When Chang Dechuan arrived in Beijing, Chen Zhongbiao, then president of COSCO Group, was holding a high-level emergency meeting. Chang Dechuan sat outside the conference room until midnight. When I finally met Chen Zhongbiao, Chen Zhongbiao made 17 requests one after another, and Chang Dechuan immediately said, "Your difficulty is my difficulty! I'll transfer as many containers as you have. I will promise you anything you want. "
Although COSCO was also worried about the hardware strength of Qingdao Port, it was moved by Chang Dechuan's persistent pursuit and sincerity because of the emergency, so just before dinner the next day, China and reached an understanding on this important cooperation.
February 2nd is the Spring Festival, and the first COSCO cargo ship' Gaohe' is about to arrive at Qingdao Port. Chang Dechuan gave up the opportunity to go home for the New Year and sat in his office in person, waiting for seven or eight hours. At midnight, as soon as the ship entered the port, Chang Dechuan immediately led the relevant personnel to board the ship to express their condolences to the crew, and promised to recover the transportation time delayed by diversion. On February 9th, COSCO signed a transshipment agreement with Qingdao Port with satisfaction.
Qingdao Port became the first international container transit port in China. In that year, the container throughput of Qingdao Port increased from 80,000 cases in the previous year to 2.6 million cases! Now Qingdao Port has the largest container terminal in Chinese mainland.
First of all, Changde Chuan's success lies in its broad vision of globalization, which can link changes in any corner of the world with its own business at any time, thus discovering opportunities that many people can't see. More importantly, when you find an opportunity, you will seize it with "sincerity" at no cost and "tenacity" that is not afraid of suffering and sacrifice to achieve your goal. "COSCO" executives said afterwards: Qingdao Port was chosen because it really moved us, and we were deeply impressed by their persistence and sincerity. In fact, Qingdao Port was not the only domestic port that realized the opportunity of Hanshin Earthquake at that time, and some of them sent people to negotiate, but the reason for the failure was "lack of sincerity".
Think what others don't want and do what others don't want. This strategy can sometimes be used in the competition between the weak and the strong, that is, to compete with opponents with their own advantages, rather than confrontation and confrontation. The result of the struggle between bears and crocodiles often depends on whether their battlefield is on land or in water. For example, if you are a small retailer and want to compete with the supermarket giant Wal-Mart, then you'd better avoid confrontation with large enterprises, but try your best to do what you have an advantage in. Sam walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, once said, "I suggest these shopkeepers do what I have always been proud of: direct contact with customers. Let your customers know how much you appreciate them and collect your own change. This kind of direct contact between people is very important to these small stores-something that big stores like Wal-Mart want to do but can't do. "
The world is constantly changing, people feel it every day, and novel ideas and ideas often flash, but most people just regard it as an idea, but they don't know that there are huge business opportunities hidden in these ideas. A few people found the opportunity, but failed to seize it or make full use of it. There is a little difference between a successful career and a person who has accomplished nothing-seize the opportunity.
If you have a novel idea, don't let it slip away: if you find an opportunity, don't let it slip away easily.