All the Tea in China
So I was working in a bar at nights and we just got a new manager. His plan was to essentially liquidate the inventory to gauge sales so as not to over order beer and liquor. You wouldn't believe how insane the bartenders and wait staff became, having to constantly tell customers, "Sorry we're out of that." The whole place was freaking out! But one night after close, I was sitting with one of the veteran barkeeps discussing how to best handle the situation. We decided that this was the bar's chance to expose customers to new drinks similar to what they were used to.
"Can I get a Bud?"
"I'm really sorry, but we're temporarily out of Bud, but if you want something similar, we have a local lager that I think really blows Bud away. It's a tad bit more expensive, but the taste difference is really worth it, and it's local."
It didn't always work or please the customer, but quite often it did, and ultimately it allowed the bartenders to develop better relationships with the customers. And to top it off, sales increased on nights this veteran bartender worked.
Right now American business is going equally insane about the threat of a growing China. Our kegs are running dry as China is tending the world's bar. "We're losing business," everyone is screaming. "We can't compete!" is being repeated on TV, in newspapers, and even in books. Well, just as that barkeep and I saw opportunity in a frazzled watering hole, Jeremy Haft is looking at China not as a threat, but as an opportunity.
In All the Tea in China, Haft points out that "China is far and away the fastest growing market for U.S. goods and services in the world." American business both large and small need to stop fretting and start looking to how we can sell to China. It's a goldmine.
But with all the opportunity China presents, there are just as many hazards. "China remains one of the most challenging operating environments, and it's easy to make costly mistakes." Haft does us American business a HUGE favor by giving us an "industry-by-industry guide to buying from, selling to, and competing with the Chinese." So no matter what industry you are in, Jeremy gives you a road map to getting into, and having success within, China.
One more thing: This book isn't all nuts and bolts. Haft is a business pioneer in China, but he's had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. He fills the book with often hilarious stories of his misadventures, which in my opinion, often help us learn much quicker than the nuts and bolts.
In the end, we're not running out of beer, we just have to learn how to sell it in different ways to different people.
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