From Descent to Ascendancy: The CEO Who Does His Job Too Well
Vol. 1 - Ch. 11 - Cost-effectiveness and Emotional Value

“Ah, well. You say it’s fine? You’re really making me feel bad.”

Regardless of what Team Leader Park Choong-In said, Seo Tae-Min, who was quick-witted, quickly picked up the remote control and turned on the vacuum cleaner.

“Cleaning is starting.” Along with the awkward mechanical sound, the robot vacuum cleaner started moving across the meeting room floor.

Woo woo wooong~

As soon as the vacuum cleaner turned on, everyone in the meeting room frowned at the deafening noise. Actually, it could not just be called noise, but rather, a racket. It was significantly louder than the 1800W German vacuum cleaner that had been broadcasted recently.

“Is this going to work for a live broadcast? It doesn’t look like there’s a silencer on it…”

“Mr. Min, please give me a moment. My, you went a bit overboard there.”

“Overboard? It’s the vacuum noise that’s overboard. Don’t you find this too noisy right now, huh? Do only I find it loud?”

The meeting room fell silent. No one made a sound. The robot vacuum cleaner started cleaning here and there on its own without a sense of tact. It was making strange noises, darting around here and there, doing its job. Its skill of avoiding obstacles was quite good. Although it did not do a perfect job, it somehow managed to suck up the coffee beans.

Everyone in the conference room held their breath and watched only the robot vacuum cleaner.

Jae-Yoon, who had been watching quietly, untied his arms and spoke up, “The cleaning skills are so-so, and it’s loud. Its only advantage seems to be the price.”

Jae-Yoon brushed where the vacuum cleaner had passed with his foot. Sticky lumps of sugar clung to the bottom of his expensive shoes.

“There’s a reason for everything being just worth its price. Noise? I admit it. Performance? Of course, it can’t make a room sterile. Who else could bring such a robot vacuum cleaner at this price? Anyway, the performance of Chinese vacuum cleaners is more or less the same. Besides, it’s meant for home use, not office tile floors. You must acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged…”

Team Leader Park looked at Jae-Yoon with his lips pursed.

Jae-Yoon also knew that unless new technologies such as automatic filter cleaning or automatic mop washing were introduced, the performance of most robot vacuum cleaners were very similar. Moreover, most of these low-priced robot vacuum cleaners came from the same factory. It was a method of selling by attaching only the brand by supplying it in an OEM manner from several factories in China.

The manufacturer had already confirmed it. It was a product made in a Chinese factory that wasn’t particularly large or small. That meant that it was exactly as expensive as it was.

“You have to compromise on one of the two?”

“CEO, now you’re talking. How can we compare it to domestic corporate products at this price? The target itself was different in the first place. Besides, in these recessionary times, all we have to do is provide satisfaction with the purchase of popular home appliances for a small amount of money. That kind of satisfaction can’t be bought with money.”

At Team Leader Park’s words of cost-effectiveness, Jae-Yoon asked with a confident smile, “You do know that aiming for a billion or two in sales, even during golden hours, is unrealistic, right?”

“It will be a good choice for consumers who want the product at a good price. If there are customers who are considering purchasing for less than 200,000 won, they may be tempted.”

“But Mr. Park, have you ever thought that customers would prefer proper domestic products?”

“That’s an ambiguous product. Don’t worry, we’ve been preparing for this since 10 p.m. on Saturday night. The team members have also worked very hard.”

From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. was a time commonly referred to as golden hours. One had to catch the attention of consumers during the short time when popular dramas and entertainment programs ended, and consumers changed channels. In particular, Saturday night was a time when people of all ages took a break and watched TV. That meant that it would capture not only housewives, but people of all ages.

“The price is reasonable, so it’s worth a try, but I have a slightly different opinion. Even in a different time slot, capturing customers’ hearts with one solid product would bring more advantageous results in the long run.”

“A different time slot, you say?”

“How about in the morning?”

In the morning was also an unmissable good time. It was a time when homemakers were home alone watching TV.

You know the drill on one, but clueless on the other. Team Leader Park smirked, finding it amusing.

Morning was a good time slot, indeed, but only for products with a low unit price. It was common sense to mainly schedule products that belonged to the category of daily necessities, such as cosmetics, cleaning supplies, detergents, or toilet paper. In other words, it was mainly for products that could easily be ordered with living expenses without having to consult the husband. Scheduling a high-priced robot vacuum cleaner at this time was a suicidal act, as the saying went.

“Morning hours are not a bad time slot.”

“If you’re targeting housewives, wouldn’t it be better to make it a special product even if the price is a little higher? For example, a product like MilkBot?”

“Uh-huh. Good. It’s good enough. Okay,” Team Leader Park answered perfunctorily.

What the CEO thought did not matter to him. Vulnerabilities showed at times like this. Simply memorizing existing documents was entirely different from actually handling tasks. No matter how well one memorized the data, catching the detailed elements known only to practitioners was not easy.

Moreover, MilkBot? It was absurd.

That eccentric CEO would never supply products to It’s Home Shopping. How stubborn are you? How come the person in charge, who I’ve contacted several times, doesn’t even snort? Park Choong-In questioned internally.

“It seems like a prejudice that home shopping should only launch cost-effective products. What do you think, Mr. Park? MilkBot, is it impossible?”

Park Choong-In checked Jae-Yoon’s expression for a moment and answered, “It’s not from Galaxy Electronics or Lib Electronics. It’s a small and medium-sized enterprise product in the 700,000 won range... Is that possible? I’d rather spend a little more money and buy Galaxy Electronics.”

“MilkBot is difficult to sell?”

“It’s difficult to talk about MilkBot before you bring it in. Who can’t sell it in words? If you want it that much, why don’t you bring it in once, Mr. Min? We also want it very, very much. If you can, then, I’ll give up the golden 10 p.m. slot on Sunday to you.”

Look at this. For a moment, Jae-Yoon felt a strange sense of rivalry.

Should I bring MilkBot? That would be interesting.

Now that it had come to this, everyone had to bear their responsibility. They were not new employees; showing actions rather than just talking would be better.

“One last question. Can you take responsibility for that decision?”

“Responsibility? What else can I lose? How can I lose? Should I take off my clothes? Should I ask for all the financial damages?”

Seeing Park Choong-In’s confident attitude, Jae-Yoon was rather pleased. Nothing was as sure as bringing something right in front of your eyes. It was also an opportunity to showcase his practical skills. He pondered for a moment, chin in hand.

What would be good?

“I can’t ask the team leader for financial compensation. Let’s do this. If you achieve 3 billion won in sales, I’ll let you schedule It’s Food again.”

Park Choong-In’s head turned quickly.

199,000 won per unit. It’s possible with about 16,000 units. I expect about 20,000 units. I feel like doing the shoulder dance because things are going more smoothly than I expected, Park Choong-In thought.

“Did you hear? Contact the person in charge of It’s Food again. I’ll see you soon,” Jae-Yoon said, resting his hands on the desk. “Well, you’ve worked hard today. Anyway, isn’t this a place where we all gathered to do well? Let’s all work hard in our seats. Thank you for your hard work.”

Each team member came out of the CEO’s office with different thoughts. While waiting for the elevator, Deputy Manager Kim Tae-Hyeong lowered his voice and opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind, “Mr. Park?”

“Uh, Mr. Kim, why? Don’t tell me you think the CEO will bring MilkBot?”

“You never know.”

“How long has he been in business? Two, three days? The MilkBot CEO is a total nutjob. No way he’ll readily give out his products.”

“I guess so?”

“Even if he did bring it in, with such rigid standards for price, performance, and profit margin, do you think someone so finicky would actually launch and sell it? If he discounted even 1 won, the MilkBot CEO would come charging at us with an ax.”

Team Leader Park smiled and got on the elevator. Then, he looked around the team members and continued, as if to reassure them, “I guess he wants to show something because he’s taken over the leadership? To try bringing MilkBot Gramps, is that possible? Isn’t the PD a scarecrow? Don’t worry about it, and focus on Home Run. Ask the marketing team to pay a little attention to community work.”

Park Choong-In looked at Seo Tae-Min by the corner of the elevator, clicked his tongue, and nudged him with his arm.

“Tae-Min, how can you be so clueless? Huh?”

“Isn’t it what the CEO ordered?”

“If the CEO tells you to die, will you die? Whose side are you on?”

“What sides? This isn’t a game.”

Team Leader Park and his sidekicks were confident as they got off.

After the meeting, Jae-Yoon looked at the monitor as if he had been in the field for a long time. The more he thought about it, the more confidence sparked his competitive spirit.

I’m curious about their reaction if I manage to bring MilkBot.

Jae-Yoon loosened his tie and took off his jacket. He felt an excitement he had not felt in a long time. Truly, he had the nature of a planner. Digging into products was always thrilling. He searched for MilkBot on Naver. It was a company with persistence. There was exactly one shopping search result, and even that was maintaining a fairly high price policy of 790,000 won at the company mall.

“First, let’s find out what kind of person the CEO is…”

After drinking about three cans of Hot6 without even having lunch, Jae-Yoon got up from his seat and packed his belongings. His destination? Milkbot Research Lab.

Cost-effectiveness and emotional value; the recent distribution market trend could be explained with these two words. The General Team showed a cost-effective card.

Price to performance ratio was, of course, important, but that label should be attached to products with good performance. Being cheap does not automatically earn the title of cost-effective. Times had changed significantly. It was the era of emotional satisfaction beyond cost-effectiveness; an era that valued psychological satisfaction over price.

Whether bought for 200,000 won or 2 million won, the values consumers pursued varied. It could be because a favorite celebrity advertised it, or because it used eco-friendly materials, or because it was sold by a famous brand, or because it was rare.

In addition to those, consumers these days were willing to open their wallets for more expensive products than other products for various reasons.

If asked whether cheap products would sell well, Jae-Yoon’s answer was, “Well...?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Min Ho-Jun from It’s Home Shopping, who called you earlier.”

“Let me show you to the meeting room.”

As soon as he entered the meeting room, he could tell the CEO’s personality. This person was genuinely passionate about robot vacuum cleaners. Samples of robot vacuum cleaners filled the wall. From the early model resembling an ammonite, to the currently sold model. Even the blueprint of the product under development was on display in the conference room.

Not treasures, but the way they were neatly displayed in a glass cabinet made the upcoming meeting even more anticipated. Meeting someone so attached and confident in their product, Jae-Yoon was sure he could learn something beyond just business.

“It’s Home Shopping CEO?”

“Yes.” Jae-Yoon turned around at the low voice.

…? What’s so nutjob about him?

Anyone who first met CEO Jeong Do-Jun of MilkBot would have reacted the same way as Jae-Yoon. Usually, when people said that eccentrics were crazy, they imagined an extraordinary person who exuded a strong sense of nerdiness in their appearance; or someone with a unique point like Gandalf or Jack Sparrow.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jeong Do-Jun.”

“Likewise. I’m Min Ho-Jun.”

They exchanged business cards and scanned each other briefly.

Contrary to expectations, this man was the opposite. If anything, he appeared even more polished than Min Ho-Jun. He was not a model, but his neat appearance and attire made him seem like a successful startup CEO who cared a lot about his looks.

“If you’re here to haggle the price, just have a cup of coffee and go back. Our coffee is good. It’s imported directly from Italy every week.”

“What if I tell you I’m not here to haggle the price, but to see if we can set the selling price in the 900,000 won range?”

The casual remark changed CEO Jeong’s nonchalant expression.