Wednesday, August 9th.

At the door of the Days Inn by Wyndham in Santa Clara County, Bill, dressed in formal attire, walked in with Sophia, who was also wearing professional attire.

"The intermediary of all evils, and the second enemy of my life is the intermediary."

If you want to find a competent general manager, you naturally need to find the strongest executive search firm, and Chicago-based Heidrick Struggles is the best choice for Mr. Ferrari.

After several rounds of negotiations, Heidrick & Struggles has fully understood the client's needs, and according to the company, they have completed the first three steps of the Heidrick & Struggles nine-step process, and today's meeting is to sign a formal contract and screen candidates.

The headhunter only accepts money from the company, and Sophia feels that the boss's statement is wrong, but because of the identities of both parties, she does not speak out to correct the boss's mistake.

No way, a top strong man with a firm will and always saying everything is too strong.

The meeting took place in a small conference room at the Days Hotel by Wyndham, and when Bill and the two arrived, two consultants from Heidrick & Struggles had been waiting for a long time.

Thirty or forty-year-olds with muscular figures, big white teeth, well-groomed hair, and textured and stylish clothing, every detail of these two consultants is a testament to their successful management of their image.

Just looking at their appearances, these two are quite professional.

The meeting was preceded by a routine courtesy for business people, with Bernardo and Dario, the bearded man and the other bespectacled man, Dario.

"In terms of fees, I believe Mr. Ferrari already has an understanding, we at Heidwheels and other colleagues are similar, according to your needs, we have tentatively set a retainer fee of 15,000 US dollars, and the final fee is a quarter of the general manager's annual salary. Today is the day of the contract, and we will charge one-third of the fifteen thousand first, and if there is no problem, we can sign the contract. ”

Dario, the man with glasses, explained the principle of charging to the customer again, and they had repeatedly discussed this topic on the phone before, and there was no room for negotiation.

According to the usual practice of this headhunting company, one-third of the employment fee will be charged when the contract is formally signed, and one-third will be charged on the thirtieth and sixtieth days, and if the annual salary of the hired president and senior management exceeds the original budget, the client will have to make up the remaining retention fee.

Bernardo presented the proposed contract to the client, and Bill had already understood the terms, and after staring at the few items charged, he asked Sofia to read it again.

"How many of your candidates did you choose? What companies do you work for? Let me know, I feel the urge to sign. ”

While the assistant was looking at the contract, Bill tried to ask if he could ask something.

Dario and his companion next to him glanced at each other, and after Bernardo nodded, Dario, the man with glasses, spoke: "Mr. Ferrari, we have found five managers who are suitable for the position of General Manager of Under Armour, all of whom are currently working for sporting goods companies, and you are most likely interested in a department head of Adidas America, but the one we would like to recommend the most is a lady from Reebok." ”

The consultants were clever enough to vaguely throw out the bait and wait until the client signed the contract before proceeding with the candidate screening process.

After listening to this, Bill did not speak, and waited quietly for Sophia to read all the terms, and the assistant confirmed that it was correct before signing the contract and writing his name on the check.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ferrari, our cooperation is 99 percent complete."

After winning the order, the two consultants touted the client again before getting down to business.

"The first candidate is Charlie Danson, the head of marketing for Nike's footwear and apparel division, who is third on our list of recommendations, and the reason why he is the first to say that he is cheap. Later in the last decade, he has been involved in Nike's marketing of running shoes several times and has eight years of experience in the sporting goods industry. For a startup like Under Armour, it's Charlie Danson's ability to quickly turn things around and make a name for himself on the company's first main product, which is the main reason for his selection. ”

The first person recommended by Dario made Bill quite excited, Nike has never set up its own factory, but has spent a lot of money on product development and marketing.

"I've heard that Nike is on the rise, will he give up his job over there to come to Under Armour?" Bill asked, pointing to the information sheet that Heidrick & Struggles had gathered.

Bernardo solves the customer's puzzles, "That's right, Nike's founder Phil Knight went to a big country in the East for a long-term trip, and aerobic exercise is on the rise, but Bob Wool, the current actual manager of Nike, is still insisting on the direction of jogging, mainly developing and selling running shoes and basketball shoes, and they may have a large area of losses this year." Naturally, someone needs to take responsibility for the decline in sales, and within Nike, Charlie Danson doesn't have Bob's power, which is why we can do it. ”

Nike's current flagship product is Forrest Gump shoes, which were once known as aztec in the sixties, and were officially named Cortez after winning a lawsuit with the Japanese company Onitsuka Tiger in '75, and this shoe was so popular in the seventies that it was voted the best racing shoe of the year for many years.

In the nineties movie "Forrest Gump", Forrest Gump's girlfriend Jenny gave him a pair of Cortez, which was named Forrest Gump shoes by the Chinese network.

"How many pairs of their current running shoes can they sell in a year, which are the kind of shoes with a round head and a round head, are there a million pairs?" Mr. Ferrari suddenly became interested and asked about Nike's main profitable products.

Bernardo touched his beard, then stretched out his right hand and gestured three fingers, "They should be able to sell three million pairs of running shoes a year at this level." ”

A pair of running shoes costs forty or fifty dollars, and the sales of this alone can exceed 100 million. Nike has made a lot of money in running shoes, and other shoes and sports equipment should be at a loss.

Bill asked again, "What about their basketball shoes?" How much worse is it compared to Converse? ”

He wants to have a thorough understanding of his main competitors.

Bernardo couldn't answer such a detailed question, "Sir, this is their internal secret, but Converse's basketball shoes sell about a million pairs a year." In this segment, Nike's market share is far inferior to Converse, I guess it's between 50,000 and 60,000 pairs, and their pricing is also on the high side, about $60 to $80 for a pair of shoes. ”

The current sales of basketball shoes mainly rely on spokespersons, and most of the top stars in the NBA league are signed by Converse, and even Adidas can't compete with Converse, which is in the limelight.

"Look at the second candidate! I'll take a look at it and then I'll take my time. ”

Mr. Ferrari motioned for the two advisers to introduce the next candidate.

"Clark, head of retail sales at Adidas USA, is second on our list of recommendations. Our company thinks he may be the general manager you are most interested in. He has been in the apparel industry for many years, not only has supply chain related work experience, but also worked in the R&D department at Douglas for three years. It's fair to say that Mr. Clark is fully familiar with the industry, and we think he's best suited for the start-up Under Armour. ”

PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket and ask for a monthly pass.

(End of chapter)