A sense of resentment? How could I, Lucy Edwards, possibly feel a sense of resentment toward those two subpar, inferior teams? They arenât worth my time; I donât care about them at all. If I harbored resentment toward nobodies like them, Iâd probably end up hating half of the world. My business is huge, and my income is in the millions; Iâd rather spend the time earning my money than hating on losers like them. Despite this, Lucy still wanted to know the reason she had lost, so she gave Alice a call.
Alice picked the phone up personally and provided Lucy with an explanation. âMiss Edwards, Iâm sure you must be disappointed to hear the results. Objectively speaking, itâs true that you are the most capable one among the rest of your competitorsâthereâs no questioning that. However, thereâs something else that you have to understand. The Michel Group itself has a really qualified sales team, various channels of exposure, and 30 years of experience in successful sales across the entire globe,â
Alice said.
Lucy scoffed, âSo what are you trying to say here?â
âThe reason we decided to find an agent for our low-end phones is because our prior successes have always been in the field of high-end technology. We donât have any experience in marketing low-end products, and the strategies employed for these two fields differ greatly. Thatâs why we had to find an agent that would be suitable for marketing low-end phones. You, Miss Lucy, are the same as us; your success has been limited to the high-end markets, so itâs not what weâre looking for,â Alice explained.
Lucy burst into laughter after hearing what Alice had said. âYouâre so full of nonsense!â She then ended the call before hastily walking out of the Michel Group. As she left, she turned around to glare at the Michel Groupâs logo outside. They really think too highly of themselves! Theyâre just a bunch of cheap phones! I only came forward to fight for this agency deal for the sake of Linus. I canât believe they didnât choose me.
âI want you to respond to Serpent and tell them that I agree to be the sole agency for their handphones in the whole of Cethos!â Lucy gave her orders to her secretary through the phone in an icy tone. Serpent phones were one of the oldest brands in the market. It differed from Dragon Eye as it didnât maintain its public image as a high-end phone. Instead, it went for a more people-oriented, friendly approach that categorized itself as a mid to low-end product, and its price was about the same as Dragon Eyeâs low-
end phones. The Serpent brand had gathered a huge amount of popularity across the globe, and it was one of the most widely sold handphones in the world. Once Dragon Eye entered the low-end market, Serpent would be one of their strongest competitors.
Coincidentally, Serpentâs contract with their previous agency in Cethos had just expired, so they approached Lucy and offered her the opportunity to be their exclusive agent in Cethos. They wanted to heighten the standards of their brand with the use of the Edwards Familyâs connections and channels.
Since Dragon Eye was starting to up their game in the market, Serpent felt threatened by it and therefore wanted to seek out a more powerful agent within the region. Lucy hadnât planned on taking the job initially, but now, she had to do it! She was about to show Alice what she was capable of doing!
â¦
Meanwhile, Alice had just moved into the Edwards Residence at Riverdale. It was inconvenient for her to stay in a hotel for long, and she wasnât planning on leaving Cethos anytime soon since the work in Cethos was far from completion. She therefore decided to move in with the Edwards. The Edwards Residence was large, and she got a small lot all to herself. She liked the vintage architectural design of the building, especially because it was close to the exit from the back doorâit meant that she could leave every morning without having to bump into Sophia and her family. They wouldnât have to disturb one another.
That day, Sophia and her team were out late. They were probably having a celebration in some restaurant in town. They called Alice to join them for a meal, but Alice was too tired to do anything but stay home. As she scrolled through the news, Alice saw the article about Lucy agreeing to be the agent for Serpent phones. She simply glanced through it before throwing her phone aside.
Serpent was currently the major contender in the mid and low-end phone markets; its global sales went up to four or five times more than the other brands that came behind them. Serpent was also one of Dragon Eyeâs largest competitors now that Dragon Eye was entering the low-end market. The intention behind Lucyâs sudden, hasty agreement with Serpent was clear. Alice felt a little troubled by this, but she didnât regret her decision. It didnât matter who Serpentâs agent was; Dragon Eye would have to compete against that brand regardless.
Alice didnât regret her decision to give up on Lucy and pick Sophiaâs team instead. She was confident about her own judgement. As she was caught up in her thoughts, she didnât realize when Daniel had appeared outside her study. He leaned against the doorframe as he sipped on a cup of tea. âYou were clearly going for Lucy at first; why did you change your mind in the end?â Could it be because of me? he wondered. However, he couldnât bring himself to ask that last question.
Alice didnât seem surprised to see Daniel; she looked like she had been expecting his arrival. She didnât even take a second glance at him. Instead, she leaned back in her rattan chair while eyeing the budding plants outside her window with a rather tired gaze. âLucyâs team is definitely more capable and mature, but sheâs only experienced with handling high-end brands. That was why I gave up on her in the end,â
Alice muttered quietly. âLucile has more talents in her team. They have the Fletchers, the Mitchells, the Winstons, and even some other families; networking wonât be a problem for them. More importantly, Lucile is familiar with the key factors that drive low-end marketsâbombarding consumers, pestering them, and creating opportunities in regions that seem like there arenât any opportunities. That is exactly what Iâm looking for. High-end products thrive in a sellerâs market while low-end products deal with a buyerâs market, and I need agents like her to handle sales in a buyerâs market. Sheâs someone whoâs capable of seeking opportunities to promote her own products, and sheâs able to lower her ego and pride in order to achieve her target! This is something that Lucy will never be able to accomplish, because she takes pride in placing herself up on a pedestal. All of the people in her team arenât prepared to lower their ego and pride, and this will be extremely detrimental to Dragon Eyeâs sales.â
Daniel nodded in agreement. When a brand had its own consumer market and fame, people who purchased it would feel lucky, and those who used it would gain confidence about themselvesâthe brand itself served as an icon of status and power in society. Not everyone could afford a handphone that was worth tens of thousands, after all. Dragon Eye phones each had their unique serial number engraved on the phone, so there was only one of each in the whole world. It was a phone, but it was also a luxury product.
The low-end Dragon Eye phone, on the other hand, was nothing more than a phone. They couldnât just wait for customers to purchase them; they had to find ways to attract customers to come to them. They therefore needed a thick-skinned sales team that would do their all in order to boost the sales of the phonesâfor example, a sales team like Plum Technology. Although they knew that Alice didnât want to give them a chance, they still gave their all in fighting for the position. They used all their connections to pester and swamp Alice in order to convince her to choose them. If Sophia could apply the same amount of effort and passion she had for the competition into the sales for Dragon Eye phones, the sales would definitely show impressive results.
As for Sophia being a threat⦠If Sophia truly managed to boost the sales of Dragon Eye, Alice would ultimately benefit from the success as the lead engineer and developer of the project. Sophia was nothing more than a regional agent, so she wouldnât pose much of a threat to Alice.
âIâm just trying things out for now. If things work out, Iâm planning to develop a second generation of Dragon Eye low-end phones. However, if things donât work outâ¦â Aliceâs words came to a halt in the middle of her sentence. Daniel could hear the exhaustion in her voice.
Alice wanted to take a rest where she sat in front of the window, but she unexpectedly fell asleep. When she woke up, she found a blanket on top of her. The dogs were barking downstairs, so she assumed that Sophia had got home.
â¦
Sophia burst through the door like an excited husky as she had finally succeeded in becoming the agent for Dragon Eye. âDad, did you see the news? Dad, Iâm now the agent for Dragon Eye! Am I impressive or what?!â