Meng Chang asked further: “In the long run, if this model continues, won’t it eventually harm the company due to the excessive accumulation of negative reputation?”

“Haven’t these companies ever considered this problem?”

Tian Mo said: “Of course they have.”

“But they will absolutely not abandon this business model. They’ll adopt another approach.”

Meng Chang: “What approach?”

Instead of answering directly, Tian Mo asked: “Do you know what courier companies and food delivery platforms do? Four words: deflection of conflict.”

Meng Chang thought for a moment: “I can vaguely guess.”

Tian Mo explained: “Actually, courier companies and food delivery platforms are also shifting from service providers to middlemen, though their situation is somewhat better and more restrained than the rental agency industry.”

“To make profits, courier companies and food delivery platforms also often reduce services. For example, they tell couriers not to deliver each package to the doorstep, but instead drop them all at the community’s package lockers. Work that originally required three people can now be done by two, saving one person’s salary.”

“Food delivery platforms are the same—they assign more orders to delivery riders, forcing all kinds of orders onto them, making these riders run red lights and rush to deliver on time. Meanwhile, they increase delivery fees while reducing the commission for each order given to the riders, squeezing out profits.”

“Their behavior naturally leads to a decline in service, causing customer dissatisfaction.”

“At this point, they employ a tactic called ‘deflection of conflict.'”

“They encourage customers to complain about couriers or delivery riders, and after a complaint, they impose heavy penalties and deduct money.”

“Many couriers and delivery riders then vent their anger on customers, feeling like ‘I work hard every day, but because of your one report, I lose a day’s wages,’ thus intensifying the conflict between customers and couriers or delivery riders.”

“Then they create public opinion, saying how hard couriers and delivery riders work every day, how difficult their job is, and asking everyone to be more understanding.”

“They appeal to customers not to get angry if food deliveries are late, to wait a little longer, to try not to complain because one complaint might make the delivery person work a whole day for nothing; to be more understanding if packages aren’t delivered to the doorstep, to just go to the locker themselves.”

“Many people soften their hearts and stop insisting on these issues.”

“But this actually falls right into the trap.”

“The root cause of customer complaints is deteriorating service—paying money but not receiving corresponding service. And the root cause of deteriorating service is the platform squeezing profits. But by heavily penalizing couriers or delivery riders, the platform shifts this conflict onto customers and front-line employees, allowing themselves to step away and remain uninvolved.”

“While calling for more understanding toward couriers and delivery riders, they completely obscure the fact that the root cause of this situation is the exploitation by the platform itself.”

Meng Chang nodded frequently, expressing deep agreement.

Although he wasn’t deeply familiar with these matters, he had heard about them before.

Meng Chang was a smart person who could quickly grasp many principles, especially since this wasn’t a complex concept. Many people had discussed it before, but no matter how many times it was discussed, it couldn’t change reality.

He thought for a moment and said: “So, real estate agencies use a similar approach.”

“By constantly publicizing how hard agents work, emphasizing that agents actually run around providing value to customers, they argue that tenants should naturally pay for these services.”

“In reality, they completely avoid the fact that they, as middlemen, monopolize housing resources and markets, shifting the conflict onto tenants, landlords, and agents, thus allowing themselves to remain uninvolved.”

“Many news stories say that tenants are bizarre, making a mess in houses; landlords are bizarre, frequently raising rent to collect more; agents are bizarre, with varying quality and rampant chaos.”

“But the most bizarre is actually the agency company, except the company absolves itself of blame, using some extreme individual cases to direct all attention to tenants, landlords, and agents.”

Tian Mo nodded: “This doesn’t fundamentally solve the problem, but it cleverly defuses public opinion crises.”

“Misled people often have two reactions.”

“The first is to shift their anger onto those working as real estate agents, believing that it’s their poor quality that leads to cheating and all kinds of evil; the other is to be full of sympathy for agents struggling to make a living, believing that they do this out of necessity, and choosing to be understanding.”

“But they precisely overlook the actual culprits behind all this—the platforms that call for more understanding toward couriers, delivery riders, and agents. These platforms profit from both sides, ruthlessly squeezing them, while calling for mutual understanding between parties, because once both sides understand each other, no one will mention the platform’s exploitation anymore.”

Meng Chang quickly took notes, then exclaimed: “Well said!”

“I now doubt the truth of your claim about only closing two deals in a month.”

“You’re not stupid at all, but very smart! Can ordinary people think of these things? With your brain, how did you end up handing out flyers?”

Meng Chang was certain that Mr. Pei’s judgment was indeed flawless—Tian Mo was completely worthy of his position as head of the Sales Department.

If nothing else, his understanding of traditional business models and grasp of Mr. Pei’s philosophy were at a leadership level.

But this also made him feel a bit strange—how could such talent be discovered by Mr. Pei while handing out flyers?

With such intelligence, couldn’t he have earned a living doing anything? Did he really need to hand out flyers?

Tian Mo smiled a bit embarrassedly: “Well, you might not believe it, but I’d say I became enlightened under Mr. Pei’s guidance.”

“Of course, I didn’t understand these principles all at once.”

“Originally, I was in a dazed state. When I became an agent, I just listened to whatever others told me.”

“Those veteran employees told me what I should do, how I should act, sharing their work ‘tips’ with me, teaching me to talk big and use these ‘tips’ to close deals.”

“I tried to learn, but I just couldn’t. I knew that lying might help close a deal, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

“I was always ashamed, feeling it was my own problem, that I was too stupid, unable to do anything well. Even though it was such a simple job, and others had already told me what to do, I couldn’t even follow instructions.”

“I told myself that this is how work is, this is how unwritten rules work, perhaps this is how society operates, and I needed to adapt. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t adapt or accept it.”

“I was constantly discouraged, always doubting myself, having no idea what to do.”

“But at that moment, Mr. Pei appeared.”

“Mr. Pei not only provided me with a job, building my confidence through this recognition, but more importantly, Mr. Pei showed me what correct sales should be!”

“The transparent service at Tenda’s experience store was a huge success, making me realize that maybe I wasn’t the problem—they were, the industry was!”

“As much as I had felt ashamed and self-blaming before, looking back, I felt equally indignant.”

“So I kept thinking about where the problem really lay.”

“I read many analyses of these industries by professionals online and repeatedly compared the situation in these industries with Tenda’s situation.”

“I’m not a smart person, and I’m not good at speaking, but I am quite persistent. If I can’t figure something out, I’ll keep thinking about it until one day I do.”

Meng Chang nodded.

Indeed, if he were in Tian Mo’s position, he might not have been able to understand these issues.

It wasn’t that he was stupid; the key was that he wouldn’t have had the opportunity or motivation to think about them.

First, he would never have ended up working as an agent or handing out flyers.

Second, even if he had actually become an agent, he would have quickly acknowledged and accepted this work model, integrated into it, and even become the top salesperson at the agency office.

If Tian Mo hadn’t just happened to have such a personality, just happened to face obstacles when job hunting, and just happened to meet Mr. Pei and receive the right guidance, he wouldn’t have thought about these issues either.

Could this also have been part of Mr. Pei’s plan?

Had Mr. Pei seen this “stubborn” quality in Tian Mo, recognized that he wasn’t suited for traditional sales but perfectly matched Tenda’s requirements for sales positions, and therefore promoted him exceptionally to lead the Sales Department, imparting his supreme sales techniques?

Yes, that was possible!

Mr. Pei’s insight into human nature was beyond ordinary understanding.

Meng Chang always felt like Mr. Pei could see right through him—even someone as deep and theatrical as himself could be seen through by Mr. Pei, let alone someone as pure-hearted as Tian Mo.

Moreover, Mr. Pei’s selection of Tian Mo, seemingly coincidental on the surface, was actually inevitable.

There must be more than one person like Tian Mo. If Mr. Pei hadn’t discovered Tian Mo, he would naturally have discovered someone else to pass on his philosophy.

Meng Chang even had a feeling that in some ways, he was far inferior to Tian Mo.

This thought seemed absurd even to himself, because Meng Chang believed he was at the top whether as an employee or scamming investors—no, starting a business.

But perhaps it was precisely because he could do everything well and always judged by success that he sometimes naturally went down the wrong path.

Perhaps the first business genius who thought of turning service providers into middlemen was someone like Meng Chang?

Being smart was certainly a good thing.

But if smartness was used inappropriately, if one took the wrong path, then smartness would only lead one further astray.

Meng Chang looked at the notes in his small notebook, his feelings complex.

He even felt somewhat ashamed for no apparent reason.

“Thank you so much!”

“This content is very enlightening for me. I think I’ve figured out how to approach this promotional campaign.”

Meng Chang’s plan was to constantly flip-flop between ordinary agency companies and truly correct industry standards, generating controversy and attention, finally completing Mr. Pei’s promotional method—securing his commission while perfectly concluding the promotion for “Real Estate Agent Simulator.”

And this flip-flopping had to be based on a deep understanding of both sides.

Otherwise, problems could easily arise, backfiring on him.

Tian Mo’s analysis had provided theoretical support for Meng Chang and had also given him a perfect entry point.

Tian Mo quickly waved his hand: “It’s no trouble at all. At Tenda, we’re all about helping each other.”

“Actually, I just happened to have some insights that I shared with you. I’m glad if it helps.”

Meng Chang: “One of us is in Advertising and Marketing, and the other in Sales. We’re bound to have opportunities to collaborate in the future. We should chat more often.”

Tian Mo nodded: “Of course, no problem!”

Meng Chang felt somewhat emotional. Originally, there shouldn’t have been any intersection between “smart people” like himself and “slow people” like Tian Mo.

But at Tenda, Meng Chang felt that there was much to learn from Tian Mo, and that certain principles of Mr. Pei’s were ones he couldn’t grasp himself, but Tian Mo could.