What does the company do in a place where users are invisible to the site?

58 The same city is a "soil" company, its dense web page layout makes people seem to return to the 20th century; 58 on the provision of rental, locks, toilets and other services are far from "spring"; In these years, the internet has never stood in the spotlight in waves of waves The mainstream public opinion of the internet has long been accustomed to its existence but also almost forgot its existence, no one expected it can set off how big waves. Even in the news occasionally, I don't know why it always accompanies negative news.

However, it is such a company, unexpectedly in a long silence after the first ring to the U.S. listing bell, overnight, also let people begin to re-examine the "magic site."

58 The story of the city twists. The company, founded in 2005 with the name "Classified information website", was born with a brutal market competition. That year's entrepreneurs and investors have seen the cragslist of American mythology, in just a few months to emerge hundreds of similar companies, in the peak reached 2000, as if two years ago, the bloody group buying industry. After two years of fighting, survivors have begun a difficult transition and business model exploration: 58 with the city has done DM magazine, trying to transform into the electricity business, also joined the group buying War, and finally embarked on the "local Life service Platform" Road.

The last time it received such intensive attention was the 2011 advertising war with net. At that time, shouted "a magical website" Yang and rides the donkey Chen Yao appears in each big television station, the website, the subway and the bus, is overwhelming.

2 years past, why is the listing of 58 city? What does the company do in a place where users are not visible to the site?

Two critical moments

NET has two times to 58 with the city caused no small impact, and these two shocks have led to 58 with the city behind.

The first time in 2007, that June 1 Xiaohua into the net, responsible for SEO (search engine optimization). This "SEO grade Master" in half a year to allow the flow of net from 100,000 to 400,000, far more than 58 of the same city. The incident caught the attention of Yiu Jingbo and was determined to dig Xiaohua into the 58 city.

Yiu Jingbo First and Xiaohua meet chat, not fruit, and then with "Hunan people" set near and Xiaohua meet, or not. Yiu Jingbo simply ran to net located in the Tsinghua Science Park's Innovation Building office downstairs, called Xiaohua said "I am Yiu Jingbo, I am downstairs." If you don't come down, I'll go to your company and find you. ”

After digging into the Xiaohua, Yiu Jingbo did not use him as an employee, but let him be vice president, give options, and at important investor meetings with Xiaohua, showing the Xiaohua in the company's important position. Xiaohua also proved his worth. In 58, after the same city with the tactics, put before three or four times times the manpower, with 8 months to 58 of the city's traffic from 200,000 to 1 million, which not only widened 58 with the city and Net gap, but also changed the nature of 58 city-before this is only a small web site, after this effort with SEO inverted flow, Instead lay the industry's first position.

If not net action, Yiu Jingbo not so early to realize the importance of SEO, there will not be this leap. In the two of companies in the competition, net is more sensitive to the smell of that one, but because it did not achieve the ultimate, but to the competitors can take advantage of the machine. Yiu Jingbo In this matter is decisive and determination is also the key, not the first to see the direction of the matter, but once you see the direction, in any case to carry out, this is 58 with the city can post and live on the important factors.

Another was the famous advertising campaign. Before 2011, television advertising has not become the Internet company's fixed play, so when the 58 with the city learned that net to play TV commercials when not particularly concerned. Not until the Spring Festival, when all the popular TV programs were put on the donkey's ads, 58 of the city's top executives realised it was a strategic act.

"They want to take the money to a comeback," Yiu Jingbo. The background is the end of 2010, after solving the income problem, and completed two rounds of financing, the 58 City plan in 2011 to achieve profitability or even consider listing. However, net's final blow completely disrupted the 58 pace of the city, Yiu Jingbo's choice is to use two times the money to fight back.

The final result was that 58 of the same city spent 67 million dollars on advertising in that year. Yiu Jingbo says the logic of doing this is simple, "we don't want any situation where we don't see and let the other person go beyond us, and we don't give our competitors any chance." This advertising campaign not only makes 58 of the same city household name, but also to the latter set a high barrier. Xiaohua said, "We do not allow competitors to use advertising to chase me, I put this road completely blocked, and then someone to advertise, not to get 100 million dollars, 200 million dollars." ”

This advertising campaign, despite the 58 city once again taken the lead, and paid a price of thousands of dollars, but the end result is that opponents can not roll over.

In the 58 with the city and net of this close melee, strategic backwardness is terrible, more terrible is "up early but catch the late set." NET 58 with the city's two impact is not small, but not big to let 58 with the city powerless to fight back, but to smell relatively slow 58 with the city is a wake-up alert, let this company with twice times the strength of the force, the result naturally self-evident.

In the business world, from the idea to the implementation of a long way, smart people are often the first to see the direction of the one, but because they did not achieve the ultimate, but gave the successor opportunity. If this happens for the first time, it can be explained by chance, and the second time it is a matter of ability. Business success is not intelligent, but also bold, dare to fight, have enough determination from the idea to the final implementation.

Strong ground Forces

58 with the city on the key strategic node striking, so that it can rely on the flow of traffic and advertising campaigns to circle more users, but the user ultimately to the value of the company or rely on its more than 3,000 ground troops of the long-term work.

Zhou Fei is a member of 58 of the city's massive ground forces.

"Can you promise me that I will be able to recruit people?" "That's the question that Zhou Fei was asked the most. As the head of the 58-city recruiting line in Beijing, his client may be a small restaurant in front of your house or an acupuncture massage parlor on the street. For these shopkeepers, the internet is a distant thing. They do not understand, the same is the recruitment, 58 this local information platform to provide the recruitment services and traditional human resources companies to provide the difference? So Zhou Fei and 58 other 3,780 of the city's sales need to tell these "small and medium businesses", to 58 pay to buy services can bring what benefits, the Internet is what.

After getting paid for these people, it is often asked another question: Can you help me when I buy this thing? In 58 of the city's nearly 300,000 paying businesses, so far 1/3 of the people do not use the Internet. To this end, 2010, 58 with the city in Tianjin set up a customer service center, specifically for this group of people to provide "agent" service, the way the agency is the most traditional SMS or telephone.

In the past 8 years, although 58 of the city's home page has not changed much, has been a simple text chain composed of classified information, but the company has been quietly growing under the line. Now, Direct Battalion plus agent already has tens of thousands of sales force, expand to the national important city. It looks cumbersome in the above way will move the master, cleaning aunt, small restaurant owners, real estate agents and so on to the Internet, and to provide them with services.

Compared to the beginning of the Imitation object cragslist, so far the site has only 30 employees, many people use the word "horror" to describe 58 of the city's huge sales force, Yiu Jingbo that "can only be the way it is now."

"Of course you can wait, but wait how long no one knows, even if you wait, why are you?" "Yiu Jingbo has long been determined to do the line of thought, his logic is that when the user's habits have changed, no matter how much this group of merchants to understand the Internet, they must follow the transfer to the line, 58 work with the city is to help them achieve this process."

But persuading these small businesses is not easy. For this group of people, they do not care about what industry status, brand image, but also on the O2O, local life, lbs these concepts are not cold, they want to see their own spending every penny has effect. This is only through the establishment of a huge "push" force, so that these people become the Internet and offline Merchants link.

2009-2011 years, 58 with the city line under the rapid expansion of troops, the direct sales point to the national 27 cities. By contrast, net has opened up to four cities in the north. Former vice president of the net, now 58 with the city marketing operations Vice President Ye Bing Evaluation, it is this stage of expansion pulled up 58 with the city and competitors of the gap. At the same time, 58 of the city in the years of groping is gradually forming its own set of practices.

Zhou Fei's line of sales is dedicated to a real estate brokerage company's recruitment line, the line of a total of 11 people, the 11 people each have their own strictly divided area, they are only responsible for this part of the business, others are not allowed to get involved. This group of people will be informed of the number of real estate brokerage firms in the area in which they are trained. What is the size of each, they will ask what questions, in general they will go to where to play the recruitment ads, they are willing to spend how much money on top, which effect of better ... After work, we also need to communicate with clients frequently, in the words of Zhou Fei, "they usually soak in these stores".

These sales people to a field of deep digging can make themselves into the field of professionals, and thus obtain the trust of merchants, this is the 58 of the City ground forces of the core competitiveness. 58 with the city Vice President Xiaohua has the ability to line down and net comparison, "Why Shenzhen, Guangzhou advertisers believe me?" My branch office was there five or six years ago, who do you think he believes? ”。

Only deep excavation of a field, in order to understand the depth of customer needs, to provide them with differentiated services. This is vital in the area of local life services. The characteristic of local life service is that the difference is very great, for these people do service, need to provide differentiated products. For example, wedding photography shops want to display wedding pictures, moving companies want to highlight the vehicle and transport personnel information. As a result, salespeople also act as market researchers, reflecting customer needs in product development.

Behind this is a complete set of management systems for salespeople. Starting in the second half of 2012, 58 with the city began to fine management of the sales team, with half a year to eliminate the lower-yielding staff, and some team elimination rate of up to 25%, up to today, but also maintain the elimination rate of 10% of each team, the result is 58 of the sales staff from more than 4,000 people reduced to 3,000 people.

The elimination of lower-yielding sales staff, but also to the field for the Division of Training professional sales staff. So the job of individual sales is not messy, but can be targeted according to the direction of the company specified. The end result is an increase in per capita efficiency by more than one.

Local services require deep digging and sinking, especially for 58 of the city's businesses. When the Internet focus has not fallen on the 58 of the same city site, it secretly under the hard work, focus on other people do not want to dabble in the bitter business, just formed 58 of the city's industry barriers, and ultimately in the capital market is recognized.

Looking back on these 8 years, the company does not calculate the most intelligent, nor is the industry's most forward-looking, but as long as you see it will not hesitate to do, this blunt force at the critical moment can explode a huge energy, but may be defeated by the Wise.