Bribery or negotiation? It’s an art either way

Thread Content

Luo An (a pseudonym), a sales director at a foreign company. After working at a foreign company for 7 years and reaching the position of director, it can be considered a modest achievement. But he said, “I’m not actually happy at work.” ”One afternoon, he told the author about his history of “communicating” with **government officials”: “The company I work for is an American company.” We mainly import the company’s equipment and sell it to various government agencies in the country. Getting in touch with some department heads and directors responsible for equipment procurement has become an important part of our work. “You call it bribery; we call it communication. Actually, this is a discipline; all our company employees have to take ‘sales skills training’ courses. The teacher will ask two people to come forward and perform: the senior employee will play the role of Party A, that is, the buyer ； The newcomer plays the role of Party B, that is, the company’s sales staff. B’s responsibility is to find every way to persuade A to accept the gift. In class, B would hold a luxury watch in hand and say to A, ‘Boss, could you consider us for this bidding opportunity?’ ’At the same time, extend the table so that A can see the label clearly. It’s usually a Rolex worth tens of thousands of yuan. Jia will surely make some ‘lofty declaration’: ‘No, no, how can you do this!’ Take it back, take it back. I never accept gifts. ’Of course, B will listen patiently and make another effort, while A will also ‘spare no effort’ to find excuses to avoid it. After some back-and-forth, Yi would wisely say, ‘You are truly incorruptible.’ Well, let’s do this: I’ll keep this watch for you for now, and we’ll get in touch later. ’ “Such a scenario may seem simple, but it actually requires skill. First of all, what we give is a watch, so it’s not as explicit as giving money. Moreover, a watch worth tens of thousands of yuan is just a starting point; the other party can immediately see that there is huge profit to be made. Secondly, you need to be careful with the way you speak; you shouldn’t be too direct and say things like, “Boss, this is a benefit for you – once the task is completed…” That would make the other person think you’re reckless and lack restraint in your speech, and who knows when they might reveal this matter? Who would then be willing to help you? Finally, by saying ‘I’ll keep this watch for you’, you are implying that it is a tip for you; it’s kept with me and will be given to you after the task is completed. In order to get the kickback into his pocket as quickly as possible, he will try his best to help you sort out this matter. “The form is just a ‘foot in the door’; compared to the hundreds of thousands in bribes that are given after the deal is completed, it’s a mere drop in the bucket. A stepping stone is merely to tell the other party ‘I want to enter’, while money is the gift given formally after entering. In addition to watches, we now often give expensive pens as well, because it has a more elegant touch. After all, a pen also carries a layer of culture; it’s not as trivial as giving a watch. Moreover, the pen isn’t that eye-catching; who would think that such a small pen could be used for bribery? Most importantly, leaders often need a pen in their daily lives, and whenever they pick it up, they think of us. “To avoid drawing attention, we even hid money or bank credit cards in mooncake boxes and delivered them to a certain leader’s home. I called him afterwards and said, ‘Take a good look at that box.’ ’ “In our ‘communication’, the route is also important. Generally, we work from top to bottom, breaking through layer by layer and tackling each one one by one. For example, when a unit needs to conduct a tender, those in charge of project bidding are organized into four levels, from top to bottom: bureau chief, deputy bureau chief, director, and supervisor. If we want to win, we need to take care of all these 4 people, rather than just dealing with the top leader and thinking that’s enough. Although the director is the ultimate decision-maker, they must make a decision after receiving a report from the deputy director; therefore, gaining the support of the deputy director gives the director a valid reason to speak on our behalf. Similarly, bribing directors and supervisors is to enable their superiors to make decisions with confidence. “Of course, not all projects will be something that only our company wants to undertake. Other competitors will also use the same method to ‘communicate’. When we are evenly matched with our opponents, we need to focus on the top decision-maker in the bidding process. There are generally two ways: deal with his former boss or find a ‘hitman’. If his former boss is willing to help us, there will definitely be no problems, because he can not only receive a substantial sum as a bribe but also gain his boss’s approval by completing the task assigned to him. If one doesn’t have the resource of an old leader, then one has to find a ‘ghostwriter’. ‘The term ‘gunner’ is jargon used in the business world; it usually refers to **privileged youngsters**. If they step in, that leader will also take care of us due to their impressive background. Some **youths specialize in running such gun-for-hire companies. You don’t need to know him in advance; just pay him, and he can help you get in touch with the leader you need. “Another part of our sales skills training courses is teaching female employees how to cry, as this can sometimes be a way to turn things around when a proposal is rejected. If you’re going to cry, do it in moderation; you can’t just sit in the director’s office and wail loudly. Your eyes have to turn red, tears have to gather in them, and you have to pretend to hold back from crying. In that way, the director will feel truly sorry for you; even if it doesn’t work this time, they will give you preference in the next bidding process. The male employee had to resort to another trick. A phone reminder can be given afterwards: ‘Director, it’s our failure in doing our job this time.’ But we communicated well, and I hope we can work together again next time.’ This is actually a hint to him that this time you accepted our gift but didn’t help us; next time you need to take care of us. “Our parent company is in the United States, and there, the company does not have such public relations expenses. In China, if others do something and you don’t do the same, it’s hard to succeed; this can also be considered a form of ‘localization’. I often see reports in the newspapers about such cases of corruption in bidding processes – the people in charge of these projects are too corrupt; for the sake of money, they award projects to companies that don’t have the necessary qualifications, and of course problems arise later on. In regular bidding processes, there are usually multiple companies with similar capabilities competing. It makes sense to give it to any company. At this point, human factors such as the preferences of supervisors become crucial. Whether you can build good relationships will determine your success or failure in this bidding process. To be honest, sometimes we spend a fortune on the next project, only to make no profit at all. We want them to see that we can deliver projects successfully, and that working with us is definitely profitable. Next time there’s a new project, we’ll advise him: ‘Don’t hold a tender; just give it to us directly.’ ’At this point, with no competitors around, we can set prices freely. Of course, we will also give him a bonus. We can still work together on future projects, which creates a positive cycle between us. However, state assets were lost in large quantities within this ‘virtuous cycle’. “Of course, not all leaders we’ve met are like this. But such situations still occur from time to time. At such times, even if I secure a project and it brings money to the company, I still feel bad. But there’s nothing I can do about it; it’s like taking a bus – everyone else is pushing their way in desperately, while I have to follow the rules and wait in line. In that case, I might never be able to get on the bus, so I too have to push my way in. Sometimes I think that such things cannot be prevented by just a few honest officials; nor can they be deterred by simply catching more corrupt officials. What’s important is to improve the systems. I really hope that one day such public relations expenses will disappear from our expenditures. ”(ZT)