The metallurgy industry: choices among clients such as hens, roosters, and golden chickens

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I just graduated from school and joined Huawei, and it happened to be the time when Ren Zhengfei first talked about the \"winter\" period – everyone at Huawei was discussing it, talking about it, and trying to get through that period. Recently, I heard from a former colleague that President Ren has talked about the winter for the third time. He said that this winter will be even more severe than previous ones. Just the day before yesterday, there was an article in which Jack Ma also spoke at length about the winter. These days, when friends meet, they used to politely ask, \"How’s business?\" Answer: It’s okay. It seems like it has all turned into: not so good. It seems that winter has truly arrived this time. Since winter is coming and we can’t stop it, let’s all get ready to spend it together. When it comes to winter, people think of preparing cotton-padded jackets; for businesses, such jackets represent \"cash.\" Everyone tries to find ways to reduce costs, control credit risks, and shorten payment terms – all in order to have enough cash to get through the winter. But I think while it’s necessary to prepare a cotton-padded jacket, it shouldn’t be too thick, otherwise it can cause suffocation. What I want to talk about today is that winter is coming, and how to choose clients; of course, this is just a detailed measure to deal with winter. I like to divide customers into three categories: hens, roosters, and golden chickens. As the name implies, hens are not very conspicuous and have a low profile, but they lay many eggs at a reasonable cost, so you can earn significant profits from such customers. Roosters can only crow; they make sounds but do not lay eggs. The golden rooster, of course, not only enjoys great fame and reputation but also lays golden eggs. As an IC distributor, solution provider, or provider of complete board solutions, when selecting customers, one hopes to choose those well-known, easy to work with financially, and capable of generating high profits. However, such customers are few, and acquiring them requires significant investment. Rooster clients are also a popular choice for many companies that wish to increase their visibility. Although such clients do not generate much profit and payment terms can be difficult, they enjoy high recognition within their industries, making them excellent topics for marketing purposes. However, working with these clients also requires time and effort. Neither roosters nor golden pheasants are suitable for exploration in winter. There are many hen clients in Shenzhen and its surrounding areas. They seem modest in front of agents and solution providers. Especially now that winter is approaching, they are trying to figure out ways to get through the winter. If you provide them with more support and assistance at this time, they will offer you considerable returns. Moreover, after winter, they will become your loyal strategic partners – and it’s possible that they will soon turn into your \"golden hen\" clients. This leads me to think about the profit models of Internet companies such as Alibaba and Google, which are based on the Long Tail Theory (in simple terms, it involves focusing on the 80% of small and medium-sized customers). These models completely overturn the 20/80 rule. But can the Long Tail Theory be applied to the IC industry? Let’s wait and see, and I look forward to sharing it with everyone.