Chapter 266 Internet One-Stop Service
Lin Zhenyang is a reporter for Daily Economic News. He was just promoted from intern reporter and the word "intern" was removed from his title.

The first task he received after being converted to a full-time employee was to conduct in-depth reporting on the Internet in Hong Kong.

The Internet is still a very unfamiliar new thing for most Hong Kong people.

Even in the United States, the most technologically advanced region today, it is still just getting started and is still unknown to the general public.

Hong Kong's early metropolitan area network was jointly organized by universities and Orange Technology Company. The Governor of Hong Kong personally organized the opening ceremony, which was reported by the Hong Kong media.

Newspaper reports are meant to attract readers. At this time, the Internet is still a bit too highbrow and out of touch with the general public, so many newspapers only report for a day or two before stopping.

The newspapers under the City Group are similar and have not found in-depth reporting angles, which is not conducive to the promotion of the Internet.

Liu Zhicheng instructed Sun Lina that the Daily Economic News must report on Internet content in a special topic and promote the Internet to citizens who buy newspapers.

It just so happened that Lin Zhenyang had just been made a full-time employee and didn't have many topics on hand, so I simply let him be responsible for digging deeper into this Internet topic, which could also be considered as an exercise.

Orange Technology has already launched Internet access services for residents. After Lin Zhenyang took over this project, the first thing he did was to apply for funds and launch Internet services.

In this era, computers were still very expensive. The price of a 286 computer was more than 2 Hong Kong dollars. When combined with MODEM and other Internet equipment, the cost of accessing the Internet was almost as much as Lin Zhenyang's half-year salary.

This is his good income as a journalist. If he were paid an average person's salary of around HK$2000, it would take almost a year's salary to purchase all the equipment needed to access the Internet.

This was the first time that Lin Zhenyang took on a topic independently, so he naturally wanted to achieve results. He personally ran the entire process, from buying a computer to applying for Internet service, so that he could have first-hand experience.

Lin Zhenyang took the check approved by the newspaper and went straight to the business office of Xiangjiang Telephone.

Upon hearing that Lin Zhenyang was here to handle Internet services, a customer manager directly took him to a small meeting room next door and explained everything to him in person.

This is a treatment that is not available for ordinary business. Just now in the lobby, he saw quite a few customers coming to handle mobile phone services, and they were all queuing up at the service desk.

Lin Zhenyang sensitively discovered the difference. You know, mobile communications are a hot business in Hong Kong recently, and the charge for a mobile phone service is much more expensive than applying for Internet access.

A bare mobile phone costs 4 Hong Kong dollars, plus network access fees, prepaid call charges, and miscellaneous accessories, the minimum charge for a service is 8 Hong Kong dollars, which is more than three times the cost of Internet access.

Lin Zhenyang asked this question directly to Manager Yang who received him. Manager Yang's answer was somewhat convincing, but it was obviously an official answer.

"It is relatively simple to apply for mobile communication services. Customers can get a mobile phone directly after paying money.

Moreover, it is easy to learn how to use a mobile phone, and the processing time at the service desk is not too slow.

However, applying for Internet access is much more complicated, and many customers do not have a clear understanding of the concept of Internet access and need more business explanations.

It will be placed in a small conference room and received by specially trained managers like them."

Lin Zhenyang was not very satisfied with this answer, but he did not rush to ask further questions. Instead, he first talked to Manager Yang about his Internet needs.

After getting to the point, Manager Yang's introduction gave Lin Zhenyang a headache.

Knowing that Lin Zhenyang didn't have a computer, Manager Yang actually started his introduction by talking about the computer's configuration, directly transforming himself into a computer sales manager.

Lin Zhenyang just graduated from college a year ago, majoring in journalism. Although he had come into contact with computers in college, he only knew how to use them. When it came to the internal configuration of the computer, he was a little confused.

After being fooled by Manager Yang, I spent the budget of 3 Hong Kong dollars very well and got all the hardware.

It is said that it also includes an expansion card specifically for Internet access, the Internet card.

This sales pitch took nearly an hour, and Lin Zhenyang didn't have to worry about anything else. After paying the check, a dedicated service staff would come to his home to install and debug the product.

After the matter was basically settled, Lin Zhenyang once again changed from a customer to a reporter, "Manager Yang, isn't your company Xiangjiang Telephone engaged in telecommunications services? Why do I see that you are so familiar with computers?"

"Oh, I was originally in charge of computer sales at Orange Technology. I was temporarily transferred here when the Internet service was launched. I am here to provide professional services to distinguished customers like you."

"Although Orange Technology and Xiangjiang Telephone are from the same company, they are also independent companies. Are you guys just randomly transferring people from each other?"

"That's not the case. This Internet service is actually jointly promoted by Orange Technology and Xiangjiang Telephone.

This Internet service can be handled not only at the business hall of Xiangjiang Telephone, but also directly at the Jingxi Electric Appliance Store under Orange Technology. As for the door-to-door installation, it will be done by people from Xiangjiang Telephone.

No matter which of our two companies you go through to handle this business, you can get it done directly without having to go to the other two. This is called one-stop service."

When Lin Zhenyang came out of the service hall, he was still thinking about the term "one-stop service", which indeed had a great impact on him.

In his original thought, applying for Internet access would be a very troublesome thing, and he needed to come to Hong Kong first to inquire by phone about how to apply.

He was prepared to make several trips back and forth to find out what kind of computer he needed, buy it, and then come back to apply for Internet access.

Unexpectedly, with this one-stop service, he could get all his matters done directly at the service center of Xiangjiang Telephone.

At that time, commercial services were not so humane, and one-stop service was still a very new concept.

Lin Zhenyang plans to use this one-stop service for Internet access as the first topic in his series of reports.

He did not rush to return to the newspaper agency, but turned to go to the Jingxi Electric Appliance store. He wanted to go there and observe in person to see what was different about Orange Technology's services.

He first disguised himself as a customer and secretly observed in the Jingxi Electric Appliance store, and found that the service of Jingxi Electric Appliance was indeed very different from that of Xiangjiang Telephone.

From the main entrance to the computer sales counter of Jingxi Electric, there are posters promoting Internet services, which he also saw on the Xiangjiang Phone.

On the Xiangjiang phone side, only when customers asked about Internet services would the account manager come out to receive them, but here at Jingxi Electric, they were actively promoting the products.

Moreover, this kind of sales promotion is very targeted. Salespeople will actively promote Internet access to all customers who come to buy computers worth more than 10,000 yuan.

But those who buy cheap computers are rarely bothered by salespeople.

Lin Zhenyang quickly figured out the logic behind it. The most important equipment needed to access the Internet is a high-end computer.

Those users who have purchased high-end computers can easily transform themselves from single-machine users to network users by simply purchasing a MODEM and an Internet card.

The additional cost required is less than 20%, which makes the success rate of Jingxi Electric's sales quite high.

Readers who have experience in computer configuration or decoration should have personal experience that it is too easy to increase the budget by 20% or 30% under the deception of those "professionals".

Lin Zhenyang hid in a corner and observed for an entire afternoon, and found that this store sold 7 high-end computers in one afternoon.

Among them, there are 286 most advanced 5 computers, and the number of customers who directly applied for Internet services is as high as 4.

This proportion is too high. More than half of the buyers of high-end computers apply for Internet access.

What does this mean? It means that as the penetration rate of high-end computers increases, the number of Internet users in Hong Kong will also increase rapidly in the same proportion.

After completing his observations, Lin Zhenyang revealed his identity as a reporter and conducted an in-depth interview with Jingxi Electric. The data he obtained from the interview really shocked him.

According to store statistics, more than 60% of high-end computer buyers will apply for Internet services directly in the store.

Just based on the sales volume of Jingxi Electric, which ships more than 1000 high-end computers every month, the number of Internet users will increase at a rate of more than 600 people per month.

The growth rate of this user base far exceeded the media's original expectations.

The media's original prediction for this Internet service was that it would be unpopular and the number of people who would apply for this service in the short term would be very limited.

With this discovery, Lin Zhenyang knew that this topic was definitely the right one.

As long as he dug deeper into this topic, he would be able to produce an exclusive series of in-depth reports. Although this series of reports was not explosive news, it was a great success for him, a newly-promoted reporter.

Two days later, Lin Zhenyang interviewed the engineer who came to help him install the computer and connect to the network. The information disclosed by the engineer also supported Lin Zhenyang's judgment.

The team currently responsible for network installation at Xiangjiang Telephone and Orange Technology has expanded to more than 20 people and is still very busy. Each person is responsible for installation for four to five customers every day.

Among the customers, there are more than just customers like Tiantian Economic News who only install one terminal. Many large enterprises even install dozens of terminals at a time, which need to be connected to the Internet at the same time.

When encountering such a big customer, it is often necessary to temporarily add staff.

After the computer was installed and able to access the Internet, Lin Zhenyang finally began to experience the Internet services himself.

At that time, there were no specialized Internet tools such as browsers, but Orange Technology installed the URLs of several major applications on the desktop using shortcuts.

This allows novice users to easily use these applications to surf the Internet.

Lin Zhenyang tried several major applications. To be honest, apart from the novelty, he didn't have a deep impression of these applications.

Lin Zhenyang still has the sensitivity of a reporter and quickly discovered the attraction of the Internet, which is information interaction.

In fact, several major applications of Orange Technology have one common feature, which is that they are all exchanging information with users on the other end of the Internet in different ways.

And along the way, I made new friends in forums, chat rooms, and even game halls.

The amount of information that needs to be interacted with will increase, and the time spent online will be extended unknowingly.

This attraction is subtle, like a black hole. Many people are attracted to the Internet and stuck to it without even realizing it.

As he got to know the Internet more and more, Lin Zhenyang felt that there were more and more things to explore.

In this era, journalists still have some professional qualities and are not at the level of "starting with a picture and making up all the content".

Lin Zhenyang simply had a conversation with the editor-in-chief and decided not to publish any reports immediately, but to expand the scope of the news investigation.

It is not easy to contact ordinary Internet users, so Lin Zhenyang simply went to the Internet cafe.

This is where the most Internet users gather, and it is the best place to contact interview subjects.

Lin Zhenyang's interviewing style actually evolved greatly during the process of collecting materials.

In the past, his interviews were all conducted in person, but after arriving at the Internet cafe, he naturally exchanged email addresses and instant messaging accounts with his interviewees, allowing him to conduct multiple interviews with them.

Moreover, although this method of communicating on the Internet without meeting each other is not as direct and convenient as face-to-face interviews, it is easier to communicate in depth.

Through these interviews, Lin Zhenyang found that every Internet user has different preferences for Internet applications, and also discovered many small stories.

He even met a college student from an ordinary family who was secretly dating a rich girl through instant messaging software. This method is much more secretive than traditional secret dating.

Lin Zhenyang even wanted to use this incident as the subject to write a novel.

But as for what will happen in the future, the focus now is still on selecting this topic well.

The more material he collected, the less likely Lin Zhenyang was to start writing. He really didn't want to waste this excellent opportunity for in-depth reporting.

After much deliberation, he applied to Orange Technology Company for an in-depth interview.

Ying Hao is actively promoting the Internet in Hong Kong. An in-depth interview with Orange Technology will definitely help him sort out more ideas.

Orange Technology has always had a good relationship with the Hong Kong media. In the past, similar business interviews were accepted by Orange Technology, and people from the public relations department would come out to receive them.

But what surprised Lin Zhenyang was that the person who came out to be interviewed this time was not someone from the public relations department of Orange Technology, but Wang Xingfa, the general manager of Orange Technology, who came out to be interviewed in person.

This made Lin Zhenyang feel flattered. Wang Xingfa rarely came out in person to accept interviews, so this was a rare opportunity.

The reason why Wang Xingfa was willing to come out in person for the interview was, of course, because the content of the interview outline directly provided by Lin Zhenyang far exceeded what the public relations department could answer.

At this time, Wang Xingfa also received instructions from Liu Zhicheng and was thinking about how to hype up the topic of Hong Kong's Internet. He and Lin Zhenyang's interview request were a perfect match.

Wang Xingfa did not simply accept an in-depth interview with Lin Zhenyang, but discovered that Lin Zhenyang was indeed reporting in depth on the Internet.

Wang Xingfa even communicated with Sun Lina, and with the funding from Juzi Technology, a special Internet supplement was published with the help of the "Tiantian Economic News".

These supplements will be published every day together with the Daily Economic News and distributed to readers free of charge.

The content of the supplement is a comprehensive report on the Hong Kong Internet.

In order to make the content of this supplement more substantial, Wang Xingfa specially arranged a public relations team to work with Lin Zhenyang to select reporting clues and even help him contact the people he wanted to interview.

The initial distribution plan for this supplement is three months, and some Internet-related content will be published every day.

Of course, this kind of supplement can easily be seen as soft advertising for business promotion.

Wang Xingfa doesn't mind this at all, and doesn't even mind paying additional advertising fees to the newspaper. What he wants is to showcase the Hong Kong Internet in all its aspects.

Hong Kong Internet is what Wang Xingfa values ​​most in the short term, and a large part of his energy has been invested in Hong Kong Internet.

…………

Huijing Garden plans to release more than 900 residential units this year, which is a big goal. That’s why Liu Zhicheng gave it special attention.

As for the sales of properties with two or three hundred residences, they will not attract much attention.

The reason for this is that a large portion of property sales are purchased by speculators!

"Okay, we must calculate the time well!" Hao Qingwen nodded.

More than 900 residential units are equivalent to more than 2% of this year's supply chain, which requires careful planning. It is impossible to decide to sell them and then organize the sale immediately.

Therefore, it is necessary to plan ahead.

Currently, the Whampoa Group has a number of large-scale housing estate projects, such as Huijing Garden (4100 residential units) and two large housing estates in Tsuen Wan with more than 6000 residential units (all completed before 98).

Huijing Garden was the first to be launched for sale, and even so, it is expected to make nearly HK$100 billion, not to mention the subsequent projects!

Damn real estate developers!

Then, Liu Zhicheng started thinking about the problem, and Hao Qingwen did not dare to disturb his boss.

He knew that the boss was the commander of the Huangpu Group, and every decision he made was the fundamental driving force for the group's growth.

The reason why Huangpu Group has developed so fast is because the boss makes very careful decisions.

The supply volume each year, when to slow down the number of real estate construction starts, when to increase sales, etc., these are the details of Huangpu Group's victory.

Hao Qingwen has developed a worship for Liu Zhicheng, and in his mind, his boss is a god.

Every time, we can accurately grasp the real estate market, maximize profits, and enable Huangpu Group to achieve rapid development.

Therefore, for him, the boss's words are like an order to be carried out.

(End of this chapter)