CHAPTER 617 A TIT-FOR-TAT STRUGGLE

Chapter 617 A Tit-for-Tat Struggle

It was perfect timing, Hannah thought.

After all, Justine was Oscar's aunt, who also represented their family.

"Don't worry. She's nice. She just wants to meet her nephew's wife formally."

"Well, which day?"

"I'll tell when she fixes the time."

"All right."

"I gotta go for a meeting." Manuel saw Susan at the door.

"Bye."

Manuel hung up the phone, and said to Susan, "Has the meeting started?"

"Ten minutes later." Said Susan.

"OK."

Then Susan turned around and left. She thought it was unfair to her since she needed to do the job of

both an assistant and a secretary of Manuel. She was kind of pissed about it.

Ten minutes later, it was meeting time for a high-level conference of Phillips Bank.

Susan sat behind Manuel.

An atmosphere of tension suffused the conference room.

"Things look black. Sway Bank has extended its business to commercial lending and borrowing

service. Our Inbound Market Department has collected much information that shows quite a few

companies are planning to establish cooperative ties with Sway." Joe Harper, the chief marketing

officer began.

"Which companies are negotiating with Sway Bank?" Edward asked, wearing a serious expression.

"Here is the list. As matters stand, these are our cooperators whose contracts will expire soon." Joe

showed the list on the screen.

Edward's face turned sterner.

"Sway Bank is new in Kensbury City. Why do they have access to accurate information about our

customers?" Manuel raised a question suddenly.

Joe was struck speechless. He didn't know what Manuel wanted to convey, so he remained silent.

Henry took a glance at Manuel. He was a bit surprised by Manuel's perspicacious remarks. Then he

began, "Sway Bank is a top-class bank. Hadn't they undertaken market research before they came

here? Manuel, it's not the time to raise doubtful points about them, but to think what we should do

next." Henry's words were a bit overbearing.

Manuel didn't get angry but just said, "You talk a lot of good sense. You're also responsible for the

management of the marketing department, what's your opinion on Sway Bank's market penetration?"

Henry was dumbfounded, for he didn't expect Manuel to put the issue to him rightly. He felt a bit

embarrassed now.

Henry stopped, and said imperturbably, "In my point of view, public relations ploys should be adopted

now, and we should wage a tit-for-tat struggle against Sway Bank. We should prevent them from taking

our customers away. Frankly, I think we can allow our customers to retain more profits. We must

maintain our market, not the revenue.

At the moment he just finished speaking and some executives were about to echo, Manuel said bluntly,

"I don't agree."

Henry's countenance changed abruptly. Tensions were building up in the conference room.

Susan sat behind Manuel, and she could distinctly feel his charisma. She stole a glance at Henry, who Property © .

seemed to be a little aggrieved. But she suppressed her dissatisfaction in silence. She had known that

it was not proper to offer her opinions causally under such an occasion.

"So, you just want to watch them take away our customers and we should do nothing?" Henry asked.

"No, I disagree with your opinion for I have my reasons. Because of the market commonality, if we cut

down profits to retain those customers, others will also know about it. Then we would have to extend

the expiring contracts between other customers, at the lowest price. At this rate, Phillips Bank will just

get diminishing revenue. Will we ensure that Sway Bank won't lower its price to compete with us?"

Manuel stated.

Henry looked a bit displeased.

"Price war is a cut-throat competition. It would make both sides suffer, and I will never consider it.

"So, you have a better strategy?" Henry asked.

There was a touch of irony in his words.

Manuel took a glimpse at him and turned about to face other executives.

"These companies cooperate with us not only because of the price, but also our service, quality,

efficiency, integrity, and customer emotion. I've made a thorough investigation of these companies,

which have worked in close cooperation with us for many years and have confidence in us. The first

step is to find out the real situation to confirm whether they are willing to change a bank as their partner

or not. Then, draw up personalized plans for their different needs. It's unwise to wage a price war

without careful consideration."

With a long face, Henry remained quiet.

Proceeding from the company's interests, profit was an important factor. Henry's price strategy, of

course, could hardly get the support; instead, Manuel's ingenious personalized plan was much more

practical.

Henry was often humiliated before Manuel those days. He looked at Susan sitting behind Manuel but

just found that she was earnest about Manuel's words and she seemed to support Manuel.

Henry looked more displeased. He tried to hold in his anger.

"President, in my opinion, it's necessary to form a special group to react to the Sway Bank's

competition," Manuel said to Edward.

"I agree, and I give you full power to handle it." Edward agreed without a second hesitation.

"Thank you, I will not betray your trust."

"Great." Edward nodded. It was obvious that he had perfect trust in Manuel.

The conference was over soon. After all, more time was needed for market competition at this critical

moment.

A special group was quickly set up when Manuel went back to his office. One to three key members

from each department were chosen to form the team with 30 members.

However, Henry was excluded. Henry was extremely angry when he heard the news since he thought

he was isolated by Manuel, and he would be in an increasingly adverse situation if Manuel made a

success of this work.

"No! I'll not let him meet his expectation." Henry thought in anger.