So, yeah, I’m in China again this week and I get to spend some time in the office. Since I’m not here as often as I should be, it’s always a pleasure to experience the comings and goings and ins and outs of the company as it operates behind the scenes. It’s like watching a finely tuned machine grinding along as new orders come along, are processed and sent on their way, and exciting at times to watch. So I’ve decided to tell you a little about what happens here at the office so you can get a little idea of how we operate and maybe appreciate the people who get your orders for phones, computer accessories, sports equipment, and what not ready for shipping and out to you all day, everyday.
Let me make it clear, however, that there are some things that I am not at liberty to discuss, but I’ll try to do my best about making it as informative as possible. For example, I am not allowed to mention names, but we’ll give them nicknames like Mr. C for my boss and the like for the other members of the team.
The Bigboxstore team, although small, is a highly dedicated and motivated group of individuals. Mr. C, my boss and the main big wig in the company itself, shows up to work before anyone else. Mr. C, although Caucasian, gets along very well with his mostly East Asian staff. He also uses the traits he’s learned from his Western-style cultural upbringing and education to his advantage – bringing his prudent business and management skills to the table for the whole team. He’s the captain of the company and has steered his ship well through different waters and tides.
After Mr. C’s arrives, it’s a couple of hours before the first of the staff and executive committee come along. This is around the time when the floor we occupy begins to become a hub of activity. Papers with printed out orders begin to circulate, the phones start to ring from different departments as the staff communicate details about the orders and inquiry requests for the stock of laptops and electronic cigarettes bounce back and forth.
In the board room, Mr. C meets with his associates Mr. H and Mr. Z. The conference table in front of them, bearing test samples of different new gadgets and catalogs from major suppliers in the area with details of their new products, is the centerpoint of the discussion. This is an almost daily occurrence, as more and more products are reviewed for their qualities and it is decided which ones our customers will like best and will be happy with for the longest time. Everything is screened for quality to make sure that they will meet the demands of our increasingly demanding customers. Think of this as the first QA where it is decided which ones are worth a second look.
Of course, going through each product individually takes a long time, so in a separate QA room, 2 other East Asian staff try out the products selected for further review and narrow down the final selection for which ones will appear on our own catalog. These guys seem to have the most fun job of everyone, all they ever do is play with gadgets, try out new shirts for style, and judge them according to what they find. Imagine getting a hold of the newest tablet before it hits store shelves just to run it through its paces before anyone else gets to use it.
Further along the hallway, our customer service reps manage the live chat windows and answer questions that people ask on the product pages. They’ve usually got the most to do, but if ever you step into their area, they’re quick to greet you and ask you how you’re doing. It’s no wonder Mr. C made them the customer service reps. It’s also this department that I have the most friends in, because everybody here are people persons, and it’s not uncommon for Mr. A and Mr. B to go out with me some nights with a few of the customer service ladies for drinks.
It’s busy the whole day at the office, so the end of the day is often very much anticipated. Often, before leaving the office, Mr. C calls everyone to the board room for a meeting. We discuss the events of the day and the things he’d like us to focus on – customer service, quality assurance, and so on and so forth. We’ll talk about the problems we’ve encountered during the day with unsatisfied customers or problems with couriers and such, and we’ll discuss how best to keep problems like these from happening in the future.
When everyone has left the office, Mr. C is still sticking around. I know because I stick around, too. My hotel room bores me, and the little Chinese that I know won’t suffice for exploring the streets of Shenzhen. Mr. C will usually leave the office at around 7:00pm and will peak into my cubicle and ask me what in the world I’m still doing there. He cracks a joke and we talk about the day or whatever else has been happening around the city or the world. A few minutes later he’s out the door, but I know it’s only so he can get home quickly and have dinner so he can get back to managing Bigboxstore – I see him online by 8:00pm, I know that he’s working because he crashed the site one time with a failed software install only to bring it back up again himself and that was after he had left. No wonder his staff is so dedicated, they’ve got a good example in Mr. C.
Before he’s logged out, the office day ends for me. Unlike Mr. C, I can’t work all day with so much passion. But as I close my laptop each evening, the strange feeling of having done some really great stuff fills me. After all, I do work for the best online wholesale marketplace in China, and I know we’re really trying hard to make our customers happy. It’s a delight to walk into the office every now and then and see the ratio between satisfied and dissatisfied customers leaning more and more to the satisfied side everyday!
