Originally from London, Ed Dean arrived in SARS-era Shanghai in June 2003 with big dreams and no specific plans.
Following 5 years in advertising and marketing roles in London market research and advertising agencies, Dean felt there should be more to life than the corporate world – and passing his 30th birthday provided the final incentive to explore new territory, before it became too difficult to break away.
As with a number of new arrivals at the time Dean initially tried his hand in a number of areas – certainly in the early 2000’s there were a great many opportunities for those who cared to look.
His first venture, marketing and branding consultancy iqi, found success working with local manufacturing companies looking to create brands in order to access foreign markets.
Selling an intangible service to local Chinese clients is never easy and ultimately it was one of Dean’s other ventures which caught on – JETT customer experience – a growing business he still runs today.
Customer service, training and mystery shopping in China
While eating in one of Shanghai’s Western restaurants, Dean and a friend noticed one of the waitresses struggling to serve an irate foreign customer. She had the right attitude and was trying to help, but she simply didn’t have the skills (service or language) required to do the job well.
Dean’s friend (and soon-to-be business partner) suggested they start a company with two objectives:
- “To instil confidence and inspire leadership in the new generation of service professionals across China” – i.e. to provide them with the skills and motivation they need to do their job well; and
- To carve out a niche in what seemed to be an underdeveloped area
This was back in 2004 – roll forward 6 years to 2010 and from this core concept has grown to a business working with a full-time team with offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and clients across China and Hong Kong.
JETT’s success is attributed to a combination of leading and shadowing the change in market demand: “Our first clients were principally foreign businesses serving foreign customers, but since the Beijing Olympics we have seen more and more demand from local businesses”.
“Our focus has always remained the same – to improve our clients’ levels of service, and to improve the day-to-day working lives of their customer-facing teams” he adds.
JETT’s business quickly expanded beyond their initial focus on the restaurant / F&B industry. “Shanghai Retail, hospitality and F&B are now our three core industries and we’re able to apply any relevant experience from each industry to the next”. “Beyond these three industries we receive a fair amount of demand from other service sector businesses including retail banking, spa / gyms, airlines and even health centres and hospitals”.
Their Shanghai business has grown beyond training, with mystery shopping (or “secret shopping”) now a core focus. “Mystery shopping provides our clients with data which they can use to make key business decisions about the service they offer and, in retail particularly, about the way they sell to the customer”.
The challenges of establishing a business in Shanghai and China
Dean notes that there are a number of challenges with opening a business in China, joking that when asked for advice on how to set up in China, he’ll advise all you need to know is “don’t!”
“The business environment is very competitive and price-sensitive” he advises. “There are so many people and companies in the market always offering to do what you do cheaper than you are prepared to” he adds.
Dean suggests that in order to command a higher price you have to work particularly hard to demonstrate the value your client will get. “It’s not enough to claim to be the best and to produce your client list, you really need to show your worth”.
Of all the challenges Dean gives dealing with some of the government bureaus as the biggest. “Setting up the business licence was the single most frustrating period of my life” he says. He suggests ‘patience’, a ‘supreme attention to detail’ and an ‘ice-cold temperament’ as pre-requisites for the various stages of the process.
“On balance the potential upsides in China obviously more than balance out the challenges, and this is obviously even truer since the recession”. To close Dean offers 8 light-hearted rules he read in the past:
- Anything is possible in China
- Nothing is simple
- Patience and relationship are key to success
- The answer “yes” usually means “maybe.” “Maybe” means “no,” and “no” means “keep trying”
- Rules are subject to interpretation
- A contract is only an agreement of understanding
- When you are optimistic, think about rule #2
- When you are discouraged, think about rule #1
Ed Dean is a Director and co-founder of JETT | customer experience. Established in Shanghai in 2004 JETT work with retail brands, restaurant groups, hotels and other service businesses in China to help them measure and maintain their service levels and customer experience. JETT provide mystery shopping, customer engagement measurement and hospitality and customer service training.
www.jett-asia.com
