On the morning of December 29, 2021, the "World Beautician Building" in Shanghai's Putuo District was lit up. The pacing of high heels echoed in the marble hall on the first floor, and the student apartments on the eighth and ninth floors were also noisy.
Since the afternoon of the previous day, in addition to Xi'an, nearly 900 high-level executives of Wenfeng's major direct stores and franchise stores across the country - hair and beauty managers, regional administrative managers, regional (deputy) general managers, etc. have come to Shanghai one after another and gathered in the "World Beautician Building".
After being repeatedly interviewed by the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission due to problems such as refusal to refund large amounts of consumption, false publicity, and compulsory consumption, and praising the boss's "heavenly eyes" being ridiculed as a "rainbow fart ceiling in the workplace", Shanghai Wenfeng Beauty Salon Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Wenfeng) and founder Chen Hao have recently been frequently pushed to the forefront.
The scene of the National Convention held on December 29, 2021.
On December 29, 2021, the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) reporter went undercover as an employee into Wenfeng's headquarters and participated in the conference. In the face of this storm, Chen Hao said that its development is to feel the stones to cross the river, without the lessons of the past, it is inevitable to make mistakes, and believe that some mistakes are "invisibly made".
Chen Hao's son, Chen Wei, said on stage that Wen Feng's goal is now very clear, that is, customers over 40 years old who are rich and rich, "Cutting hair for 60 yuan is expensive guests, then we can give up such customers." ”
Chen Hao's son Chen Wei explained the "Detailed List of Box and Service Purchase"
"National Convention" with 900 participants
The multi-purpose hall on the 11th floor of the World Beautician Building can accommodate thousands of people at the same time. Crimson suede curtains, row wooden tables, and podiums decorated with flowers such as lilies still exude the ancient "beauty" of Wenfeng. Many soft-faced black chairs were covered with dust.
After falling into the storm, the place has just completed an emergency transformation. Compared with the previous video circulating on the Internet, Chen Hao's giant portraits, slogans and flags can no longer be seen.
The conference was originally scheduled to be held at 8:18 a.m. that day, but due to the large number of people, it was repeatedly postponed to nearly 9 a.m. The reporter saw that the scene was almost full, and the staff constantly reminded that it was forbidden to take pictures and recordings, and once found, they were directly confiscated and fined 5,000 yuan.
During the meeting, almost every 20 minutes, a number of members of the "monitoring team" in black uniforms walked back and forth, row after row to check if anyone was using a mobile phone.
"All stand up—" the staff fell, and the dynamic disco-like music sounded, and suddenly the audience erupted into thunderous and uniform applause.
"Stand straight! Our thoughts are..." The male staff asked in the tone of the instructor.
"Integrity, learning, thinking, diligence..."
"Our mission is to..."
“。。。。。。 Let the employees who walk into Wenfeng support their families, make a fortune, and honor their ancestors. ”
"Review Wenfeng's 26-year entrepreneurial history and plan a new journey after 26 years of Wenfeng in Shanghai." A female host in a black formal dress, with a refreshing shoulder-length and beautiful appearance, stepped onto the stage. She is the "protagonist" who is hotly searched for by fancy touting the text - the secretary Bai Yin.
Bai Yin said in an excited tone: "First of all, allow me to report to the president on the number of participants today. Report to the President, today's meeting should be 840 people, the actual 822 people. Leave 7 people, xxx. There are 11 people absent, xxx. Please indicate! ”
After some warm-up, the scene continued to heat up.
Amid the cheers, applause and music in the hall, Chen Hao, dressed in a dark blue suit, with a striped tie and meticulous hairstyle, slowly stepped onto the podium. This time, he had a serious expression and did not show his disco-like dance steps again. But when the music reached its climax, Chen Hao still clenched his fists and waved them to the beat.
"The whole world knows About Haoge"
"This time, Hao Ge has become an Internet celebrity. Other Internet celebrities will also be on fire for a day or two, and Hao Ge will be (on fire) for eight days this time. Radio, television... All tv stations in Shanghai reported it. Of the more than 200 newspapers in the country, none of them are not on it. There are also self-media, all of which are crowded. ”
At the meeting on the same day, Chen Hao brought more than four hours of intermittent speeches, not only reviewing Wenfeng's entrepreneurial history, but also repeatedly mentioning the recent public opinion storm about Wenfeng in a playful self-deprecating tone, "The whole world knows Haoge." ”
For the criticism of the outside world, Chen Hao said that Wenfeng's development is to cross the river by feeling the stones, and there is no precedent in the "beauty industry", and it is inevitable that mistakes will be made. Some mistakes are "invisibly made."
According to Wenfeng's official website, Wenfeng was created in 1996 and has formed a commercial territory of the whole industry chain integrating hairdressing, beauty, scientific research, production and teaching. Up to now, Wenfeng has more than 300 chain directly operated stores in the country, and has biopharmaceutical factories, cosmetics factories, medical beauty centers and vocational skills training schools, with nearly 10,000 employees and total annual sales of billions.
Behind the brilliance, the voice of "Wenfeng does not fall, the beauty industry is difficult to engage" is endless, consumer complaints are gradually increasing, and Wenfeng has become the target of public criticism again and again.
In 2009, a man in Shanghai died while taking a bath and massage at Wenfeng Beauty; in 2009, a customer at a Wenfeng hair and beauty salon in Changsha, Hunan Province, mistakenly drank 84 disinfectant. In March 2021, "the septuagenarian spent 2.35 million yuan in 3 years", which once again made Wenfeng's marketing model questionable.
The surging news previously reported that the family of a septuagenarian in Shanghai found through bill records that the elderly spent 2.35 million yuan in The Wenfeng Barber Shop on Changshou Road in Shanghai within 3 years, of which the consumption was as high as 420,000 yuan in one day. Since then, Wen Feng has been punished by the market supervision department with 100,000 yuan for claiming that massage can cure diseases.
"You guys, you've lost All of Brother Hao's face!" I didn't dare to come out of the door recently, and Hao Ge will have to show up less in the future. Chen Hao believes that his behavior of dancing before the meeting is a kind of "positive energy" and a rare corporate culture, "No one sent a document before saying that the company boss can't dance." ”
"Recently, there was a chairman or president in the United States, called Mosaic? What's it called? Smack? After many reminders from the audience, Chen Haocai suddenly changed his mouth, "Oh, Musk! He also learned me to dance. ”
Regarding Wen Feng's "brainwashing", Chen Hao raised his voice many times and said, "Is it headwashing or 'brainwashing'? We are spreading beauty, discovering beauty, creating beauty. Isn't it? Every time he uttered a "golden sentence", Chen Hao would always deliberately pause, take a sip of the teacup, and the audience erupted into warm applause, and the harmony should continue.
In various articles published on Wenfeng's official website and WeChat public account "Wenfeng Today", Chen Hao was described as an omniscient "god man".
Referring to the secretary's call it "Heavenly Eyes" and "Industry Grand Slam", Chen Hao first pointed to Bai Yin in the front row on the right side of the stage, and then swept his fingers to the crowd attending the meeting, "You are trying to kill me." ”
The beauty and hairdressers sitting around the reporter were very enthusiastic and laughed, and one of them said that the action was "exactly the same" as in the online video.
"Now you can't treat me as a 'heaven' messenger, and you can't say that I have 'heavenly eyes'," Chen Hao himself laughed at this point, "even if there is, you must say no." No way! ”
Referring to the problems of offline stores that let consumers drink 84 disinfectant by mistake, and the septuagenarian was induced to consume 2.35 million yuan in 3 years, Chen Hao said, "Hao Ge is a good person, Hao Ge is not wrong. It was your personal actions that affected Wen Feng and all the people. ”
Inside Wenfeng headquarters
In-house special training course demonstrates Haoge's "super energy"
Chen Hao said at the meeting that he never accepted employees to blow "rainbow farts", nor did he imply or require subordinates to engage in a cult of personality, let alone the so-called "mind control". However, the surging news reporter recently obtained a "cadre special training camp president course materials" in the internal use of this article, which is full of many "god-man" remarks narrated in the first person.
The Paper's reporter obtained a paper on the internal use of "Cadre Special Training Camp President Course Materials"
A number of high-level people who have worked in Wenfeng for more than a decade have reviewed the information and confirmed that almost every two years, they are mandatory to participate in up to 49 days of closed training, which is the use of this information, "the content will be updated and supplemented, but basically the same." ”
In the preface to the book, Chen Hao said that he would personally decrypt the magical "super energy" in his body. He describes himself as a divine helper in analyzing fortunes, "difficult to explain in scientific terms", especially sensitive to numbers, and once pointed out the 5 million lottery jackpots of customers.
"Hao Ge's amazing cases about hair, skin, and body care are endless." According to the cases cited, after Chen Hao personally implemented the "Liuhe Beauty" technique, some trainees suddenly lost 12 pounds, their white hair turned black, and their height was 5 centimeters. There are also people who have been distressed for 18 years of "elephant legs", directly slimmed into "standard legs", and incidentally solved the problem of myopia for many years, "like a new life".
According to the book, when he "sees through" the skin and physical condition of his customers, he produces a strong infrared magnetic field, "and photographers can often see light blue light shining on and around my body." ”
And the accuracy of this "spiritual awareness" is "even inferior to modern medical testing equipment."
Many of the customers who have been "enlightened" by him have been moved to cry and even "kneel down to thank you". He also quoted others to write that Haoge's energy can mobilize people's audio-visual and brainwaves to "travel through time and space" through the mind.
The "success study" in the book is pointed out by former employees as a brainwashing technique. In this chapter, Chen Hao is praised as a "super-intelligent person", "a real Bole and nobleman", and "the greatest teacher in the world".
The above course materials also said that since the young Wenfeng employees chose the right platform and followed the right people, they should change their minds and learn from the rich man in the decade between the ages of 15 and 25, "believe in him, like him, and fall in love with him"; they must obey and do as they are, "Where hao ge refers to where to fight"; they must enter the circle of successful people as soon as possible, and are closely linked to the president's brain and wisdom. As long as you insist on this, you can become a "high IQ" and successful person. If you leave Wenfeng, you will go to failure.
The reporter also found that the book has a large chapter to teach feng shui, facial appearance and palm knowledge, listing the "four hungry lives" divided into four seasons and the "zodiac change luck method".
For example, acne or acne scars are a kind of "defeat phase", only after healing, the luck can be better; people with small eyes, too narrow eyebrows, loose teeth and other faces are considered to be "the worst partner on the road of life"; people with melon face represent that the spirit is not normal, "old and lonely".
For example, people born in the summer are "hungry water" and drink the so-called "Dragon King Water of the Four Seas" - four mineral waters from Japan, Australia, France and Chinese mainland. If Jay Chou, Hao Ge and others are idols, "good luck for three months can be achieved". If people who belong to the "chicken" want to get rich, they must first eat KFC chicken legs or wings, or open a shop in the KFC door, or "bite themselves every day" .
Chen Hao is praised as having the best face shape "Square Face", representing wealth, beauty and longevity, is a veritable "boss portrait", and his signature portrait can be seen everywhere in the book.
Exterior view of Wenfeng headquarters
Customers who are not willing to spend 60 yuan on haircuts can give up
In recent years, Wen Feng has been repeatedly interviewed by relevant departments, the complaint rate remains high, and there are many administrative punishment information. On November 3, 2021, in response to the refusal to refund large consumption, the lack of after-sales service, the price opacity, false publicity, compulsory consumption and other issues, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission interviewed Shanghai Wenfeng again and asked it to rectify within a time limit.
On November 17, 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission issued a document saying that Wenfeng's business model may conceal major risks. The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that Wenfeng sold to consumers in the name of "product + service" packages, with an amount of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan. This model is essentially prepaid consumption behavior to circumvent prepaid card regulation.
According to data from the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, as of December 7, 2021, Wenfeng Beauty Salon had 476 complaints, an increase of 45% year-on-year.
"Do you know how much we lost in December? At least 60 million ah, but this time all paid by the boss, let us thank Hao Ge. In the afternoon of the same day, Chen Hao's son Chen Wei said that the latest adjustment measures and plans should be made on the above issues.
On the evening of December 28, 2021, The Paper learned that Wenfeng only used the sales of three directly operated stores as a prepaid card for the record. On the morning of the 29th, the Shanghai Single-purpose Prepaid Card Collaborative Supervision Platform showed that Shanghai Wenfeng Hair and Beauty Co., Ltd. has obtained a credit rating of C-, which means "it is still good, but there is a certain risk".
"In the past, Wenfeng's problem was the potential underwater, but now with the heat has floated in the air, we must be careful in the future." In response to the problem of prepaid, Chen Wei said that Wenfeng or will abandon the "card discount" model of hairdressing, and will uniformly restore the original price in the future, and smooth the transition by appropriately increasing the proportion of the commission of washing, cutting, dyeing and ironing, "so we should encourage members to swipe the membership card as soon as possible." ”
As Chen Hao said that morning, Chen Wei also made it clear: "Our goal now is very clear, that is, to target customers over 40 years old, rich and wealthy areas." If you cut your hair for 60 yuan and think it is expensive for a guest, then such a customer we can give up. ”
Chen Wei said that Wenfeng's recent internal research in Shanghai and Changsha found that the names of charging items that offline stores had issued were fancy, as high as "more than 700 kinds". In order to solve this chaos, Chen Wei showed the newly formulated price and service table on the spot, and instructed on how to fill in the charging details on the spot.
Chen Wei said that Wenfeng will add some beauty package items to the original price list and divide the composition of the project into two parts: "product" and "service".
For example, the price of a foot package is 5800 yuan. After the adjustment, the total price of the package will not change, but it will be marked as "2000 yuan for products and 3800 yuan for services". He explained that in this way, when the product is sold and used, consumers cannot find various reasons to refund. Similarly, the service bill should also indicate the number of treatments and gifts within the service.
In order to avoid the problem of a single high consumption, Chen Wei said that the next step will be to set a price cap in the background system, "the price of a single package is fixed, you can no longer arbitrarily charge." But he turned sharply and said, "However, customers use it well, and they can recommend buying more than one set." ”
At this point, a hair director sitting next to the reporter smiled, "'Leaf' (industry term, which means letting customers pay) still has to continue to pinch." ”
In fact, this round of turmoil is still impacting some of Wenfeng's stores.
A beauty manager quietly told reporters that her store, business plummeted in December, "no performance." She said that now only let "pinch" a thousand or two thousand small leaves. A hairdresser said bluntly, "In December, my confidence was gone." ”
Original title: Undercover Wenfeng "National Conference": Chen Hao boasted that "Musk learned from me", and his son ordered business economics
Article source: The Paper