My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 109

“Hmm….”

Park Do-joon rubbed his chin, considering those words. Clearly, his brother wasn’t well-versed in these kinds of negotiations.

‘Which is understandable.’

Unlike reading people’s minds and fighting them, his brother had always focused on management. That’s why he wasn’t as skilled in political maneuvering or strategic fights as one might assume.

Of course, he would learn eventually, but he had been solely focused on running the company his father had left him, so he lacked experience with these types of negotiations.

“So, what do you want me to do? Just call the whole thing off?”

“That’s impossible. No matter how much Hyunseong is backing us, 2 billion won is definitely not a small amount of money.”

Naturally, they had to either recover that money or get the other party to cancel the contract.

“It looks like I’ll have to step in for this negotiation. I don’t know who the other party is, but they seem to have more experience than I initially thought.”

“How do you know?”

“People don’t usually resort to these kinds of tricks.”

After their father passed away, those unfamiliar with the industry would typically abide by clear contract terms or attempt to challenge the contract’s legitimacy through lawsuits.

“Resorting to tricks is only possible when you understand the contract’s implications. For example, isn’t it true that we bought this cheaply?”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

“But if that person came from a different field, how would they accurately assess the company’s assets or value?”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Yeah. They probably got directly involved in the company’s operations or did related work.”

As Park Do-joon pondered, Park Do-shik took out a business card and handed it to Park Do-joon.

“They gave me their business card.”

“Oh? Really?”

Park Do-joon took it and tilted his head.

“Wangsang Construction, Strategic Management Office?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that a pretty big company?”

“Oh? A department head, huh?”

Wangsang Construction’s Strategic Management Office… It wasn’t a comprehensive conglomerate like Hyunseong Group or Jindo Group, but it was a once-successful construction company.

But now, their situation was precarious. Following a series of poor construction incidents, their ranking had plummeted, and the government had imposed a one-year ban on Wangsang Construction participating in government projects due to serious issues.

In other words, Wangsang Construction was at the beginning of its downfall.

“If it’s Wangsang Construction, didn’t they have a massive layoff recently?”

“They did.”

“I think I understand.”

The department head of Wangsang Construction’s Strategic Management Office was likely the person in charge of that massive layoff.

Of course, they couldn’t be blamed for that. It was a necessary measure for the company’s survival. For Wangsang Construction, barred from government projects for a year, downsizing was the most viable option.

Government policy project rights are a very important factor. In fact, since this isn’t a guaranteed right, it doesn’t inherently make money.

If it’s a government policy project that Wangsang Construction would participate in, it couldn’t be small in scale, and there are many other companies aiming for it, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll win it 100% over the others.

Therefore, you can’t say that government policy projects aren’t a loss. The real problem is that the deprivation of that qualification leads to a loss of trust.

Moreover, Wangsang Construction lost its qualification due to internal corruption, that is, poor construction issues.

‘In this situation, Wangsang Construction has to win private construction projects, but the loss of trust is a serious problem.’

And to make up for that, they have to lower their value. In other words, the immediate problem isn’t not being able to receive government policies for a year, but rather, for the time being, they have to prioritize normalizing their image by building buildings properly, even if it means taking losses.

Of course, there are problems there too. Since they can’t get work under the same conditions, they naturally have to offer much better conditions, and that requires a lot of money.

‘The recent layoffs are also related to that.’

“If they’re a department head in the Strategic Management Office, they must be a recognized talent within the company.”

“Really? Ugh, then what should we do?”

“We have to negotiate first. We also have a supply contract, right?”

“It’s not a formal contract, but a verbal agreement.”

Either way, since it’s a contract, they can’t keep putting it off.

‘And they know that, so they’ll probably play hardball.’

There’s no way that a department head-level talent from Wangsang Construction wouldn’t know that Hyunseong is backing Haneul Industries.

Naturally, it’s obvious that this side has to keep its promise for them.

Knowing that, they’re taking a kind of gamble.

“What do you want to do?”

“Leave it to me for now.”

Park Do-joon smiled.

“I’ll make sure to crush them.”

***

Park Do-shik spoke with the other party and arranged a meeting. The other party didn’t refuse.

“I’m Park Do-joon. I’m the younger brother of the president, Park Do-shik.”

“I’m Im Beom-soo.”

A man in his fifties. Park Do-joon skillfully assessed him.

‘Luxurious clothes and shiny shoes. Definitely an office worker.’

Of course, he could tell that just by looking. But Park Do-joon could discern much more from his behavior.

‘He’s sitting with his back naturally against the backrest. He thinks he’s in a position of power over me.’

Leaning back on the backrest has two meanings. One is a psychological defense mechanism to distance oneself from the other party. The other is a sense of superiority that one is much higher than the other party.

‘There’s no reason for him to have a psychological defense mechanism against me, so he must think he’s superior to me. Well, I guess he has a reason to think that way.’

He’s a department head of a large company called Wangsang Construction, but he doesn’t know about Park Do-joon, so he must think he’s just running a company with his brother.

And Wangsang Construction is a prime contractor, not a subcontractor.

There’s no comparison to Haneul Industries, which lives off subcontracting.

“Do you have any requests for us?”

“No, I don’t have any requests. I just think it’s a loss for our company to sell at this price. 1.9 billion won is like child’s play.”

Of course, New Moon Industries’ fair price estimate is around 2.2 billion won. But that’s only when judged based on normal transactions with Hyunseong Group.

New Moon Industries, which has cut off transactions with Hyunseong, isn’t worth that much now.

“2.2 billion won according to the regulations. Otherwise, we can’t sell.”

“I’m sorry, but the contract is already complete, isn’t it?”

“No, I’m saying I can’t sell. You have to give me the properly measured price.”

As expected. Im Beom-soo, who inherited New Moon Industries, wants to get more money no matter what.

‘He seems to think we’re at a disadvantage.’

That’s certainly true. If Haneul Industries doesn’t deliver on time, Hyunseong will change suppliers.

‘He’s smart.’

He clearly knows the other party’s weaknesses and is using them politically. In this situation, Haneul Industries has to make concessions, even if it’s just a little, to keep its promise and maintain the contract.

“Do you want to break the contract?”

“Breaking the contract? No, that’s not it. I’m just saying we should renegotiate and give me money worth the fair value.”

Im Beom-soo is almost making unreasonable demands even though the contract is already complete. Park Do-joon smiled as he looked at Im Beom-soo.

‘Getting angry here is amateurish.’

If you get angry here, you’re an amateur. You’ll end up getting swept away by the other party’s demands. No, rather, using the anger as an excuse, the execution of the contract will be delayed, and it will proceed to litigation. Unlike the other party, who has nothing to lose, this side will incur enormous losses.

‘In that case, negotiation is the top priority.’

Of course, negotiation doesn’t mean accepting all of the other party’s demands. That’s not negotiation, that’s defeat.

‘But I can’t adjust the price.’

Giving more money is difficult. In fact, 1.9 billion won is really squeezing as much as possible considering the size of Haneul Industries.

Hyunseong backing them and Hyunseong giving them the money itself are completely different issues.

If they raise it by another 300 million won here, there’s naturally no way to give it.

‘He’s going to make unreasonable demands on us and slowly cut it down.’

Park Do-joon smiled inwardly. He had seen these kinds of tricks often. In fact, it’s a common sight in large corporations’ transactions.

Im Beom-soo learned this method and is using it on him.

‘But we can trade in a different way.’

You can’t accept ridiculous conditions here. You can’t get angry either. Park Do-joon looked at Im Beom-soo and proposed a deal.

‘These guys’ thoughts are mostly obvious.’

They don’t think their position is their negotiating power. They think that the reason the other party is bowing down is not because they are in an absolute position of power, but because they are good at negotiating.

People who are really good at negotiating don’t just wait for the other party to give in while acting superior, they first present their opinions to the other party.

“Okay. But let’s add a few conditions.”

“Add a few conditions?”

“Yes, shouldn’t it be fair? Im Beom-soo is negotiating to change the conditions, so we can’t just accept it, can we?”

“Hmm, that’s true, isn’t it?”

“Our condition is simple. Give up the employee succession.”

“Give up the employee succession?”

“Yes, that was the previous contract.”

Employee succession is a more important factor than you think. Of course, in most cases, it’s common to grant employee succession.

The former president was a greedy person, so he didn’t give his employees a lot of money, and the wages were below the general wage level, so Park Do-shik had agreed to the employee succession.

‘But if they come out like this, the story changes.’

“Really? Then let’s do that.”

“Then let’s do this. Dismiss all employees before the final contract approval date.”

“If I do that, you’ll raise the money?”

“Yes, to be exact, we will renegotiate.”

At those words, Im Beom-soo nodded. But he didn’t know how big of a mistake that was.

***

“What? Dismiss everyone? Hey, that’s not right.”

Park Do-shik raised his voice slightly at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Then where are those people supposed to go?”

“Where else would they go? They have to keep working there!”

“I know. I know. But still, it’s a necessary thing.”

“What? Why?”

“We can’t be taken advantage of.”

“You said they’d give us 300 million won?”

“That’s right. But I have no intention of giving it. That’s why I’m playing a little trick.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I told you, Im Beom-soo was the one who led the massive layoffs inside Wangsang Construction last time. Naturally, he’s become quite insensitive to such actions.”

“And?”

“Of course, he’ll choose the dismissal. Because he said he’d give us 300 million won more.”

Even if they get fired, he won’t suffer any losses. That’s what he’ll think.

“But there’s something Im Beom-soo didn’t think of.”

“What is it?”

“I told him to complete all the dismissal procedures before handing it over to us.”