The Customer's Voice
The eyes of the two presenters and the seated executives all turned toward Yoo Jae-won. No matter how sharp their questions, everyone knew the final decision rested with him. Moreover, his decisions had never failed even once, granting him an authority beyond imagination.
The president and vice president of Nextcomcast, having just finished their presentations, were so tense they couldn't even swallow the saliva pooling in their mouths.
"First, I heard the presentations well. Both of you did good work."
Yoo Jae-won's mouth finally opened. Fortunately or not, he hadn't chosen one over the other.
"Thank you, Chairman."
Thanks to that, Henry and Julian didn't relax their tension.
"Before I make a decision, I'd like to ask a few questions."
"Yes, Chairman. We'll answer anything."
"Listening to both presentations, I can see a difference in what you're each focusing on. President Henry has drawn a big picture centered on the internet, while Vice President Julian has centered on broadcast cable, correct?"
Both men flinched at Yoo Jae-won's observation. President Henry had been interested in data communications since the days of making PC modems. If Yoo Jae-won hadn't scouted him so quickly, he would probably be running a company called Broadcom right now, manufacturing network equipment and competing with Cisco.
Vice President Julian, too, would have been running around trying to merge with local network companies and even lower-tier national networks like QVC if Yoo Jae-won hadn't acquired Comcast midway.
"I acquired Comcast because I saw the synergy effect of the convergence between broadcast cable and the internet," Henry said. "It's easy to bring internet into homes where cable broadcasting is already established. Since we've completely replaced the set-top boxes with digital ones, we can transmit both broadcast signals and internet packets simultaneously. That's why high-speed ADSL is being prioritized in areas with telephone exchanges or relay centers, while cable modems are being deployed in places without nearby exchanges."
"And I also have the ambition to include broadcast stations in this as well."
"Ooh!"
Small exclamations erupted here and there at Yoo Jae-won's words. The one cheering the most was, of course, Vice President Julian. After all, Comcast had originally planned to own broadcast stations and distribute its own broadcast content.
"We have a nationwide network, so it would be a shame to only transmit other people's broadcasts."
"That's right, Chairman!"
Julian couldn't hide his excitement. Owning broadcast stations for the nationwide network meant a massive expansion of the organization. He clenched his fists, savoring the joy of victory.
In contrast, President Henry showed no change in expression.
"Vice President Julian, it's still too early to celebrate."
Henry seemed to have known from the start that one must hear Korean to the very end. Yoo Jae-won had, of course, planned for Nextcomcast to own broadcast stations as well. He knew exactly which of the various broadcast contents that would flood the market in the future would become massive hits. Their value was beyond what money could measure.
Of course, with Yoo Jae-won's appearance, some flows had changed in various fields compared to before. But so far, there were no major problems. The evidence was ID Entertainment's film investments. While gamers recognized ID Entertainment as a developer that only produced masterpieces, the film industry saw it as the Midas touch. Most films invested in by ID Entertainment had succeeded. A batting average of over 70 percent. In an industry where even one success out of ten investments was considered a jackpot, they were displaying a terrifying success rate.
Thanks to this, a strange phenomenon had emerged in Hollywood where investors flocked even more when they heard ID Entertainment was investing. The same would apply to broadcast content. He knew exactly which contents would succeed among those to be created in the future. They could produce it themselves, or simply buy the rights and air it. Acquiring the production company itself and being involved from start to finish wasn't a bad idea either.
To execute these plans of Yoo Jae-won's, a considerable scale of organizational power was essential. That was why he was willing to accept Nextcomcast employing over 150,000 people, the peak number from Comcast's former glory days. He was also prepared to offer industry-leading compensation to all 150,000 of them.
But there was one condition.
"Could you hand me the Shell Book?"
Yoo Jae-won pointed to the Shell Book connected to the projector. Before Kim Dae-seok could move, President Henry, who was closest, stood up first and handed over the laptop.
Everyone's eyes naturally focused on Yoo Jae-won. They wondered what he was about to do.
Yoo Jae-won opened a web browser on the Shell Book and accessed the Nextcomcast homepage. Then he went straight to the customer feedback bulletin board.
Vice President Julian, who had been watching, turned pale.
"Chairman, that's—!"
It was already too late. Korea's high-speed internet displayed the page content on the monitor the moment one clicked. Moreover, since it was connected to the projector, the Shell Book's screen appeared on the large screen for everyone to see.
"It's been three days since I requested AS, why haven't I heard back?"
"Look at your subordinates. I've been on infinite hold for six days. Yoo Jae-won, go die!"
"Scammers! It's slower than a modem, yet you call it high-speed internet! I thought things would improve after ID Group acquired it, but it feels even worse!"
"You bastards! You said you'd replace my set-top box for free, but you charged my elderly mother at home!"
Yoo Jae-won read out the titles of posts on the free bulletin board one after another. These were the milder ones; there were many posts too vulgar to repeat. All of them were complaints about Nextcomcast's service. As could be seen, the service quality was extremely poor. It even seemed like fraud was occurring. The set-top box replacement was supposed to be a completely free service, yet there were scumbags who tricked customers into paying for new models.
"Chairman, only extremely negative feedback appears there. The majority of customers satisfied with Nextcomcast's service don't even visit that board!"
Julian hurriedly made excuses.
"I know."
The customer feedback bulletin board was originally a place only visited by people with complaints.
"However, are you resolving all the complaints from customers posted here?"
"Uh, that's... I'm in charge of finance, so..."
"Chairman, I'm sorry. I'll look into it right away."
Vice President Julian tried to weasel out with a clumsy excuse, while President Henry simply apologized. When such complaint posts appeared, the normal thing was to resolve them quickly. But the reactions of the president and vice president showed that Nextcomcast had no such system in place.
Yoo Jae-won nodded. Dealing with people was originally the most difficult thing. Even meeting a difficult customer could ruin one's mood for the entire day. But there had to be a will to improve the service. Especially for a B2C company like Nextcomcast, there was no more important will than this. Yet it seemed Nextcomcast still lacked that.
"I want Nextcomcast to grow ten times larger than it is now. But I am 100 percent against simply expanding the organization with its current structure."
The previous Comcast, despite boasting nearly 150,000 employees, had been selected as a representative black company in North America because its service was the worst. Customer complaints flooded in just like now, but there was absolutely no will to improve. One might think disappointed customers would switch to other cable companies, but since they had grown by acquiring those competitors, there were no alternatives. Creating a monopoly market and only extracting money naturally made them a black company.
Yoo Jae-won thought differently. This was an opportunity obtained by dying and returning. Of course, he was filled with the desire to rise to the top of the world, but he had not the slightest intention of climbing there while being cursed at. His basic policy was to become the best in the industry while providing customers with the best service and experience.
"I want our customers' complaints, whether about phone or internet, to be resolved the next day if they contact the center. At the latest, everything should be perfectly completed within three days."
"Good heavens. Such service is impossible on this earth."
"It's possible here in Korea, isn't it?"
Korea's AS system was excellent. While there were problems with the treatment of AS technicians, the AS system itself was good. Of course, Yoo Jae-won had no intention of operating an AS center that exploited employees.
"You two prepared your presentations separately, and you haven't discussed anything until coming to this meeting, correct?"
"It's embarrassing, but yes."
"If you combine both of your ideas well, I think a good picture will emerge. The organization dealing with customers should move as nimbly as a raptor. At the same time, expand the sales network through M&A."
If broadcast stations were added as the finishing touch to this expanded Nextcomcast, it would exactly match the future image of Nextcomcast that Yoo Jae-won envisioned. A truly massive media empire.
"I have many desires. I want to make money, and at the same time, receive a lot of applause. Naturally, the posts appearing on this bulletin board hurt my pride greatly."
Making money while receiving public applause was a very difficult thing. However, it wasn't impossible. Yoo Jae-won knew well that if one only pursued extreme profits by squeezing like wringing a dry rag, problems would arise, but if one showed moderation at an appropriate level, applause would follow.
"I have sufficient capital and will to invest for this purpose."
ID Investment, quietly doing its work, was silent yet powerful. The IT boom that began with Android's listing had sent stock prices of numerous information and communications and computer-related industries soaring to the heavens. ID Investment, which had concentrated its investments in the IT sector, was reaping the full benefits. The profits that had been around 15 billion dollars when checked in the summer had now exceeded 20 billion dollars. A 5 billion dollar increase in just a few months.
Of this increased 20 billion dollars, Yoo Jae-won's share exceeded 40 percent. After Android's listing, he had put the remaining money—after spending on everything from Comcast to the Global Headquarters building—back into ID Investment. Of course, knowing that it would multiply several times over in a few years, he had no intention of withdrawing it immediately.
Moreover, ID Group's various affiliates were also generating considerable profits. However, if bold investment was needed, he was willing to withdraw the money kept in ID Investment and use it.
"The two of you should put your heads together and come up with a good plan."
Furthermore, since there were capable talents, Yoo Jae-won could delegate his work like this. Although this presentation had slightly missed the mark, they had confirmed each other's limitations and Yoo Jae-won's intentions through this, so they would present a better approach next time.
Of course, if there was still no answer even after this, he would have no choice but to make a decision.
After the storm passed, it was finally Chief of Staff Choi Kang-wook's turn, who had been quietly waiting.
"The service that Korean Nextcom is preparing to launch at the end of this year or early next year is Next Music."
As the name suggested, it was a service that allowed online music listening through Nextcom, ID Group's portal site. This was a project that had gained momentum after Yoo Jae-won met Assemblywoman Lee Seong-hee. For this as well, Yoo Jae-won had only set the big picture, while the practical work had been handled by a task force team organized at Korean Nextcom under Choi Kang-wook's leadership. Now, it had taken considerable shape.
Next Music's services were largely divided into three categories: music sales, streaming, and internet radio. Since there was no concept of simple podcasts yet, music streaming would work by retransmitting AM or FM broadcasts over internet lines, with bulletin boards and real-time chat support where radio stations and listeners could meet. After gathering people this way, they planned to create channels where individuals could also do internet radio, building a primitive podcast ecosystem. Of course, the most important factor in popularizing podcasts was the development of mobile devices, so they weren't expecting much, but it was an investment for the future.
"Currently, under the task force's direction, we're working on digitizing music registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association."
High-paying part-time jobs were pouring in for college students during vacation. The work involved inserting music CDs into computers and replacing them when ripping was complete, or recording metadata such as artist, title, and production year into the extracted music files—a somewhat simple job, but the wages were set much higher than simple part-time work like serving.
"And as a promotion strategy for Next Music, we're planning to revise the ranking system for terrestrial music broadcasts to combine our online charts and music sales volume. Based on the current speed of system construction, we should be able to launch the service by the end of February next year."
The relationship between Korea's terrestrial broadcasters and ID Group was close. Television advertising accounted for the largest portion of ID Group's advertising expenditure in Korea. In exchange for running Next Music advertisements before and after music-related programs for several months after the launch, they had obtained an agreement to revise the music program ranking calculation method. While music streaming and downloads would naturally bring change once they became mainstream, having broadcasting lead the way wasn't a bad picture either.
"If Next Music succeeds in Korea, we'll launch it in the US right away, so watch carefully."
Since the operations of Korean Nextcom and American Nextcom were almost independent, President Henry and Vice President Julian had been harboring slightly different thoughts. But at Yoo Jae-won's following words, they flinched again and immediately reacted.
The music service market was naturally much larger in the US than in Korea. However, the larger the market, the more complex the interest structures compared to Korea. In North America, proper music services could only be created after coordinating with the web of intertwined copyright holders, record labels, and distributors. Conversely, that also meant the manpower and capital required would be substantial.
Thanks to this, President Henry and Vice President Julian's shoulders grew heavier. But that didn't mean either of them was the type to lose heart before even starting. Yoo Jae-won had essentially announced through this meeting that he would focus on Nextcomcast next year. The two men expressed their determination to respond to that choice by staring intently at the Next Music business plan displayed on the screen.