Hello everyone, I'm Kelly Tang. I've been with Bosch for 12 years since I joined in 2012. During my time here, I've rotated through multiple roles—it honestly feels like "changing jobs without leaving the company; having business cards changed without a new logo." Starting in 2023, I transitioned from project manager to sales, and since May this year, my customer portfolio has expanded further. This shift has not only brought new challenges but also given me a chance to hone my skills in sales.

In the early days of my new position, I faced considerable challenges due to a decline in customer volume, the implementation of new changes, and other issues. However, through relentless effort, the final outcome turned out to be quite positive. In just one month, I reviewed our existing business and ultimately reached agreements with customers on all change costs from the past two years, incorporating them into the parts pricing contracts. This allowed us to quickly recover the change costs that XC needed to reclaim. Furthermore, after several rounds of negotiations about the chip price hikes in 2022 and 2023, I reached a consensus with customers on the final amounts. All of these efforts contributed over 100 million RMB in sales to XC. Throughout the process, I also developed strong connections with the customers, which set the stage for future projects. There were both sweet moments and tough times, as well as times when I wanted to back out. Nevertheless, I'm thankful that I stuck with it through the challenge.

For me, the project of 8255 intelligent cockpit represented a significant milestone in the last two years. This project marked one of XC-CN's milestone in 8255 intelligent cockpit project. The China division took the initiative in preparing and ultimately securing the bid for this debut project. Based on our long-standing collaboration on previous cockpit projects and the intense competition in the current Chinese market, we had a keen understanding of each other's pain points. Both XC-CN and the customer were eager for change and needed to establish local-for-local product development capabilities to adapt to the fast-paced changes in China, thus providing better products for users. This strategy could help us win in the competitive local market. It were these reasons that presented us with a valuable opportunity to address challenges and foster collaboration. We improved the design plan and drastically lowered time and development costs, ultimately arriving at a win-win solution. I always believe that it's crucial to thoroughly understand our customers' needs and respond quickly. Our goal is to lead the team in finding satisfactory solutions for customers, while also working to improve XC's local capabilities and product performance throughout the process.

In my opinion, being a great salesperson means representing Bosch while also adopting the customer's perspective to ensure shared growth. In the course of collaborating with customers, I've begun to perceive a certain sense of crisis. Automakers are consistently improving their demands and capability for in-house research and development. The traditional "black-box" model is no longer viable. If this trend continues, it will inevitably negatively affect Bosch's business and could even lead to a complete loss of orders. After understanding the customer's needs and assessed them as reasonable, I first communicated with our internal team to verify what was feasible. Then I convened meetings with management from China, Germany, India, and the U.S., often accompanied by my boss. I also traveled directly to meet stakeholders face-to-face or availed myself of every opportunity to arrange customer visits when leaders from headquarters visited China. I employed different strategies to impact management's perception of the highly competitive Chinese market. Ultimately, we successfully met the customer's needs and secured the order.

Upon finishing the 8255 order, I quickly moved on to win the next product order. Yet, when everything was ready, I found myself feeling that I had just finished a task without a substantial sense of success. The nature of sales means facing ongoing issues with no chance to pause. The constant challenges and mental strain took a toll on me, leading to thoughts of stepping back and even considering other functions in the organization. The customer was very perceptive and picked up on my change in attitude, reaching out to me for a heart-to-heart conversation. Our exchange revitalized me, confirming my determination to keep pushing through the challenges of sales. I want to thank the customer again; our relationship has grown beyond just collaboration, and now we share a bond as comrades.

Securing orders externally is challenging, and internal communication and negotiations are no walk in the park either. Bosch's vast platform and process management are sources of pride that have led to our past successes. Yet, we must acknowledge that, during our transformation, some of these past advantages can occasionally obstruct future success. Now, it's crucial for each department to step out of its comfort zone. When pricing a certain product, our initial price calculation from various departments revealed that our unit price was much higher than the customer's desired price, forcing us to postpone the sales process for the time being. But I was unwilling to give up. I gathered as much market information as possible and made comparisons with Bosch's, allowing everyone to fully appreciate the highly competitive market we are in. Holding on to past practices is simply not acceptable anymore. In the end, I convinced all the key partners internally to reassess our pricing. Our Bosch associates are really fantastic. After breaking down preconceived notions, we came together swiftly to coordinate resources and set a competitive price, allowing us to secure the order in no time.

In a high-pressure work environment over the long term, my team and I always stay efficient and kept a positive outlook. We hold team meetings every week to check in each member's work status and challenges, so we can confront pressure as a team. I encourage team members to raise questions promptly to ensure everyone receives the necessary support. Also, I prioritize work-life balance. For example, when team members take leave for personal or family reasons, I try to lighten their workload so they have time to be with their families and handle personal matters. I believe that only when team members feel supported and cared for can they truly unleash their potential and successfully tackle challenges together. Having spent many years at Bosch, the notion that "People Matter" has truly become ingrained in my mindset. While winning in the market is important and part of our KPIs, offering timely support and care to my team members is even more crucial for the team's long-term growth. Externally, we conquer every obstacle, and internally, we foster a warm and united environment; that's what it means to Win #LikeABosch.