I sell, I survive

Author: Tai Yongfu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: A Chinese salesman's pain and joy, written so authentically that it deeply moves the reader. Zhang Wentao, a home appliance salesman, can learn many insights that cannot be found in sales textbooks from this book. Wang Yuehui, marketing research expert The author candidly writes about his personal emotional secrets, full of the beauty of humanity! Xu Jie, financial journalist His tenacity, perseverance, and courage to fight for survival against all odds, make me profoundly admire him! Zhao Yue, marketing director He doesn’t just theorize. His success completely comes from his practical spirit. Such success philosophy is convincing. Peng Haiwei, sales manager Selling, this was the most popular profession in China after the reform and opening-up in the 1980s. In China, especially in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong, there were the most job opportunities and the highest salaries, but also the highest risks for salespeople. They faced two "gods": the boss and the customer. They had to be responsible to both, seeking their own space for survival under dual pressure. The author of this book tells you the real and moving story of a salesman from Shunde, Guangdong, who had glorious achievements in several large companies. You may benefit from it. This salesman came from the remote mountainous regions of Northeast China. In 1982, after graduating from a prestigious university, he was assigned to the most remote northern frontier. He experienced all the hardships of life, traveling from the northernmost part of China to the southernmost, and finally chose the profession of selling, wandering across the vast and boundless land, making homes wherever he went. He sold cranes, diesel engines, adhesive tapes, synthetic leather,, microwave ovens, stationery boxes, rice cookers, and electric water heaters, even selling a luxury yacht—his home on the sea—that could be used for global travel. He had glorious successes: In the summer, his relentless efforts for three months helped a state-owned enterprise escape from the brink of bankruptcy; for a small home appliance factory in Shunde, he battled in the weakest market in Inner Mongolia for three years, taking sales from the bottom of the factory to the top, with a single largest order of 8 million yuan, selling 8,000 microwave ovens and 8,000—all packed into 16 train carriages, creating the record for a single transaction in the history of small home appliance sales in Shunde. But after every successful sale came the pain of failure, as if it was his destiny. While carrying a backpack and holding a bottle of white mineral water, he was opening up a market for a state-owned enterprise struggling with losses. On August 15th, he returned home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, ready to share his glorious achievements with his beloved wife, only to find that she couldn’t tolerate his loneliness and left him with his adorable daughter. At a large enterprise in Shunde run by a Hong Kong businessman, he finally earned the trust of the boss with his glorious record and was appointed as the marketing director, earning an annual salary of 680,000 yuan! When he returned from his first business trip, full of hope, ready to implement his marketing plan, the large enterprise he served had vanished like a mirage—the original boss had left, and his girlfriend had also gone. He longed for success, but success turned its back on him; he longed for love, but love had nothing to do with him. The separation of his wife and daughter, the disintegration of his family, repeated failures in romance, the injustice of his boss, the fraud of customers, and the fists of car thieves and highway robbers did not break him. He stood up again and again from pain and despair. He held onto this belief: If you are a general or a governor, you can strategize and operate over a thousand miles, then as a small salesman, I too have a vast world to ride and create great achievements for humanity! Life did not fail him. In his 10 years as a salesman, he successfully shaped his own business image and created miracles for the company. In his 10-year journey of hardship, a beautiful and pure girl, holding a marriage registration letter, came to his side from the distant city of Chengcai, covered in dust. In the end, he became a free salesman, taking on the products of several factories to the market.