Four Distinguished Sales Awards (DSA) winners from Zung Fu (China) found their path to success in their Chinese thinking. Sales adviser Ray Zhou Weiying said selling the Mercedes-Benz car was an experience equivalent to a tactic in the Art of War, an ancient Chinese book on military strategies by philosopher Sun Tzu - 'Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win every battle'.
Based in Guangzhou, Mr Zhou has been a sales adviser with the company for four years. He regards knowledge and understanding as the success factors in the sales business.
'You need to know your product inside out, in addition to that of your competitors,' Mr Zhou said. 'This way, you can make things possible out of the impossible. Of course, diligence is expected of all good salespeople too. I won this award because I have failed more and therefore practised more than others.'
Mr Zhou had one customer who did his homework and compared the product with the competitors. With the help of his colleagues, he also did his homework by finding out the client had a background in physics and a special concern about the safety system designs in cars. 'When I found out what he was most concerned with, I arranged him to meet with our maintenance department head who talked him through the product. I got the deal.' Sales adviser Shelly Dong Xueying, on the other hand, adopts a gentle way of approaching her work. Her strategy is to be focused on what you do, and be relaxed about the outcome.With this in mind she was able to persuade a customer who had set his mind on purchasing a competitor's car to buy a Mercedes-Benz.
'I knew the customer had a strong preference for a Lexus, so I did not force my ideas on to her. With time, I shared with her what she did not know about [Lexus] and I gave her some new information about Mercedes-Benz. I paced myself and offered my honest opinion. She changed her mind eventually.'
Dongguan-based He Zhifeng, who has been a sales adviser for four years had a similar experience. His customer was choosing between a BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
