Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Leshan Giant Buddha was carved stroke by stroke. A person's success is inseparable from unremitting effort and persistent struggle.

Foreword

Mention her, and colleagues can't help but exclaim: "She's amazing!" Yes, who says women are inferior to men? This bold, intelligent, and capable Xinwei girl is the "female general Mulan" of Luwei's sales team — Ye Caiyun!

 10 Not long after graduation years ago, Ye Caiyun joined Luwei as a foreign trade salesperson. She frequently traveled between major projects, collecting client information, screening quality clients, visiting and receiving clients, building rapport, providing patient service, negotiating quotes, tracking orders, customs clearance and export, and after-sales handling – offering a full range of services to clients. After being promoted to management, she said: "No business task is small; we must handle both management and business." She insists on continuous improvement, strictly controls work processes, quality, and results, constantly refines and perfects them, and collaborates with various company departments to overcome difficulties and innovate business. She strives to build a professional, high-quality marketing team in the eyes of clients, truly capable both in the office and on-site.

The Power of Role Models

Improve a little bit every day, get a little closer to your ideal.

For every colleague in sales, the biggest concern is how to rise quickly, make a splash, and become a workplace elite in the challenging arena of the sales industry. There are no shortcuts in sales; besides insight, it's all about diligence! As the oil peddler said: "There's no secret trick, just practice makes perfect!"  

Initial Transformation

= First foray into the world =

How to achieve a "perfect transformation" from a novice, ambitious yet naive young person to a workplace elite? How to go from "living deep in an ivory tower" to "dominating the workplace with confidence"?

This step sounds simple, but it's far from easy. It's not just a change in role and identity, but also a difficult process of "psychological weaning." To become a qualified and excellent salesperson, you need to put in more effort than others.

Meeting a Russian Client

01

First, you need to have good psychological resilience; second, you need to have proficient and professional knowledge and skills. We often joke that being in sales is similar to being a firefighter: you need to be on call at all times, ready to face various setbacks and challenges. Therefore, you need to have a good mindset and state, as well as professional knowledge and skills, to calmly deal with both favorable and adverse circumstances.

Colleagues in the construction machinery foreign trade business all know that newly hired employees generally need 1 about a year to acquire a client. Surprisingly, Ye Caiyun 2013 entered the company and developed her first client, from the UK, in less than half a year. The excitement at the time was immense, beyond words, and she was thrilled for several days. But as it was her first order and she was new to the workplace, the difficulties then were imaginable. From inquiry, order reception, order placement, to a series of import and export operations, in short, from pre-sales communication, in-sales negotiation, to after-sales service, maintained close communication with the client , and finally the project was successfully signed and ordered as expected.

02

Furthermore, you still need to work hard, because " Diligence can compensate for lack of intelligence. ”。 There's a saying online, " the 10,000-hour rule for genius ” , I believe many people have seen it. Of course, this rule doesn't mean you should work blindly, but rather to set clear goals, constantly refine and improve your skills, in order to update and iterate, and eventually grow into a top expert in the industry. As a salesperson, the emphasis is on tactics, focusing on execution ability . In the process of executing superior's work deployments and completing work tasks and targets, accumulate sales experience and improve personal ability.

Ye Caiyun has a typical case: a Russian client who was initially mistaken for having no real purchasing intent. However, her professional intuition told her not to give up easily, so she maintained pleasant communication with them, providing solutions, quotes, and various product explanations. Later, the client actually came to the company for a site visit, and she managed the entire tracking and reception process. The client expressed surprise at the high quality of their products and also recognized her professionalism and service, finally signing the order successfully. This success is attributed to her usual continuous effort in learning and improvement , enabling her to always remain vigilant in judging client authenticity , and also retain every potential client who might close a deal.

Growth

= From Good to Great =

An article titled "What Makes a Great Salesperson" was once published in the Harvard Business Review. Research indicates that top salespeople must possess two key qualities: self-drive and empathy.

01

One of the essential skills for a successful salesperson: strong " self-drive ”。 Colleagues say that Ye Caiyun often teaches them to be persistent in business, even if it means three or five years of persistent effort, they must ultimately close the deal. It is precisely with such strong " self-drive ” that over the years she has been able to " overcome numerous obstacles and achieve great success ”。

client's 1 visit to the company, in order to leave a good first impression, Ye Caiyun made thorough preparations. Upholding the principle of service first, she first worked overtime in advance to prepare the PPT (PowerPoint presentation) , for comprehensive product and company strength display, and gave the entire presentation in English. She also made detailed itinerary and reception plans, such as hotel, dining, transportation, meeting, and activity arrangements, to ensure the entire reception went smoothly without any flaws, making the client feel at home.

The 2 meeting was when the client came to Shanghai for a conference. As the client's schedule was tight and there were many matters to discuss, they invited Ye Caiyun to meet them in Shanghai. At that time, the client's delegation included 3 As for herself, Ye Caiyun went to Shanghai alone to meet them. After their previous encounter, the first 2 meeting and negotiation went smoothly, greatly increasing the probability of subsequent deals.

Eloquence is not the most important thing; earning customer trust is. The 3 During the next meeting, Ye Caiyun took our technical engineers and the client on a business trip to Hangzhou, leading the client to visit the production factory for large silo dust collectors. This greatly increased the client's confidence in us, and they soon signed the contract and placed the order. This order laid a solid foundation for her to improve her deal closure rate later and significantly boosted her confidence.

Meeting with New Zealand client

Meeting with Saudi Arabian client

02

One of the essential skills for a successful salesperson, " Empathy ”。 Ye Caiyun often taught her subordinates that doing business is not just about making tea, drinking alcohol, or talking big; it requires empathy. One must always maintain communication with clients, treat them sincerely, and impress them with service. " Understanding client needs , Addressing client urgency , Alleviating client concerns ” is Ye Caiyun's " secret weapon ” . Serve clients with empathy, consider problems from their perspective, answer their questions, and provide the solutions they desire. Salespeople also serve as a bridge between the company and clients . When clients raise issues that we cannot resolve, we must immediately consult our technical engineers or other colleagues for assistance.

When Ye Caiyun was working on the Saudi Arabian client's order, the client also visited several times, and negotiations and communications lasted for a long time. Ye Caiyun through communication, service, and engagement, perceived client reactions and made adjustments based on them , for instance, when a client wanted to place an order using a letter of credit, she went to understand the relevant service terms. Another example is shipment arrangement issues, which she immediately communicated and coordinated to resolve. Or, when dealing with a New Zealand client during the pandemic, she first considered that workers needed masks, and masks were hard to buy abroad, so she specifically sent 500 some over.

This is how she provided comprehensive, convenient, thoughtful, and efficient service to clients, with warm greetings, bright smiles, welcoming reception, and meticulous attention to detail, thereby meeting clients' psychological expectations and earning their affirmation.

Transformation

= Always persevere, never forget the original aspiration =

When cicadas are immature, they live underground for three years, relying on tree root sap. After three years, they emerge to the surface and soar into the sky. This is like a person who can endure loneliness, persist in a dark environment, gradually absorb nutrients, and then achieve great things when the time is right.

Meeting with Argentine client

01

To become a sales department leader, one's business capabilities must be excellent. Undoubtedly, to be promoted to a department leader, one must have outstanding business capabilities and performance; otherwise, it would be difficult to gain public trust.

One's vision must be long-term; do not seek quick success. When working on the Argentina CC/LB dam and hydraulic engineering project, Ye Caiyun took the lead and set an example. From 2015 year to 2019 year, this process was understandably fraught with various situations and changes. Externally, there were changes in the global economic situation, national policies, and leadership transitions, all of which had significant impacts. Internally, there were changes in the company's payment policies, workshop production progress, and so on.

There was also a change in the project's leading party; originally, it was with Argentina, but later it changed to negotiations with Gezhouba. However, Ye Caiyun did not lose heart and persisted in maintaining communication, liaison, and negotiations with clients both domestic and international. Relying on her excellent business capabilities, after 5 years of negotiations, enduring various difficulties and obstacles, she finally succeeded in signing the contract in 2019 year's 4 month, successfully signed the contract.

02

Under the pandemic, upholding the original aspiration. These 2 years, under the influence of the global pandemic, international sea freight costs soared dramatically, government approval policies adjusted, and the global economy experienced a recession, leading to changes in client budgets and the stagnation of many projects. These issues made foreign trade business even more challenging.

But Ye Caiyun said: " We do not go against our conscience and still persevere! ” This year, she led the foreign trade team to just receive a new order for a tank silo, breaking through 3000 tons of large-capacity silo. From 2021 year's 8 month to 2022 year this year's 3 month, after more than half a year of communication and negotiation, they finally overcame various difficulties and successfully signed the contract.

Wonderful Moments

Ye Caiyun's Classic Case Images

Conclude End  

In her nearly ten years at the company, Ye Caiyun has long transformed from a sales novice who knew nothing to a sales benchmark in the team, achieving a perfect metamorphosis in her career. She became more proactive and enterprising in her thinking, constantly progressing and growing. She loved her job, was dedicated, achieved outstanding results, was loyal and trusted by the company, and was promoted to Sales Director at the end of 2019.

When discussing her future career plans, Ye Caiyun stated that she hopes to lead her team steadily, one step at a time, while continuously breaking through her own limits and striving for higher sales targets.