








































55 

Extraordinary Success in the Sales Profession: 

Three Case Studies in China 

Jon M. Hawes, Ph.D. Xuerui Wang
Indiana State University University of  Toledo 

  Yinjia Wang Yijing Pan
   University of  Toledo University of  Toledo 

Success is elusive for some people who pursue sales careers. For a few privileged others, it is 

extreme. What is it about those few who achieve exceptional success that empowers them? This 

paper examines the sales careers of  three sales superstars who have achieved extraordinary sales 

success in an unexpected place, China, where Western capitalism is not championed to the extent 

that it is in many other parts of  the world. These three case studies combine to offer some insights 

that can lead others to higher levels of  sales success. Characteristics common in all three cases 

examined here were found: exceedingly long hours of  work each week; complete devotion to the 

job, the company, and/or the industry; very high levels of  intelligence; willingness to take risks; 

and the ability to bounce back after setbacks. 

Keywords: Sales, Success, Leadership, Case Study, China 

Introduction 

The past offers us great insight into the future, if  only we take the trouble to look. The tendency 

to overlook the opportunity to learn from what happened earlier is not new. Indeed, over a hundred 

years ago, the great philosopher George Santayana (1905 p. 284) stated: “Those who cannot 

remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In business, post-mortems are more often 

performed when a major failure occurs (Collier et al., 1996), but there may be even more value in 

examining high levels of  business success, particularly great people and their careers. From a 

business management perspective, Lamond (2005) supports this notion of  examining the past very 

effectively in his editorial titled “On the Value of  Management History.” Indeed, examining success 

stories can lead the way for others to identify role models, adopt similar actions, and to consequently 

experience higher performance levels. Studying high achievers and developing generalizations can 

provide much insight.  

For proof  of  the popularity of  this method, look no further than Peters and Waterman’s (1982) 

book In Search of  Excellence which sold over 3 million copies in its first four years and was the most 

widely held monograph from 1989 (the first year the list was compiled) to 2006 (McClain, 1997). In 

http://journals.sfu.ca/abr ADVANCES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH 
2020, Volume 10, pages 55-69 



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that now classic book and the associated educational products and services that sprang forth from 

it, stories of  successful American firms were described, examined, and then developed into a 

framework for improving business practice. In this paper, we utilize a similar methodology but on a 

much smaller scale. We humbly examine the success of  three tremendously successful salespeople 

in hopes of  developing some insight into how other salespeople can also become successful. Using 

case study research to begin building theory is a well developed notion in management research 

(Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007; Eisenhardt, 1989) and we modestly engage in that process here with 

three case studies of  salespeople who thrived beyond the highest of  expectations. 

 

Biographies and Case Studies of  Exceptionally High Achievers 

Examining success stories, including the study of  biographies of  great leaders, can be especially 

useful for young people looking to learn about a profession as they progress in the socialization 

process for that career (e.g., Engelland et al., 2006; English, 1995; Jacobs, 2007; Rubens et al., 2016). 

In addition, all of  us need positive role models to inspire us and to motivate us to do our best 

(Gronn, 1993; Morgenroth et al. 2015). Examining case studies of  success contributes to this form 

of  education and serves as motivation to emulate that high level of  performance when we learn 

about the extraordinary accomplishments of  others. 

In the popular press within the field of  sales, much attention has been directed to sales 

superstars or sales heroes. These elite salespeople are said to constitute only about 4 percent of  the 

sales force, yet accounts for a disproportionate share (64 percent) of  company sales (Pipedrive Blog, 

2020). This is far beyond the level of  concentration suggested by the Pareto Principle’s 80/20 ratio 

(Kim et al., 2017). There are many articles in business trade magazines about how to hire sales 

superstars, how to develop them, how to keep them, etc. (e.g., Allen, 2002; Hallenbeck, 1999; 

Southerst, 1992; Graham, 2016; Wayshak, 2016). 

Let’s brainstorm for a moment. Think of  some great superstars of  selling - perhaps your sales 

heroes. Where do they sell? Where do they live? Many would predict that they would work in a 

highly competitive and free-market economy. In addition, many would expect sales superstars to 

work in countries with advanced, highly developed economies, probably one of  the G7 which 

includes: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States 

(Bampatsou & Halkos, 2019, p. 357). Furthermore, if  you currently live in one of  these G7 countries 

and have even an ounce of  ethnocentrism, there is a good chance you would expect sales heroes to 

be from your homeland. 

 The senior author is from the United States and pleads guilty for his expectation that many 

sales superstars are American. But while many do, in fact, work in the United States (Inc., 2011; 

Nguyen, 2011), they also live and work all around the world. In fact, sometimes sales superstars can 

be found in unexpected places, even in China, one of  only a few currently existing communist states 

in the world! If  you had to guess where in the world sales would not be expected to flourish, a 

communist country might be a good guess - but you could be wrong! If  sales superstars can be 

found in China, where one would not expect sales to thrive as a profession given the stereotypical 

view of  a planned, communist economy, then certainly sales success can be found in your market, 

too. Indeed, as it has so often been said, “if  you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” 

This paper describes three of  China’s most successful sales superstars in hopes that these stories 

provide an opportunity for others to learn from their triumphs. Our goal in writing the paper is to 

demonstrate that humble backgrounds do not necessarily lead to mediocre careers, even when the 



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environment seems less than ideal for business success. We also hope to provide inspiration to others 

to strive for high levels of  achievement no matter where in the world they may work. 

 

Case Selection 

 The senior author recently had the privilege of  teaching as a visiting professor a section of  an 

Advanced Sales class to a group of  highly talented undergraduate exchange students from China 

studying in the United States. One of  the class projects was in the form of  “Problem-Based Learning” 

(Marra et al., 2014). This project involved selecting a person who achieved extraordinary success 

within the field of  sales, justifying that selection, writing a paper analyzing the career of  the 

individual, and presenting the findings to the class. They could choose from a list of  well-known 

sales superstars or “sales heroes” mostly from the United States but were very strongly encouraged 

to identify a person from their home country of  China and to seek then instructor approval. 

Prior to the beginning of  the course, the instructor had searched extensively using many 

different search terms on various major U.S.-based search engines to identify the people in China 

who were thought of  as sales superstars or sales heroes. It was thought that this might make the 

project more meaningful for these students who grew up in China. After almost a full week of  futile 

searching, no one had been found. 

The Chinese exchange students, on the other hand, had access to a wider variety of  Chinese-

based search engines and to Chinese media. Even more importantly, they were able to read Chinese 

(their primary language) in which much of  that material is written. As a result, they were successful 

in finding some very worthy sales professionals in China who met the criteria for being classified as 

a sales superstar or as their sales hero.  

Three of  the more interesting sales superstars chosen from their home country by these 

excellent Chinese students and their findings are provided in this paper. This is not intended to be 

a random sampling of  salespeople from China. In fact, it is a purposefully selective choice of  what 

were considered the most interesting cases, primarily due to the extreme level of  success along with 

access to information about these salespeople. In the social sciences, this is sometimes called deviant 

or extreme case study (Seawright & Gerring, 2008). While sweeping generalizations would be 

unwarranted, valuable insight can be gained from the study of  these extreme case studies in 

qualitative studies. Here are some of  the highlights of  this research. 

 

Case 1: Mingzhu Dong 

Our first case is Chinese sales superstar Mingzhu Dong. She was the youngest of seven children 

born into a working-class family in Nanjing city, located in southeastern China. Her parents named 

her Mingzhu, a name which conveys the meaning of a shiny pearl. From that humble origin, they 

certainly never expected their daughter to grow up and be widely thought of royally as China’s: 

“Home Appliance Queen” (Ren, 2019), “Marketing Queen” (Tatlow, 2011), “Sales Queen” 

(Hongwen, 2017, p. 64), or as “The Sales Empress of China.” (Lanhee & Naville, 2008). 

Mingzhu Dong graduated from Wuhu Institute of Technology, a vocational school, with a 

major in statistics. She considered a career in the military, but instead, after graduation, became a 

manager in a small chemical research center in her hometown. Life was ordinary and routine, the 

same as for millions of other Chinese traditional families. Mingzhu Dong married and then gave 

birth to a son. Life was good. But tragedy struck. Her husband got sick and died when she was only 

30 years of age and her son was two years old. Without her husband’s source of income, the family 



58 

 

needed money to pay back loans for his medical expenses. This led to her decision to move and 

seek a higher paying job in Zhuhai, a city with some of China’s biggest manufacturers which 

provided many employment opportunities, especially for young adults who could endure extremely 

hard work. 

 

Figure 1 - Mingzhu Dong 

 

In 1990, Mingzhu Dong, at age 36, transitioned to a sales job at Haili Electric (the former name 

of Gree Electric), which was a small, state-owned air conditioning company that only made air-

conditioners. In addition, one must remember that selling was a new profession in China at that 

time (Hongwen, 2017, p. 31). Furthermore, only about one in 300 urban homes in China then had 

air conditioning, even fewer in rural areas. By 2010, in large part due to Dong, about half of the 

urban homes did (Financial Times, 2010). Compared with other females in the early 1990s in China, 

Mingzhu Dong was much braver, more decisive, confident and powerful. What’s more, she was not 

afraid of any obstacle and pressure from supervisors. She never worried about making mistakes. As 

she has often said, “I don’t make mistakes” (Ho, 2019). 

What truly astonished all the people who worked there at the time was that she attempted to 

negotiate with a large organization and succeeded in making a deal worth 2 million Yuan in total 

revenue during her first year in sales. In 1992 Mingzhu Dong achieved a record 16 million Yuan 

annual sales while earning a 2% sales commission. She was then transferred to the Nanjing district 

to try and expand market share in that under-performing region. At the end of the next fiscal year, 

her sales surpassed 36 million Yuan, which was more than any other salesperson had achieved at 

Gree (Jie, 2018).  

By 1994, the market had turned highly competitive and there was a plummeting of demand, 

mainly due to China’s exploration of a more market-based economy, government regulatory 

changes, and social changes. Gree failed to sell all that they manufactured and had a severely 

overstocked inventory. Dong realized that under those conditions, upper management would expect 

even more from its salespeople. 

When she was voted to become the new Gree head of sales in 1994 (Hongwen, 2017), Dong 

knew she must begin by building the brand and enhancing customer loyalty as well as promoting 

products. Mingzhu Dong built a professional sales team with only 23 elite salespeople in Gree, while 

comparably sized competitors had hundreds of salespeople, many of them mediocre at best. She 

started reforming the whole organizational structure, including management of the sales team, 

demanding better product quality from manufacturing, setting higher product standards, changing 

suppliers, and applying rational and scientific decision-making processes. 



59 

 

Mingzhu Dong proposed several new selling principles in 1995 when Gree built the first air 

filter factory seeking better quality control. She put forward the idea that sales revenue promotes 

quality and that sales also promotes the enterprise’s growth and development (Jie, 2018). By this, 

she meant that sales generated revenues and that the profits coming from those increased revenues 

were the basis and the motivation for improving quality throughout the firm. 

In 2001, Mingzhu Dong became the general manager of the company and Gree began to 

flourish under her leadership. In 2003, sales reached a record of 10 billion Yuan. Dong was named 

Gree president in 2007. Growth continued at a fast pace, and in 2018, Gree’s annual revenue 

surpassed 200 billion Yuan (about US$29 Billion), a 33.6% increase over 2017 (Xia, 2019). In 2019, 

Mingzhu Dong was the leading shareholder of Gree stock. 

During 2010, “Sister Dong,” as she was called at Gree, ranked 5th in the world by the Financial 

Times in their Women at the Top program in which the 50 most prominent businesswomen around 

the world are honored (Financial Times, 2010). In 2015, she was recognized as an “AACSB 

Influential Leader” (AACSB Influential Leaders, 2015). During 2019 Mingzhu Dong was also listed 

among China’s Top Multinational Leaders by Forbes (Li, 2019), and she was ranked 44th by Forbes in 

their list of the world’s Most Powerful Women (Forbes & McGrath, 2019).  

 

Case 2: Hong Jian 

 Our second case is Chinese sales superstar Hong Jian. He was born in 1963 and studied hard 

during his early years. There is nothing unusual about that. Many people study hard, especially in 

China where education receives such a high priority. In 1980, he entered Wuhan University, a well-

known university in China, as an economics major and studied a series of  economic principles and 

applications. After graduation, he was assigned to work in the Guizhou Provincial Development and 

Reform Commission (Success Network, 2020a). In 1986, his passion for economics and finance led 

him to give up that job and go back to Wuhan University for graduate studies in finance and 

insurance. 

 

Figure 2 – Hong Jian 

 

Hong studied in graduate school until 1987. At that time, there was a substantial investment 

boom in China (Baidu, 2020). Hong’s recently gained knowledge of  economics and finance had 

improved his understanding of  these financial markets and he decided to seek business 

opportunities in Hainan Province. He left graduate school and went to Hainan for employment. 

There, Hong worked for a variety of  hotels, import and export companies, the mining industry, and 

with real estate companies. In these jobs, he accumulated management experience and, in 1992, 

founded his own real estate company as its CEO.  



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 In 1992, Hainan’s real estate boom was surging. Hong earned tens of  millions of  Yuan in that 

year by doing real estate speculation. The money came quickly, but it also left quickly. Due to a new 

government stipulation in 1997 that a bank’s funds must not be used for real estate speculation and 

that the loans needed to be recovered, all of  Hong’s funds were invested in real estate speculation 

and, therefore, could not be repaid. His company could only be liquidated.  

He was once a wealthy man, but now, almost overnight, he had become a poor man (Success 

Network, 2020a). Such a tragic turn of  events, however, did not discourage him. Instead, it spurred 

Hong’s interest in nontraditional business practices. That spirit supported his continuous climb and 

his upward progress which soon followed.  

 By chance, Hong, who now had nowhere to go but up, joined an insurance company and 

became a salesperson. It surprised many people when Hong began selling insurance. He had no 

experience nor training in sales. His education focused on the quantitative aspects of  finance, not 

about marketing, persuasion, or sales. 

Nevertheless, he passed the probationary period in only ten days and soon reached a premium 

level of  more than 300,000 Yuan during his second month. In less than half  a year, he sold enough 

to win almost all the company’s sales awards (Success Network, 2020a). As he progressed in his 

career, however, continued success was not always easy. 

At first, Hong, like most people, started his insurance sales career by visiting with prospects one 

at a time. On a pedestrian bridge in Shenzhen, he once tried to strike up a conversation with a 

woman about insurance. But he only got a short and powerful response from her when she called 

him “disgusting.” He tried cold calling by setting a goal of  knocking on the doors of  eighty-six 

houses in one morning, but that day only one house would even open the door. In addition, the 

male owner of  that house told his child, “In the future, if  such uncles and aunts knock at the door, 

don’t open it.” Hong would also hold an umbrella for shoppers at the entrance of  the mall on rainy 

days, hoping to gain an opportunity for a sales call, but that was almost always futile. 

With an ever-increasing number of  rejections, Hong realized that there was a problem with his 

sales practices for insurance. When a person like Hong has high sales targets, other sales techniques 

must be used. So, the goal must be established first: how much money you want to make should 

lead to the use of  a sales method that can result in that level of  income.  

At the beginning of  his sales career, Hong had been selling insurance to individuals. He was 

always looking for anyone willing to talk to him about insurance. Finding viable clients was like 

looking for a needle in a haystack. He gradually learned to target his insurance business to more 

wealthy people, such as entrepreneurs and managers of  large companies.  

Also, he understood that no matter what kind of  person the customers are, they only care about 

their issues–not yours. Every sales conversation should take place from the customer's perspective 

rather than from the salesperson’s perspective. It’s never “my product is great.” It’s always “here’s 

how I can help you.” 

Hong learned quickly and set specific stretch goals for himself. He became very successful. In 

1998, Hong won the Young Professional Award from Shenzhen Financial Systems Department. 

Soon, he was qualified to participate in the 1998 World Chinese Life Insurance Conference and was 

awarded MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) membership. Hong was the first MDRT member in 

mainland China. In 1999, he won the top spot in the nation of  China by selling 17.45 million Yuan. 

In 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002, he won the top membership of  MDRT for four consecutive years 

(Insurance Experts, 2020). In 2001 and 2002, he was appointed by MDRT as the local chairman of  



61 

 

MDRT China. 

Compared to his peers during that time, the reason why Hong was able to achieve such an 

exceptional level of  success is not because of  luck, but perhaps because of  the following 

explanations. First, he received an excellent education. During his studies at Wuhan University, he 

learned about economics, finance, insurance, and consumer psychology, which enabled him to have 

a deeper understanding of  the insurance industry.  

Secondly, Hong’s years of  investment experience in Hainan, no matter whether it brought him 

profit or left him to face bankruptcy and liquidation, gave him the opportunity to accumulate a lot 

of  relevant industry experience. It also honed his mind and helped him develop perseverance. That 

built character and supports him now in his career. Even though he is constantly encountering the 

potential to be rejected, he knows that he can always again start from scratch, renew his skill set, 

and achieve success. 

Thirdly, his interest in new business opportunities and his courage to try new things led him to 

founding the first Ping An Jian Hong Source Club in the 1990s. The network continued to develop 

and effectively serves the needs of  policyholders. He also founded a personal life insurance business 

website. He called it Life-First Life Insurance, and that website opened as a precursor of  the online 

insurance business. Soon, he had received the first online order of  Ping An insurance. To the best 

of  our knowledge, this was the first online sale of  life insurance in China ever. In just two months, 

the website was visited by more than 18,500 people, with as many as 2,900 daily visits (Success 

Network, 2020a). This was a small step for Hong as a salesperson but a significant step in the 

development of  the online life insurance business of  the future.  

Finally, his precise interpretation of  the insurance industry and customer service is an important 

part of  his success. Some people asked him how he could make insurance so popular. Hong shared 

his secret of  success: he tries to do his best to serve his own customers and create his own brand 

of  customer service. In other words, he tries to cultivate a good relationship with customers. 

“Customers are in my heart” (Success Network, 2020a). 

With that mantra, Hong injected a new concept into customer service. In 1999, Hong set up 

his own client club to provide benefits for his customers. His customer service covers a wide range 

of  areas, such as the ability to purchase tickets or food, provides medical information, helps 

introduce policyholders to babysitters, moving companies, and even tutoring service providers. 

Hong said sincerely: “I have been thinking about doing something for them. I know all my successes 

are based on their concerns, support and help” (Success Network, 2020a, para. 13). The relationships 

established with customers have become increasingly deep, and these long-term customer 

relationships help Hong broaden the scope of  his business, enabling it to become stronger and more 

stable. For these achievements and so many more, Hong has been called “The First Person in China’s 

Insurance Marketing” (Success Network, 2020b).  

 

Case 3: Lei Jun 

Our third case is Chinese sales superstar Lei Jun, currently CEO of  Xiaomi, a large cell phone 

company based in China. He has changed the Chinese market for cell phones in many ways. For 

example, the role of  hundreds of  salespeople in brick-and-mortar retail stores has been replaced 

with extensive use of  social media in which video of  Lei Jun is used to promote cell phones that 

can only be bought over the internet. Lei Ju became the sales voice and the visual image of  the 

company. While competitor Samsung spent 5.4% on marketing, Xiaomi spends only 1 percent 



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(Einhorn & Larson, 2014). His sales innovations have been so profound that Jun Lei has been called 

the “Chinese Steve Jobs” (Montlake, 2012). 

 

Figure 3 - Lei Jun 

 

So, what made Lei Jun so successful? He was born in 1969 and entered Wuhan University in 

1987. Lei was so smart that he earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in computer science in only 

two years instead of  the expected four years (Einhorn & Larson, 2014). During this time, he worked 

in a variety of  technology roles and obtained extensive experience in writing encryption software, 

anti-virus software, financial software, CAD software, Chinese system, and various practical gadgets. 

He also worked on circuit board design and did some soldering of  circuit boards.  

He started his first technology company during his second (and final) year of  college to produce 

computer chips, Gundugoms. The firm’s goal was to make it easier to process data in Chinese, but 

it failed. There was already tough competition from Kingsoft and Lenovo when he entered the 

market, and his firm did not have enough capital to fight it out with wealthy competitors (Horwitz, 

2018). Two years later, Lei Jun had become familiar with the leaders of  various computer companies 

in the area. In fact, he had become a well-known figure in the Wuhan Electronic area. 

Although Lei Jun’s first company failed, industry people recognized that Lei Jun was a genius. 

Of  course, it also did not hurt that he worked 100 hours a week, too (Flannery, 2015). So, in 1992 

Kingsoft, one of  Gundugom’s former competitors hired him as an engineer. He rose through the 

ranks to CEO in 1998. While working there, during 2000, in his “spare time,” he founded another 

company on his own called Joyo.com, an online bookstore. He sold that firm to amazon in 2004 for 

US$75 million. He left Kingsoft in 2007 under troubling and contentious circumstances to become 

an angel investor. Lei Jun created a unique way to differentiate among applicants for his capital. In 

fact, Jack Ma (later well known as the founder of  Alibaba and now one of  the world’s richest people) 

tried to borrow money from Lie Jun during that time. 

In 2010, a phone called iPhone 4 was released by Apple and championed by Steve Jobs. Soon, 

people fell in love with the phone and Apple quickly became the most successful company in the 

world. At about the same time, a man called Lei Jun was starting a new cell phone company in China 

called Xiaomi (Dou, 2015). He had previously been serving as the CEO of  Jinshan Software, a 

powerful company in China, but decided to establish his own company (Junyi, 2018). Although he 

had been a successful manager at Jinshan, he felt the need to jump out of  his comfort zone, even 

though his family and friends thought it was a big mistake. 

When Apple and Jobs were enjoying their early success, Jun Lei was still dealing with people’s 

doubts about his cell phone products at Xiaomi. His goal was to target an emerging class of  Chinese 

consumers who wanted technology but could not yet afford top-of-the-line products (Vella, 2015). 



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He had a plan and was going to follow it. 

When he started Xiaomi in 2010, Lei did three things which few others do prior to starting a 

company. First, he decided to use his team’s software-creating ability to build a new operating system 

called miui. Second, he asked his team to create a relationship with those people who tried miui, 

then asked them what new functions and features they would like. This process tied the new 

company and its users even closer together to build a solid business foundation for their system and 

the smartphone they would release later. Thirdly, they conducted a survey about what Chinese 

consumers really wanted from a cell phone and how they planned to use it. These three actions 

enabled the new company to learn what consumers truly needed, and they then built a cell phone 

designed to provide those benefits for them. It was not too much, not too little, but just right.  

After one year’s preparation, the company released the Mi1. It was equipped with almost the 

very best hardware and was priced at only 1999 Chinese Yuan (about US$300). Most people who 

saw that price tag were astonished. That was about half  the price of  other companies’ cell phones 

at that time. Xiaomi also proudly announced their new system and Lie Jun was the spokesperson. 

During 2011 and 2012, sales levels for the Mi1 were phenomenal. Because of  Xiaomi’s pricing 

strategy, they also did not make any profits. But they sent a message to the entire phone industry 

that they can no longer price their products as they want. Xiaomi was a force to be reckoned with. 

Xiaomi soon became a company that consumers loved, and competitors hated. Not long after 

this, Xiaomi even launched a device called the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 at about half  the price of  the 

Mi1. Xiaomi had disrupted the entire mobile phone industry and accelerated the popularity of  

smartphones. 

Now, Lei Jun has become a name known by nearly every young Chinese person. He has received 

many recognitions, including being named by Forbes magazine as Asia’s Businessman of  the Year 

(Flannery, 2015. As his success and recognition has grown, so has his personal wealth. He recently 

ranked 25th on Forbes list of  China’s wealthiest people (Flannery, 2020).  

Xiaomi’s success was due to its good quality, favorable consumer attitudes, and Lei Jun’s 

incredible marketing and sales techniques. Here are some of  those innovative sales and marketing 

methods. 

Technique 1: Lei is someone who loves to talk with his customers, and he knows that his 

company needs to build long term relationships with them in a variety of  ways. Consequently, he 

decided to become the voice of  his company. Not only because he was the best sales representative 

of  Xiaomi, but he also wanted to be the symbol of  the young company. 

Technique 2: Lei Jun changed the traditional way of  selling cell phones or other electronic 

products which had been sold in retail stores. Companies like OPPO Mobile and Vivo preferred to 

use traditional face to face communication to attract consumers. By doing so, they had to hire a lot 

of  employees and it was expensive to train and compensate them. On the other hand, Xiaomi’s 

unique way to promote product was letting Lei Jun show their products on the internet and use his 

popularity and passion to win even more consumers. Lei Jun’s personal show on live streaming 

platforms and at events held by Xiaomi let him be himself  and he was much more effective than 

competitors’ in-store sales employees. 

Technique 3: after building their reputation through their operating system over the internet, 

they decided to have a launch event in Beijing and do a live stream video to promote the new cell 

phone system. Please realize that at that time, phone companies primarily used recorded tv 

commercials and other mass media to promote their products. The live stream was more like a real-



64 

 

time face-to-face communication than those boring tv advertisements. As a new company, Xiaomi 

did not have any retail stores, so they decided to use the internet only as their selling channel and 

this had yet to be proved as a success. No matter whether you lived in a big city like Shanghai or in 

some suburban area, you could get a Xiaomi phone with a simple mouse click. 

Technique 4: hunger marketing was used. Xiaomi always has experienced great sales 

performance since 2011, but this makes us forget that they are still a relatively young company. It 

doesn’t yet have the strong muscle of  BBK (formerly BuBuGao) or Huawei. Some people have 

criticized Xiaomi for being unable to fulfill the markets’ demand. Others suggest that Lei Jun and 

his team invented a practice now called “hunger marketing” which means that planned scarcity 

makes a product even more desirable. Examples of  hunger marketing include: (1) increasing desire 

for a product by making it available for only a limited time, (2) creating an expectation of  selling out 

quickly, (3) providing price discounts but for only a limited time, or even (4) the short-time 

excitement created in the US for shopping on the day after the country celebrates the Thanksgiving 

holiday which is known as Black Friday. Each of  these tactics is an application of  the persuasion 

principle of  scarcity. Interestingly, when one looks up hunger marketing on Wikipedia, there is a 

reference to Xiaomi as they sold out of  the Mi Note 2 within only 50 seconds of  its availability 

(Hunger Marketing, 2020). In addition, Xiaomi’s first release of  100,000 Mi3 Smartphones sold out 

in only 86 seconds (Einhorn & Larson, 2014). 

Technique 5: Lei Jun directly used a sheet to compare the specs of  Xiaomi and competitors’ 

phones at the launch event. He waited to reveal the price until the last minute and used that aspect 

of  his presentation to build suspense.  

Technique 6: in addition to the smartphone itself, Lei Jun knew that the operating system of  

the phone was very important when selecting a smartphone. Lei decided to let everyone freely use 

the miui system. Which means that even other brand’s phone could also run on the miui system at 

no charge. This enabled a wider base of  customers to become familiar with the system and they 

came to appreciate its advantages. As we know, Xiaomi’s target customers were in their 20’s or 30’s 

and are more likely to try new things than older consumers. 

 

Research Findings 

These three brief  biographies of  sales heroes in China present much useful information for 

those of  us not yet in the “superstar” category. While we must be cautious about trying to generalize 

too widely, are there some “golden threads” of  knowledge that we can glean from these stories? By 

golden threads, we mean characteristics or behaviors which all three of  the Chinese sales superstars 

have in common. Once identified, we can try to emulate those actions for our own personal use and 

improvement. 

The first of  these golden threads is working exceedingly long hours each week over an extended 

period of  time. There seems to be no secret alternative or shortcut here. Lei Jun routinely works 

about 100 hours per week (Flannery, 2015) and Mingzhu Dong has not taken a vacation in nearly 

30 years. As she says, “I can rest when I retire” (Tatlow, 2011).  

Another central theme or golden thread of  all the sales superstars profiled here is their complete 

devotion to the job and their company. Instead of  working to earn a living, working is their life. Jian 

Hong “believes in life insurance” (Success Network, 2020a). To him, it is a calling, his way of  serving 

others and helping them create a better life for themselves. For Mingzhu Dong, Gree is central to 

her life. In order to pursue her career at Gree, she let her mother do most of  the work of  raising 



65 

 

her son. Indeed, she has a calligraphy scroll hanging in her office that reads “Selflessly committed 

to Gree; Heroically conquering the business world” (Hongwen, 2017, p. 24). Clearly, there are 

sacrifices to be made in personal lives to achieve the kind of  success demonstrated by these three 

superstars of  sales. 

All three Chinese sales superstars profiled here possess very high levels of  intelligence. For 

example, Lei Jun completed his undergraduate studies in computer science at Wuhan University in 

only two years and has been described as a “genius” (Lahiri & Tang, 2018). Even as a child, Lei was 

called “the smart kid” by his neighbors (Jin, 2016). Mingzhu Dong has also been described as a 

genius (McDonald, 2011, p. 639). 

All the Chinese sales superstars profiled here were willing to take risks. Jun Lei even started a 

technology firm called Gundugoms while he was in college. He thought if  Steve Jobs and Steve 

Wozniak could do it, so could he. Jian Hong dropped out of  graduate school to become an 

entrepreneur and engaged in real estate speculation which is about as risky a business as there is. 

Mingzhu Dong left her family and moved away from home to take a commission only sales job for 

a firm that only sold air conditioners in a market where fewer than one percent of  homes had them. 

All demonstrated a determined readiness to assume risks. Some of  the adventures worked out, some 

did not. 

That leads us to the final golden thread to be identified here. While all were willing to take 

multiple risks in their careers, all faced serious setbacks, indeed tragedies, in their lives and fought 

back with vigor to overcome those severe challenges. Mingzhu Dong had to subjugate the tragedy 

of  becoming a widow and the necessity of  providing for her family at a very early age in life. Lei 

Jun’s first company, Gundugoms, went bankrupt and he left Kingsoft amid controversy. Jian Hong 

lost a fortune in real estate speculation and went from great wealth to poverty in a matter of  weeks. 

Nevertheless, all the salespeople profiled here overcame their challenges and became even more 

successful afterwards. We are not proposing that their later success was because of  their earlier failures, 

but they certainly did not lose their courage to take new risks and to pursue new opportunities 

because of  their previous setbacks. 

 

Contributions to the Field 

This paper makes an important first step in describing successful salespeople within the country 

of  China. For many Americans, the notion of  salespeople thriving in a communist country is 

unexpected - to say the least. The field of  selling is so tied to the concepts of  capitalism, free 

enterprise, and the economic freedom to succeed or fail based on your own efforts. Nevertheless, 

we portray three highly successful people who amassed great wealth through professional selling in 

China. This certainly offers an insight into the Chinese economy that some Americans will find 

surprising. 

Beyond the shattering of  these stereotypes, this paper advances the field of  professional selling 

by offering insights into what led to high achievement across these three case studies of  extreme 

sales success. These characteristics can now be tested empirically in large samples to examine how 

robust those characteristics are across different individuals in various markets. 

These descriptions of  three Chinese sales superstars also serve as important reminders that 

while each culture is different, the determinants of  success could be surprisingly stable across 

cultures. As one reviews the conclusions of  the study shown above, it is interesting to note that 

perhaps these factors which led to success in China could have occurred in many other countries 



66 

 

located anywhere in the world. Possibly we are not as different as we often believe ourselves to be. 

The results of  this study also provide evidence of  the value of  secondary research as a starting 

point in a field of  study. It is often surprising to see how much useful information can be secured 

from these sources. When examined carefully with a purpose in mind, these materials provide vivid 

descriptions useful in the establishment of  a base from which further empirical work can proceed. 

 

Future Research Directions 

We hope that this research will encourage others to study people who have experienced 

exceptional success. All too often, post-mortems are conducted on failures (Collier et al., 1996).  

While such examinations are useful, there is also much to be learned from success. For example, 

future research should examine high levels of  success within other countries. Systematic studies in 

countries which are at various stages of  development may offer insights. Perhaps a team of  

researchers can compare success stories in highly developed, developed, developing, and less 

developed countries then search for differences across these categories. Beyond stages of  economic 

development, there would be value in examining sales success across populations based on the 

extent to which each economy was free of  government involvement (Warnecke & De Ruyter, 2010).  

Another avenue for future research is to examine success across high tech vs. low tech industries. 

In addition, there may be different reasons for success in high growth vs. low growth sectors of  the 

economy. Furthermore, examining differences across goods versus service sectors may also bear 

important findings. There could also be differences by career stages. Entering a field of  employment 

at a later age may pose additional and meaningful challenges (or opportunities) for mature workers. 

Of  course, there is also much value in comparing worker behaviors across a wide range of  

success levels with a goal of  identifying opportunities for improving the performance of  currently 

underperforming employees. Some of  the research conducted within educational settings may have 

opportunity for application here as well. For example, the development of  success coaches and the 

use of  aggressive or intrusive career advising might move some marginal performers into higher 

performance categories.  

While we believe there is much to be learned from examining these three sales heroes, we again 

caution about the tendency to overgeneralize. Instead, other leaders in a variety of  industries and in 

other areas of  the world should be studied with the goal of  further identifying common themes and 

finding variations from those that are described here. Remember, as was mentioned at the beginning 

of  this paper, the past can offer great insight into what the future holds. We can learn from it and 

attempt to emulate the practices of  successful people who led the way for us. 

 

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