Du Yixia: A Sales Star Who Always Chases Customers

She has moved from selling automotive oil to industrial oil and then to specialty oil, gradually growing from a layman who knew nothing about lubricant performance or the market into an expert in lubricant sales;
For 15 years, as faithfully as on the first day, she has toiled in the lubricant sales market, guarding the gem flower with loyalty and defending the Kunlun brand with responsibility;
She is Du Yixia, specialty oil sales representative for Zhejiang at the East China Sales Branch. In 2014 alone she sold a cumulative 5,300 tons of transformer oil and 34,000 tons of rubber oil.
'In sales you must always revolve around the customer!'
Du Yixia once worked at the headquarters of another PetroChina enterprise, and when she decided to join the East China Sales Branch as a sales representative, the work before her was completely unfamiliar. 'Since I have chosen it, no matter how hard it is, I must learn and do it well!' With that kind of tenacity, Du Yixia began to study lubricants carefully.
Before every customer visit she does her homework thoroughly, learning about the customer's production and operations, product mix and oil needs. She knows the performance of her own products inside out and understands the characteristics of competing products on the market as far as possible, keeping up with market conditions so as to know both herself and the competition and never be stumped by questions. The big bag she carries is a treasure chest, holding product brochures and all kinds of essential materials.
She often says that no matter how big the customer is or how much oil they buy, having the attitude and drive to 'always revolve around the customer' is always right. In July 2013, Du Yixia learned that Gaoke and Ningbo Baorun supplied transformer oil to a user in Zhejiang. Through an introduction from a friend, she got in touch with one of the supplying companies and learned that the transformer oil it supplied had poor yellowing resistance, so that it felt uneasy every time it bid to supply oil. Du Yixia therefore proactively sent them a sample of Kunlun KI20X oil, hoping the supplier would switch to selling Kunlun KI20X transformer oil. She visited them repeatedly to explain Kunlun's oil products, and the influence of the Kunlun brand and her earnest work won the other party's recognition. After strict testing and appraisal, the supplier became a Kunlun transformer oil distributor developed by Du Yixia, purchasing 42 tons of KI20X transformer oil in one go in August, with later purchases rising to 100 tons, 200 tons and beyond.
Just as Du Yixia was rejoicing at successfully developing a high-quality distributor, a new situation arose at Zhejiang Electric Power. In August 2014, Zhejiang Electric Power received a group of tank containers of KI20X transformer oil, and sampling tests found that certain indicators did not meet the standard. When she learned of this, Du Yixia was in Ningbo developing end users of transformer oil and had already arranged a meeting time with a new customer. So after finishing her talks with the new customer, she immediately rushed from Ningbo to Wenzhou and spent both Saturday and Sunday at Zhejiang Electric Power helping solve the problem, only returning from Wenzhou to Hangzhou once the user was satisfied.
'Grow together with distributors and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results!'
Zhejiang Province is at the forefront of China's market economy, and in dealing with distributors Du Yixia has kept summarizing, growing and maturing. She often says that only when distributors make money will they willingly sell Kunlun oil, and that Kunlun and its distributors are both partners and a community of interests. To protect the existing market share, distributors must be required to sell at the prices set by the company, with end-user prices strictly enforced. Zhejiang has four first-tier and two second-tier rubber oil distributors, but in competing for end customers they often undercut one another and keep complaining that they make no money. Du Yixia tirelessly tells them that a market economy does not mean there are no rules, that mutual price cutting will hurt market competition and create a vicious circle, and states sternly that violating the price system will be punished accordingly.
In 2014, a distribution company predicted that oil prices would fall in September, so in August it placed no orders, intending to buy after the price fell. Because the company did not complete its August purchase volume, Du Yixia penalized it without hesitation. As it turned out, the market price of the oil it purchased in September did not fall but rose, by 100 yuan per ton, ensuring the company's interests suffered no loss.
At the same time, she thinks more about customers and meets their needs. In November 2014, a technology company was to export transformers to the Philippines, including KI25X transformer oil produced by the Karamay plant. For customs clearance it needed to submit a certificate of authentication to Philippine customs, which had to be obtained with the help of the trade promotion council and certified by the consulate, confirming that the transformer oil produced by the Karamay plant contained no PCB. This was a new service subject for Du Yixia. As the technology company was not qualified to issue the test report, the certification had to be obtained through the trade promotion council of the place of origin of the oil at the consulate. Du Yixia immediately contacted the Karamay plant and, on learning that there was no trade promotion council in its location, ultimately helped the Karamay plant through the Taizhou trade promotion council to complete the product certification at the consulate, successfully exporting the transformers and the oil, for which the user was extremely grateful.
'In sales, the first thing is not technique but integrity!'
In Du Yixia's heart, the word 'integrity' has always been her most important commitment to customers.
On February 20, 2014, a rubber oil distributor called Du Yixia. The distributor had received seven railway private wagons of KN4006 and one of KN4010 oil products on February 19 and, on testing, found something unusual at the bottom of the wagons despite intact lead seals. On learning this, Du Yixia arrived at the distributor's dedicated private wagon line on the afternoon of February 20. The weather was unkind that day and it rained continuously; to avoid delaying the wagons' return empty, Du Yixia climbed onto the tops of the tank wagons with the inspector to take samples. Careful Du Yixia held up a large umbrella so that rain would not drip into the tanks. After checking every wagon one by one, all the oil was finally confirmed to be up to standard. From then on the distributor trusted Du Yixia even more and gradually increased its oil purchases.
'Actually, winning customers' hearts is easy: you must do what you promise customers.' Every time, customers hope to get the oil immediately after paying. To shorten customers' waiting time as much as possible, once the customer confirms and stamps the contract, Du Yixia immediately goes to unfreeze the contract and watches the ERP system; as soon as payment arrives she submits it to the plant, then confirms the order with the plant, and every week asks the plant for a week's shipment wagon numbers, filtering them before sending them to the customer. Before every order goes to the Zhuji warehouse, Du Yixia contacts the warehouse staff in advance to confirm; when customers pick up their orders at the Zhuji warehouse, she promises them they can collect the oil by 3 p.m. the next day. Even before each business trip she records the numbers of the contracts she has unfrozen so that, once the customer's payment arrives, she can immediately contact the company and submit the order in time without delaying collection.
'As long as you work with dedication, you will be rewarded!'
In customers' words, Du Yixia is the best salesperson they have ever dealt with; her sense of responsibility is exceptionally strong, and they feel completely at ease doing business with her.
Through long-term contact with customers she has built trust. Normally customers complete their own orders, but Du Yixia's customers often simply call her to say what product model and quantity they need and when, and she completes the order and sends it to the customer.
By Du Yixia's working rhythm, half of every month is spent revisiting old customers and visiting new ones. Her home is in Hangzhou and her customers are mostly in remote locations. She often sets off from home at 6 a.m., takes the high-speed train to the nearest city, then a bus to the city center, transfers to the bus stop closest to the customer and takes a taxi to the plant. Leaving the plant she cannot get a taxi, so she waits at the gate for a lift to the city, transfers to a bus to the high-speed rail station and gets back to Hangzhou very late.
Du Yixia has a loud voice and speaks frankly; in her eyes even the greatest difficulties are played down. In the year her daughter was in the final year of senior high school, sales tasks were heavy and she could hardly look after the family at all, and that same year her mother was diagnosed with a malignant tumor; she brought her eldest sister from her hometown to Hangzhou, and even so she did not take a single day of leave.
In her words, she and Kunlun Lubricant are already bound tightly together and cannot be separated. She often seeks out customers through personal connections to promote products, and she will call on them whenever she hears the slightest news. Last year, through a friend, she arranged to visit the Taizhou transformer plant on November 20, but just before setting out she received notice from Zhejiang Electric Power in Wenzhou that transformer oil would be tendered on the 21st. Neither could be neglected, so she traveled non-stop, visiting three transformer enterprises in Taizhou in one day, and on the 20th took the evening high-speed train to Zhejiang Electric Power, arriving in Wenzhou after 1 a.m., without affecting the next day's tender. She is an ordinary, unremarkable sales representative, yet in seemingly ordinary work she shows herself through sincerity and resilience beyond that of others, interpreting a sense of responsibility and ability through her actions, bringing luster to Kunlun and glory to the gem flower! (Reported by Sun Xiaohui, Party and Mass Work Division)