Reposted: Dong Mingzhu: A Tribute to All Sales Professionals!

Today, a recent graduate told me they want to pursue a career in sales and asked how to excel at it. First of all, I wholeheartedly agree with this student’s choice, because in today’s world, sales is one of the most challenging and rewarding professions—whether it’s your mindset, your skills, your life experience, or your breadth of knowledge, all of these will undergo a significant leap forward.

But sales is not a job that just anyone can excel at, because in society it’s often described as both the easiest and the hardest profession—simultaneously the most lucrative and the least rewarding.

So today, I’m going to talk about what the biggest enemy of salespeople is. Have you ever experienced this?

Sales is a skill—everyone can sell, but very few people truly excel at it.

What is the biggest enemy of sales?

Not a match.

It’s not that the price is too high.

It’s not a rejection of your client.

It is not a company policy.

It’s not that the product is bad.

The greatest enemy is:

Your complaint!

Your excuse!

If a salesperson can succeed, it must be because they possess inner strength—not someone who gets easily hurt or discouraged, and who constantly makes excuses for their own incompetence.

Therefore, we should find ways to strengthen our inner resilience. See how Miss Dong, with her vision of “making the world fall in love with Made in China,” distills the art of sales into just 27 words! Personally, I believe that if salespeople take a few moments each day to reflect on these 27 words and practice “daily self‑assessment,” over time, their growth will be inevitable. After all, time is the most powerful weapon; as the saying goes, whether a drop of water can eventually wear through a boulder is simply a matter of time.

1. Study

Customers are the best teachers, peers are the best role models, and the market is the finest classroom. Only by drawing on the strengths of others can we surpass them.

2. Letter

Trust matters more than expertise. Ninety-seven percent of sales is about building trust; the remaining three percent is about closing the deal.

3. Heart

When one’s strength falls short and one’s wealth fails to flourish, and when one’s heart is not virtuous, blessings will not come. In sales, one must cultivate virtue and do good deeds!

4. Refuse

Rejection is the beginning of closing the deal. Sales is like a game of saving small amounts to accumulate a large sum—each time a customer says no, they’re actually helping you build up your pipeline.

5. Essence

To excel, you must refine your approach across six dimensions—trust, perspective, storytelling, interests, losses, and altruism—crafting marketing strategies that leave customers both amazed and irresistibly drawn.

6. Meaning

Sales is the transmission of confidence, the transfer of emotions, and the persuasion of physical stamina; negotiation is a contest of resolve; closing the deal is a testament to willpower.

7. Clothing

Once you’ve mastered selling and collecting payment, you’ve only just begun in the world of sales. But even more crucial is your ability to deliver exceptional service. If you can nail these three key elements, it’ll be hard not to succeed!

8. Create

You must present customers with content that delivers real value, and you must learn to create value—delivering the value they truly need.

9. Love

Everything requires the ability to forge connections. Emotional bonds should take precedence over relationships based on profit or collaboration, and you must engage in deep, heartfelt communication with your customers.

10. Person

Networking is financial capital; good relationships are a source of wealth; and your network determines your destiny.

11. Beginning

You never get a second chance to make a first impression on your customers.

12. Collect

Sales equal revenue. All success in this world is, at its core, sales success. Once you master the art of selling and collecting payment, it becomes nearly impossible to remain poor.

13. Tail

When it comes to driving performance, never underestimate the final few days of each month. It’s like a 3,000-meter race: once you’ve covered 2,700 meters, those last 300 meters are even more critical. The closing days are precisely when the greatest breakthroughs can be achieved.

14. Thought

There are no products that can’t be sold—only people who can’t sell them. There’s no wood that can’t be split—only an axe that isn’t fast enough. It’s not that the market is sluggish; it’s that your mindset isn’t up to the task.

15. Sell

First-rate salespeople sell themselves; second-rate salespeople sell services; third-rate salespeople sell products; fourth-rate salespeople sell price.

16. Submit

The first impression you make on a customer: “I’m your friend—I’m here today to be your friend.” After all, the very best professionals treat their clients like family.

17. Ascend

Sell anytime, anywhere—turn selling into a habit. Continuous improvement matters more than success; you may not close every sale, but you must never stop growing as a sales professional.

18. Find

Only by identifying common ground with your customer can you build a relationship. Sales is all about building relationships and cultivating a network of connections.

19. Select

You can only reel in big fish if you choose the right pond—your customers must be of high quality. Your choices matter ten times more than your efforts. If you serve the poor, you’ll grow poorer yourself; you can position yourself as a jewelry-store owner, or you can settle for being a scrap-metal dealer. Serving ten pieces of junk is far less rewarding than serving a single diamond.

20. Small

Small things matter most—why does a cooked duck fly away? It’s because your attention to detail fell short, leaving the customer dissatisfied.

21. Listen

The secret to consistent sales: listen more, talk less; always ask more, say less. The pinnacle of service: it must come from the heart, not merely be a formality.

22. Smile

The beggar’s spirit every salesperson needs—start by smiling at the “customer,” and keep going as if nothing has changed, even after being turned down dozens of times each day.

23. Wait

Treat loyal customers with the same warmth as you would new ones, and treat new customers with the same attentiveness as you would long-time patrons.

24. Buy

What customers really buy is a sense—being respected, being validated, and feeling at ease.

25. Specialized

Because of proficiency comes professionalism; and because of professionalism comes excellence. Only true expertise can make you an expert, and only experts can become winners. No customer will ever deal with an amateur, for they know all too well that amateurs rarely deliver good results. Customers always trust experts, who embody authority and earn their confidence.

26. Value

Salespeople should always ask themselves three questions: Why am I worth helping? Why would a customer refer me to others? And why would a customer pay me? Because you have to be worthy.

27. Love

Looking at your own product is like looking at your own child—no matter how you look, you can’t help but love it. Love yourself, love your product, love your team, and love your customers.

In short, the biggest enemy in sales is yourself. Set aside your pride, overcome your fears, summon your courage, and forge ahead with determination! Today I came across a quote from Dong Mingzhu: “We must dare to challenge ourselves. The harder we work, the luckier we become.”