About Dong Mingzhu’s career inspirational story

The successful person we are going to talk about today is a female economic figure known as the "Iron Lady". She is the current chairman of Gree Group, chairman and president of Gree Electric Appliances, "the world's top ten influential Chinese female entrepreneurs", "the world's top 50 business women, and the world's 100 CEOs" - Dong Mingzhu. At the 14th CCTV China Economic Figure of the Year Awards Night held by CCTV on December 12, 2013, Dong Mingzhu won the 2013 China Economic Figure of the Year Award.

When it comes to Dong Mingzhu, competitors describe her like this: "No grass can grow on the road that Sister Dong has walked." This shows how powerful this iron lady is. Gree's internal employees commented on their female boss, "She speaks powerfully and acts resolutely. Even without makeup, she looks much younger than her actual age." The media said, "This woman, although her life before the age of 36 was unremarkable. Strange, but after 36 years old, she used her tenacity and persistence to find a path that others cannot copy. "Post-80s Inspirational Network takes you to learn about this strong woman's inspirational story in the workplace.

Why is Dong Mingzhu’s entrepreneurial story so inspiring? Because there are few people like her who started as a grassroots salesperson at the age of 36. In 15 years, she used her abilities beyond ordinary women to Promoted to CEO of Gree Group. Gree Dong Mingzhu, an inspirational story for women in the workplace, 2013 Economic Figure of the Year

1. A late bloomer without losing talent

Dong Mingzhu, like many people of that era, had a mediocre background. In 1954, She was born in an ordinary family in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. She started working in 1975 and worked in administrative management at a chemical research institute in Nanjing. Before the age of 36, her life was ordinary. No one would have thought that after the age of 36, Dong Mingzhu would use her tenacity and persistence to create a career legend that everyone admires.

In 1990, Dong Mingzhu resolutely quit her job and went south to work. She was already 36 years old at the time. When she arrived at Gree Company, she had to start as a grassroots salesperson. Dong Mingzhu, who didn't know what marketing was, relied on perseverance and persistence to recover a debt of 420,000 yuan left by her predecessor in 40 days, which impressed the then general manager Zhu Jianghong and became a classic inspirational story in the marketing industry. This is where the entrepreneurial legend of this strong woman begins. Relying on diligence and sincerity, Dong Mingzhu continues to create the sales myth of Gree Company. Her personal sales once soared to 36.5 million yuan.

2. A resolute and resolute female boss

In 1995, Dong Mingzhu became Gree’s sales manager. This is how her subordinates viewed the female boss at that time: a woman who never acted according to the rules. A card player has only one "card theory": her own principles and what she thinks is right.

The first problem Dong Mingzhu faced after taking office was the backlog of 19,000 air conditioners in the middle of winter. In this regard, the usual approach is to reduce the price of each unit by 300 yuan and sell it. Dong Mingzhu said: "No, normal product price reduction will damage the image." Her unexpected approach was to distribute the backlog of air conditioners to each dealer. The salesman didn't expect that the three flames of the new official's appointment would burn on him, and would burn endlessly.

In terms of life details, this iron lady also made such a rule: "You are not allowed to eat during working hours. Once discovered, you will be fined 50 for the first time, 100 for the second time, and left for the third time." ". When everyone thought it was just talk, one day, Dong Mingzhu walked into the office and found eight employees eating. After only 10 seconds, the end-of-day bell rang. Dong Mingzhu was not polite and charged 50 yuan per person. Everyone was stunned. Dong Mingzhu said that as long as the principles are violated, no matter how small the matter is, it is a major matter and must be dealt with to the end.

One day, a large distributor with annual sales of 150 million yuan came to the Gree factory and asked for special treatment, with a tone of non-negotiable arrogance. Dong Mingzhu not only ignored him, but also fought back fiercely: expelling him from the Gree Distribution Network. Everyone was worried about this female boss. A sales manager who had not yet secured his position, threw away 150 million yuan in annual sales without hesitation in one day. Dong Mingzhu’s answer is simple: As long as I violate the principles, I will also dismount me.

The strong woman’s iron fist forced the dealers to give in. Many air conditioning manufacturers often condone large sellers and allow them to operate across regions. This way, local small dealers cannot compete at all, and the market is also disrupted.

By doing this, Dong Mingzhu can expand the scale of small dealers and gain momentum.

3. Solve the problem of arrears with an iron fist

Arrears in payment are a common phenomenon in China’s retail and wholesale industries, which gives many dealers a headache. Dong Mingzhu, who does not believe in evil, solved the problem within a year. All problems solved. Her approach is very simple and domineering: all dealers who default on payment will stop shipping. After making up the payment, they will pay first and then take delivery of the goods.

However, this is easier said than done. She has stirred up a hornet's nest. Dealers of all sizes have complained to Gree CEO Zhu Jianghong, and some even declared: "With her, I am not." Dong Mingzhu did not give in, and said tit for tat: "Then it's me and not him." Zhu Jianghong advised Dong Mingzhu: "Can we make up the payment and ship the goods first and then collect the money?" Dong Mingzhu smiled slightly and said: "Okay. "As a result, once the payment arrived, the goods were not shipped. Dong Mingzhu said: "You want goods? Bring the money first." Dong Mingzhu said plausibly: "Even if others are like this, Gree will not do it." Even if he hits the wall 100 times and breaks blood, Dong Mingzhu will hit it 10 times. The broken wall of debt must come down.

The effect of Dong Mingzhu’s toughness is: in 1997 and 1998, Gree had no accounts receivable of 1 cent and no triangular debt of 1 cent. From then on, everyone believed in Sister Dong. If you don't transfer money, you won't get a product; as long as you transfer money, you will never default on the goods. Sister Dong is doing things, be convinced and rest assured!

4. The inspirational fighting spirit of women in the workplace

When she was young, Dong Mingzhu only slept 5 hours a day. It is said that now Dong Mingzhu often sleeps in Whenever she thinks about something while sleeping or napping, Dong Mingzhu will jump up at one or two o'clock in the middle of the night, pick up her notebook and write it down, and even call her boss in the middle of the night. It is because of her fighting spirit that many marketing tricks were born.

In 1995, Dong Mingzhu invented the "off-season rebate", which means that dealers will be given corresponding benefit returns based on the amount of funds invested during the off-season. This changes the "money-goods" relationship into a "money-profit" relationship, which not only solves the manufacturer's shortage of production funds in the off-season, but also alleviates the supply pressure in the peak season. In 1995, Gree's off-season repayments increased 3.4 times compared with the previous year, reaching 1.1 billion yuan, which prepared the market for the final battle with Chunlan in 1996.

In 1995, Gree Fork invented the "year-end rebate" and returned 70 million yuan in profits to dealers.

In 1996, during the off-season for air conditioning, Gree got back 1.5 billion yuan in rebates from off-season rebates. In the off-season price war, various brands have to cut prices one after another, and even the retail price is lower than the wholesale price, and the wholesale price is lower than the ex-factory price, which greatly harms the vitality. Dong Mingzhu stipulated that Gree cannot reduce even one penny. On August 31, Gree announced that 2% of its profits of RMB 100 million would be subsidized to each dealer in proportion to sales. In this way, in 1996, the most difficult year for the air-conditioning industry, Gree's sales increased by 17%, surpassing Chunlan for the first time.

Gree not only replenished the money saved by reducing the marketing team to dealers, but also spent 250 million yuan to return to dealers in 1997.

Dong Mingzhu believes that only by making money by distributing Gree can long-term peace and stability be achieved. She not only distributed the in-demand air conditioner varieties evenly to prevent large dealers from monopolizing the supply and disrupting the market, but also launched air conditioner ID cards so that each air conditioner could be registered in the marketing department.

Generally speaking, the off-season for air conditioners is from September to March, and the peak season is from April to August. There are different prices in the off-peak and peak seasons. The off-season is 20,000 points lower than the peak season. Generally, manufacturers are trying their best to advance the peak season from April to March in order to obtain greater profits.

In 1998, Dong Mingzhu had a sudden idea, and with the support of Mr. Zhu, announced that the off-season would be extended by one month. March off-season prices will continue to be implemented in April. The money Gree received was unnecessary. When other manufacturers came to their senses, many large dealers had already transferred money to Gree to buy Gree products. Some manufacturers sighed: "Dong Mingzhu is so ruthless - we have never thought of this trick in so many years."

In this way, in 15 years, Dong Mingzhu grew from a grassroots salesperson to the general manager of Gree. From 2005 to the present, she has been serving as the vice chairman and president of Gree. Since Dong Mingzhu became general manager, she and chairman Zhu Jianghong have created a unique miracle in my country's business world. Under her leadership, Gree Electric ranked first in the country in terms of air-conditioning production, sales, revenue, and market share for 11 consecutive years from 1995 to 2005.

Since 2003, sales have grown at a rate of 30% every year, and net profits have maintained an increase of more than 15%!

5. Suggestions for professional women:

Interviewed by the media Dong Mingzhu asked her what advice she had for working women.

Dong Mingzhu said: For women to work hard in the workplace, they must first be good at being a human being. What is a human being? I have to do my best and do it in my position. This is the goal. Many people will say that they want to be a general manager in the future, but that is not a goal, but a private purpose, not a goal. I have to do my job better than others, that's the goal. You do everything better than others and are respected by others. Because of respect, your position will change. It's not about realizing the value of life for professional purposes. Only in this way can you succeed.

How do you understand success? Dong Mingzhu has never thought that the position of general manager is a symbol of success. The general manager is more of a responsibility and has to perform more responsibilities. For her, This is not a halo, but a burden. I hope that Dong Mingzhu’s inspirational story in the workplace can be a reference for those born in the 1980s, and I wish everyone a better career.