Chapter Ninety-Five: A Heart-to-Heart Talk

I never expected that a simple category recommendation would carry me all the way up to second place on the homepage click chart. Many thanks to everyone for your support—you brothers are truly the best!

After hearing Xu Ming’s question, a flicker of joy crossed Zhang Wei’s eyes, but he did not show it at once. Instead, he looked a little surprised and said, “Brother Xu, you can’t be joking, can you? Even if you become the regional manager, the vacant position of store manager still wouldn’t fall to me, would it?”

“Oh? Then who do you think is more qualified than you to be the store manager?” Xu Ming lit another cigarette and looked at Zhang Wei with great interest.

“Brother Xu, you should know that better than I do. Turning around and asking me now seems a bit unnecessary, doesn’t it?” Zhang Wei said with a smile.

“That’s all right. Let’s call it gathering ideas. Tell me your suggestion,” Xu Ming said, waving a hand.

“If you want my opinion, I think Li Lin would be more suitable to replace you as store manager. She’s strong in business, rich in sales experience, and she’s one of the shop’s veteran employees. You could even say she’s the best candidate for the job,” Zhang Wei said after thinking for a moment.

“I considered that suggestion too. I also asked Li Lin about it, and she clearly said she didn’t want to be store manager. She only wants to do sales and make money on her own,” Xu Ming said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

“Besides, becoming store manager brings not only power but also the corresponding responsibilities. Li Lin isn’t like Su Ning; she doesn’t have that kind of bearing. She simply wouldn’t be able to carry a whole store,” Xu Ming said, looking straight at Zhang Wei with a weighty sincerity.

Xu Ming’s meaning was very clear. What he had just said was meant to tell Zhang Wei that if one wanted to become the store manager of a branch, seniority and experience were not the most important things. What mattered was whether that person could shoulder the responsibility of a store manager.

Being a store manager did not necessarily mean promotion and a pay raise. Otherwise Li Lin would not have turned the position down. Some highly capable salespeople earned even more than the store manager. Take Zhang Wei and Xu Ming, for example: although Xu Ming was Zhang Wei’s store manager, he had actually earned less than Zhang Wei the previous month.

That was because Xu Ming’s commission was tied to the overall performance of the entire team, so his commission rate was lower than that of ordinary agents. Last month, the store’s total performance had only reached 1.8 million, while Zhang Wei alone had closed 1.7 million. When performance is this close, naturally the one with the higher commission earns more.

Put another way, an agent only has to be responsible for himself. As long as he works hard and can close deals, he can make money. But a store manager has to be responsible for every salesperson in the team. Only when most of the people under him are closing deals and the store’s overall performance rises can his own income rise as well.

“I recommended you for the store manager position at the Garden Estate branch because I value your ability and think you can shoulder the responsibility of a store. But if you do badly at it, you may not even earn as much as you do now as a salesperson. So for you, this is both an opportunity and a challenge,” Xu Ming said.

Zhang Wei understood perfectly well what Xu Ming had just said. A salesperson with outstanding ability might not necessarily become a qualified store manager, because being a store manager required not only familiarity with the business but also strong management skills. If one could not manage the salespeople under him, could not get them to close deals, then it would be better to work the business alone and make more money that way.

“Brother Xu, since you think so highly of me, then I’ll take the store manager job. And I believe I have the ability to lead a store well,” Zhang Wei said, no longer pretending to be aloof. After Xu Ming had analyzed everything so sincerely for his sake, he answered directly and without hesitation.

Zhang Wei’s greatest advantage was his mind-reading ability. With that special power, he could see through a person’s innermost thoughts, so he did not worry at all about whether he could manage the salespeople.

Moreover, Zhang Wei did not place much importance on money right now. What he valued more was high-level management experience and connections. Even if it might affect his income in the short term, it would be of immense benefit to his future development.

For example, if Zhang Wei were to rise in a short time to the position of general manager of Zhongtong’s Beijing branch, he could simply take a group of subordinates with him and jump ship to set up a new real estate company from scratch. As for finding investors, that would not be a problem at all. Wasn’t Fat Zhou an excellent candidate?

That would be far more promising than Zhang Wei spending his whole life as an agent, and it was also part of his plan for the future. So while the store manager position was a mixed blessing for others, for Zhang Wei it was a bright road ahead.

“Good. I didn’t misjudge you. I knew you were the sort of young man with ideas, someone unwilling to sit still,” Xu Ming said, seeing that Zhang Wei no longer hesitated and had agreed at once. He patted Zhang Wei on the shoulder and added, “You don’t need to worry either. Even if I really do get promoted to regional manager, I won’t leave the Garden Estate branch right away. I’ll stay here for a while and keep watch until you’ve got everything sorted out before I go.”

The reason Xu Ming wanted to remain at the store for a while after being promoted to regional manager was not only to shore up Zhang Wei in case he lacked experience, but also to suppress Su Ning. At the very least, he wanted to use his identity as regional manager to take back the office that had originally belonged to him.

“Brother Xu, you seem very confident about the promotion! Have you already got it more or less locked in?” Zhang Wei asked.

After talking with Xu Ming for so long, Zhang Wei had felt that something was off. Only then did it suddenly dawn on him: the way Xu Ming had spoken earlier made it sound as though he had already decided he would be promoted. Otherwise, he would not have told Zhang Wei so early on that he intended to elevate him to replace the store manager position. Xu Ming was certainly not the kind of person who spoke without a reason.

“That’s right. Your head is quick. Otherwise, how would you be able to close deals? Still, I’ve only just gotten a rough idea of this matter in the last couple of days. I can’t tell you yet. When the time comes, you’ll know naturally,” Xu Ming said with a somewhat mysterious smile, as though he had already decided that success was his.

“All right, then I’ll wish Brother Xu great success in advance,” Zhang Wei said. Seeing that Xu Ming did not want to go into details, he had no intention of pressing further. After all, everyone has a few private secrets. If Zhang Wei wanted to get to the bottom of every single matter, he would never be able to stop, and that would be exhausting.

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing you should keep in mind. I’m planning to hire one or two new employees. If you have any friends looking for work, bring them to our store—preferably someone with sales experience,” Xu Ming said, slapping his forehead as another thought came to him.

“Brother Xu, why are you hiring new employees at a time like this?” Zhang Wei asked, a hint of confusion on his face.

It usually took at least two months for a new employee to go through training, learn the market, handle clients, and finally close a deal. Yet Xu Ming and Su Ning were in the critical stage of competing for the regional manager position, so there was no reason at all to waste extra managerial effort on training newcomers.

“Wang Min is about to resign, and we don’t have enough people at the store. If we hire a new employee, at the very least when it comes to showing properties, someone can run errands and carry the keys for you,” Xu Ming said with a sigh.

“Wang Min is resigning?” Zhang Wei said in surprise. He had not expected to hear such news all of a sudden.