CHINA'S TOP SALESMAN EARNS $14 PER CAR.

In a country where auto sales have been growing at 20% to 30% annually, moving the metal should be a breeze, right? Before you answer, check in with Lin Baojia. The 41-year-old is among Toyota's (TM) top salesmen in China, unloading about 60 Camry sedans a month, but it's not exactly easy. "If there's anything wrong with the car, customers can call me on my cell phone at any time," says Lin, who sports a Toyota-issue uniform of a dark-brown suit with a yellow smiley-face button on the lapel. "When someone calls in the middle of the night, it's usually a big emergency, so I'll do everything I can to get out to be with him."

Toyota's sales staffers have learned to cater to customers' whims big-time, and few do it better than Lin. In one case, a recently purchased car developed a short circuit in a downpour late at night and wouldn't start. Lin arranged to have the car towed to the dealership to get it fixed, then sent the owner on his way at about 2:30 a.m.—with two cases of mandarin oranges in case he got hungry. Other times, he has picked up drivers who called him after drinking too much. He says he hops out of bed to give them a lift home in the wee hours. "Behind each customer stands a brother, a father, an uncle, a friend," Lin says, "and he'll recommend that others he knows come to me to buy a car. Good service is an investment."

All this for a commission of $14 per car. And that's if Lin can sell the customer on insurance and extras such as GPS navigation or a radar system that warns the driver when he's about to hit something while backing up. Lin manages the full commission 90% of the time, but when he doesn't, it sinks to $7. After factoring in his base salary of some $140 monthly, Lin earns enough to own a car—but not a Camry. Instead, Lin has a Mitsubishi—and isn't shy about saying so. "The challenge is to be a level below the customer," he says. "Since I'm only a salesman, I shouldn't drive the same car as you."