How distributors choose products is not a new topic. Long ago, many experts and predecessors analyzed and researched this issue from various angles and levels, offering many excellent suggestions and methods to help distributors enhance profitability and resilience against risks.
Distributors select different products at different stages, such as which products serve as profit contributors, which for volume, which for competition, which for channel expansion, and which for enhancing the distributor's brand and industry position, as well as managing the relationships among these products. These theories and successful experiences are worth referencing, and I will not elaborate further. Instead, let's discuss how distributors evaluate a manufacturer's strength and credibility.
In many people's view, evaluating a manufacturer's strength and credibility is a trivial matter—just look at registered capital, certifications, factory environment, number of employees, and factory area. However, I believe that for distributors, the value lies in observing subtle details. The following 10 actions are common when distributors visit factories, but many distributors fail to extract and analyze these details from different perspectives to assess the manufacturer's strength and credibility, thinking these small details won't constrain the manufacturer's development. Distributors should follow the principle of "looking at the big picture while starting with small details," not overlooking any detail they see, and analyze them to make a successful leap when choosing products.
1. Gatehouse The factory is the main site for production, technology, and warehousing. The gatehouse is the first point of contact for distributors entering the factory; it is the factory's external facade and the most critical checkpoint for goods in and out. A strict gatekeeping system should be in place, such as requiring strangers to be approved by relevant personnel, fill in personal details, and sign out with authorization. However, some factories have no gatekeeping system at all—strangers can enter without badges or registration, and guards may not wear uniforms. I once saw a factory guard eating sunflower seeds at work, with shells scattered all over the floor. If a distributor sees such a guard, can they trust the products?
However, when distributors visit, factories usually prepare in advance, so such situations are unlikely. But you can still glean insights from the cleanliness of the gatehouse and the guards' demeanor.
2. Restrooms In developed countries like Europe, the US, Japan, and South Korea, restrooms have become a culture with pleasant environments. While distributors cannot expect factory restrooms to be as elegant and clean as office buildings, they should at least be clean. It's like judging a person's taste—not by their attire, but by whether their socks are clean.
3. General Manager's Office The GM's office often has decorations like calligraphy or paintings (especially motivational quotes or mottos), and is spacious and bright. I've observed that Hong Kong and Taiwan companies pay particular attention to this; some even consult feng shui for their offices, showing how much they value the office environment.
Here's a real example I personally witnessed: a small company that grew rapidly to about 100 employees. Due to increased staff, office and production space became cramped, but the GM's office remained spacious. They even moved HR and IT maintenance staff into the GM's office. At that time, I thought this company wouldn't last long. Sure enough, not long after, the company exited the market due to product quality issues. This illustrates that if the GM cannot uphold principles when office space is insufficient and allows others into his office, perhaps one day he might compromise on using cheap, substandard parts. Can such a philosophy produce good products?
4. Technical Center Technology is the core of a company and a key condition for products to succeed in the market. However, many distributors are not from technical backgrounds; they are laymen looking at professionals, so they don't understand and thus don't pay attention. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't evaluate the manufacturer's technical strength. As the saying goes, "Laymen watch the excitement, experts watch the craft." As distributors, even watching the excitement requires methods and skills. For example, look at the age of technical backbone staff. If they are all fresh graduates, can you trust them? It's like a 20-something traditional Chinese medicine practitioner giving you a diagnosis—would you trust him? The answer is no, because technology requires years of accumulation, except in emerging industries like IT. Also, observe the technical laboratory environment—whether it's messy with parts scattered around, which can indicate the company's technical capability and management.
5. Office Environment Many companies separate manufacturing and sales. The sales office (in an office building) serves as the company's "face," with spacious, elegant, and beautiful environments, red carpets, strict departmental divisions, and numerous meeting rooms, making distributors feel the company's strong strength. But the factory office environment may not be the same. If the contrast is too great, distributors should be more cautious.
6. Showroom The showroom is a company's "face," reflecting its culture, brand, philosophy, technical strength, and management level. Everyone understands that the showroom reflects corporate culture, brand, technical strength, and philosophy, but its reflection of management may not be as obvious.
Case: A distributor visited a car DVD manufacturer. They were satisfied with the office building, office environment, production site, and technical strength. But when they visited the showroom, many things shocked them: to open the display cabinet, they had to find the general office; for product demonstrations, they had to find the quality inspection department, and the staff didn't know how to implement many functions, contradicting what was said during technical exchanges (with the deputy GM). The showroom, as the "face," had no dedicated person in charge, and the quality inspection department didn't follow technical process requirements, indicating that quality inspection and technical standards were not unified, and factory management was extremely chaotic.
7. Factory Warehouse The factory warehouse is a key place for distributors to inspect. They can check whether warehouse management is strict, following principles like "first in, first out," categorized display, and clear labeling. However, for distributors newly cooperating with the manufacturer, visiting the warehouse with factory personnel makes it hard to verify these aspects. But they can estimate the manufacturer's inventory to assess strength: many factory salespeople exaggerate production and sales volumes to prove strength, hoping distributors will order more and sign contracts favorable to the factory. If the factory has 9 million yuan in inventory but monthly sales are only about 6 million, and this differs greatly from the salesperson's claims, it indicates something fishy (excluding products with very short shelf life, like milk).
8. Smoking Room The smoking room in a factory is usually for middle and senior managers. If this place is dirty, messy, and poorly maintained, it proves that the good environment elsewhere is just for show, not a long-term habit.
9. Employee Canteen The employee canteen reflects how a manufacturer treats its employees. Some manufacturers ignore workers' working and living conditions, focusing only on "profit." Such manufacturers are unlikely to survive long and usually produce low-end, inferior products. When I worked in sales at a previous company, I often took distributors to visit the employee canteen. If it was mealtime, we'd eat there. As a result, distributors who cooperated with that company had a very high success rate and strong loyalty.
However, some factory salespeople think that when distributors visit, it's the "final push," so they must entertain them at fancy hotels and restaurants for last-minute PR. But this often backfires because distributors aren't there for gourmet food; they're there to assess the manufacturer's strength and long-term direction.
10. Employee Benefits Distributors can learn about production line employees' benefits, wages, whether they are paid on time, and whether social insurance is provided. If wages are low and not paid promptly, the factory has cash flow problems. If there's no social insurance or benefits, the manufacturer treats employees poorly, and the boss may be short-sighted, potentially pulling out when profits decline, causing losses for distributors.
When evaluating a manufacturer, distributors should pay close attention to details. However, it's not that if all 10 conditions are met, the manufacturer's strength is absolutely guaranteed, nor that if one or two items fail, the manufacturer lacks strength and cannot be cooperated with. In my opinion, if 3 items fail to meet the distributor's requirements, the distributor should conduct further investigation from other aspects to decide whether to cooperate.
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