A common scenario: the boss assigns a new product distribution task, the salesperson spends a day on the street visiting ten stores, finds it difficult, and reports back: "Supervisor, it's not moving!" The supervisor passes it up: "Manager, it's not moving!" ... Level by level, everyone thinks the product "won't move," and headquarters starts adding distribution policies. New products are certainly hard to distribute; as salespeople, "don't fail after one setback"—don't easily say "it won't move." The terminal sales model and tactics are "to win by orthodox methods," but besides orthodox methods, there are some "accelerating levers" that win by surprise. Only after using all these orthodox and surprise methods and levers should you say "it won't move!"

Accelerating Lever Direction 1: Distributor/Dealer Management Levers

Have you ever seen this scenario: There is a terminal that the manufacturer's salesperson has visited eight times, but this terminal is like a tough nut that can't be cracked. The distributor goes, gives a nod and says, "Sister, this is my goods." The terminal owner exclaims, "Oh, Brother Zhang, why didn't you say so earlier? Come on, unload two cases!"

Have you seen a distributor acting on seniority and "forcing" sales at the terminal? The terminal just says, "This drink might not sell well." The distributor, an old lady, "flies into a rage" and says, "Not sell well? I've been selling goods here for decades, don't I know if it sells well? Stop the nonsense, unload ten cases first. I'll drink two cans right now. If you can't sell them next month, I'll drink them all myself. Joking! I've been selling drinks for decades, I don't know if it sells well? Unload!"

Who is better at distributing new products? Manufacturer personnel or distributors? Definitely distributors! Why? Because the distributor's terminal relationships are something manufacturer personnel can't match. Manufacturer salespeople may be more professional, but their interface with terminals is limited. Visiting once a week just to take orders, not delivering, not offering credit, and even promotional display activities have prizes delivered by the distributor. The distributor's relationship with terminals is built on daily deliveries over a decade, kinship and connections, gift exchanges and drinking together during festivals, years of solving problems like replacing damaged goods, and even credit support for sales.

What to do when manufacturer personnel can't distribute new products? Leverage the distributor's power.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 1: Ride on the Distributor's Delivery Truck to Distribute: New product not moving? Not enough manufacturer staff? Then first use all the methods mentioned earlier like "ice-breaking model," "profit story," "product appearance analysis," "terminal sales combination punches," etc., and do your best. Still not moving? Here's a simple method. Have the manufacturer's salesperson ride on the distributor's delivery truck to distribute. The distributor's staff have relationships but aren't professional, and their trucks carry many products, so they may not prioritize your new product. When the manufacturer's salesperson has exhausted their own efforts, get on the distributor's truck, be sweet-tongued and quick-handed, buy a pack of cigarettes in the morning, treat them to lunch at noon, and demonstrate how to distribute by example. Mobilize the distributor's drivers and use their relationships to distribute to many more stores.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 2: Modify the Distributor's Staff Daily Assessment: New product not moving? Ride on the distributor's truck? Modify the distributor's staff assessment: Distributor bosses are often not the ones selling; most have "stopped going out"—they stay home as bosses and listen to reports. The real sellers are the distributor's salespeople. Follow the distributor's truck to deliver and you'll see why new products don't sell: most distributors use vehicle sales visits, combining driver and salesperson roles. These people aren't selling; they're delivering. They only visit old stores, not new ones, and only sell old products, not new ones—since they earn commissions, opening new stores and selling new products is much harder than visiting old stores and selling old products.

Employees always do what you assess, never what you hope. To make them sell new products well, you must work on assessment.

Case: Positive incentive: Increase commission for new product distribution, decrease for old products. New product commission: 2 yuan per case; old product commission: 1 yuan per case (most distributor salespeople are money-driven, but when they try, they find new products hard to sell and the 2 yuan hard to earn, so they go back to old products. Thus, positive incentives alone aren't enough; must combine with negative incentives). Negative incentive: Set a fixed task for each salesperson: at least 200 cases per month. If they fail to meet this basic new product task, deduct from old product commission. Period management: For example, during new product distribution, each vehicle must distribute to at least 3 new product outlets per day. For each outlet over 3, reward 5 yuan that evening; for each outlet under 3, fine 5 yuan that evening. Weekly new product distribution leaderboard: first place gets 50 yuan, last place pays 50 yuan. Process management: For example, during new product distribution, each new product outlet must unbox and put on shelf, following the "121" standard: one single product, two facings, one poster. Any outlet failing inspection will have its new product distribution reward withdrawn.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 3: Special Project Reward for Distributor Staff New Product Distribution New product not moving? It's easy to ride on the distributor's truck, but intervening in the distributor's staff daily assessment is difficult. Why would the distributor let you do that? You need to help him make small improvements in staff assessment and management repeatedly, letting him taste the benefits each time, until he says: "Brother, I see you're good at this; why don't you handle it for me?" When you can fully intervene in the distributor's staff assessment, you truly control the distributor. In comparison, making short-term new product distribution reward projects for distributor staff is easier.

Case: Manufacturer salesperson: "Boss, Mr. Li came to inspect the market today and was very dissatisfied. He said my new product distribution is too poor and gave me an ultimatum: this month's new product sales must be 600 cases, and if I don't sell 1,200 cases next month, he'll fire me. I asked him to have lunch with you, but he left with a black face without eating." Distributor Boss Zhang: "He didn't even eat?! Well, I'll help you order some new products, but last month's new product points were all distributed; this new product really doesn't sell well." Manufacturer salesperson: "Brother Zhang, if you order goods and they sit in the warehouse unsold, it'll still be my problem. Besides, Mr. Li said he'll check my new product distribution rate next month! Actually, it's not that the new product doesn't sell, nor that all points have been distributed. I've counted: not counting urban-rural fringe, there are still over 300 stores in the city that haven't been distributed. Here's the list of new product blank stores." Distributor Boss Zhang: "Ah, there are still over 300 not distributed? Damn it, those bastards (referring to his drivers and salespeople) said they'd distributed them all. I'll scold them at tomorrow's meeting." Manufacturer salesperson: "Don't scold them; if you do, I can't do my job anymore. How about this: next month we'll run a joint activity. I'll give you the list of 300 stores not distributed. Next month, my people and your people will target these 300 stores. We'll provide the money for rewards: for each store successfully distributed, cash reward of 5 yuan, report the list that evening, and after my verification, I'll issue the reward the next morning. You keep 2 yuan, and give 3 yuan to the brothers, okay?" Distributor Boss Zhang: "Joking, why would I want your 2 yuan? Distributing new products also increases my outlets and profits. You underestimate me. How about this: I'll add 3 yuan per store. Next month, for each new store distributed, give 8 yuan per store. You pay 5 yuan, I pay 3 yuan, how's that?" Manufacturer salesperson: "Great, you're generous. It's settled. I'll have a meeting with your brothers this afternoon." Imagine: next, when you have a meeting with the distributor's drivers, show them the list of stores not distributed, tell them next month everyone does their best to distribute, and for each store they get 8 yuan, settled that day and paid the next day. Do you think these drivers will be motivated? Once they're all mobilized, won't distribution speed up? When pushed, they can use their relationships shamelessly, offer credit, use beer to drive sales of other products like white liquor, instant noodles, etc. Once they really get moving, they'll definitely be better than the manufacturer.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 4: Invite the Distributor Boss to Ride Along for Distribution New product not moving? You can ride on the distributor's truck, intervene in staff assessment, and also have the distributor boss personally help you distribute—when distributing new products, distributors will ask the manufacturer for fees and support. I'll answer "can do, but," and behind the "but" is the support I want, such as the distributor adding staff and vehicles for new product distribution, distributor ordering new products, distributor conducting special new product assessments for staff... In addition, there's another very effective condition: "I require us to sign an agreement: you, as the boss, must personally ride with me for three days of distribution when the new product launches!" This condition often surprises distributors, but they easily accept it; it's not a big deal. Why do this? As mentioned, bosses have long "stopped going out." This time, when the manufacturer manager pulls the distributor boss along for distribution, there are three benefits: First, borrow the boat to sail: with the distributor boss present, many terminals give face, making distribution easier. Second, demonstration effect: in front of the distributor boss, the manufacturer manager uses all his skills to distribute, showing the boss that although the product is new, it can sell if you try hard. He'll then set hard requirements and targets for his drivers and salespeople. Third, fox borrowing tiger's might: the distributor's drivers and salespeople will be shocked: "This old guy has stayed home for years, but now he's personally coming out to distribute for a new product." Seeing the boss's emphasis on this product, they'll naturally take it seriously.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 5: Develop the Distributor's Credit Capability New product not moving? You can use the distributor's relationships by riding on his truck, intervene in staff assessment to mobilize his employees, sign agreements to have the boss help distribute, and also encourage the distributor to offer credit, using his "money" to distribute—for target outlets, let the distributor offer credit. Ways to persuade the distributor to offer credit:

  1. Provocation: "You're such a big boss; if you can't even offer credit for a few cases, terminals will look down on you. Besides, these are local stores; the owners can't run away. What are you afraid of?"
  2. Industry analysis: "In this business, you must offer credit to some stores; it's an industry rule. Hotels take goods on monthly settlement, no cash. If you don't offer credit, others will."
  3. Coercion: "The company won't stop doing the restaurant channel just because you don't offer credit. They'll definitely open a restaurant distributor, and that distributor might become a full distributor soon."
  4. Incentive: "If you offer credit for 100 yuan per store, for 100 stores that's 10,000 yuan. With a 30% bad debt reserve, that's enough, right? How much would you lose? 3,000 yuan! Don't forget, selling 10,000 yuan you also earn 2,000 yuan. Profit 2,000, loss 3,000—how much do you lose? Only 1,000 yuan! And we'll compensate that 1,000 yuan! If you offer credit to 100 stores, we'll invest 1,000 yuan in display fees (so the factory invests 1,000 yuan in market expenses, and the distributor sells 10,000 yuan on credit)."
  5. Specific methods: For example, give each driver/salesperson a credit limit of 1,500 yuan, with a maximum credit of 100 yuan per store. Drivers get 10 yuan per store for cash distribution, but only 3 yuan per store for credit distribution. Credit sales are settled on a rolling basis (the second order's delivery settles the first order's payment). Credit target stores can only be old customers. Then set up an accounts receivable board, track abnormal accounts daily...

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 6: Use the Distributor's Product Line to Drive Distribution New product not moving? You can ride on the distributor's truck to borrow his relationships, intervene in staff assessment to mobilize his employees, have the distributor boss ride along, encourage credit to use his "money," and also use the distributor's "goods" to distribute—use the distributor's strong first-line products to bring in our new product. For example, if the distributor also handles Coca-Cola and Wanglaoji, we can persuade him to run a purchase reward bundle: "Two cases of Coca-Cola plus one case of Wanglaoji plus one case of our new product makes a four-case bundle. For each bundle the terminal purchases, reward one case of Coca-Cola." Terminals will buy the "bundle" for the sake of Wanglaoji and Coca-Cola, and the high distribution rate of Wanglaoji and Coca-Cola will drive our new product's distribution.

Note: This combination bundle purchase reward policy must be paired with "combination display." Place our new product, Wanglaoji, and Coca-Cola (the four-case bundle) in a prominent position at the storefront. If displayed for a month, reward another case of Wanglaoji—combination purchase bundle plus combination display reward. This can instantly increase our new product's distribution rate and significantly improve its display for a month. As long as the product isn't too bad, it will definitely sell through after a month!

Special note: The combination purchase bundle is absolutely not a buy-one-get-one-free. Don't make it "buy ten cases of Coca-Cola and get one case of our new product free." That would kill the new product: not only won't it be displayed, but the store owner will think it's a freebie, not worth promoting, and will discount it if it doesn't sell quickly.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 7: Restructure the Distributor Network New product not moving? First consider leveraging the distributor's relationships, the boss's face and deterrence, the staff's capabilities, the distributor's financial capacity, and product line driving ability. Still can't do it? Some points just can't be distributed? Maybe the distributor doesn't have the capability or network for these outlets, or even if we get orders, his goods can't be delivered—for example, the distributor lacks general taxpayer status and can't deliver to supermarkets, or lacks access permits to deliver to universities. What to do? Structure determines function: either force the distributor to change (too hard and slow), replace the distributor (too costly), or set up sub-distributors.

Why can't the manufacturer distribute to many outlets, but the distributor can? Because the manufacturer lacks relationships, while the distributor has visited countless times over the years. Similarly, why can't the distributor distribute to some outlets? Because the distributor hasn't visited them before (these outlets are enemy territory). But these outlets always have a fixed delivery supplier. Ask around to see who delivers to them; they have established visits and relationships. Find this person to be our sub-distributor. Not only give them product sales profit, but also "buy points"—list the outlets that need distribution and give them opening rewards for new product target outlets. This works much better than our hard efforts. Finding and mobilizing a sub-distributor is like peacefully liberating a region.

Accelerating Lever Direction 2: Improve Visit Efficiency

It's common to see companies blindly imitating Kangshifu and Coca-Cola's terminal route visit model: compiling terminal customer data, creating route manuals, salespeople visiting 30-40 terminals daily on fixed routes, cycling weekly. After this blind imitation, they find this visit model doesn't get many orders or sell much, wastes manpower and resources, and eventually fails. Why?

  1. Wrong target store selection, can't close deals: When the brand is weak, visiting in route order has a very low closing rate. Salespeople face constant rejection, get few orders a day, and become discouraged. The fewer orders, the more lax and scattered they become. Over time, this negative cycle can even collapse team management, increase turnover, and lead to fake reports...
  2. Wrong visit frequency, can't meet outlet requirements: Different industries require different visit frequencies. Beverages and instant noodles are fast-moving consumer goods; visiting weekly always gets orders. Daily chemical products may not sell as fast (a store owner might take half a month or a month to sell a case of conditioner or hand cream). So you must reconsider the visit cycle based on your industry's characteristics and flow rate. Similarly, large and small stores have different product digestion speeds: a one-size-fits-all weekly visit might cause some stores to run out of stock, while others you visit eight times without an order.
  3. Rigid visit model, can't meet market needs: Periodic route visits are a market tool that must adapt to the market's stage-specific needs. Otherwise, it becomes a burden. For example, if competitors are running big promotions in development zones and urban-rural fringes, and you're still calmly visiting city terminals once a week, that's dogmatic. Terminal visits become disconnected from market priorities, hindering distribution progress.
  4. Logistics system problems: In pre-sale visits (taking orders first, delivering later), whether the next day's orders are delivered on time directly affects relationships and whether the salesperson gets orders next time. In vehicle sales visits, the efficiency of on-site picking, unloading, and return loading directly affects how many stores can be distributed in a day.
  5. Management issues: A large terminal sales force needs a mature, detailed assessment, inspection, and management system. Building this system isn't just copying a few reports.

How to avoid these pitfalls? This article first explains new distribution accelerating levers from the perspective of improving visit efficiency:

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 8: Find Opportunity Stores: Case: Jianlibao has long had over-concentrated product items (launched many new products, but few survived), and has experienced business crises, causing a severe decline in terminal distribution rate. Today, Jianlibao wants to distribute new products. Using the traditional model of visiting door-to-door, the chance of closing deals is too slim (some terminals might even think Jianlibao has gone bankrupt). But Jianlibao is now managed by Uni-President, and performance has stopped declining and rebounded, with sales of over a billion in 2010. This shows that many terminals in China still faithfully sell Jianlibao! Ask: Do these terminals that still sell Jianlibao have affection and trust for the brand? Is there a consumer base around these terminals that are still old Jianlibao customers? So today, for Jianlibao's new products, is it easier to distribute to unfamiliar stores or to stores that already have Jianlibao in stock? Of course, it's the stores with Jianlibao! These are Jianlibao's "opportunity stores." Only by targeting these "opportunity stores" can distribution succeed!

New product launches are always like this: out of 100 stores, a few sell well. So sales supervisors during the new product distribution phase should identify these fast-moving outlets, walk through them, chat with the owners, observe the store's characteristics, and see what methods they use for product, display, promotion, and pricing... As long as you look, ask, and feel with intention, you'll find patterns. Then you'll have an epiphany: "I see, stores near schools can sell this product," "Ah, I see, the stores that don't sell are too low-end; we need to focus on high-end stores," "I see, locals prefer local brands; my foreign product can't distribute initially. But stores near tourist attractions can sell because the customers are outsiders," "Ha, I found the trick: first have salespeople walk through terminals, build customer profiles, and list stores with unresolved issues, complaints, or customer service problems with competitors—these stores are easier to break into," "Ha, I see, my first step is to target urban-rural fringes. Competitors are strong in the city, but their distributors have poor delivery and service in these areas"...

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 9: Concentrated Visits to Opportunity Stores: In areas where brand appeal isn't strong enough, don't follow the traditional weekly route visits—weak brands rarely get orders from broad visits. First, screen your opportunity stores, arrange concentrated visits to these stores, design promotional policies for them, win them over, and establish a "revolutionary base" for the new product. After the new product is distributed, sells through, and "stands firm" in these outlets, then expand the visit scope.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 10: Free Graded Visit Model: This is the most extensive model: assign visit areas to salespeople, establish basic customer profiles, then set order task volumes and let them decide which customers to visit daily (salespeople know best which stores need more visits and which need fewer). Note: you must also require a minimum visit frequency for all terminals (e.g., you can decide to visit large customers more often and small ones less, but all terminal customers must be visited at least once a month; otherwise, it's considered a missed visit and subject to penalty)—this method suits small and medium enterprises and distributors with loose management. Note that this model gives employees great daily autonomy—meaning high variability. High variability makes employees prone to slacking off. So you must require a fixed number of daily visits (e.g., choose 30 stores to visit) and record details. Supervisors should spot-check whether employees miss visits, slack off, or fill fake reports.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 11: 5+1 Graded Visit Model: Six days of visits per week: 5 days of normal route visits (e.g., visit 30 customers daily in route order), and on Saturday, use one day for second visits to opportunity outlets, large stores, or key stores. For example, stores where competitors have distributed new products need high-frequency visits—to squeeze out their display, increase our terminal relationships and sell-through opportunities; our new product distribution stores need high-frequency visits—to increase display, execute promotions well, and improve sell-through opportunities; stores with display agreements, exclusive agreements, or promotion agreements need high-frequency visits to maintain agreement execution.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 12: 20+10 Graded Visit Model: Classify terminals into A, B, C grades based on area, sales volume, etc. A-grade stores are large stores; it's best to separate them and create a route manual with dedicated personnel visiting every two days (the quality requirements for salespeople visiting KA supermarkets and large restaurants differ from those visiting small stores; it's best to separate them). For B and C stores, create a graded route manual. For example, daily visits to 30 stores: 20 C-class stores visited once a week, 10 B-class stores visited twice a week—meaning B-class store names might appear twice in the same route manual. This method is essentially the same as the 5+1 model, except 5+1 concentrates repeat visits on one day, while 20+10 separates A stores for dedicated visits, then B stores get one normal visit and one repeat visit on another day of the week, and C stores get weekly route visits.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 13: Optimize Terminal Visit Routes: Establishing terminal visit basic data is to enable salespeople to visit terminal customers systematically, continuously turning blank stores into stocked stores, single-product stores, multi-product stores, and model stores. Supervisors can analyze blank stores, single-product stores, and other terminal structure indicators from the basic data, judge market space, and set targeted sales and distribution goals for salespeople, thereby locking down target outlet lists. However, sometimes improper use of terminal route data can also hinder distribution performance; it needs continuous optimization—

  1. Route manual updates: Every year, 20-30% of restaurants and small supermarkets close and new ones open. Not upgrading terminal customer data in time wastes terminal resources and causes incomplete visits. It also causes employee downtime (according to the route manual, they should visit 30 stores today, but due to demolition, 9 stores on that route have closed). So salespeople should pay attention to new store openings in their area and delete old stores. Supervisors should reward salespeople for reporting new stores and penalize them for missing new stores.
  2. Catch seasonal outlets: Fish restaurants by reservoirs, farm stays in the mountains, and restaurants and supermarkets near seaside tourist attractions are typical seasonal outlets. These stores often operate from May to October and close in winter. Also, school stores close during holidays (but internet cafes become busy). And various city events like kite festivals, beer festivals, Canton Fair, Nadam Fair, dragon boat festivals, even railway construction, city relocation, etc., boost a batch of outlets. These are seasonal and event outlets. They have no sales normally, but short-term sales surge. Observant salespeople and supervisors will note the patterns of these local outlets and establish customer profiles in advance. During the "season" (e.g., in April when the weather warms up and seaside tourist restaurants are about to open), terminals have a large demand for goods, and competitors often haven't reacted yet. If you're the first to visit these stores with focus, selling will be unstoppable.
  3. Temporarily stop normal route visits and concentrate on key areas: Weekly route visits are the orthodox method, the conventional way. But what about unconventional situations? For example, competitors are aggressively distributing to attack our market? Need to stock up before Spring Festival? Need to concentrate on activities to redeem last year's display/exclusive agreement prizes at terminals? Then you must temporarily stop route visits, concentrate on visiting competitor-distributed outlets to counterattack, concentrate on following trucks to stock up, and concentrate on redeeming agreement rewards as soon as possible...

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 14: Hit the Visit Time Gap: Even a tiger has moments of dozing; during those moments, you can "snatch food from the tiger's mouth."

Case: During the New Year, most companies give 7 days off. What do they do on the 8th day? Many companies hold annual meetings, group拜会, training, and assign annual tasks, etc. Immersed in the festive atmosphere, they usually don't go out until after the Lantern Festival (15th). After hitting the market, they'll definitely drink with distributors, and then it's the minor New Year, and before you know it, it's the 20th of the first month. Think about it: in the north, there's the tradition of "opening on the fifth day of the New Year." Many terminals set off firecrackers and open for business on the fifth day. At that time, do they have money? They're holding a pile of cash from selling New Year goods. Do they have stock? They sold everything during the New Year. They have money but no goods, and competitors haven't started work yet. This is the hunger period for terminal restocking. It's like money and fools. For salespeople, this is heaven! I've personally experienced this. Every year, I require the companies I coach to start work on the fourth day (and require distributor staff to open on the fifth). On the fifth, I and company leaders personally lead teams out to distribute. It's great! It's not selling; it's unloading! Customers who usually take one or two cases now dare to unload ten. The first year I felt a bit guilty, thinking it was cruel to employees. But that year, our performance nearly doubled compared to the same period last year, without spending an extra cent on promotions. At the end of the month, we held a celebration, gave bonuses, paid triple overtime, and selected the performance champion. Employees took compensatory time off in the following months. Morale was high, and it didn't affect spirits at all. I've used this method for four years now, but competitors' bigwigs still celebrate the New Year the same way; they haven't woken up yet.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 15: Improve Vehicle Distribution and Loading/Unloading Efficiency This method suits vehicle distribution situations:

  1. Save empty-run time: Before departure, call large customers and customers whose bosses are often away, inform them in advance of our distribution policy and approximate arrival time, ask the boss to wait at home, and preferably prepare the payment to avoid empty runs.
  2. Save on-site picking time: At the distribution site, goods in the vehicle should be neatly arranged by variety (e.g., some daily chemical distributors weld shelves in the vehicle to place products for easy picking), saving salespeople time searching for goods.
  3. Save return loading time: For long-distance vehicle distribution (e.g., to townships), if a certain item's load is insufficient, it affects distribution results. Returning to load wastes too much time. You can use several small box trucks to distribute ahead, with a large truck following as a transfer warehouse to save return loading time.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 16: Team Distribution A single salesperson distributing might be rejected by terminals. For key routes and key stores, switch to team distribution: 3-5 people on a vehicle. After getting off, one person shows samples, sells, delivers, collects money, and keeps accounts; one person helps the owner organize shelves and displays; one person puts up posters and does visual merchandising; one person outside shouts to deliver to other stores; one person watches the vehicle and goods... With strength in numbers, distribution results are often much better than solo efforts.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 17: Improve Order Delivery Rate

  1. Order standards: Especially when route visits are just starting (the distributor's order delivery process hasn't been smoothed out), first clarify with the distributor the standards for valid orders, e.g., whether orders must exceed one case, and whether the distributor agrees to split-case delivery.
  2. Clear addresses: On the first day, salespeople must write the customer's address clearly according to standards, even with a sketch, and submit to the supervisor for approval before handing over to the distributor for delivery.
  3. Abnormal delivery feedback: When distributor drivers deliver, they should report abnormal orders (store not found, or store refusing goods) to the supervisor. After verification, the supervisor tells the driver whether to cancel or redeliver.
  4. Salesperson tracks order delivery rate: During new product distribution, require salespeople to call on the third day after taking an order to track whether it was delivered. If not, immediately report to the supervisor to track why the distributor's driver didn't deliver.
  5. Weekly meeting review: Supervisors meet weekly with the distributor and drivers to review orders not delivered on time that week. Both sides confront each other, explain reasons, and decide whether to cancel or redeliver. Even define responsibility and penalize the distributor's delivery subsidy or deduct rebates as agreed.

Accelerating Lever Direction 3: Promotion & Management Levers

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 18: Eliminate Worries, Use Lower Distribution Thresholds and Return/Exchange Policies to Distribute. By splitting cases and using mixed cases to lower the terminal's purchase threshold, and offering return/exchange promises to eliminate terminal worries. These are conventional methods, but they definitely reduce distribution difficulty and improve distribution performance.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 19: Amplify the "Mass Base," Use Account Opening Rate Policies to Improve Distribution: Kangshifu's traditional approach: To start terminal visit mode in a new market, the first month is spent compiling terminal customer data, counting complaints, and handling legacy issues. In the second month's first week, use mature products to run terminal distribution policies. For example, "Kangshifu Zhenpin Braised Beef Noodle Bag: buy one case, get four packs free, limited to one case per customer." Think: does Kangshifu Zhenpin Braised Beef Noodle Bag, a mature product, need "buy one get four packs" to distribute? Obviously not. So why launch this promotion? To increase the account opening rate (account opening rate = number of transacting customers / total customers). Terminal salespeople facing unfamiliar terminal customers: first visit, they don't want goods; second visit, they don't want goods; by the third visit, the salesperson often doesn't want to go. Even if they visit later, it's just going through the motions, not seriously selling. The result might be: a salesperson claims to visit 300 terminals, 10 salespeople visit 3,000 terminals total. But after six months, statistics show that only 1,800 of the 3,000 terminals actually bought from the salesperson; the other 1,200 never paid attention! That is, you've built profiles for 3,000 terminals, but actually only 1,800 are effectively covered; 1,200 are stubborn non-buyers! What to do? In the first month of formally visiting terminals to sell, run a promotion with mature products, not to sell, but to "deliver milk"—let salespeople visit terminal customers with good news, quickly have the first transaction with as many terminals as possible, and build real relationships. Increase the account opening rate, lay the "mass base," and then distributing new products becomes much easier.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 20: Highlight Advantages for Distribution, Seize Opportunity Products, and Distribute Opportunity Products in Series: (1) Highlight advantageous products: Uni-President Instant Noodles once strategically lost to Kangshifu. Kangshifu had the big flavor "Braised Beef" early on, while Uni-President only crystallized its advantageous flavor "Old Altar Pickled Cabbage" in recent years. Consumers respond well to Uni-President's Old Altar Pickled Cabbage Noodles, and Kangshifu doesn't have this flavor, so it's Uni-President's differentiated advantage. What should Uni-President salespeople do? Maximize the distribution rate of the advantageous product, try to distribute Old Altar Pickled Cabbage first in every terminal, and place it in the best facing and position. Maximize sales opportunities for advantageous products: not only increase sales, but also quickly increase account opening rate and build relationships with terminals, promoting other new product distribution. (2) Highlight opportunity products: What is an opportunity product? As the name suggests, a product with sales opportunities. How to find opportunity products? First look at your own products: your advantageous products are certainly opportunity products. Second, look at competitors: which of their varieties sell well locally? That tells you what type of opportunity product is needed locally. Third, look at local consumer preferences: that also gives clues. Finally, look at channels: different channels need different products: supermarkets need "products that look discounted," townships need low-priced and "looks practical" products, Metro needs case-packed products, group buying needs products with vague pricing (to facilitate gift-giving). Look at your products, competitors, consumer preferences, and channel needs to find opportunity products with sales potential. Distribute these opportunity products; if you choose the right product, distribution naturally speeds up! (3) Opportunity products in series: Once opportunity and advantageous products distribute fast and sell quickly, next think about making them a series, with multiple specifications and channels. This is also a good way to leverage force to increase distribution speed. For example, if Fumando Instant Noodles Braised Beef flavor already sells well locally, to improve performance, is it faster to launch a new Mianba series or to concentrate on launching a new Fumando flavor? Of course, launching a new flavor, specification, or item under the old brand sells faster! Similarly, if Product A is already popular in hotels, then in the circulation channel, is it faster to distribute new Product B, or to slightly modify Product A's packaging and create a circulation version to distribute? Of course, it's A's circulation version. Opportunity products are already recognized by consumers; maximize their sales opportunities, distribute in multiple channels and specifications as a series—this is another four-ounce-moving-a-thousand-pound method.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 21: Distribution Policy Plus Sell-Through Policy. As long as the product sells at the terminal, you don't have to worry about terminals not wanting it. So in the terminal distribution policy, also include sell-through policies to promote sales, thereby increasing distribution speed. Sell-through policies generally include:

  1. Product display standards and display rewards
  2. Safety stock standards
  3. Products clearly priced according to company guidance, correcting abnormal prices
  4. Consumer promotion execution standards and execution rewards, e.g., gift displays, promotional poster hanging
  5. Exclusivity policies, e.g., during my special price period, other products can't do special prices; terminals enjoying model store rewards must promise not to carry designated competitors or allow special displays for competitors
  6. Staff rewards, e.g., bottle opening fees, staff rewards

Case For new product distribution, offer "buy 10 cases, get 6 cases free" to terminals, with a maximum purchase of 40 cases. Simultaneously run a consumer promotion of "another bottle" lottery. The company promises to exchange if not sold within two months. Also require terminals to cooperate with the following:

  1. Cash payment
  2. In-store unboxed display of 4 facings, a product poster in a prominent position, a "another bottle" activity poster, and an outside stack of 10 or more cases
  3. Maintain safety stock; replenish immediately if stock falls below 10 cases
  4. Clearly price at 3 yuan per bottle
  5. Exchange "another bottle" prizes to consumers promptly and collect caps Terminal purchase rewards (the free cases) are not issued immediately; company personnel will visit terminals for inspection and confirmation. Terminals that meet the above conditions will receive the rewards two months after the new product purchase. Otherwise, rewards are not issued.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 23: Use Strong to Drive Weak: Combination Purchase and Combination Display Policy: Suppose there are 1,000 stores locally. Product A has an 80% distribution rate, Product B 20%. That means 800 terminals have A, 200 have B. There's a 600-store gap! Understand? A can drive B (note: absolutely not buy A get B free; that would kill B—terminals won't promote products they didn't pay for, and if it doesn't sell, they'll slash prices). The fastest method is a purchase reward bundle: "Three cases of A plus one case of B makes a four-case bundle. For each bundle purchased, reward one case of A." How many stores are interested? 800. 800 stores buy the bundle "for A's sake." B's distribution rate could suddenly jump, potentially increasing B's distribution from 200 to 600, 700, or even close to 800 stores that month. Next, promote B's sell-through, so combination purchase must be paired with combination display. So the complete policy is: "Three cases of A plus one case of B makes a bundle. For each bundle purchased, reward one case of A, but the reward is not issued immediately. The terminal must display one case of A and one case of B in a designated prominent position, maintain safety stock, and replenish immediately if below. At the end of the month, we'll send an additional case of A, totaling two cases of A as rewards, issued after inspection." Combination purchase with combination display can use the strong to drive the weak, rapidly increasing the weak product's distribution rate. More importantly, the combination display policy greatly improves B's display: every store places B in the best position, next to the best-selling A. Can B sell?

Similarly, you can use A's consumer promotion to drive B's distribution. For example, A runs "another bottle" where winning gives a bottle of B. Terminals must have B in stock to redeem A's prizes, which also increases B's distribution speed.

Terminal Distribution Accelerating Lever 24: Optimize Distribution Policies (1) Mobilize the masses, full-channel promotion policy: Many hands make light work. If new product distribution is slow, see if you can unite a united front to increase speed—don't just give benefits to terminals. If any link among second-tier wholesalers, distributors, or terminals is neglected, it creates distribution obstacles. For example, give distributors and second-tier wholesalers a full-channel "buy one case, get two packs" policy, requiring them to pass it down to terminals. But if distributors and wholesalers have no extra benefit in passing down the bonus, they lack motivation, slowing distribution. Similarly, for "another bottle" or cap rewards, if a small store owner collects 10 caps from consumers and exchanges 10 bottles, and the manufacturer also gives him 10 bottles, he has no profit and finds it troublesome, making excuses not to exchange for consumers. When distribution is slow, change the policy to full-channel promotion: e.g., "Distributors and second-tier wholesalers: full-channel buy one case, get two packs, and pass it down to terminals. Additionally, second-tier wholesalers get an extra reward: for every 50 cases, get one case free." Or "For the another bottle activity, terminals collect 10 caps, and the company exchanges 11 bottles; the extra bottle is the terminal's handling fee."

(2) Use "targeted gifts for different channels" for distribution: For new product terminal distribution, is "buy one case of beer, get a 500g bag of salt" okay? Hotels are happy; they can use salt for cooking. Small grocery stores are happy; they can sell salt. But what do liquor and tobacco specialty stores do with so much salt? When the manufacturer manager visits the market, these store owners might exclaim in panic: "Your factory can't send salt anymore! We've stocked enough salt from your beer promotions to last ten years!" Similarly, is "buy one case of beer, get a pack of laundry detergent" okay? Supermarkets and circulation channels are happy, but hotels and restaurants aren't—they don't need that much detergent and can't sell it. How about giving food as gifts? Everyone needs to eat: "buy beer, get rice"? Supermarkets can sell it, restaurants can use it, so everyone might be happy. But high-end hotels think your rice is low-grade and don't want it. Forget it! How about giving products as gifts? To avoid price erosion from giving the same product, use different varieties: "buy A, get B" nationwide? Not necessarily. If B doesn't sell well in that region, or B's grade doesn't suit that channel, problems arise. It's hard to please everyone with one policy! Different channels and terminals need different products and gifts. Often we overlook this when formulating distribution policies, creating a one-size-fits-all policy. So adjust the policy: first clarify which channels to distribute in, then formulate different distribution varieties, thresholds, gifts, and policies for different channels and store sizes.

(3) Use single-store policies and catalog marketing for distribution: List the stubborn stores that can't be distributed, analyze the reasons, which are usually one of the following:

  • Legacy issues to handle: e.g., the store has expired products to resolve, but the salesperson lacks resources and authority.
  • Distribution standard issues: the store isn't suitable for this product; cross it off the list.
  • Visit efficiency issues: e.g., the store's peak business is at night, the boss is there at night, but the salesperson visits during the day; adjust visit times.
  • Salesperson capability issues: e.g., it's a large store, and the salesperson's negotiation skills are insufficient; the supervisor needs to go personally.
  • Policy intensity issues: e.g., the store sells high-margin products and isn't interested in the current distribution policy; adjust the product, policy intensity, gift format, or even tailor a single-store policy.
  • Distributor service issues: e.g., the store requires credit, but the distributor lacks credit capability or delivery capacity; communicate with the distributor or find a capable sub-distributor to cover this point.
  • Network relationship issues: our distributor has no relationship with this store; the terminal has its own fixed delivery supplier; find that supplier to be our sub-distributor.
  • Brand influence issues: the company's brand and products have little influence in these stores; they don't want them; select opportunity stores for concentrated visits. Reflect on these directions, discard stores that can't be satisfied for now, and for the rest that can be solved, create policies for each store. Assign the catalog list to salespeople, supervisors, distributors, and sub-distributors. The company provides support, sets deadlines for distribution, and uses both rewards and penalties.

(4) Separate promotion and sales for distribution: Finally, there's a batch of large stores that salespeople can't distribute to. Why? Because the company supplies goods to the distributor at net price, and the authority over terminal display fees, credit rights, damaged goods replacement, equipment placement, etc., isn't in the salesperson's hands; it's all up to the distributor. Even if the terminal wants a beach umbrella, the salesperson can't decide, so naturally they can't distribute. What to do? Either adjust the policy to separate "promotion" and "sales," giving salespeople some "promotion" authority. Or make the distributor the main body for both "promotion" and "sales," assess the distributor, and force them to spend money on distribution.

(5) Real-time calibration of promotion policies to improve distribution: Supervisors and managers rack their brains to formulate new product distribution policies. But no matter how hard they try in the office, when they try them in practice, they often find flaws. For example, the earlier examples of giving salt or rice with beer were inappropriate; the "another bottle" activity was good, but not giving terminals a "handling fee" caused resistance. So throughout the distribution process, it's crucial to have bottom-up communication, quick response, and quick correction. Adjust policies by following trucks: In the first two days of distribution, supervisors must personally follow trucks to verify any flaws in the distribution policy. Salespeople should also quickly report flaws to supervisors for modification. Adjust policies by tracking data: Throughout distribution, monitor distribution data daily. If numbers are abnormal, go to the front line immediately to understand why and what support or adjustments are needed in policy (e.g., change promotion intensity, persuade distributor to offer credit, allocate funds to handle terminal legacy issues). Adjust policies by monitoring competitors: After we start distribution, competitors may counterattack strongly. So a promotion policy that was very effective yesterday might become "outdated" today due to competitor counter-policies. Require employees to report competitor dynamics daily; if anomalies are found, immediately decide whether to adjust policy to counterattack.

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