---
title: "25 Solutions to Market Operation Problems"
description: "This article addresses 25 common market operation problems, including types of channel stuffing, prevention methods, causes and harms, handling of malicious channel stuffing, off-season market strategies, competitive responses, customer management, market development, promotions, competitor information gathering, quality issues, promotional interception, slow-moving products, new product launches, low-price sales in malls, word-of-mouth effects, becoming a preferred resource, customer segmentation, preventing promotional expense interception, pre-season inventory loading, handling near-expiry and expired products, benefits of separate product item operations, and new product development procedures and significance."
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published: "2017-07-02"
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# 25 Solutions to Market Operation Problems

> This article addresses 25 common market operation problems, including types of channel stuffing, prevention methods, causes and harms, handling of malicious channel stuffing, off-season market strategies, competitive responses, customer management, market development, promotions, competitor information gathering, quality issues, promotional interception, slow-moving products, new product launches, low-price sales in malls, word-of-mouth effects, becoming a preferred resource, customer segmentation, preventing promotional expense interception, pre-season inventory loading, handling near-expiry and expired products, benefits of separate product item operations, and new product development procedures and significance.

1. **What are the types of channel stuffing?**
Answer:
1) **Malicious channel stuffing**: Dealers deliberately dump goods into non-designated areas to seek profits.
2) **Natural channel stuffing**: Usually occurs at the borders of designated areas or during logistics, not intentionally caused by dealers.
3) **Benign channel stuffing**: Dealers have strong distribution capabilities, and goods often flow to non-target and blank markets.

2. **How to effectively prevent market channel stuffing?**
Answer:
1) Mark products shipped to different markets with different regional codes;
2) Require dealers to pay market deposits;
3) Implement a tiered price system to ensure reasonable profit margins at every channel level;
4) Control the entire promotion process to prevent post-promotion price drops;
5) Clarify the rights and obligations of both parties in distribution and agency contracts to ensure customers comply;
6) Establish market supervision and a market inspector work system;
7) Establish a strict penalty system.

3. **What are the causes of channel stuffing?**
Answer:
1) To obtain more "rebates" from the company and seize market share;
2) Uneven market development, with some markets becoming saturated and supply-demand imbalances;
3) Suppliers offering different preferential policies to intermediaries;
4) Suppliers having inaccurate information about intermediaries' sales;
5) Poor sales in the designated area leading to inventory buildup, and the manufacturer not accepting returns, so dealers sell in more profitable markets;
6) Different transportation costs;
7) Sales targets set by the manufacturer are too high, forcing dealers to stuff channels to meet targets;
8) Market retaliation, aimed at maliciously damaging the other party's market, often occurring when the manufacturer changes distributors.

4. **What are the harms of channel stuffing?**
Answer:
1) Once prices become chaotic, intermediaries' interests are harmed, leading to distrust of the manufacturer and loss of confidence in selling its products, even refusal to sell;
2) Damages brand image, preventing initial investments from yielding sufficient returns;
3) Competing brands may seize the opportunity and even replace the product;
4) Profit margins at all levels decrease, shortening the product's life cycle.

5. **How to handle malicious channel stuffing from adjacent areas into your responsible area?**
Answer:
1) Conduct on-site investigations to find evidence of malicious channel stuffing;
2) Contact the regional manager of the adjacent area to explain the harm and losses caused to your area;
3) Negotiate a solution;
4) Report to your regional manager, develop a handling plan, and submit it level by level for approval and execution.

6. **How to do well in the off-season market? What methods are there?**
Answer:
1) Conduct research. The market changes rapidly, and any marketing strategy must be based on and adapt to the situation. Market research is the basis for marketing strategy formulation and a necessary guarantee for marketing success.
2) Make plans. Any work requires a plan to avoid chaos.
3) Focus on the product. The product is the core element of marketing success, and whether it can meet consumer needs to the greatest extent is the fundamental prerequisite.
4) Focus on channels. Channels are the pathways and platforms for product sales. Stable systems, efficient logistics, and wide coverage are important guarantees for peak-season success. As competition intensifies, channel resources become increasingly limited. It is too late to build channels in the peak season, so enterprises must start channel construction in the off-season to lay a solid foundation for rapid market activation in the peak season.
5) Focus on distribution. High coverage is the premise and basis for high market share. Distribution is like sowing seeds; efficient distribution maximizes coverage.
6) Focus on communication. Communication is the wings of a brand. In the off-season, when competitors are often still dormant (especially small and medium-sized enterprises), and there is less brand information and lower consumer brand awareness, strengthening brand communication to "fire the first shot in the market" can achieve better results than in the peak season for quickly establishing high brand awareness and shaping a good brand image.
Focus on promotion. Promotion is not only an effective weapon to boost terminal sales but also an effective means to increase distribution channel coverage and brand communication. Although consumer demand is low in the off-season, effective promotions can increase the enthusiasm of distribution channel members to stock up, quickly improve channel coverage, and increase consumer attention to the brand.
Focus on summary. Without summary, there is no improvement or progress.

7. **Facing strong distribution coverage and high shelf presence from competitors, how do you break through?**
Answer: When competitors already have high distribution and shelf presence, we should promote in special closed channels, creating differentiation through differentiation. The characteristics are high profit points, relatively weak brand requirements, and poor competitiveness. In such environments, there is a certain forced purchase because if you don't buy this brand, there are no other brands to buy, thus meeting the high-profit requirements of special channels.
Typically, in special channels, we use buyouts and display arrangements, such as schools, internet cafes, service areas, hotels, breakfast shops, stations, and other closed or semi-closed channels, forming an encirclement of the GT channel. At the same time, we must do well in point selection and distribution, and key supermarket displays. Because competitors are strong in the general channel, a large-scale attack would require significant investment, and due to the large scope, it would be difficult to do detailed work, so the effect would not be good. Therefore, point selection is crucial. After selecting points, detailed work can be done thoroughly, whether it's shelf space, item codes, or promotions, tailored to each store's situation. This way, we can conquer one by one, forming highlights. One highlight radiates to a small area, and over time, we can stabilize a portion of the consumer base. Highlights link together, ultimately achieving the effect of key markets. Supermarkets are the image; many consumers look at supermarkets. If supermarkets have sales, consumers will buy. If supermarkets sell the product, the general channel will also accept it. So choosing supermarkets to build a good image is key; it is a necessary means to generate pull. Once the method is found, persistence is needed. With the above three points plus unremitting efforts, we can definitely turn the situation around and become strong from weak.

8. **How to manage customers in the region who do not listen to your management?**
Answer: First, look at the reasons why this customer is difficult to manage. It could be two aspects.
1) It is because my business ability is poor, and I cannot do practical things for the customer or bring benefits. The customer is unwilling to listen to my management, which is understandable. Because it is my fault, I need to actively recharge and learn, strive to solve problems for the customer, and bring benefits.
2) It is because the customer's business has grown large or there are character issues. In this case, communicate more with the customer, clearly state that you represent the company to assist and guide their work, explain the pros and cons, and tell them about the company's next development direction and the potential profits it may bring. If, after presenting facts and reasoning, the customer still does not comply, consider reducing their product items until the customer is eliminated.

9. **What aspects should be noted in market development?**
Answer:
One: Product
1) Quickly increase the distribution rate of best-selling products, leverage their pulling power, enrich the product portfolio, and meet consumer needs;
2) Based on market characteristics, determine the main categories for the region. For example, in the northwest, consumer demand is mainly sour and spicy.
3) Establish a standardized process for new product promotion, increase tasting activities at community and supermarket entrances. Enhance the interaction between products and consumers.
Two: Dealers
1) Implement market development plans and achieve phased account opening goals;
2) Handle dealer objections promptly, improve satisfaction, strengthen dealer guidance, and increase cooperation;
3) Establish model stores to strengthen dealers' confidence in selling all product items;
Three: Personnel
1) Implement team building, cultivate team cohesion; introduce performance assessment and incentive mechanisms, and establish a sound compensation system;
2) Strengthen professional skills training for personnel;
3) Implement customer inventory management and establish a sales foundation.

10. **How do you view promotions?**
Answer: Promotions are divided into benign and malignant categories. So-called benign promotions mean that before any promotion activity, the enterprise should fully consider every link in the overall market competitive environment, the favorable conditions and impacts of each link on this activity, and after careful planning and design, obtain the maximum benefit without disturbing or even alerting market competitors. Although such measures may affect the maximum promotional effect of the activity, for the long-term market operating environment of the enterprise, it will obtain a stable and excellent market competitive environment, thereby providing sufficient guarantee for maximizing long-term benefits by sacrificing a small amount of short-term gains. Malignant promotions only consider maximizing current market returns and ignore the impact of the activity on the market environment. They can achieve short-term goals, but this is often overlooked by many enterprises in excessive promotions.
We can draw the conclusion: To make promotions successful, they must be stimulating, but this stimulation has a marginal effect. We must analyze based on market reality and determine reasonable stimulation and corresponding promotional investment according to the objective environment. Promotions that drain the pond to catch fish or eat the seed corn should be strictly prohibited.

11. **How to obtain reliable competitor information?**
Answer:
1) Check the latest production date products at terminals to obtain basic product information;
2) Communicate with wholesale store owners to obtain tiered prices, promotions, and monthly sales volumes (visit no fewer than 10 stores);
3) Obtain relevant information from inside the competitor company or from sales personnel;
4) Obtain relevant information from the competitor's general distributor.

12. **How to respond to quality problems in the market?**
Answer:
1) Compare the problematic products with normal products from multiple angles to draw a true conclusion;
2) Recall the problematic products and replace old stock with new stock, avoiding any interruption in supply;
3) Send the problematic products back to the company's sales management department and request the quality assurance department to inspect and verify the issue;
4) Count the problematic products centrally and request company support for handling.

13. **How to handle malicious interception during promotions?**
Answer:
1) Find evidence and directly explain to the customer the seriousness of promotional interception;
2) Notify your direct supervisor and come up with a handling plan;
3) Report to the company's marketing department and request the supervision department to assist in resolving the issue, briefly describing the handling plan;
4) Guide and monitor the customer to implement the promotion honestly and thoroughly again.

14. **Reasons why products don't sell after being placed on shelves?**
Answer:
1) Few people come to buy this product; occasionally a little is sold.
**Solution**: Review the degree of correspondence between the product and the target consumer group's needs. If the correspondence is high, it means consumers have insufficient awareness of the product, so strengthen terminal promotion by adding sales guides and stimulating the enthusiasm of small retailers; if the correspondence is low, it means the product lacks appeal to consumers, so lower the price or use consumer promotions to increase correspondence and promote impulsive purchases.
2) Product turnover is slow; those who bought it don't come back.
**Solution**: First, expand the new consumer base to increase the initial purchase rate; second, find out the reasons for slow turnover. If quality is poor, improve quality; if packaging is poor, change packaging; if the price is too high, lower it. If the company cannot improve on the above reasons, finally consider eliminating the product.
3) The product simply doesn't sell at the terminal, and the market demands returns.
**Solution**: This phenomenon indicates that the product cannot meet consumer needs. First, select specific areas for concentrated "clearance sales"; second, sell products that are difficult to handle in some markets at low or zero profit in exhibition sales, and can apply to the company for some expense support.
4) New product launches, new market development, or competitors using short-term heavy promotions to suppress, causing temporary slow sales.
**Solution**: This is a normal phenomenon of slow sales. Marketing personnel should not be impatient and use special prices, buy-one-get-one, or other promotional methods, or "follow competitors to mutual destruction" malignant competition, which damages the product's brand image and life cycle.
5) The product has been slow-selling for a long time, not temporarily.
**Solution**: Systematically check the product's core strength, sales driving force, and brand pulling force, find the weak links in each force, and comprehensively adjust and improve them.
6) The product doesn't sell in all markets.
**Solution**: This phenomenon mostly indicates that the product itself has significant problems. Lock down the region and centrally digest the existing channel inventory.
7) The product doesn't sell in some regional markets.
**Solution**: Review the differences between the product and the consumption habits of consumers in that region. If the product does not adapt to local consumption habits, temporarily withdraw from the region; if it does adapt, investigate the promotion methods and sales work in that region, and adjust and improve.
8) The product doesn't sell in individual markets.
**Solution**: This phenomenon is mainly due to insufficient sales driving force in that market. Therefore, review the work of sales representatives and dealers, introduce advanced experience and promotion methods from other markets, and adjust personnel or dealers if necessary.
9) The product doesn't sell in different channels within the same market.
**Solution**: Different channels cover different consumer groups, and the same product may not be suitable for different channels in the same market. First, reposition and classify the sales channels; second, the promotion methods for different channels should be different.
10) The product doesn't sell in different areas within the same market.
**Solution**: These areas are mostly weak areas for the enterprise in that market. The reason for slow sales in these areas is not the product but mainly the combination of push and pull forces and the operation rhythm. Analyze the promotion difficulties in these areas one by one, and formulate special promotion plans for the area based on the competitive landscape, competitor characteristics, consumption characteristics, and channel characteristics.

15. **What are the key points for new product launch?**
Answer:
1) Fully understand the product's background, target consumer group, positioning, characteristics, forms, advantages and disadvantages, and other necessary knowledge.
2) Understand the company's overall launch policy, promotion plan, and logistics support system to find available resources.
3) Investigate the market and choose appropriate varieties and specifications.
4) Develop a price operation table and promotion implementation plan for the local market.
5) Find pilot areas for trial sales and adjust the above plans.
6) Strengthen distribution and terminal point promotion effects, focus on display to highlight visual consumption at points of sale, and use various terminal pull methods.
7) Pay special attention to customer reactions and turnover, and do a good job in service in a timely manner.
8) There is no overnight success; fast-growing products have correspondingly shorter life cycles.

16. **How to view low-price sales in shopping malls and how to control them?**
Answer: Every company has a stable price positioning. If low-price sales occur without company consent, it will disrupt the normal operation of the company system. Analysis is as follows:
1) **Distribution layer**: Each channel has its own price system and reasonable profit margins. If a mall sells at a low price, wholesalers, retail points, and even other malls will see it and suspect that the manufacturer is supplying at a low price, leading to distrust and possibly demanding the same price. The market will immediately become turbulent, so stable prices are important; this is a matter of principle.
2) **Terminal layer**: Retail stores need high gross margins to survive. If your product is sold at a low price in a mall, sales at other retail points within the mall's coverage area will immediately decline because consumers know the product is cheaper there. Who would buy at retail points? Your product will become unsellable at these points. Retailers' thinking is simple: it must sell well and make money. If customers are taken away and the price advantage is gone, you can forget about them ordering again.
3) **Consumer group**: Originally, your product could sell for 2 yuan, now it sells for 1.5 yuan. In the short term, your product will sell very well, and the impact will be wide. However, FMCG consumers have low loyalty. If this activity continues for a long time, consumers will think your product's price is like this. When you restore the original price in the future, sales will definitely drop significantly.
4) **Suggestion**: Negotiate; either stop the low-price sales or cut off supply. If the mall really has a reason to do it, then limit purchases (each person can only buy a certain amount), and the promotion time should not be too long, preferably 7 days. This way, if other customers complain in the future, you can explain.
5) Communicate with customers in advance to avoid this situation.

17. **How to create effective word-of-mouth effects?**
Answer: As a sales representative of the enterprise, you may not be able to control what customers say, but the relationship with customers can be managed, giving you the opportunity to improve their views on your company or brand.
If customers are very loyal to your enterprise, not just satisfied, then word-of-mouth is not easily overturned.
Because of social media, word-of-mouth is pervasive. Potential customers often check online recommendations before deciding which company or product to choose.
A key point of word-of-mouth marketing is to determine which types of customers can help spread word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth directly affects company growth.

18. **How to become the preferred resource in customers' minds?**
Answer:
Build an excellent corporate reputation based on trust and philosophy.
Closely track the latest market conditions, new products or services, industry trends, advertising wars, and personnel changes.
Help customers solve their key problems with a cautious and professional approach.
Continuously improve your sales and problem-solving skills.
Understand the customer's world—their industry dynamics, market, and their customers.
Solve internal system problems to smooth the way for customers to do business with you.
Understand competitor dynamics.
As a company representative, you are as important as the company's products and services.

19. **How to use "customer dissatisfaction surveys" to segment customers?**
Answer:
1) **"Fallen" customers**: These are customers who were once your company's customers but are now competitors' customers. The survey scope for such customers mainly includes: understanding the background and process of terminating the business relationship with your company, the reasons for dissatisfaction, and seeking corresponding improvement measures to prevent similar customer loss in the future.
2) **Defecting customers**: This is the opposite of "fallen" customers. They are dissatisfied with competitors and have expectations for your company, intending to accept your services. The survey scope mainly includes: finding out the reasons for their past dissatisfaction and using this as a lesson to avoid similar situations in your company.
3) **Existing customers**: These are customers who maintain business relationships with your company but have potential dissatisfaction. You can start from two aspects: purchase frequency and loyalty. From the purchase frequency perspective, investigate whether different customers' dissatisfaction with your company differs over a certain period, to clarify what measures can improve customer satisfaction and increase purchase frequency. From the loyalty perspective, investigate the differences in dissatisfaction between "exclusive customers" who only have business with your company and "wavering customers" who also have business with other companies. The results can help find ways to improve customer loyalty.
4) **Competitors' customers**: They need this type of product and service, and they have already accepted competitors' products and services, forming their own views or temporary standards on the quality of such products and services. Based on dissatisfaction surveys, enterprises can provide better products and services than competitors, making these customers future customers.
5) **Internal "customers"—sales representatives and assistants**: They are the "frontline personnel" who directly face customers. They directly face the market, experience customers' purchase psychology and behavior, and rely on internal services to provide services to external customers. If the opinions and views of internal customers are collected and analyzed, valuable clues about customer dissatisfaction can be obtained.

20. **How to effectively prevent promotional expenses from being intercepted?**
Answer:
One) Keep expenses away from dealers. The most direct and effective way to prevent dealers from intercepting promotional expenses is to keep them away from dealers:
A. Use funds for specific purposes and do not let dealers get involved.
B. Bypass dealers and give funds directly to downstream distributors.
Two) Convert expenses into promotional items. For FMCG, the promotional method that truly has a good pulling effect on channels and terminals is not cash promotions but physical item promotions. Cash promotions are easy to cause price chaos if not strictly controlled, while physical item promotions, if the promotional items are chosen appropriately and adhere to the differentiation principle of "new, novel, and different," can have very obvious effects. Points to note when converting expenses into promotional items:
A. The promotional items must be worth the money, and the value of the promotional items must correspond to the investment intensity.
B. The promotional items must be marked with the manufacturer's logo and identification, and preferably marked with "Promotional item, not for sale" to block the dealer's path to selling the promotional items, forcing them to use the promotional items for channel promotions, ensuring the promotional expenses are used where they are most needed.
Three) Shift from "blocking" to "dredging." For some large customers that are difficult to control, or those who are "greedy" and rely on embezzling promotional expenses for profit, if there is no suitable replacement customer, and the dealer has certain network control capabilities and a large sales share, it is advisable to retreat in order to advance, adopting the approach of shifting from "blocking" to "dredging." Specific methods are:
A. From the promotional budget for that market, set aside a portion as a reward fund. For customers with ideal promotional effects and effective implementation, give "open rewards" to prevent their "petty theft" behavior.
B. Develop a promotional expense reimbursement assessment standard. The reimbursement of promotional expenses should be strictly linked to soft and hard indicators such as sales volume, product structure, distribution rate, and product display, so that they understand their responsibilities and know that promotional expenses are not easily obtained.

21. **What should be noted in pre-peak season inventory loading?**
Answer:
Establish good customer relationships and gain trust as the foundation for inventory loading.
Based on product shelf life and channel sales capabilities, reasonably load inventory in the channel to solve customers' concerns about near-expiry products.
Increase channel inventory within a safe range to prevent stockouts during the peak season.
Give reasonable reasons for loading inventory, such as rewards for one-time large purchases.
Increase terminal distribution to cultivate channel circulation momentum.

22. **How to handle near-expiry and expired products? What channels are available in the market?**
Answer: For market operations, maintenance is crucial. It is an absolute link in preventing near-expiry and expired products. However, it is inevitable that near-expiry and expired products will appear due to various reasons from the market.
**Method 1 for near-expiry products**: Find special closed channels for one-time sales, such as school canteens, train stations, factories, prisons, and other closed or semi-closed channels. Their characteristics are high-density crowds and concentrated consumption.
**Method 2**: Exhibition sales. Choose markets, vegetable markets, or places with high foot traffic. The exhibition sales price should be higher than the general distributor's normal price but slightly lower than the terminal store's full-box price. Then the customer needs to take part of the profit to do box-external physical prizes, so consumers' purchase cost is lower than the normal channel price, and they also get box-external gifts. The purchase rate will be high, and there is no need to apply for company support, and the customer still has profit.
**Method 3**: Contact areas with fast consumption and use the profit points as promotions to promote rapid digestion.
**Method for expired products**: Contact feed manufacturers or farms for one-time digestion. Do not put them back into the circulation channel to avoid greater losses.

23. **What are the benefits of operating by product item?**
Answer: If the target market is compared to a 360-degree circle, then for every degree increase in our product's market share, the competitor's target potential decreases by one degree. Conversely, for every degree the competitor increases, the remaining market potential decreases by one degree. So the more strong product items we have, the more overall market share we occupy. However, in most cases, our product line is constantly enriched, but strong product items have not been developed. The reason is simple: dealers have limited energy and cannot do every product in detail and in place. When the company launches a new product, the customer follows and promotes the new product, but before the new product matures, the old product has already declined due to insufficient maintenance. The best way to solve this situation is to operate by product item, appropriately divide out products that are not done well, find new customers to specialize in promotion and maintenance. In this way, the quantity done by two customers will definitely be greater than that done by one customer. And although it seems like self-competition, in the process of self-competition, the competitor's market share is gradually squeezed to the minimum.

24. **What is the procedure for new product development?**
Answer:
1) Propose goals and collect ideas;
2) Evaluate and screen, form and test product concepts;
3) Draft a preliminary marketing plan;
4) Conduct commercial analysis;
5) Develop the physical product;
6) Conduct product trial sales in designated market areas;
7) Mass produce and commercialize the product.

25. **What is the significance of new product development?**
Answer:
(1) For consumers, it can continuously meet new consumption needs, improve consumption structure, and raise consumption levels.
(2) For the market, it can increase the variety of goods marketed and continuously develop in depth and breadth.
(3) For enterprises, developing new products and opening new markets are the main ways to survive and develop.

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