一、知彼 First, list the common questions distributors often ask when developing them:

  1. Price too high: "Your company's product prices are too high, hard to sell, you'd better find someone else?"
  2. Exclusive agency: "I want to be the exclusive agent for your company's products"
  3. Market downturn: "The market is not good now, business is hard, you'd better come back later?"
  4. Request for initial stock: "My capital is hard to turn over, you should support me with some initial stock"
  5. Request for deposit: "I haven't dealt with your company before, I don't know your company, you should give me a deposit"
  6. Lack of funds: "I have limited financial strength now, I don't want to consider other companies"
  7. Company relationship: "I have a good relationship with my current company, I won't consider introducing other companies for now"
  8. Friendship: "I have years of friendship with XX from my current company, I'm embarrassed to introduce other companies"
  9. Small business: "Our business is very small, it's inconvenient to stock your goods, you'd better find someone else"
  10. Transportation: "It's too far from your company, transportation is inconvenient and costly"
  11. Small company: "Your company is small, we only deal with products from big companies"
  12. Contractual constraints: "I have a contract with my current company, let's talk after the contract expires"
  13. Exclusive sales award: "My current company gives me a special sales award, I can't deal with other companies' products"
  14. Decision-making authority: "The manager is not at home, I can't decide, let's talk after the manager returns"
  15. Historical issues: "XX dealt with your company's products, the feedback was not good"
  16. Market conflict: "Your products are handled by XX, aren't they selling well?" Before you set out, you must have countermeasures for the above objections, otherwise, you may get stuck when talking with customers and find it hard to proceed. So first, you need to know yourself and the enemy. 二、知己 Many salespeople simply learn about the company and products, then go to the market with price lists and promotional brochures to recruit distributors, facing the above objections. In fact, these objections may not be the real ones; they might just be a polite way to refuse. Only when you know yourself can you have a good interaction with customers. As the saying goes: Third-rate salespeople sell products, second-rate sell services, first-rate sell culture.
  17. Understand why the company needs distributors. When facing a distributor who demands high prices, you can ask him: The reason we approach you is for channel borrowing, capital security, management cost, etc. Otherwise, we would set up direct sales offices and wouldn't need distributors.
  18. Understand the company's strategy. You need to understand the company's strategy, background, especially financial strength. The more you know, the more you can convey a sense of belonging to the distributor. As the saying goes, "To sell products, first sell yourself." When communicating with distributors, if you passionately share your views on the company and its development, they will be infected by your enthusiasm, and as distributors, they will feel more confident in representing your products.
  19. Understand product knowledge and market positioning. This is very important. In this era of material abundance, distributors have many products to choose from every day. When you visit a distributor, you need to understand their product grade needs. Otherwise, if you don't match their needs, you might doubt whether your price is too high or quality is not as good, and repeated rejections can make you lose confidence. You also need to understand the product's performance, process configuration, usage methods and effects, price, and also the competitors' company status, main products, performance, and prices.
  20. Conduct detailed market research. Understand the target market's cultural environment, geographical location, population, economic level, consumption habits, market capacity, market share of leading and following brands. This way, you can estimate what you can achieve in your market in a year, and then decide how to sign the sales task for the general distributor or regional distributor.
  21. Understand competitors and market operation methods. When you enter a new market, first understand major supermarkets, wholesale markets, and retailers. Check how competitors display at the terminal, what promotional methods they use, which supermarkets have good sales in the area, and what methods they use. How does the circulation market operate? Which product is the main one? Which distributor's products have an advantage in supermarket displays? Collect information. Only when you understand the market can you recruit distributors with ease; this is adapting to local conditions.
  22. Based on market conditions, create a market operation plan close to the market. The headquarters' market operation plan is just a general outline, not a specific implementation plan. Each market is different. Now that you have preliminary market visits and understand the market, combine the actual market situation with the company's market development strategy to draft a plan close to the market. When you communicate with distributors, you can ask for their suggestions to improve the plan. Even if a distributor initially doesn't cooperate for some reason, they will be impressed by your professional knowledge and dedication. 三、Criteria for finding target customers. 1: Strong sales network and abundant capital. Distributors with strong financial strength are often leaders in the industry, and these are our primary targets. However, such customers often have strict requirements for manufacturer policies, and they have many brands, so they may not place your product in an important position. 2: Have capital but no network strength. This situation often involves those who deal in related products and are just entering this industry. These customers are our first choice. Although they are new to this industry, they have many networks in other industries. 3: No capital but advanced business concepts. This situation often involves those who have just entered the industry, either previously working for other distributors or as manufacturer salespeople who now open their own stores. These people have ideas but lack funds. If the manufacturer provides strong support, finding such distributors is also an option. 4: No capital, no network, and no ideas. The most common thing such distributors say is, "I'll try with a small payment first." They are not the target choice. 四、Finding distributors. Once you know yourself and the enemy and have selection criteria, you can start finding distributors. There is no shortcut; it requires hard work and diligence.
  23. Online search:
  24. Yellow pages search: Use business directories to identify some customers. However, these customers are generally larger in strength; otherwise, they wouldn't be in the directory.
  25. Door-to-door search: Go directly to terminal sales points or distributors for recommendations.
  26. Referral method: Through acquaintances or market managers, or even distributors who are not interested in you, if you have a good attitude, they might introduce you to others. 五、Developing distributors Precautions when meeting distributors for the first time:
  27. First, don't say you're selling products; you can say you're doing market research.
  28. Learn about the distributor's business situation. If their current product grade matches yours, reveal your identity and say you're selling. At this point, the topics to discuss mainly include:
  1. Distribution area
  2. Sales tasks
  3. Payment terms (including freight)
  4. Promotion efforts (including initial stock, advertising, and promotions)
  5. After-sales service (returns and exchanges)
  6. Sales policies (including year-end rebates)
  7. Quality and price Note: On the first meeting, the most important thing is to listen, not to draw conclusions, make promises, or object. 六、Methods and strategies for addressing major customer objections (also answers to some distributor questions) On the second meeting, you can explain each issue they raised. Here are some common explanations: (一) When the customer objects that the product price is too high
  1. Reason analysis: The customer may object that the price is too high because the product price is indeed higher than other companies or brands, and they worry users won't accept it and products won't sell; or they worry that high prices will reduce their profits; or the price is similar to others, and they are playing a psychological game to get a price concession.
  2. Strategies and methods: (1) When investigation shows our price is similar or even lower than competitors: A. "You think our price is too high; which company, brand, and specification are you comparing with?" B. "Can you tell me the price of XX company's XX specification of XX product?" C. "As far as I know, our price is similar to XX product... (advantages of our product over XX and our operation methods), what are you worried about?" Note: By asking counter-questions, you dispel the customer's idea that you don't know the market and are deliberately lowering prices, and shift the topic from price to how the company will do market development and help the customer promote products. (2) When investigation shows our price is indeed higher: A. "Our price is indeed a bit higher. Are you worried that users won't accept it and it won't sell, or do you think there's not much profit in distributing our products?" B. If the customer says the price is high and users won't accept it: "Have you learned about our company? We have a philosophy: help customers sell together. We have a whole set of product promotion plans and methods... (list some methods and cases). Whether customers sell our products is their problem; whether products sell is our company's problem. Any other concerns?" C. If the customer says the price is high and profit is low: "What minimum profit do you think you need from our products? What sales volume do you estimate you can achieve? What is your overall profit target? Based on our understanding of the market and experience, your overall profit target can be achieved... (analyze the sales volume and promotional policy support after our comprehensive promotion support, calculate overall profit). Any other worries?" "Our price is indeed a bit higher than others, and it should be higher... (explain reasons). Price does affect purchase, but do you know that value affects purchase more than price? (Explain with theory and cases). Our company now implements value marketing... (a whole set of promotion plans and cases)." Note: When the price is high, don't simply compare prices with competitors; compare value, and have a set of promotion strategies, plans, and programs. Use theory and practice to explain to the customer, gaining their understanding, recognition, and resonance. (二) When the customer objects that the company's policies are not flexible enough
  3. Reason analysis: Inflexible policies often refer to settlement methods, distribution policies, and reward policies being rigid. In this case, the customer has two purposes: one is to use this as an excuse not to do business; the other is to want to do business but seek more favorable policy support.
  4. Strategies and methods: (1) The customer uses this as an excuse not to do business: A. "What level of policy concessions do you think would make us cooperate?" B. "I can't answer the favorable policies you request. How about this: I'll consult our company leaders and then visit you again, okay? Please think it over." Note: If the customer has no immediate need, further efforts may not yield results. So, don't over-explain or close the door; keep in touch, and maybe there will be cooperation opportunities later. (2) The customer wants to cooperate but asks for more policies: A. "Can you be specific about which policies are inflexible?" B. "What adverse effects do you think our XX policy might bring you?" C. "Indeed, XX policy may bring you trouble and be unfavorable in the short term, but have you considered the benefits it can bring?" D. "Have you thought about why other companies offer such attractive policies? The reason is simple: they lack confidence in themselves and their products, so they resort to primitive methods to attract you. Besides surface support, what else do they bring? (Combine cases to show the troubles). Also, why do many distributors and users remain loyal to our company and products despite our less flexible policies? Because we bring them value... (Combine cases). Would you rather have 1000 yuan or a job that brings you 1000 yuan each month?" E. "What level of XX policy would make you cooperate with us?" -END- Content Selection Reply with the following keywords to categorize and read related articles: Sales Supervisor, Second-tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Stagnation, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Improvement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Channel Promotion, Sales Misconceptions, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Closing, Market Visit Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agency Products, Cross-region Sales, KA, Terminal Merchandising, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, New Salespeople, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Investment, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Shopping Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Stock Pressure, Holidays, Distributor Cost Control, Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Meeting, Team Management, Training, Debriefing, Debriefing Report.