This year, I've been handling Unified's Laotan Sauerkraut Sauce, Shiitake Mushroom Sauce, and Liangpi, and recently I've been assisting the team in recruiting distributors. I've visited dozens of distributors, from top-tier to average ones. Based on their views on products, I've summarized a key insight: The definition of a 'good product' differs between brand owners and distributors. If you firmly stand from the brand's perspective and talk about your product's excellence, you may fail to understand distributors' needs and miss cooperation opportunities. Today, let's first discuss what factors determine whether distributors consider a product 'good'. -01- A 'good product' must have a clear sell-through logic What is sell-through? It's when consumers purchase, experience, feel good, and have the desire to buy again. Sell-through is not a one-time deal, nor is it when even a one-time deal hasn't been achieved. In distributors' eyes, a product must have three core elements to achieve sell-through. 1. Consumer awareness and matching scenarios Distributors generally describe this as the product having brand power—consumers know the brand, or the category is familiar and common. In short, the product is not unfamiliar and can be accepted and recognized by consumers. Additionally, the brand owner has resources (display fees & promotion fees) to build their own sales scenarios with consumer awareness, i.e., using market merchandising to guide awareness-driven purchases. 2. Clear channel definition From a conversation with a distributor, I learned that the more universal a product's channel, the more incapable it is. Each product should have its own independently matched channel to sell well. For example, in the pickled vegetable series, a 10+ kg bucket of pickled vegetables is prepared for the catering channel, while 100-200g pickled vegetables are for community convenience stores or convenience stores near office buildings. The more singular and precise the channel definition, the stronger the product's sell-through power. 3. Timing of market entry is crucial Distributors generally believe that most products can only make money if they seize the right timing. As a distributor in Jiangsu mentioned, the fire chicken noodles from a few years ago—those who entered early and laid out plans made money. Now, operating such products is much harder than before. Only by operating the right product at the right time can sell-through be twice the result with half the effort. -02- A 'good product' must have clear differentiation In distributors' eyes, differentiation is a unique selling point that can be communicated, is easy to experience and remember, and can directly convince consumers why they should buy from you and whether your product better meets their needs. Below are three types of differentiation that distributors commonly recognize; I'll briefly describe them. 1. Differentiation in raw materials Raw material differentiation is shown in scarcity of raw materials, scarcity of quality, or genuine ingredients. For example, a friend recently gave me a can of sugarcane juice drink with only two words on the ingredient list: 'sugarcane'. I immediately felt it was a good product—genuine ingredients, unlike other sugarcane juice drinks on the market whose ingredient lists say: water, white sugar, sugarcane juice. 2. Differentiation in price band In distributors' language, this is described as good quality and low price: same specifications, same quality, similar brand power, but a lower price band. Take the Unified Shiitake Mushroom Sauce I handle as an example: it has the same grams as a well-known brand's mushroom sauce, slightly stronger brand power, but its retail price is set 15% lower, which is deeply favored by distributors. 3. Differentiation in brand communication For distributors, no matter how strong a product's brand power is, it needs continuous communication, with brand voice at all times. The previous CCTV 'loudspeaker' is still favored by distributors, and now multimedia communication is gradually accepted. But regardless of the form, communication must be high-density to penetrate consumers' hearts and minds. The so-called communication differentiation is differentiation in communication density. 4. Differentiation in marketing model Jinmailang's 'Four-in-One' is an enterprise-advocated cooperation model where distributor bosses and business personnel contract, which has been very successful in the market. I also know of an enterprise that advocates a manufacturer-dealer alliance model, where distributors invest in the brand owner, finances are open, and profits are shared according to agreed ratios. So defining this in product differentiation is about unleashing the subjective initiative of both parties to help the product succeed faster. -03- A 'good product' must have competitive channel gross profit Profit is the driving force behind business development. When producing a product, brand owners must pay attention to total cost leadership. In distributors' eyes, channel gross profit is also a core competition. Whether similar products have a gross profit advantage is the last important factor distributors consider when selecting products. Take the mushroom sauce again as an example: Unified Mushroom Sauce, compared with a certain market mushroom sauce, without reducing raw material quality or processing technology, has a retail price 15% lower, yet its channel gross profit margin is still much higher. This requires the enterprise to achieve excellence in all aspects of production and operation. Only with total cost leadership in production can it create huge competitiveness in the market. Here, I also want to emphasize: In distributors' eyes, channel gross profit is not based on high retail prices, but on a lower price system compared to benchmark products, while also having a higher gross profit system. Otherwise, your high gross profit is just self-talk and self-justification during the recruitment process. -04- A 'good product' must have guaranteed after-sales service After visiting many distributors, whether top-tier or average, the first topic is after-sales issues: whether the brand owner has cost support to handle large inventory age problems. Without after-sales guarantees, distributors generally are unwilling to establish cooperative relationships. In distributors' eyes, a 'good product' in terms of service mainly includes the following points. 1. Provide business training support In distributors' minds, brand owners know their products very well and have clear marketing methods, so they eagerly hope that brand owners can provide good business training for their teams to avoid detours in market operations. Secondly, conduct regular market diagnoses, collaborate with distributor personnel to research the market, discover market problems, and provide solutions. 2. Provide cost support Distributors believe that if a brand owner wants to do well with a product, they will invest heavily. For market high points, such as influential local stores, well-known business districts, and important scenic spots, cost support should be given to assist with store entry. Secondly, basic market displays should have high-density coverage, and merchandising should be built frequently. Finally, consumer communication and promotion should be done without sparing effort, with full support for tastings and promotions. 3. Provide support for large inventory age Let distributors rest assured to ship goods and fully fight in the market without worrying about 'fire in the backyard'. In the early stage, focus wholeheartedly on: pressing storefronts, putting on shelves, and doing displays and other basic actions. 4. Provide personnel support This need is relatively less, but more distributors hope that brand owners can organize professional task forces for market blitzes in a short time, expand outlets, and arrange merchandising. Final Thoughts: All products not produced with the purpose of meeting consumer needs are not good products. These needs include physiological needs (e.g., thirst, fatigue) and psychological needs (e.g., quality and service). I believe there are two product logics. One is the prior logic: Where do I sell what product? It requires brand owners to first conduct consumer insights, then seek opportunities, then design product concepts, then research market competition patterns, then conduct product development (considering mass production), and finally name, define packaging, capacity, price, etc. At the same time, it accompanies: first there is sell-through logic, then the product, allowing both attack and defense. The other is the posterior logic: Where does my product sell? This is relatively simple and crude. Without all the above research, the product is hastily launched. First there is the product, then thinking about sell-through plans, which is very restrictive and has a high failure rate. But many enterprises often take the latter approach, mostly 'only giving birth but not raising', and most products die young. Under these two logics, distributors are particularly cautious in their choices. When they choose a brand to invest in wholeheartedly, for the brand owner it's just one or several products among many, but for the distributor, it may be all their effort and financial resources. They can afford to win but cannot afford to lose. So what is a truly 'good product'? I cannot define it precisely, but empathy and mutual benefit must be the premise for manufacturers and distributors to create a 'good product', and this is also what they should focus on most. Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.