Tip: Click the blue text above, "FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting," to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management. Distributors don't know how to use talent—at least that's what manufacturers generally think. In their view, distributors hire based on personal connections, run family-style businesses, lack management and training systems, and have few impressive talents. The poor brand performance and weak push are due to the distributor's marketing team underperforming in the market. How can sustained market growth be ensured? How can distributors who are content with small success and lack ambition be improved?! Change or not? Under the baton of manufacturers and the preaching of external experts, small and medium distributors fall into rounds of anxiety. However, when they embark on "formalization reform," their tragic and painful fate follows, leading to the conclusion: not changing is waiting to die, but maybe you still have a chance; changing is seeking death, and if you die, it's all over. The Counter-Use of Talent Case: An Old Hand Gets His Foundation Pulled Out Boss Zhang is considered a senior in the daily chemical industry. He has been around for a long time and has a reputation, but reputation aside, as the market develops, some newcomers have leapfrogged, some surpassing him entirely. Look at those juniors: young, energetic, educated, good at management, and doing well. Old Zhang is over 50, learns fast but forgets fast, can't imitate well, and forced changes bring more problems. Boss Zhang refuses to accept defeat and doesn't want to become a second-rate player. The pressure is immense. Bringing in new talent has become his top priority. A business manager from a certain company, Manager Liu, caught Old Zhang's eye. Manager Liu had just married and had a child, was educated, had ideas, and had just bought a house and car, so he had financial pressure but was more stable. He had been a regional manager at this cosmetics group for 5 years, with outstanding performance and solid customer relationships. Such talent is rare! They interacted often, and Old Zhang half-jokingly extended an olive branch, saying, "Your salary is so low, why not come work for me? I'll give you shares and multiply your income!" Manager Liu just listened and never responded. Old Zhang gave up. Indeed, Manager Liu had a bright future in the company; no matter how much money he offered, he was just a distributor, and a small pond can't hold a big fish. However, after more than a month, Manager Liu suddenly called, saying he had thought it over and decided to resign from the company to follow Boss Zhang. Old Zhang was overjoyed, offered generous compensation, and gave 20% shares. But Manager Liu, citing tight finances, postponed buying the 20% shares, instead agreeing to receive them as a reward at year-end if targets were met. After Manager Liu arrived, he introduced many new management ideas and more systematic management methods. Of course, to ensure his management ideas were implemented, he also gathered some friends and former subordinates, "partially replacing" the old team, aiming to "use new methods for new people, make some achievements first, let the old team be convinced, and follow along"; he also introduced new brands, quickly boosting sales. However, after the Spring Festival, less than a year into the job, Manager Liu resigned, citing "a group invited me three times to be their sales director, and I have to consider my long-term future," etc. Boss Zhang couldn't retain him. Afterward, the team Manager Liu brought and the new employees he trained all left. Not long after, Boss Zhang found Manager Liu's team in the market. Manager Liu's new trading company, with a mature team and solid customer relationships, launched from a high starting point. Some brands abandoned Old Zhang and chose the new Boss Liu. The fortress was breached from within, and Old Zhang's market decline was evident, and he never recovered. Commentary on the Defeat: Many distributor bosses, like Boss Zhang, sigh over the difficulty of recruiting and using talent. Especially those whose companies have stagnated for two or three years and become more chaotic, they dream of bringing in high-quality talent, finding a capable operator, and living a carefree life as chairman. However, this delegation of power often brings great hidden dangers.

  1. Cultivating your strongest competitor. When your company is still third-rate, don't expect to use first-rate talent. Moreover, the stronger the talent you bring in, the greater the damage they can cause. These capable people have big goals; working for a distributor is not their ultimate aim. When some bosses rejoice at finding a "very capable" employee, they should actually be wary. Fortresses are breached from within. These super-capable talents, once they turn against their old boss, have many ways to harm them, such as reporting tax evasion, poaching brands, spreading rumors, or absconding with funds. Many distributors are not defeated by competitors but eliminated by their own people.
  2. The magpie's nest: Who's the boss? A distributor friend of mine had a capable promoter, so he focused on developing her and gave her free rein. The promoter did well, managed the business well, and the brands she represented liked dealing with her. She also trained a group of people, resulting in her controlling both internal and external affairs, becoming too big to handle. The boss saw that no one listened to him in the company and couldn't sleep or eat. He knew he had no advantage except money. To keep her, he gave shares, profit splits, and kept increasing the offer... He felt more like an employee, and his heart was bitter. Thus, when a boss happily brings in a "high talent," he needs to consider two questions in advance: First, can you manage the general who manages the soldiers? Second, what will you use to retain them? The Forced Demolition of "Formalization" Case: He Was Cured of His "Root" Boss Wang was determined to reform his team drastically. "We can't let this piece of iron rust any longer!" These were the people who had followed him through thick and thin: relatives, friends, some were drivers, some were porters turned salespeople, and some were friends who had lost money in small businesses and came to him. They were like family, and the team was very stable. The biggest characteristics of such a team: poor work discipline, strong randomness in work; employees can endure hardship and are obedient, but generally have low education, can only work hard, not look ahead. For years, Boss Wang had been pushing this team forward. How he longed for one or two people to accompany him on the "night road"! To this end, this year he recruited more than a dozen young salespeople, some college graduates, some new salespeople poached from upstream manufacturers. These newcomers quickly got into the swing and sales grew rapidly. Boss Wang became determined to reform the sales team. He then hired a deputy general manager to introduce formalized management. All compensation was based on assessment salary plus commission, with widened salary gaps, no upper limit, and no lower guarantee. In the face of cold systems, there was no room for personal feelings. Salespeople with poor performance were gradually forced to leave; those old-timers who were dissatisfied or complained were transferred or demoted. After this rectification, old employees resigned in droves. The new manager told Boss Wang to grit his teeth and not soften, saying this was the painful period of reform: "Don't you see the vitality of the new employees? The remaining old employees are also passionate!" However, the good times didn't last. New employees saw the company's chaos and couldn't stabilize. One new employee wanted to go home to take the civil service exam, and others couldn't be stopped, leaving even faster than the old employees. To retain people, Boss Wang did his best. From raising salaries to share incentives, he thought of everything and did everything. But now, the old were driven away, the new couldn't be kept, and the hired manager claimed "the company's genes are problematic" and left. Boss Wang was in an awkward position. Commentary on the Defeat:
  3. The catfish effect beats any advanced management method. For small and medium distributors, some people just can't be retained. College graduates fresh out of school lack work experience and find it hard to get jobs in large companies, so they condescend to work for distributors as a stepping stone, leaving when a suitable opportunity arises. For them, salary can't buy down-to-earth commitment. Recognizing this, we can position them in advance: college students are indeed hard to keep, but don't let that stop you from using them. Appropriately introducing some energetic, idealistic people can bring the catfish effect to the team, creating a competitive atmosphere. For distributors, this competitive atmosphere is stronger than any advanced reward/punishment, performance assessment, or other management methods! For example: ◆ In internal exchange meetings, "apprentices" teach "masters" methods and solve difficult problems; ◆ In monthly gatherings, "youngsters" surpass "old-timers" and "old hands" in sales and bonuses, and they take the initiative to treat everyone to a meal; ◆ In monthly or quarterly summary meetings, "newcomers" often become advanced and are held up as company benchmarks and role models. The old-timers (masters or department managers) who helped them are also praised together. Facing the "new champion's" humility and the comparison of scores, the "old-timers" feel uneasy... A boss who knows how to manage and is shrewd doesn't rely on a forceful style or advanced methods, but on whether he can create a competitive atmosphere internally, letting the advanced inspire the backward, letting newcomers push the old-timers. This atmosphere is more subtle, silent, and natural than any management method. Because they know better than anyone: in daily operations, the wisdom of the masses exceeds the boss's wisdom. The boss's wisdom only needs to be used to leverage the wisdom of the masses. If you can do that, you've succeeded!
  4. For small and medium distributors: loyal employees are always treasures, not burdens! Even though old employees have many shortcomings, such as low education and slow learning, their greatest advantage is loyalty—loyalty to the company and the boss. They are accustomed to the company culture and work content, can tolerate low wages, and have no risk of jumping ship, which in a sense maintains team stability. For small and medium distributors, team building needs a foundation of old employees (they transmit the basic culture of hard work, loyalty, and responsibility through their actions). With this foundation, you can build high; without it, a new team is like a tree without roots.
  5. For "soldiers," high education doesn't mean high combat effectiveness. For small and medium distributors, without strong business capabilities, any powerful management ability is a castle in the air.
  6. Large companies can make standardized, institutionalized management effective because they retain people with career, position, compensation, and platform. If you don't have the ability to retain people in these ways, try to retain them with emotion. In fact, the loyalty of most distributor teams is rooted in the boss's emotional retention. If you abandon this, the boss loses his trump card, and you might not be able to manage. Who Does Democracy Harm? Case: Leaderless in "Democracy" Boss Wang in Hefei always thought he "had a way with management," citing his democratic approach to personnel. At important company decisions, especially those related to the company's development direction and requiring internal confidence, he would hold sales staff meetings to discuss. A year ago, Boss Wang had a new opportunity: the famous brand Lida Cosmetics was going to change its distributor in Hefei. The brand had advertising bombardment and large-scale personnel promotion, but due to weak performance in Hefei, the brand decided to change agents. Boss Wang had a good reputation, and Lida's sales manager came to him first. Boss Wang felt this was a good opportunity, so he urgently called a full meeting. At the meeting, everyone agreed that the Lida brand had development space, but also raised the following issues: First, why hasn't the Lida brand succeeded in the Hefei market? Because the Hefei market is difficult, with high barriers, so more investment is needed. But Lida's channel profit is low, so in the end, you'd just be working for the company, earning a hard-earned wage. Second, Lida needs to re-enter large supermarkets, but the entry fees are too high. Without manufacturer support, it's impossible! Third, in the early market stage, Lida needs to increase market material investment, such as counter construction fees, display fees, etc. ... Thus, this new business must be handled carefully. Boss Wang was satisfied with the comprehensive issues raised. So when negotiating with Lida's manager, he engaged in "fierce bargaining" over market investment, discounts, policy support, and initial stock. Lida's business manager sweated, promised to "apply upon return," and hurriedly left, never to be heard from again. Subsequently, Lida entered Hefei, and its new agent was Boss Wang's competitor. Competitors are enemies, and this enemy, through cooperation with Lida, left Old Wang far behind within a year. Commentary on the Defeat: This case represents the common situation of distributors: most staff are not highly qualified, just working for a salary, lacking career ambition, usually putting interests first, afraid of responsibility, and indifferent to matters that don't concern them. Doing business has returns, but always involves risk. This risk can only be borne by the boss. In the choice of doing or not doing, the final decision must always rest with the boss, because only the boss tastes the bitterness or sweetness; no one else can replace him. If you need to solicit internal opinions, a small-scale communication is enough. If you need supporters to boost morale, just conduct multiple private communications in advance to win over the key players. If you need to unify opinions, the boss should first state his position and then guide, directly avoiding the contagion of hesitation, helplessness, fear of difficulty, and blind following in meetings. Excessive democracy leads to endless discussion without decision, resulting in the boss being indecisive, employees even more at a loss, and the group without a leader. Family-Style: Brothers Fight Tigers Together, What's Wrong? Case: Skinned Alive in "De-Familialization" Avoiding family-style management in distributors became a necessary condition for a beauty group to develop clients, aiming to eliminate backward operations like mom-and-pop shops and father-son teams. Old Zhao wanted to represent the beauty brand, but he was a typical "mom-and-pop shop" company, with him handling everything and his wife in charge of finance. To meet the beauty group's requirements, Old Zhao decided to lead the company to "wash feet and go ashore," renting an office building and hiring professional managers. Old Zhao only needed to hold his bottom line: firmly control the finance department. As Old Zhao's relatives were gradually cleared from the sales team, the team showed new vitality. The externally hired personnel were experienced and capable, and indeed had a way with market development and management. Old Zhao's comfortable days didn't last long. One of his supply stores suddenly closed without warning, losing over 800,000 yuan in investment and accumulated payments, directly affecting his cash flow. Old Zhao tightened his belt, first paying employee salaries and commissions, and delaying other management salaries by 10 days. He didn't expect that within 10 days, rumors spread throughout the company. Several business managers slammed the table and argued with Old Zhao, left after getting their salaries, and the team fell apart. Afterward, Old Zhao survived the "economic crisis" but found it hard to survive the "team crisis." Commentary on the Defeat:
  7. To fight a tiger, you need brothers; to go to battle, you need father and son. For small and medium distributors, family-style management is the most solid management model. Especially for newly established companies, it's crucial for future survival and development. Moreover, many distributors lament: without family-style management, there would be no distributor success. In the early days of a distributor's business, there are no systems; work relies on self-discipline, and payment security relies on self-restraint. At that time, who can you trust besides your own brothers and wife? If you can't unify the ideas and approaches of partners with their own agendas from the start, and lack the super ability and integrity to win their trust, then from the beginning, trust your wife and brothers.
  8. Use your relatives in appropriate positions: the capable as backbone, the less capable as substitutes.
  9. A family-style enterprise is not scary; what's scary is family-style management. As long as the boss is stricter with his relatives and ensures fair treatment for everyone, a family-style enterprise can basically maintain normal operations. What's feared is relatives acting recklessly and bullying others. ----------------------------------------------

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