Click the image for details. ▎A couple of days ago, I was having tea and chatting in a distributor friend's wine cellar when a salesman from a well-known domestic wine brand came to discuss business. My friend said, "You should see how they work." ▎Facing the client with low spirits and improper etiquette The salesmen were two young men. They entered and carefully placed their samples (two shopping bags of a certain wine) on the floor, speaking softly as they introduced themselves to my friend. My friend said, "Please have a seat." They looked timid, hesitated for a moment, then sat down, took out their products, and placed them on the coffee table for us to see. One salesman handed a business card to my friend and greeted me, but I couldn't make out which company they were from or their names, so I just mumbled a few words in response. It seemed they had an appointment. My friend asked, "What is the purpose of your visit?" The two salesmen clearly hadn't expected such a direct opening question and hurriedly replied, "We came to visit you to see if there's an opportunity for cooperation." My friend looked at the samples and said, "This heavy bottle is nice; I like it, but the outer box packaging is not good." Upon closer inspection, we realized these were buyout products of that domestic brand, and these two were not from the manufacturer but salesmen from the Sichuan general distributor. ▎Lacking a voice on industry topics I asked, "What's the price of your wine?" The salesman replied, "The high-end one has a distribution price of over 370 yuan, with a policy discount bringing it to over 140 yuan. The other one is also over 100 yuan, our lowest-priced one, and with the policy it comes to 50-60 yuan." My friend wasn't interested in the price and changed the subject, saying, "Domestic wine is really hard to sell now; consumers don't recognize it!" He picked up a French imported wine and said, "Look at my bottle and yours—both heavy bottles, similar prices. If placed side by side, which do you think consumers would choose?" The other looked uncomfortable and said, "I think... probably yours..." It seemed he wasn't prepared for such a question and was forced to choose, then said with a hint of grievance, "But Chinese people should still drink Chinese wine, after all, it's our own country's wine!" My friend immediately raised his voice and said, "Why should we drink domestic wine? Consumers generally believe that domestic wine has extremely poor value for money. Poor quality, yet sold at high prices. Now imported wine is everywhere, from tens to hundreds of yuan, with a wide selection and good quality. At the same price, it's much better than domestic wine. If you want us to love domestic wine, you need to give us a reason to love it! Those chateau wines and vintage wines are unbearable—92, 94 are still being sold, shipped out by the trainload. It's clearly deceiving consumers. How can consumers love them?" My friend's impassioned speech resonated with the two salesmen, who nodded in agreement. "So, how can we sell domestic wine? How can we cooperate?" They immediately said, "Yes, we've encountered many distributors raising this issue, and it makes our job difficult." "You say your wine is good and want me to distribute it, but you yourselves are selling foreign wines," my friend continued relentlessly. "Great Wall has already represented hundreds of wines from around the world, and Changyu is buying wineries abroad and building Castel and Chateau Afeifei wineries in China with foreign partners. As far as I know, the major brands are all rushing to sell imported wine. Isn't Dynasty also representing Chanel? I sell it here too. When facing consumers, do you say your own domestic wine is better or imported wine? I once asked their senior leaders this question, and now I'm asking you the same. How would you answer?" ...... "No matter how you answer, you can't justify it. You don't even believe in your own products, yet you want consumers to believe and distributors to sell them. Isn't that ridiculous? Facing competition from imported wine, the major domestic brands aren't building their own image but are making wedding clothes for others, undermining themselves. If I distribute your products, wouldn't I be a fool?" "Yes, yes, yes..." The two salesmen had no rebuttal and could only repeatedly agree. ▎Facing the client's past grievances without a response They tried to find reasons based on brand, but my friend had more to say on that. He said, "Among well-known domestic brands, look at Great Wall and Changyu—they've left you far behind. Your sales model is traditional and backward, the state-owned system is like eating from the same big pot, and service is problematic. They're thriving, but you're lifeless. How can distributors be interested in cooperating? Take Shanghai, for example—that was your heyday market, the leader, but what happened? You were beaten down within a year. Now? Can you even find them?" Then he told a personal story. In 2003, he flew a long distance to negotiate with this company, but the receptionist said the sales manager wasn't in that day and told him to come back tomorrow, coldly dismissing him. This left a terrible impression, and he vowed never to sell their wine again. Later, my friend started distributing Great Wall, with annual sales of tens of millions, becoming a regional power in Great Wall wine. Now, he's thriving in Chengdu's wine circle, specializing in imported wine, and last year he founded this professional wine cellar, becoming the preferred partner for various wine merchants. Even after seven or eight years, he still holds a grudge, showing how deeply the cold reception and poor service affected him. Faced with my friend's lingering resentment, the salesmen fell silent again. They knew it wasn't their fault, but they had to bear the consequences of the brand's negative image. Unfortunately, they didn't offer any commitment, and my friend's grudge remained unresolved. ▎An unprepared visit, kicked out by the client After my friend's impassioned speech, the two salesmen had nothing to say, and the atmosphere was awkward. I quickly tried to smooth things over by changing the subject to their products, asking about the taste and quality. Unexpectedly, they both said in unison, "We've never tasted it!" I was stunned. My intention was to let them use the taste to counter my friend's claim of poor value, but instead, they made things worse. They were a total failure! They told us that one had previously worked in yellow wine and the other in baijiu, and they had never done wine before. They had just started, and the little wine knowledge they had came from training by the upstream supplier. Further questioning revealed that although this visit was said to be arranged by a friend of a friend, they didn't know when my friend's wine cellar opened, what its main business was, or what its main channels were. They didn't even know my friend's reputation in Chengdu's wine circle. When it came to their company's boss, it turned out my friend knew him very well and had a good relationship. My friend said, "Your boss has years of experience in red wine, and we've known each other for a long time. Why didn't you consult him before coming to talk business with me? Even if we didn't know each other, he would have known about my company. Tell your boss to come have tea with me, and if there's anything, he can just call me directly. No need for you to make the trip." When they left, I believe they were extremely embarrassed, fitting the saying: they wished they could find a hole to crawl into. My friend said, "Do you know where they went to find me? My warehouse." I was stunned again...... [Negotiation Breakdown] As an observer, I felt ashamed for these two salesmen. They seemed to have some years of experience in alcohol sales, but from their performance, it was as if they had never done it before. Facing a new category, they were like headless flies. ▎Lacking basic negotiation etiquette
- Casual attire, lacking a basic professional image. One wore jeans and a plaid shirt, the other wore shorts and an untidy shirt.
- Stiff facial expressions, no smile; giving a sense of unfamiliarity, causing rejection.
- Soft-spoken and unclear speech, showing lack of confidence, timidity, and shyness.
- Improper etiquette: only gave my friend a business card, not to everyone present. Fortunately, I was an outsider; otherwise, it would have been a business obstacle.
- Self-promotion lacked structure and focus. Their introduction had no standard format, and besides language issues, they omitted important content—they didn't clearly and concisely state their purpose. Salespeople represent the company and product; clients often accept the salesperson first, then the product, and finally the company. The salesperson's image directly reflects the company's and product's image. Generally, personal image includes two aspects: the external tangible image and the internal intangible image. The tangible image refers to clothing, hairstyle, and color coordination, which should be appropriate and reasonable. This is the salesperson's most direct tool because clients don't like buying from salespeople with a poor image. Some salespeople think investing in image is a waste, but that's not true. As society's pace accelerates and distances between people grow, few are willing to spend time discovering your inner qualities, especially clients who are there to buy products, not to get to know you. So, "judging by appearance" is common. The intangible image mainly refers to the salesperson's spirit and etiquette. People like to be around energetic, cheerful, happy, smiling, and complimentary people—these are all intangible images. If salespeople are listless, how can clients trust the quality of the products they sell? From the first smile when meeting a client, the display of personal image begins. This is professionally called self-promotion. Are you showing your smile, your sunshine, your friendliness with energy? Do you walk quickly to shake hands, look sincerely into the other's eyes, exchange business cards properly, and leave the impression that you value and respect them? All this leaves a deep impression on clients and directly affects their evaluation and whether the deal closes. ▎Lacking basic knowledge From the vineyard to the consumer's table, there's much knowledge in every step of wine. Salespeople don't need to be experts in everything, but they should master necessary basic knowledge. In the case, the two salesmen hadn't even tasted their own products, were at a loss when facing the client's "consumer choice" topic, and especially couldn't handle an expert client. Unlike baijiu, wine emphasizes individuality. The so-called individuality includes not only the wine's style but also the taster's personal evaluation. Wine negotiations often involve comparisons of quality and taste, so salespeople must deeply understand their product's individuality and each person's tasting differences, which is based on flexible mastery and application of wine knowledge. ▎Lacking professional marketing skills From a marketing perspective, selling any alcohol is the same. The salesmen in the case supposedly had experience in alcohol sales, but they didn't work according to marketing requirements. They visited many clients and encountered similar issues; according to normal sales procedures, they should have summarized and developed responses, but clearly they didn't. They stepped into the same river, encountered the same problem, and made the same mistakes. ▎Lacking market understanding Negotiations with distributors involve not only business content but also industry trends and market conditions. Communication is about reaching resonance and mutual understanding, which is the foundation of business success. In the case, market topics ranged from the competition between domestic and imported wine, consumer habits and choices, market structure, marketing models, and high-end product market conditions, to prices and packaging—almost everything. But these two salesmen couldn't exchange opinions on any of these because they simply didn't know. The entire negotiation became a lesson, or even a scolding, from the distributor. Before the salesmen arrived, my friend had expressed a hope that through communication, others might provide him with development ideas. Facing the salesmen's total ignorance, his disappointment was understandable. ▎Lacking deep understanding of their own product and company Understanding your own company and product is the most basic lesson for salespeople. In the case, the salesmen only managed to grasp the product types and prices, ignoring everything else, leading to many low-level mistakes that worsened an already difficult negotiation. They didn't understand competitor market prices, especially for similar-tier products, and had no insights on same-price products, leading to blind agreement with the client's views and being led by the nose without their own opinions. They hadn't tasted their own products, didn't understand selling points, and couldn't find reasons to discuss when the client compared; they had no voice or argument against the client's one-sided conclusions. They didn't understand the product manufacturer and couldn't use brand influence as a negotiation condition; worse, they were a buyout distributor, not the manufacturer. When the client complained, they didn't adjust their role in time, didn't offer a new client relationship, and silently accepted blame for others' mistakes. It's said that the product operator is a new entrant to the wine industry as a buyout distributor, with strong financial strength and innovative marketing models, fundamentally different from the brand company's operations. Unfortunately, the salesmen's understanding was superficial, unable to convey these advantages to the client, and thus unable to dispel the client's negative impression of the parent brand. ▎Insufficient preparation, blind visit This is actually the most basic business procedure, but the salesmen didn't do it or didn't do it well, which was the primary cause of the business failure. My friend sincerely told them, "You came to talk business with me, but you didn't do three things. First, you came without knowing my situation. I've done Great Wall and Changyu, and now I do imported wine, so I built this wine cellar last year. My main channel is hotel terminals, not group buying. Second, you didn't do your homework on your own products. Third, you're new to the industry and haven't done market homework; you don't even know competitor prices. How can you talk to me? I've been friends with your boss for over ten years. I admire his operation of wine, especially domestic wine, and he's familiar with Chengdu's wine circle. If you had consulted him before coming, maybe there wouldn't be so many problems. Also, to sell wine, you must first get into the industry; otherwise, you have no voice, and business talks naturally fail." Source: Beijing News Click the image for details. The 3rd (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in October 2017. The conference will focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecosystem" and invite 1000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to explore a new chapter of cross-border integration! Core topics of this conference:
How can the FMCG industry leverage B2B to achieve new growth opportunities?
How should the new supply chain behind new retail be built?
How can intra-city logistics help B2B achieve leapfrog development?
Highlights of this conference:
The industry's first "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness White Paper"
Case sharing of excellent transforming and upgrading distributors
Conference + exhibition upgrade, with Hall 6 Internet Technology Exhibition strengthening connections
Leaders from Alibaba Retail Link, Puhua Financial, Eternal Asia Supply Chain, Best Store Plus, Yijiu Batch, Unilever, Haiding Technology, and Yunmei Shares will deliver speeches and share pioneering views.
November 8-9, 2017 Chongqing International Expo Center Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. Early bird tickets before September 15 enjoy a 30% discount! Add friend with note "Conference Registration" Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum 2017 (2nd) China FMCG + Internet Conference Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum -END-