During the epidemic, consumption has slowed, and distributors who had hoped to boost sales during the Spring Festival peak season are now under immense pressure. How to get through this difficult time? What should be done? To this end, New Distribution invited seasoned FMCG industry expert 'Old Pan, the Sugar Water Seller' to discuss how distributors can effectively pace their work after resuming operations during the epidemic. This article elaborates on the work arrangements and plans for distributors after resumption from four perspectives: personal, employees, customers, and contingency plans. -01- Personal First, regardless of business conditions, personal protection is of utmost importance during the epidemic. Strictly follow national requirements for personal protection, as well as disinfection and ventilation of office spaces and warehouses. Specific measures are detailed in authoritative media; you can search and refer to them. Second, the distributor boss's business. The first priority is to promptly take stock of product inventory. In addition to quantity, this includes all SKUs, shelf life, and expiration dates. Report to the manufacturer promptly and communicate with them about exchanging or returning goods. The epidemic is a 'natural disaster,' and it is believed that manufacturers will provide appropriate support. As far as I know, many manufacturers have begun internal discussions on how to handle this. An obvious consensus is: Inventory issues will not be borne solely by the distributor; of course, the manufacturer will not fully bear the distributor's losses either. They will share the burden. At this point, what distributors need to do is promptly count inventory. The earlier you communicate with the manufacturer, the greater the guarantee later. As the saying goes, 'The squeaky wheel gets the grease.' When all distributors are applying to the manufacturer for exchanges, the manufacturer will be overwhelmed and naturally give up. Apply early for a better chance. Take advantage of these two days before full resumption and before stores open to quickly count inventory. Whether or not you can exchange, counting inventory is not a bad thing. -02- Employees Local employees can start work immediately after resumption, but daily protection must be ensured. In addition, for employees from Hubei, according to national regulations, they need to be quarantined for 14 days and cannot return to work immediately. At this time, if salespeople are on route visits, you need to plan for substitute staff or use online WeChat visits and phone communication. When the epidemic has not fully subsided, many stores are still closed, and employees' workloads are often not full. At this time, it is recommended to arrange more online learning, such as reading and writing reflections, watching training courses, or organizing customer data and analyzing last year's customer sales. Do not let employees arrange their own time just because the workload is not full; this is not a positive work attitude. Online learning and market analysis are also improvements in soft power. Whatever the form, do not let employees stagnate. Either their hands, feet, or minds should be active. When the epidemic eases and the market opens, at least they will have warmed up and run ahead, ready to dive into the market immediately. Additionally, reduce offline meetings and switch to online meetings. Many online meeting software are currently free, which is very convenient. Avoid gatherings for meetings. Some distributors have the habit of holding a gathering to start work; it is recommended to cancel or postpone. Regarding employee assessment, those who were previously compensated based on business volume or pieces, although business volume has declined and cannot meet basic expectations, should still ensure employees' basic income. It may not be full income, but basic income should be guaranteed. If you are not good to your employees today, they will leave tomorrow, and the day after you may not be able to hire anyone. Frankly speaking, even in difficult times, a distributor boss is certainly stronger than an individual. The more special the period, the more employees need care. -03- Customers Care about customers. Before the Chinese New Year, some distributors may have set task volume assessments for some customers, especially beverage distributors who set sales rebate policies for restaurants. At this time, distributors should appropriately lower task requirements, or even cancel task volume assessments, because these customers are largely high-quality customers. High-quality stores can survive difficult times. After the epidemic, as always, many distributors will compete for them. If you take care of them a little now, you may suffer some losses, but in return you gain long-term customer relationships. The more critical the period, the more effective customer relationship maintenance is. The 'relationship' established between distributors and stores at this time is something distributors usually cannot curry favor with, even if they try. It is not something that can be achieved with a drink. Adjusting customer assessments and making proactive concessions will yield far more than the immediate loss. At the same time, take stock of customers' inventory. Some stores have excess inventory, and there may be opportunities for appropriate adjustments. There are always some outlets doing well. As stores gradually open, adjust inventory promptly to reduce losses. Of course, during such an epidemic, some low-quality customers may not survive and may face bankruptcy. Taking stock of customer accounts receivable is also very important. When organizing customer data, distributors should focus on accounts receivable. Based on past cooperation and familiarity, classify risk levels from 1 to 5. For customers at levels 3, 4, and 5, find ways to collect money as soon as possible. The earlier you collect, the easier it is; the later you collect, the harder it becomes. -04- Contingency Plans The 'contingency plan' here refers to: what if, during this period, an employee is quarantined or even diagnosed with the disease? How will the company operate? How will the business department, delivery department, and related administrative staff carry out daily operations? Distributors need to prepare contingency plans in advance; otherwise, if it happens, they may face closure, and the losses will be even more severe. For example, employees with mild cold symptoms are advised to work from home directly; with reduced business volume, warehouse, delivery, and administrative staff should work in shifts to minimize gatherings. Additionally, during the epidemic, regarding food safety issues, prepare business Q&A, especially for products manufactured in Hubei. At this time, distributors should train business personnel in advance on how to sell these products. For example, communication scripts: all products have passed national epidemic prevention inspections, or the National Health Commission has stated that food is not infectious; it is only person-to-person contact. Although simple, it should be prepared in advance. To sum up, the 9 things distributors should do immediately after resuming work are:
1. Personal protection 2. Inventory count 3. Inventory reporting 4. Employee protection 5. Employee learning 6. Adjust assessments 7. Customer inventory 8. Accounts receivable 9. Contingency plan Finally, I want to tell distributors: the more special and critical the current period, the more you need to maintain a positive and upward attitude. No matter how difficult, the epidemic will definitely pass. Do a good job in business risk control, strengthen soft power construction, prepare for losses, and hold on with a positive attitude. Only by holding on can you see the 'spring blossoms.' The most feared thing is that some distributors are overly anxious and do nothing. Every day they watch the news: 'Today there are so many confirmed cases, it's terrible, it's terrible...' Anxious and panicked, waiting for death—this is the most foolish approach!