A Successful Promotion: The Promoter's Contribution Is No Less Than 60%

Click to read the original text for details Personal View 1: In a successful promotional activity, the promoter's contribution is no less than 60%, but many FMCG companies do not give it enough attention. Personal View 2: 80% of promoters are not treated fairly compared to salespeople (in non-income aspects), and the mindset of part-time work runs through the entire promotional activity for both parties. Personal View 3: 99% of FMCG companies do not include the recruitment and use of promoters in the scope of the human resources department. Instead, the marketing department simply supervises them and delegates to grassroots sales organizations, or even the decision-making power for promoter recruitment and use is determined by grassroots operators, often resulting in friends and relatives filling the ranks. Personal View 4: Many brands only care about the tens of thousands of yuan invested in floor displays, end caps, special displays, etc., but ignore the management of promoters, which has the least investment and the greatest effect. As a result, thousands of yuan in display costs are spent, but the effect is greatly reduced due to the failure of a promoter costing only one or two hundred yuan. Many brands, such as milk, daily chemicals, and low-temperature products, have larger promoter teams than sales teams. The investment in market expenses far exceeds the investment in human resources, and the construction of the promoter team is far from sufficient. Today, we will analyze several key points to improve promoter productivity from the six modules of human resource management. Human Resource Planning for Promoters 1. Clarify the compilation and execution of the expense budget: Many brands handle promoter needs on a step-by-step basis, cutting a few when there are too many and recruiting more when there are too few, thus an unstable promoter team is born. Strictly speaking, promoter recruitment should be based on digital operations. For example: select the TOP 50 outlets, coordinate with the promotion budget, site requirements, number of promotional categories, and the duration of the activity, and once determined, enter the recruitment stage. 2. Clarify the establishment of the organizational structure: Who manages the promoters? Who is the employing unit? What are the employment and management systems? These issues must be clear. In short, responsibility must be assigned to individuals. I once encountered a situation where a promoter, during an activity in a store, took a marker pen from the store without permission to write a poster and was penalized by the store. After the problem occurred, the three managers of the promoter—the KA sales representative, the supervisor, and the promotion planner—all had reasons to shirk responsibility. How much value can such a promoter team have? 3. Supply and demand analysis of promoter staffing: The waste of human resource costs has always been the largest hidden cost. How can we avoid overstaffing or understaffing? The promoter team should regularly evaluate personnel input and output, balance the supply and demand status of various regions, reduce cost leakage caused by poor management, and also make up for the shortage of promoters in local areas.

Recruitment and Configuration of Promoters

The core of recruitment is to bring excellent and suitable people into the enterprise and place them in suitable positions. 1. Analysis and selection of recruitment channels: Promoter recruitment usually has the following channels: a. Campus recruitment b. Promotion company recommendations c. Mining high-quality personnel from competitors d. Internet recruitment I recommend the channel of mining high-quality personnel from competitors, as the employment risk is relatively lower. 2. Implementation of recruitment: Before implementing recruitment, three points must be clarified: a. Recruitment needs analysis b. Job analysis and competency analysis c. Recruitment procedures and strategies Here I need to emphasize two points: First, promoter recruitment is a systematic process and should be treated the same as ordinary employees; second, the appearance of promoters is also an important indicator. In today's appearance economy, if conditions permit, it is best to recruit according to the standards of car models, not only for product promotion but also for corporate image. 3. Measures to reduce promoter turnover: The most important indicator of a qualified promoter manager is the stability of the promoters under them. Brands should formulate specific measures to reduce promoter turnover, from income planning to career planning, from entry checks to exit interviews, all should be improved. Training and Development of Promoters Training is the process of imparting to promoters the basic skills necessary to complete their work. Development mainly refers to the management development of promoters, which refers to all activities that improve current or future management performance by imparting knowledge, changing concepts, or improving skills. 1. Training that combines theory with practice: Many companies do not provide training for promoters. After recruitment, they are given a few words and then put on the job. Such promoters are better not recruited at all. Once they mislead consumers with product information, it is undoubtedly the greatest help to competitors. First, train promoters to be product experts, familiar with their own products, able to answer professional product questions. Second, be communication experts, using different scripts for various consumers to make them understand and purchase products. Then, be sales experts, selling to more consumers and making consumers buy more products. Finally, be management experts, managing their own stores well, integrating with the store, and maximizing resources. All the above requirements should ideally be made into exam questions based on actual cases that have occurred before, and only after passing the exam should they be allowed to work. 2. Common training methods for promoters: a. Lecture method, focusing on product knowledge and communication skills, usually conducted indoors; b. Operation demonstration method, focusing on vivid displays, promotional scene construction, etc., usually conducted at the promotional activity site; c. Case discussion method, focusing on summarizing the gains and losses of activities, usually conducted at the review and summary meeting after the activity. 3. Regular evaluation and education: The market cannot remain unchanged, and neither can promoters. Therefore, regular evaluation and education are essential. This is a cyclical process of inspection and follow-up, aimed at solving practical difficulties and guiding promoters to maintain their best state. Performance Management of Promoters 1. Performance forms are not just sales: The performance appraisal of promoters can be multi-dimensional, especially for long-term promoters. Sales are one aspect, but also the use of gifts (promotion rate), management of large inventory age products, promotion of new products, quality of consumer communication, and other multi-dimensional assessments. Performance incentives should be considered from two dimensions: increasing revenue and reducing costs: First, increasing revenue: promoters create more value, such as selling more products and generating more profit. Second, reducing costs: promoters reduce losses from large-date products, and maintain good relationships with stores to obtain more free or low-cost display positions. These two should be the core content of promoter performance. Do not be stingy; provide more incentives. 2. Performance interviews and improvement methods: The essential difference between promoters and salespeople is that promoters deal more with C-end customers, while salespeople deal more with B-end customers. Therefore, performance interviews and improvement methods should also be done well, and do not apply the salesperson's habitual thinking to promoter performance. Regularly organize interviews with promoters to understand consumer dynamics, adjust promotional plans, and improve promoter labor output. Compensation and Benefits Management for Promoters 1. Compensation system for promoters: a. Fixed salary: pay by the day, the same whether you do more or less, well or poorly; b. Base salary + bonus: base salary accounts for over 90%, and additional rewards are given for achieving a certain indicator (not necessarily sales, sometimes consumer communication numbers, etc.); c. Base salary + commission: base salary accounts for about 60%, with relatively high commissions; My view is that the compensation system for promoters must better motivate promoters' work and better leverage their initiative. It can be behavior-oriented or result-oriented. Only such a performance system can maximize the value of promoters. 2. Building a comprehensive compensation system: a. Job evaluation and salary grades: Promoters should not all have the same base salary. It can be differentiated based on ability, working hours, and other dimensions, so that excellent and hardworking people have a sense of superiority, and others have something to strive for; b. Salary survey: Income should keep pace with the times. Understand the industry average income and preferably be slightly higher than the average; c. Formulation and adjustment of compensation system: Promoters should also have regular level assessment and evaluation; d. Labor cost accounting: This needs to be calculated well and operated within a controllable cost range. 3. Benefits and other compensation issues: The benefits that salespeople have should also be improved for promoters. Regular important holiday benefits, team building activities, corporate training activities, etc., cannot be left out. Non-regular benefits such as social insurance and housing fund should also be given the right to enjoy under certain conditions. Employee Relations for Promoters The core of this point is to make promoters integrate into the enterprise and achieve a win-win situation between the enterprise and promoters. I find that few companies sign labor contracts with promoters (of course, temporary and short-term promoters are excluded), and even to avoid personnel risks, the ownership of promoters is placed with distributors. Some promoters have already served the company for one or two years, but they are still "outsiders". If you don't treat them as family, how can they work hard for the family? Therefore, I suggest that it is necessary to sign labor contracts under the principles of equality, voluntariness, and consensus, to establish labor relations with the employer and clarify the rights and obligations of both parties. Final Thoughts: Some people might feel that the above process for promoters is too cumbersome. In fact, I think it is very necessary. Take the example of the Jinluo Ham general agent I visited in the south before. There were fewer than 20 salespeople, but the number of promoters (long-term + short-term) totaled more than 200, and the salary paid to promoters was several times that of salespeople. I believe there are many similar companies. If such a large expense is not supported by a well-established system, it is impossible to survive in today's increasingly competitive and cost-scarce environment. Therefore, it is recommended that both brands and distributors strengthen the construction of promoter teams, so that promoter productivity can be steadily improved, step by step, and support the development of the enterprise. Review: Asher -END-