Introduction: Where are sales? Sales are in the 'heart' 2022 was the last year of the pandemic. For Mr. Chen Yongle, founder of Changle Hongcheng Trading Co., Ltd., it not only marked the end of three years of major epidemic but also successfully concluded a period of survival. Why call it 'successful'? When New Distribution asked about the impact of the three-year pandemic, Chen sighed and said: 'These three years have been extremely difficult, especially last year. But such an environment反而 allowed us to develop new outlets, sales increased instead of decreasing, and the sales team remained stable.' Indeed, survival of the fittest. Fuzhou Changle District Hongcheng Trading Co., Ltd. was established in 1993, located in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. It is a traditional distributor with 30 years of history, mainly dealing in alcoholic beverages such as China Resources Snow Beer and Changyu Wine, as well as regional FMCG products like Fujian's local Changfu Dairy. In communication with Chen Yongle, he reviewed the difficulties of 2022 and his practices and thoughts during the year, and also made clear plans and goals for this year. He excitedly sent over several photos from the 2022 sales staff commendation conference group photo. Chen Yongle gave year-end bonuses to all employees, large bonuses to outstanding employees, and encouragement awards to ordinary employees. In the photos, every employee is smiling brightly. Chen said: 'Rewards are the biggest driving force for employees. Excellent employees stay, and they also set an example, encouraging ordinary employees to move forward.' It was under such excellent teamwork that Chen Yongle achieved over 100 million yuan in sales in 2022, delivering an excellent report card. Given that 2022 was the most difficult year of the pandemic, how did Chen Yongle maintain team stability and achieve annual sales exceeding 100 million? Doing local business, sales are in the 'heart'.

In fact, during the three years of the pandemic, although the stability of the overall environment declined year by year, for Chen Yongle, sales increased. In 2020, the business volume reached 110 million yuan. In 2021, due to giving up a major milk product, the volume declined to around 80 million yuan. In 2022, it returned to the peak of over 100 million. Where did the growth come from? Many might think that Mr. Chen must have expanded online channels, with online and offline mutually empowering and complementing each other. In fact, as a traditional distributor with 30 years of experience, he once tried e-commerce but it came to nothing. So Chen Yongle focused all his attention on offline. In January 2022, the number of channel displays was 905, growing to 1,214 by October. For CD catering, the number of displays was 0 in January 2022, grew to 370 in June, and after optimization, was 160 by October. However, the growth in these channels is not the focus of this article. During the interview, Chen Yongle mentioned a phrase: 'Where are sales? Sales are in the heart.' What does that mean? There is an idiom 'Where there is a will, there is a way.' We change it to 'Where there is a heart, there is a way.' 'Heart' equals group buying, but here group buying is not community group buying. In Chen's words: 'We do group buying among people around us, which we call individual group buying.' In 2022, Fuzhou experienced three severe pandemic control measures, each lasting over a month, plus two months of summer heat, totaling nearly half a year. Fuzhou was almost in a static market state with sluggish sales. So Chen Yongle mobilized 'all-staff sales,' including salespeople, finance, HR, logistics, family, relatives, and friends, and connected with various local associations. Chen said, 'No pain, no gain.' We entered the running association, ran with its members, built relationships, and through this association entered related clubs. One club could group-buy 100 boxes of beer per month. Later, we were introduced to an auto repair association, which could group-buy 50-60 boxes of beer per month... In this way, word spread, and the chain grew longer, the snowball of sales grew bigger, and more goods were sold. Cumulatively, the monthly sales were even higher than that of a terminal convenience store. But why could the snowball keep growing? Could other distributors do the same? Not necessarily. Chen Yongle used 'thoughtful service' to take this relationship business to the extreme. For example, one evening at 7 p.m., a customer called for 20 boxes of beer and needed immediate delivery. Chen was out at a dinner, but he immediately arranged and personally delivered, responding promptly to every customer need. Moreover, whenever there was a new product, he would give two extra boxes for free tasting when delivering to customers. This not only promoted the new product but also satisfied customers with the 'buy one get one free' service, turning customers into friends and increasing customer loyalty invisibly. Chen emphasized: 'In local business, what matters is personal relationships and service.'

A product dormant for six years 'returns to the world' Besides developing numerous outlets in Fuzhou city, Chen Yongle set his sights further, developing lower-tier markets such as rural areas. Rural banquets and feasts are a huge market with enormous sales potential, such as rural auditoriums and ancestral halls. Chen mentioned that every rural area in Fuzhou has many auditoriums or ancestral halls used for various banquets, and one auditorium can achieve sales of 500 boxes. But this 'cake' is not only visible to Chen; such markets are controlled by many local wholesalers and are hard to access. Chen's team continuously built relationships. Every village has local grocery stores or convenience stores. Chen sent a few boxes of wine, allowing them to sell first and pay later, with returnable unsold goods, plus other personalized services. This quickly opened doors, and they secured more and more auditorium and ancestral hall orders. Now, each salesperson has two or three stable auditorium orders. How were these opportunities discovered? By running the market? Chen said: 'These outlets cannot be found by just running the market; they are highly hidden and have local characteristics. To get them, you need to put in thought.' This is what Chen always emphasizes: 'Where are sales? Sales are in the heart.' As long as you have the sales target in mind and are determined to achieve it, you will find ways to develop outlets that others don't see.

This is also a standard Chen uses to evaluate salespeople: first, they must be hardworking, persistent, resilient, responsible, and have firm goals. It is worth mentioning that these newly developed outlets, especially those in lower-tier markets, drove the sales of Changfu lactic acid bacteria drink, which had been 'dormant' for five or six years. Chen excitedly said: 'In January this year, we sold over 8,000 boxes, about 8 tons, whereas before we only sold 1,000-2,000 boxes, just 1-2 tons.' Changfu lactic acid bacteria is a local dairy brand in Fuzhou. The product Chen distributes is a 1-liter pack with a shelf life of only 16 days. Previously, it was only sold in restaurants, and due to the short shelf life, sales were poor. But driven by rural banquets, a single banquet with 200 tables, two boxes per table, means 400 boxes per banquet—a number a restaurant might not sell in a month. Chen sighed: 'Our local people are amazing...' Now that pandemic controls are lifted, rural banquets are becoming more frequent, and during wedding season, the sales potential is very promising. But over the past five or six years, Changfu lactic acid bacteria sales were mediocre. Why didn't he give up? Chen replied: 'I always believed this product would have a good market in the future, so I kept persisting.' This simple sentence reveals Chen's perseverance and foresight. Moreover, due to the rapid sales growth of Changfu products, Chen's company jumped from obscurity to seventh place in the provincial distributor rankings in January. In Chen's words, although associations and banquets did not bring huge sales growth to the entire company, their impact is significant. Indeed, the 'resurrection' of Changfu lactic acid bacteria sales is the strongest proof.

Dare to transform, dare to invest It can be said that although 2022 was affected by the pandemic, for Chen Yongle, it was a market of 'slow sales' but a rhythm of 'fast sales.' He seized the opportunity, leading in markets that others didn't see, didn't pay attention to, didn't value, or didn't act on, winning sales. It was a year of continuous sales, establishing a 'sales model.' Chen specifically emphasized: 'In 2022, we made a significant optimization in the CD catering channel. In March, China Resources Snow Beer leaders proposed the 'night work' policy, helping us optimize from 370 to 160 outlets. This was a process of survival of the fittest.' What is 'night work'? During the day, one salesperson is responsible for one area. After work, every night, three or four people focus on attacking difficult but valuable areas, taking turns. This not only optimized the channel but also boosted everyone's enthusiasm, with everyone contributing ideas. After three consecutive months, the CD catering channel achieved qualitative growth. 'I am very grateful for the strong support from China Resources Snow Beer,' Chen mentioned. With this assistance, Chen's 'sales model' became clearer: all products are sold, and the core is to increase the cross-selling rate and raise the average transaction value.

In fact, the 30-year distributor journey has not been smooth. In 1993, Chen Yongle was 24 and started his entrepreneurial path. During these 30 years, he underwent two 'transformations.' From 2010 to 2013 was the most difficult period, reflected in the team. In 2010, Chen decided to focus on Heineken beer, but at that time, the team was not optimistic about Heineken. Many employees thought the product had no potential and the company's development was limited, but Chen insisted, leading to many sales team members resigning, even long-time employees, reducing the sales team by 60%-70%. In the following three years, the team was in a state of 'shortage of talent.' The second was in 2020 when Chen gave up a major milk product that had previously generated 40 million yuan a year. Facing continuous sales decline, Chen decisively gave it up and shifted focus to alcoholic beverages. Facts have proven that the six-year persistence with Changfu lactic acid bacteria, the timely stop-loss on the milk product, and the transformation to focus on alcoholic beverages—every decision paved the way for today's over-100-million report card. When asked about his advantage over other distributors, Chen said: 'Dare to invest.' Besides the two transformation investments, Chen mentioned that in 2000, he bought 20 mu of land and built a warehouse, which not only served as his own warehouse but also could be partially rented out, earning rental income each year. Indeed, Chen's foresight allowed this 30-year-old traditional distributor, using traditional offline distribution methods, to face the impact of diverse online channels and the ups and downs of the three-year pandemic, without laying off a single employee, ensuring normal income for all employees, and achieving over 100 million in volume. This is very rare.

Regarding future development direction, Chen said: 'We shouldn't have too many categories; we need one major product. After making this product big, we can use it to leverage other categories. In 2023, we will deeply penetrate the top 100 restaurant outlets in Fuzhou.' Chen set a goal for himself: 'Planned growth of 60% in 2023!' Indeed, this is also the common aspiration of all enterprises in 2023: roll up sleeves and go all out! Finally, I wish all distributor friends can break through the cold winter and achieve strong growth in 2023.

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