---
title: "Analysis: Why Are There Fewer and Fewer Post-90s Salespeople in FMCG?"
description: "FMCG companies are recruiting every day but still face shortages, with a common phenomenon of grassroots staff job-hopping among themselves, yet fewer post-90s are joining FMCG teams. Many post-90s, even those with bachelor's degrees or above, prefer delivering packages, food delivery, or ride-hailing over joining the FMCG workforce. This article explores the reasons and remedies for attracting post-90s to the industry."
author: "高级研究员 海游"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2022-04-10"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3SN8yW05zw9AVBITv4KrIw"
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---

# Analysis: Why Are There Fewer and Fewer Post-90s Salespeople in FMCG?

> FMCG companies are recruiting every day but still face shortages, with a common phenomenon of grassroots staff job-hopping among themselves, yet fewer post-90s are joining FMCG teams. Many post-90s, even those with bachelor's degrees or above, prefer delivering packages, food delivery, or ride-hailing over joining the FMCG workforce. This article explores the reasons and remedies for attracting post-90s to the industry.

FMCG companies are recruiting every day, yet they are also short-staffed every day. A common phenomenon is that grassroots operational staff are job-hopping among themselves, but fewer and fewer post-90s are joining FMCG teams. Many post-90s, even those with bachelor's degrees or above, would rather deliver packages, deliver food, or drive for ride-hailing services than join the FMCG army.
Today, with this question in mind, let's discuss what ailments need to be cured in FMCG's recruitment of post-90s.
**Why are post-90s unwilling to join?**
Not long ago, I accompanied a company on visits to markets in over a dozen cities across the country, and had in-depth communications with grassroots supervisors. When it came to grassroots recruitment, everyone shook their heads, feeling that this pressure even exceeded the pressure of meeting performance targets.
Today, the oldest post-90s have reached the age of thirty, and the youngest have started working. They will gradually replace the post-80s as the backbone of society and gradually take over as senior managers in enterprises.
However, the reality is harsh: grassroots FMCG operators are still predominantly post-80s, and the more low-tier the brand, the more obvious this is, which means that enterprises face serious problems in their talent pipeline.
There are three main reasons why post-90s do not join the FMCG ranks:
**1. Pressure accounts for 60%:** Compared with delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing, grassroots salespeople face more pressure from various indicators, including performance. To put it bluntly: for delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing, as long as you are physically present, you can do the job, but a salesperson must go out with their brain engaged and adjust their state of mind.
Their work involves not only route visits but also closing orders. No performance means no income, plus various report submissions and time requirements from brand owners. Even after work, they cannot relax and enjoy life. This anxious feeling is very unfriendly to post-90s, who were born into relatively privileged conditions.
**2. Income accounts for 30%:** Comparing grassroots operators over a decade, the monthly income of salespeople has not changed much, but prices have soared. Ten years ago, salespeople's income was comparable to that of teachers, civil servants, and other public sector workers, but ten years later, with benefits, the gap is vast. Some enterprises, due to assessment caps, see salespeople earning far less than delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing workers, even after a month of hard work.
**3. Hard work accounts for 10%:** Essentially, post-90s are not as unable to endure hardship as some online comments suggest. After being exposed to society for a while, society will teach them how to adapt and tell them that no occupation is without hardship.
Compared with delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing, they may have to put in more physical labor (such as helping unload goods, organizing shelves, etc.), but compared with points 1 and 2, the hardship is barely acceptable.
**How to get post-90s to join the FMCG industry?**
**1. Several wrong measures** Since we know the reasons why post-90s do not join, can't we just improve each one? For example: if the work pressure is high, we can lower performance targets; if income is low, we can increase the team's income; if the team feels it is hard, we can add more people to reduce work intensity. Is this feasible? Of course it is feasible, as long as your boss agrees. In fact, we are in FMCG, which involves people's livelihoods, and few enterprises are highly profitable. This is constrained by industry characteristics. Take Nongfu Spring, the "printing press of nature," for example: every expense is carefully considered. Lowering targets, raising wages, and adding staff all test the operational efficiency and profit of the enterprise.
**2. How to crack the pressure?**
First, what is pressure?
Let's take the most headache-inducing performance pressure. From a timeline perspective, 15 years ago, the FMCG industry benefited from the domestic demographic dividend, growing and expanding rapidly, generally smoothly. That was the era of incremental growth. Now, the demographic dividend has long disappeared, and FMCG has entered an era of stock or even contraction. If you sell one more case, competitors will inevitably sell one or two fewer cases, bringing competitive pressure.
Today, grassroots managers are required to have better management and market operation skills. Simply put, regarding performance, 15 years ago, as a supervisor, you could say that salesperson Zhang San's monthly target is 120,000, 4,000 per day, with a results-oriented approach that must be completed. As long as the salesperson's mindset was fine, there would generally be no problems. But today, such results-based tracking is not enough, because salespeople must have sufficient skills in addition to the right attitude. What should be done specifically?
For example: If a salesperson's task target is 40,000, you cannot just track the achievement of results every day (today cumulative 5,000, tomorrow cumulative 8,000). Such checks have no value and no substantive help to performance.
Supervisors and managers need to help the salesperson break down the 40,000 task target into: 30 community convenience stores, 20 township large stores, 4 hypermarkets, 6 schools, and other outlets. For each outlet, suggest which items to sell. To complete these targets, the outlets need 50 case-cut displays, 20 end-cap displays, 10 floor stacks, 50 freezer displays, etc.
Then check whether the results of these processes meet the standards. This is called: **Replace results management with process management. Process management is not about managing the process, but about managing the results of the process.** After the target is broken down, if the 50 case-cut displays are completed, but the results of completing this process may not achieve the product sales target, then you need to check whether the case-cut displays are executed according to standards such as display position, visual merchandising, number of case cuts, inventory indicators, etc.
This is called: **Management of the results of the process, not the target; the goal of process management is the implementation of standards.**
**Summary:** To alleviate the pressure on salespeople, managers must correctly break down the indicators, and this breakdown must be achievable by the salesperson's efforts. Simple results-oriented tracking is just pure pressure and is not feasible.
Of course, if the manager's indicators are achieved with quality and quantity, but the final performance target is not met, it means the problem lies in the manager's breakdown ability or the product itself. The "blame" for not meeting performance cannot be shifted onto the salesperson.
**Finally, the core of "pressure" is not to eliminate it, but to transfer it, from the grassroots operators to the managers, placing higher demands on managers. Therefore, the organization's strength must be strong, and a self-contained management training system must be complete.**
**3. How to crack the income issue?**
Where does income come from? Of course, from corporate profits. Enterprises are not charities; it is the responsibility of salespeople to create profits for the enterprise.
We cannot deny that grassroots teams have differences in ability, attitude (positive vs. negative), and temperament (hardworking vs. lazy). Therefore, a blanket pay raise model is not advisable. Pay raises must go to those who are more capable, have a positive attitude, and work hard.
For example:
If a salesperson's base salary is 100 yuan per day, the way to increase income is not to make everyone's daily rate 120 yuan, but to take a team of 10, plan to add 20 yuan per person, totaling 200 yuan, and redistribute this 200 yuan. The salesperson's daily work is visiting outlets, in-store merchandising, and closing sales.
List detailed standards for each indicator, and reward a certain amount for each standard met. This is more conducive to survival of the fittest (it should be emphasized that these standards can be met with the right attitude, such as organizing shelf displays or putting 5 bottles of drinks into the freezer, but not requiring today's sales to reach 5,000 yuan).
**Summary:** In FMCG, it is best not to simply and crudely implement universal bonuses (except in special cases like company listings). **We must grasp a balance: first elevate successful experiences to methods, then implement methods into processes, and achieve targets by stimulating the team's initiative. This can also refer to Jinmailang's four-in-one points reward system.**
**4. How to crack the hard work issue?**
Hard work cannot be eliminated, but it can be alleviated. We often see a public service advertisement on TV where a child washes the feet of their mother who just came home from work. Is this mother's work hard? Of course it is. This hardship cannot be eliminated, but it is alleviated by the child's "foot-washing encouragement."
How to alleviate the hardship of salespeople? Times have changed, and the means of alleviation have also changed. For post-70s and post-80s, giving money can alleviate it, but for post-90s, it cannot. In addition to money, spiritual encouragement is needed, so managers need the art of motivation.
For post-90s salespeople, motivation should be diversified. Here are a few examples:
**Respect motivation:** Gain praise from colleagues and leaders by achieving targets.
**Position motivation:** Gain promotion by achieving targets.
**Training motivation:** Gain opportunities for further training by achieving targets.
**Spiritual motivation:** Gain honor certificates and industry recognition by achieving targets.
**Travel motivation:** Gain opportunities to travel with wife and children by achieving targets, which is both a reward and a way to increase family support for the employee's work.
**Summary:** Grassroots managers, especially post-70s and post-80s (who grew up under simple, results-oriented, and crude incentive principles), must learn and understand the art of motivation, and understand the motivational needs of post-90s (the management logic for post-70s/80s and post-90s is different, which is one reason why there are few post-90s in sales teams). Only with artistic management and motivation can the team's healthy and stable development be ensured.
**Notes for post-90s joining**
**1. There must be soil for post-90s to survive**
Will solving pressure, income, and hard work definitely attract post-90s to join your team? Of course not. Post-90s need soil to survive.
For example:
If your team is all post-70s, there will be no good post-90s, because post-90s are unwilling to work with people of their parents' generation. This is the soil of age. If your team is all high school or vocational school graduates, there will be no post-90s with bachelor's degrees.
Because post-90s with bachelor's degrees are unwilling to be with people with whom they have little in common. This is the soil of education. So, if you want to attract a certain type of post-90s, you must start changing the soil of your team, otherwise you will fall into the vicious cycle of recruit--leave--recruit--leave.
**2. Assembly-line work mechanism**
More often, you cannot recruit post-90s not because they are snatched by competitors, but because they are attracted to other industries, such as delivery, food delivery, and ride-hailing mentioned earlier.
The reason is simple: people like to receive simple instructions. Employers must not only understand vertical comparisons within the industry, but also horizontal comparisons across industries.
Therefore, do your best to break down your indicators, ideally turning them into an assembly line where employees can achieve various indicators mechanically and foolproofly. This requires managers' ability to simplify complexity, organizational ability, knowledge ability, the ability to turn experience into processes, and management ability.
**3. Talent, like outlets, is dynamic**
Outlets are dynamic, and managers know this well. In fact, the essence of talent is the same. Post-90s are the future of the enterprise, so they should be developed all the time, just like outlets. Recruitment of post-90s should not be urgent hiring when short-staffed, but should be incorporated into daily work, continuously discovering and reserving talent to cope with sudden attrition. This is a market law, and laws are irreversible.
**Final words:**
The more decentralized the distribution of authority, the stronger the initiative of salespeople. This is a consensus among all FMCG companies. For the recruitment of post-90s, it is advisable to try changing the business model, from the employment model of post-70s and post-80s to a partnership model for post-90s. As long as the mechanism is complete and mature, manufacturers and distributors will surely reap unexpected rewards.


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