With the development of the FMCG industry over the years, most manufacturers have evolved from extensive management to refined management. From the original provincial general agents coordinating business across a province, to today's establishment of branch companies in various counties and cities, with these branches operating local businesses. The challenge for manufacturers is the need for a large number of grassroots management cadres, who are mostly promoted from salespeople, with varying management abilities. At the same time, there are often situations where "the general is outside, and the king's orders are not accepted." Moreover, managers who perform well often do well in any branch they are transferred to, while those who perform poorly often fail. So what is the secret of a successful city manager? -01- Manage One Person Well As a city manager, you are the highest leader of the local team. And usually, company leaders rarely visit the local area. So the first person you need to manage well is yourself. Many branch managers think that since they are in a place "far from the emperor," no one is watching them, so they completely relax. They just routinely assign company work, don't visit the market, don't call on customers. Eventually, they even stop holding regular meetings and come to work late and leave early. "You think employees listen to what you say, but they actually watch what you do." Today's employees are much smarter than those from a decade ago. They don't just listen to your instructions and lectures; they observe your actions. You think that hiding in your office smoking and playing games goes unnoticed, but every subordinate knows, they just don't tell you. A successful city manager is definitely someone with high self-requirements and strong self-discipline. Whether or not someone is watching, they set their own schedules and strictly follow them to accompany sales reps, coach them, visit the market, and call on key accounts. Don't underestimate your influence. If you deceive your superiors and flatter them, the whole team will be in a mess. If you are proactive, hardworking, self-disciplined, and full of positive energy, the team won't be far behind. As a city manager, the first person you need to manage well is yourself. We define a person's power as coming from three sources: "appointment," "ability," and "charisma." Among these, charisma is the most important. And the most direct manifestation of your charisma is good character, such as self-discipline, diligence, and eagerness to learn. -02- Clean One Room I have visited many branch offices. Some are bright and clean, with desks and chairs neatly arranged and materials in order. Others have materials piled up, desks full of clutter, thick dust everywhere, cigarette butts on the floor, and smelly restrooms. "If you can't sweep one room, how can you sweep the world?" Everything in the office should be neatly stacked. Walls should be posted with information and posters strictly according to company requirements, and expired ones should be promptly removed. Smoking is strictly prohibited in the office. Restrooms should be cleaned regularly, with hygiene supplies stocked. Set up a cleaning duty roster, and lead by example in cleaning. And maintain it. The office is everyone's home in the company. A good, clean, and tidy environment helps improve employee satisfaction and engagement. A good city manager will definitely value this "home" highly. Cleanliness, tidiness, and standardization are the basic requirements. -03- Create a Good Atmosphere As a team leader, the most important thing is to create a good team atmosphere. For example, a team is like moving forward wrapped in a big balloon. Everyone can clearly feel the quality of the air inside. If the air quality is poor, everyone will soon get sick. If someone walks too slowly, the balloon will burst. Similarly, if only a few individuals walk too fast while others can't keep up, the balloon will also burst. So what does good air mean? Fairness, justice, and transparency are paramount. Especially when allocating targets, it is even more important to reflect a manager's fairness. Targets can be set for everyone based on a certain logic, such as 70% based on the same period last year and 30% based on the past six months. Never make decisions arbitrarily, and never set goals for others based on your personal likes or dislikes. A positive and upward attitude is a necessary SKU for a team to achieve excellence. Whatever work attitude a team has, it will get corresponding results. As the team leader, you should fully leverage your influence and infect others with your own actions, such as leading everyone in running or playing ball games, rather than organizing mahjong games. Organize more team dinners and use the opportunity to chat with everyone. When drinking, people tend to be more relaxed and more willing to open up and communicate sincerely. One of Kazuo Inamori's management philosophies, "Kompa," is about drinking and gathering. He believes that the success of a business depends on the invisible, intangible human heart. Kompa, this human touch, plays an important role. After work, through drinking, chatting, and envisioning the future, people take off their masks, relax, and speak their true feelings and complaints, building heart-to-heart communication between leaders and employees, thus achieving alignment from top to bottom. According to "The Art of War," "One who is skilled in warfare seeks victory from the situation, not from individuals." Learn from the best, become the best. Learning is an important way for a team to progress and is also needed for a good team atmosphere. Advocate for individual learning and mutual learning within the team. The sharing economy is the most important label of this era, and sharing knowledge is also an important label of this era. From employees sharing successful sales cases, to small teams sharing the secrets of project success, to yourself sharing methodologies from past successes and unique insights into the market, etc. Through sharing, the sharer also improves their presentation skills, narrative ability, and writing and PPT-making skills. Creating a good team atmosphere is more important than anything else. -04- Gain Insight into a Market As a city manager, you cannot do without KPIs and business goals. Since the company has entrusted you with a city or a region, you must cultivate this market well. From every market visit, every accompanying coaching session, and every data analysis, gain insights into the changes and opportunities in the market under your jurisdiction. For example, five years ago, our glass bottle beverages, after several years of rapid growth, suddenly started to decline, with monthly sales lower than the same period last year. The main consumption venues for glass bottle beverages were traditional restaurants, such as Sha County snacks, Lanzhou pulled noodles, and braised chicken rice. We went to visit the market and talked to the owners of these stores, asking, "Is your business now much less than before?" The owners told us that overall business had not declined but had increased, but dine-in had indeed decreased because there were many more takeout orders. And our glass bottle beverages were not suitable for takeout because the bottles needed to be recycled. After learning this, we immediately began researching restaurant O2O, from selecting suitable packaging to how to achieve online "product display," from setting appropriate prices to how to deliver products, from how to sell more products to how to bundle with meals. Now, restaurant O2O has become the main source of business for our 300ml packaging. Insight into the market, discover opportunities, and finally turn them into transactions. To gain market insight, you must frequently visit the market and observe more. City managers need to set a daily schedule and spend at least 4 days a week in the market. Look more, ask more, record more, and think more. -05- Develop Some Subordinates A city manager is both a sales manager and an HR manager. You need to recruit, manage, and, more importantly, develop people. Many people think that team capability follows the barrel theory, depending on the weakest member. But in a sales team, this is not the case. Often, the room for improvement for top performers is greater than that for average performers. Developing the top performers in the team, making them role models, and letting them positively influence others is the best way to improve team capability. In any organization, there is an "informal leader"—someone who is not officially appointed but has the most influence. Sometimes, a city manager talks for an hour on stage about what to do and what goals to achieve, but in the end, everyone is indifferent because that "informal leader" said it can't be done with this method. People are more willing to believe him than the manager. Because intuitively, they think the manager must be setting difficult tasks to achieve his own goals, while that leader among them has rich practical experience and a better understanding of the actual situation, so his saying it can't be done is more credible. Therefore, a city manager should focus on developing that "informal leader" in the team. He lacks neither business ability nor influence. If he can see things from the same perspective as the city manager, then the team can achieve unity of purpose. Of course, everyone in the team needs to be developed and coached. Tailored methods can achieve unexpected results. As a city manager, only by developing subordinates well can the team's combat effectiveness be strong and achieve better results. Summary: As the saying goes, "A lone soldier is a coward, but a general's cowardice makes the whole army cowards." As the commander of the local market, the city manager is responsible for the market's performance. As the leader in charge of leading troops into battle, you may not need to go to the front lines yourself, personally visiting stores or distributing new products, but you must regularly go to the market to observe more, see where the market problems are, and see where the growth opportunities are! This is the most direct task and goal for a city manager. In addition, develop subordinates and create a good atmosphere so that the team can grow and progress under your leadership, and bring out more excellent soldiers and capable generals for the company. And the foundation of all this is whether you can manage yourself well and lead by example. About the author: Pan Lihua, Sales Operations Manager at Swire Coca-Cola, student of Dedao University's 0th class. Over 15 years of Coca-Cola sales management experience, familiar with FMCG market layout, strategy formulation, and team management. Skilled in market insight and team motivation. Tips: Once the tip is adopted, a reward of 400-2000 yuan will be paid.