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Summary: Sending 'undercover agents' to competitors is not uncommon. Distributor boss Zhao Xin aims to use 'business undercover' as a 'more promising' competitive tactic with upstream and downstream partners.
Distributors Busy Recruiting Talent
"It's hard to recruit, Lao Zhang," said HR manager Qin Feng with a wry smile, looking at the long list of vacancies reported by Zhang Qiang, North China Regional Manager.
Zhang Qiang insisted, "My dear Qin, the sales team already has high turnover, and if you don't replenish in time, managing the current team becomes difficult. We're afraid to speak harshly to any salesperson lest they quit. It's like a company commander begging for soldiers—not easy, don't you think?"
Qin Feng poured Zhang Qiang a glass of water: "Many people are submitting resumes now, but few are suitable. We can't lower our standards just because we're short-staffed, right? Don't worry, I'll have the whole department intensify recruitment efforts in the coming days. I'll definitely solve your problem!"
Zhang Qiang asked Qin Feng, "I understand your difficulties as the HR chief—on one hand, the gap is large; on the other, you need to strictly screen. It's hard to balance. But I don't understand: sales talent has high turnover, and our brand isn't bad. Why is it so hard?"
"Actually, we encounter a few suitable candidates in every recruitment drive, but recently most of them are cases where we like them, but they don't like us. I'm currently investigating the reasons."
Qin Feng picked up a document and handed it to Zhang Qiang: "Look at this one, Shi Yue. I liked him at first sight. I planned to place him as the Shijiazhuang Business Supervisor under you, but when we finally notified him, he told us he chose another company. I specifically asked the administrative staff to find out which company he went to and why he didn't choose us. He told them he chose a trading company with a memorable name—Shijiazhuang Qilin Trading."
"Qilin Trading? That's our distributor!" Zhang Qiang said, then carefully looked at Shi Yue's resume.
"What a coincidence? But sales talent usually doesn't want to work for distributors—limited income and limited growth space. However, recently several have been intercepted by distributors. Isn't that strange?"
"Maybe it's because it's close to home," Zhang Qiang said perfunctorily, then his phone rang. He took the opportunity to gesture to Qin Feng and left.
It seemed that the personnel issue couldn't be left entirely to the company. As he left, Zhang Qiang had this thought.
The Disappearing Shi Yue
Afterward, Zhang Qiang held a conference call, requiring each office to strengthen local recruitment efforts and fill vacancies as much as possible through their own resources.
After the meeting, Zhang Qiang suddenly thought of Shi Yue. He found the loss of such talent unbelievable. He remembered that Shi Yue's resume listed his home address in Handan, so joining Qilin Trading wasn't for proximity to home. That didn't make sense; there must be another reason.
Later, Zhang Qiang met with Zhao Xin under the pretext of reviewing recent sales performance. Boss Zhao Xin, in his early forties and in his prime, had been working with Zhang Qiang for over a year. Zhang Qiang's impression was that Zhao Xin was very strategic in marketing and good at grasping the essence of things.
During the meeting, Zhang Qiang casually mentioned Shi Yue, but Zhao Xin said he couldn't recall the person.
Zhang Qiang didn't press further, but felt something was off.
Back at the office, Zhang Qiang arranged for a business supervisor to discreetly inquire whether Qilin Trading had ever recruited Shi Yue, but the feedback was that no such person existed.
Could Qin Feng's information be wrong? The next day, Zhang Qiang had the HR assistant send Shi Yue's phone number and called him directly, but the number was disconnected.
Zhang Qiang found it increasingly strange, but strange as it was, there were many market issues at hand, so he couldn't afford to investigate this seemingly unrelated person. He let it go.
What Zhang Qiang didn't understand was that behind the scenes, undercurrents were stirring.
The Undercover Maze of a Win-Win Situation
After graduating, Shi Yue had been in sales for three or four years, responsible for the southern district of Shijiazhuang. After another suggestion he made was rejected by his superiors, Shi Yue resigned in anger.
After leaving the company, finding a job in Shijiazhuang was relatively smooth; several companies extended offers. While Shi Yue was hesitating about which to choose, he suddenly received a call from Zhao Xin, the boss of local Qilin Trading, requesting a meeting.
Shi Yue knew a bit about Qilin Trading. The company was growing fast, and the boss was capable. Meeting him couldn't hurt, so Shi Yue gladly went.
At the meeting, they talked about products, channels, and the current state of distributors, hitting it off quite well. Boss Zhao then extended an invitation for Shi Yue to join Qilin Trading.
This put Shi Yue in a difficult position. Although Qilin Trading was doing well, it was just a distributor. Compared to many brand manufacturers, the compensation and growth space were not comparable.
Zhao Xin saw Shi Yue's hesitation and proposed an idea: After joining Qilin Trading, Shi Yue wouldn't work at Qilin Trading but would continue to apply to other manufacturers, with Zhao Xin's help in recommendations. During Shi Yue's normal employment, Qilin Trading would pay him a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. This way, he could receive two salaries and also consider his personal development.
Shi Yue was wary. There's no such thing as a free lunch. He directly asked Zhao Xin, "If that's the case, what do you need me to do for Qilin Trading?"
Zhao Xin laughed heartily: "You don't need to do anything. Just within the scope of your work, for things that are 'inconvenient' for distributors to know, such as development plans, promotional plans, etc., just give me a heads-up in advance. I just want what I deserve."
Shi Yue immediately understood. Many brand manufacturers' policies are designed for the market's good from the brand's perspective, but after passing through layers of hierarchy, by the time distributors are notified, they've been greatly discounted. This forces distributors to find ways to reduce midstream human influence and get what they believe they deserve.
Shi Yue suddenly thought of a term: Infernal Affairs! He would be controlled in the future, which made him instinctively want to refuse.
Zhao Xin was well aware of Shi Yue's thoughts. Before Shi Yue could refuse, he seriously explained a few points:
Although it's an employment relationship, Shi Yue holds the initiative. He can terminate the relationship at any time based on his development. Zhao Xin guaranteed that he would never ask Shi Yue to do anything illegal.
Zhao Xin would never interfere with Shi Yue's development at the brand manufacturer. If Shi Yue needed help, Zhao Xin could offer advice or other assistance, which would definitely benefit Shi Yue's development, because helping Shi Yue is helping himself.
Additionally, because of Shi Yue's presence, Zhao Xin would have a better understanding of the brand, earn more reasonable profits, and further increase promotion efforts for the brand, thereby boosting its sales in Shijiazhuang, which would also benefit the brand.
Zhao Xin paused, looked at Shi Yue, and said, "I've said my piece. What I'm talking about is a win-win situation. Think it over."
Shi Yue was somewhat tempted but felt something was off. He said he needed two days to consider before giving an answer.
Distributor Boss Takes an Unconventional Path
Zhao Xin of Shijiazhuang Qilin Trading had been in the market for over ten years. The early years were spent accumulating, and in the last three to four years, the company had grown rapidly. Now, with annual revenue exceeding 80 million yuan, he was a notable figure in Shijiazhuang's trading circle.
Regarding Qilin's rapid growth, some in the market said it was due to Zhao Xin's strong personal ability and good management; others said it was luck in securing agency rights for several volume-driving brands; still others said Zhao Xin cooked the books... Zhao Xin just laughed off these comments.
Zhao Xin had his own views on marketing. Formal company management and professional market operations were essential, but the core of business survival is profit. Maintaining a high profit margin is the foundation of survival. For profit, one must boldly adopt various unique tactics.
Zhao Xin chose an unconventional path: to establish his own information channels within the two extremes that most affect his profit margins—major brands and large supermarkets—to avoid unnecessary profit loss.
Initially, Zhao Xin tried to "win over" existing personnel, but he quickly found that such cooperation was purely for profit, with escalating demands and legal risks, making it unsustainable. Additionally, he heard of several friends in the circle being investigated for commercial bribery. Getting involved in such matters was like being stuck with a stubborn plaster.
While racking his brains, he thought of the movie "Infernal Affairs" and had a flash of inspiration. He began to consider replicating it.
Copying competitors' prices, stealing rivals' tricks, disguised shopping—sending "undercover agents" to competitors is not uncommon. What Zhao Xin aimed to do was launch "business undercover" as a "more promising" competitive tactic with upstream and downstream partners.
After some maneuvering, Zhao Xin had two people in the local Nanguo Supermarket, one in the general merchandise section and one in the snacks section. With information from these two, Qilin Trading was basically in a dominant position in every negotiation with the purchasing department, signing contract terms one or two points lower than other distributors. That translated into one to two million yuan in profit! Naturally, Zhao Xin didn't shortchange these two.
This year, Zhao Xin began considering placing personnel within the brand manufacturers he represented. Through a friend's introduction, he set his sights on Shi Yue.
When communicating with Shi Yue, Zhao Xin held nothing back and laid out his thoughts. He knew his offer and the blueprint he painted were very enticing.
Distributor "Supports" the Frontline
After discreetly inquiring about Zhao Xin's character through friends, Shi Yue ultimately chose to join Qilin Trading.
Soon, through Zhao Xin's connections, Shi Yue met with Mr. Wang, the regional manager of Brand B. After two or three rounds of interviews, Shi Yue successfully joined Brand B, responsible for the KA market in Shijiazhuang.
Mr. Wang was very satisfied with Shi Yue and naturally felt grateful to Zhao Xin. Hearing Wang's gratitude, Zhao Xin was overjoyed: the profit from Brand B was about to increase significantly!
Actually, Zhao Xin initially planned to recommend Shi Yue to Zhang Qiang, but Zhang Qiang's casual inquiry that day made Zhao Xin realize he had almost made a big mistake. He realized that he couldn't recommend Shi Yue to any company where he had already interviewed, or it might expose the scheme!
So he immediately had Shi Yue change his phone number to be safe.
But Zhang Qiang's company's brand accounted for over ten million yuan in annual sales at Qilin Trading, so he definitely needed to place someone there. Since Shi Yue wasn't suitable, he would have to find someone else.
A month later, at a dinner, Zhang Qiang complained to Zhao Xin about the difficulty of recruiting sales talent. Zhao Xin took the opportunity to casually recommend someone to Zhang Qiang—a salesperson he didn't know well but had been introduced by a friend.
After the interview, Zhang Qiang was very satisfied and directly placed the person as the KA Sales Supervisor in Shijiazhuang.
At the same time, Zhang Qiang also promoted this experience to various offices in North China: "You can leverage local distributors' resources for recruitment—they have many resources!"
From then on, sales elites recommended by distributors one after another naturally took their seats at the endless banquet of corporate sales.
(All names of people and companies in the article are pseudonyms.)
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