Dealer Visit Action 4: Promoting Inventory and Display Concepts At the end of the previous section, we mentioned that during dealer visits, you should manage inventory. The next step is for the salesperson to introduce the suggested order calculated using the safety stock method, and also help the dealer with in-store display work, promoting the concept that inventory management and display drive sales. The problem is that most dealers don't buy into this. Their mentality is: "How much do you earn a month? 2000! Do you know how much I earn a month? 50,000! You're just a rookie salesperson, how long have you been in this game? Coming here to boss me around, you little punk!" Don't worry, it doesn't matter. No matter how dismissive the dealer is, every time you finish counting inventory and return to the dealer's store, you 'chant' your mantra: "Opening stock / Incoming stock / Current stock / Actual sales / Safety stock..." Each time you say it, it leaves a deeper impression. Facts will soon educate him. In real life, poor inventory management by dealers leads to stockouts, expired products, damage, and customer complaints almost daily. The next time these problems occur, your words will echo in his ears. He'll think: "Hey, that salesperson Xiao Wei's words seem to make sense. Although he's young, he's very down-to-earth. Every time he comes, he goes into my warehouse, sweating, counting my inventory, checking expired items, and doing first-in-first-out. Now I think about it, what he said about 'opening stock / incoming stock / current stock / actual sales / 1.5 times safety stock method' seems to work! Xiao Wei gives me suggested orders based on this every time, and his products never run out of stock or pile up. The salesperson from the other factory just pushes me to stock up every time, and now I have some items overstocked and others out of stock. This young guy, though young, is serious about his work, and he really seems to know his stuff!" Most dealers won't have the perseverance to actually manage all their products using the inventory management methods you teach them, but as long as you can make an impression, you've achieved your goal—the dealer acknowledges your professionalism, and your image gets a boost! Dealer Visit Action 5: Market Visits and Communication Now, the salesperson has completed the initial market survey, top-down and bottom-up communication, inventory management, suggested orders, and inventory management concept promotion. The next step is a detailed market investigation. "Boss Zhang, let me borrow your bike to go check the market. I'll be back around 6 PM and we can talk in detail," After a solid market visit, the salesperson returns to communicate the information and ideas from the visit. Of course, the topics you bring up should be those the dealer cares about. What topics does a dealer care about? · Feedback from other customers about the dealer and his staff. For example: "Boss Zhang, you need to talk to your delivery guy Xiao Liu. Several customers have complained that he pushes products on them to earn commission, even resorting to deceptive sales (telling customers that a popular product is about to run out or prices are going up, prompting them to stock up. When customers have overstock and ask for exchanges, he ignores them). Customers aren't cursing him; they're cursing you, Boss Zhang!" · Competitor promotional activities. For example: "I noticed that a certain juice brand is distributing flyers for a wholesale ordering meeting on the 15th. The peak season is coming. If they hold their ordering meeting and take the second-tier distributors' funds, we'll be in trouble! I'd like to discuss with you applying for some support from the company. Let's act quickly and hold our ordering meeting before theirs, what do you think?" · Market opportunity analysis: For example: "Boss Zhang, during this visit, I found that competitors are investing heavily in supermarket and wholesale promotions. But they've neglected the school channel. How about focusing on college and university channels this month? Don't underestimate the sales in universities; a store there sells three times more than a regular street store!" · Market risk prediction: For example: "Boss Zhang, we shouldn't order too much for the next batch. Retail stores generally report that the weather is cooler this year, and 500ml drinks aren't selling well. Also, the Beginning of Autumn is coming on August 8th. Should we focus our distribution on large-pack milk?" (Note: As the weather cools, the off-season for small-pack carbonated drinks approaches, while the peak season for milk begins.) · Market order information: For example: "I noticed recently that a batch of parallel imports has appeared in the Ximen wholesale market. Wholesalers suspect it's from Boss Ding in Yiwu. You should send someone to investigate and find evidence so I can deal with him. Also, the second-tier distributor Li Bozi is leading price undercutting; we should stop supplying him immediately." When a salesperson achieves this, what does the dealer feel? "This salesperson is really diligent. Every time he comes, he barely says a word before heading out to the market. When he returns, he analyzes problems and proposes solutions. He's genuinely helping me with my market. This is a truly professional salesperson!" Dealer Visit Action 6: Building Customer Profiles and Helping Dealers Maintain Peripheral Networks If you visit a dealer three times a month, each time spending three hours in the market, after three months you can fully establish a profile of the dealer's downstream customers. One day, you hand the dealer a notebook— "Boss Zhang, this is the downstream customer profile I've built for you over the past few months of market visits. It covers all the major wholesale distributors, supermarkets, large retail outlets, schools, and big enterprises in the area that sell small food items. I'm still investigating the smaller shops." "Take a look. The first page is a distribution map of customers. The second page lists each customer's name, address, phone, mobile, and contact person. From the third page onward, I've included detailed notes on each customer I've found so far—including their business area, brands they represent, shelf space, main supply channels, etc. I'll gradually add more detailed information." "I've also coded and classified these customers. Customers numbered 1 to 170 are your 'loyal customers'; they always buy from you. Customers 170 to 210 are 'floating customers' (sometimes they buy from you, sometimes from Boss Liu). There are also over 40 'unknown customers' (they never buy from you). Customers marked with an asterisk are risky ones who have a habit of sourcing goods from outside and undercutting prices. I suggest we focus on consolidating the 'floating' and 'unknown' customers. I'll apply for some promotional policies, and together we can run a promotion targeting these customers—door-to-door ordering, flyers, gifts, and inventory management—to win them over. What do you think?" Imagine if a salesperson truly did this, what would the dealer feel? First, fear: "Oh no, this guy has figured out all my downstream customers." (When can a dealer glare at you and say, 'Dare to stop me, and I'll make sure you can't enter the Dongguan market'? It's when you know nothing about his downstream network. When can you tell the dealer, 'Don't push it. Believe me, I can replace you and have a new distributor up and running within a month without sales dropping'? It's when you fully control his distribution network.) Second, admiration: "This young man is really something. I've been selling goods here for decades, and the bigger local customers nod and greet me when we meet, but I've never built such a standardized customer profile. Actually, I have some customer info, but it's incomplete—a tattered notebook with a few phone numbers, some notes on the wall calendar. It's nothing compared to this. This profile is useful. In the future, when a new salesperson takes over, they can just use this for handover. When I get new products, I can just call each customer. And he can help me identify my network blind spots... I'm ashamed! What I haven't done in over a decade, this young man did in three months!" Third, gratitude: "He's really helping me with my business. The network blind spots right under my nose (unknown and floating customers) I didn't notice, but he identified them for me, and he's even helping me run promotions to win them over. This is truly useful for me..." Ask yourself: If you truly achieve this, will it help your work? Will the dealer really have these emotions? Yes! Ask yourself: Is building customer profiles difficult for a salesperson, to the point of being impossible? No! If you want to do it, you can! For salespeople, sales work is not mysterious. It's not about complex analysis or marketing principles as some theorists and economists suggest... Sometimes overthinking complicates the simple and makes execution impossible. In reality, sales is about doing simple actions properly. Executing simple things to the end is the greatest complexity. Dealer Visit Action 7: Brainwashing the Dealer and Helping Improve Management Processes Usually, besides work, we inevitably have private time with dealers, like having meals together, drinking tea, and chatting. At these times, don't forget: we want to be friends with the dealer, but first and foremost, you are a manufacturer's representative, and he is your client and business partner! Seize every opportunity to 'brainwash' the dealer at appropriate times—what does brainwashing mean? It means instilling advanced management concepts and methods to promote the dealer's growth. Some salespeople might say: "I can't do that. I'm good at doing, not talking. I can do sales, but I can't brainwash others." This is a typical excuse. In dealer management, your job is not to sell goods yourself but to mobilize the dealer's power. Sales is about working with people, and working with people means influencing their thinking. How do you influence others? Through language! If you can't speak well, you'll never be a good salesperson! What if you're naturally not good at talking? Practice! Don't forget the principle we've emphasized: Negotiation is not about eloquence but about preparation! Actually, are there many topics to discuss with dealers? Not many. They are: · Achieving good distribution coverage · The role of visual merchandising in boosting sales · How inventory management improves operations · Benefits of building downstream customer profiles · Management systems for sales staff · Systems and techniques for account receivable management · How to deal with supermarkets · Benefits of increasing transportation capacity to expand peripheral markets · ... Since we know these are the topics, why not brainstorm with colleagues to develop persuasive responses for each? Then memorize them and practice diligently. Don't think this is hypocritical or artificial. No one is born with eloquence. 'A minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage.' All great speakers practice like this! You can gradually improve your speaking skills through experience and life's subtle accumulation, but it's slow. Deliberate memorization and targeted practice will rapidly improve your expressiveness. One thing to note: This concept promotion should be timely. Wait until the dealer is troubled by a problem, then appear with the attitude, "I've noticed this issue too, and I was just about to discuss it with you." 'What's given for free isn't valued.' If you always stand in the dealer's store and lecture: "Your management is wrong, let me tell you what to do; your concept is outdated, let me brainwash you," the dealer will get annoyed and kick you out! Review & Analysis: Let's review the dealer visit action flow and see how effective it is when followed. Principle: Regular visits—result: the dealer no longer feels you come to push him to stock up, but to help him with the market. Your relationship becomes a cooperative business partnership. Step 1: Initial market visit—result: when the dealer fabricates facts and complains, you see through him. The dealer feels your dedication, professionalism, and skill. He no longer dares to be clever or talk nonsense. The dealer won't underestimate you! Step 2: Top-down and bottom-up communication, no promises beyond your authority, responsiveness, and attention to the dealer's short-term interests—result: the dealer feels you speak steadily, keep your word, are practical, and consider his interests. The dealer appreciates and trusts you! Step 3: Inventory counting, warning about expired items, first-in-first-out, safety stock management—result: you know the dealer's actual sales/expired/stockout situation thoroughly, can help reduce stockout/expired risks, and make your suggested orders well-founded. The dealer feels your dedication and seriousness. Step 4: Repeatedly promote inventory and display management concepts—result: facts will soon educate the dealer, and he'll realize your words make sense. Your professional image is reinforced. Step 5: After market visits, communicate market information and next steps with the dealer—result: the dealer admires your diligence and market insight. He's grateful you genuinely help him with the market! Step 6: Help the dealer build customer profiles and maintain peripheral networks—result: the dealer both fears you (you've copied his downstream customers) and admires you (you've done what he hasn't in over a decade) and thanks you (you've built a useful customer profile and helped maintain his peripheral network). Step 7: At appropriate times, brainwash the dealer, help with training, and establish management procedures—result: the dealer sees you as an expert and will often seek your advice. If you truly achieve these eight points, you'll soon become an idol. The dealer might sincerely say: "How much does the factory pay you a month? I'll pay you double to come work for me." "Can you help me train my staff?" "A new manufacturer recently approached me. Their products don't conflict with yours. I'd like you to help me decide whether to take them on." At this point, when you tell the dealer, "Brother Zhang, let's launch a new product," or "Brother Zhang, let's discuss how to combat parallel imports,"... Think about it—will he listen? Maybe he won't follow you blindly, but at least he'll listen carefully and consider whether what you say makes sense! This is professional customer relations. Only by building this kind of respect and admiration-based relationship can you exert influence over the dealer, ultimately achieving the goal: "Coordinate the interests of the manufacturer and dealer, two fundamentally different entities, and guide the dealer's people, vehicles, goods, and money to invest more in the manufacturer's market efforts." Afterword Dear readers, after twelve lessons and a year of serialization, our full text of the 'Dealer Management Action Breakdown Training Manual' magazine edition has concluded. Let's review the key points we've learned over the past year:

  1. Subvert common misconceptions and clarify the essence of the manufacturer-dealer relationship.
  2. Discuss the approach to dealer selection.
  3. Refine the approach into standards.
  4. Break down standards into action steps.
  5. Explain precautions in dealer selection.
  6. Provide examples of evaluation tools.
  7. Further detail the action flow and error analysis in dealer selection.
  8. Through case studies, learn the 'internal skills' of dealer negotiation and communication.
  9. Through case studies, learn specific techniques, routines, and scripts for communicating market work plans.
  10. Through case studies, master methods to persuade dealers to adopt cash sales and dispel common doubts.
  11. Provide specific action flows, precautions, and response scripts for daily dealer visits. In this way, we progressed layer by layer, from establishing concepts, to selecting dealers, to communication and negotiation, to daily visits. Finally, the author offers a preview and a piece of advice: Preview: This manual covers entry-level skills in dealer management. There are deeper topics (such as dealer policy formulation, dealer promotions, dealer price management, etc.) that will be covered in dedicated manuals soon. Stay tuned! Advice: Although this manual is distilled from the author's over a decade of frontline experience and broken down into actionable steps, what you gain here are common skills. In real work, you'll face more variations. 'Learning' and 'practicing' are two concepts. 'Learning' is the process of acquiring knowledge through listening, watching, and reading, while 'practicing' is applying that knowledge in real situations! Through practice, you'll find some actions work and others don't. Discard what doesn't, modify what needs adjusting, and keep what works for you—ultimately, through the process of 'practicing,' 'knowing' and 'doing' unify, and knowledge transforms into skill. Wishing you all progress!! (The End) Editor's Note: The editor has selected 1,067 articles from nearly 1,900 published on this official account, categorized into 14 major categories and 57 knowledge points, systematically organized into a library for frontline marketing management learning. From market to customers, covering practical tactics and management, all are valuable. Follow the account and reply with the number '1' to browse related content.