In the 40-year history of marketing, a salesperson who has never developed a new market or brand is not a complete sales representative. Just as a man who has never stood outside the delivery room or taken a child from the midwife's hands doesn't know where sorrow and joy come from, many salespeople, whether novices or veterans, have suffered losses in new market development. Some wander for half a year without finding the dealer's door; others make a careless mistake and lose a major opportunity.

Salespeople often have no choice when it comes to market assignments. Those with good luck or favored by leaders go to affluent regions like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, or Shenzhen, happily taking up their posts. Those with bad luck or less favored by leaders are sent to remote, poor, or border areas like Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia, which salespeople jokingly call "places of exile." The leader only asks: will you go or not? If you go, pack up and leave; if not, pack up and leave anyway.

Whether it's a good or bad market, as a salesperson who calls every place home, you must first find a way to survive wherever you land. "When an expert stretches out their hand, they know if there's something there." When a salesperson arrives in a new market, they must first assess whether the market is a trap or a pie.

On the first day I entered society, my parents told me, "The way is in your mouth." When you're in the world, you must speak up. As a salesperson running the market, if you don't ask questions and look ahead, you can't claim to be a salesperson. When developing a new market, if you haven't chatted with these five types of people, you haven't done the job! Let's take the building materials industry as an example to see how to chat with these five types.

First, ask taxi drivers. As soon as you land, get into a taxi or a motorcycle taxi. Even if it's your first time in this market, you start to have initial contact with the city. The taxi is the best environment—relatively enclosed. Taxi drivers are cooped up in their cars all day, and if someone is willing to chat, they enjoy it. Through them, you can best understand the living habits of low- and middle-income people in this city. For the building materials industry, chatting with taxi drivers mainly confirms three things:

  • The best enterprises and communities in the area: samples of high-quality consumer groups
  • The distribution and recent conditions of major building materials markets: whether roads are under repair near the market, or if there's any negative news
  • Population mobility: housing demand and renovation frequency

Of course, you have to speak in terms they understand. For example, for lighting products, don't ask, "Master, what lighting brand is famous here?" They'll be confused. Instead, ask, "Master, what brand of lamps is good to buy here?"

Second, ask small hotel owners. Even if small hotel owners aren't middle class, they represent middle-income families in the city. They are your second window into the city. Seize every opportunity to chat when you spend money; only then will others be willing to communicate. Since you're spending money anyway, why not extract valuable information as your first step into the market?

Small hotels often don't use high-quality decoration materials, which gives you a direct reference for where mid-to-low-end building materials are sold. Through casual chat, you can learn about the hotel's daily occupancy rate. Usually, a glance at the guest register tells you everything. If business is good, it means many business travelers, thriving commerce, and more business opportunities. You can also treat the hotel owner as an ordinary consumer to learn which building material brands are known, what city housing prices are like, and whether there are any special customs or timing for renovations—all quick ways to understand the regional market.

Third, ask wholesale market merchants. Even when a building materials brand enters a new market, if the brand is somewhat established or the company has been around a while, products may have entered the market through unconventional channels. For home and building materials, if it's gray market goods, these sources usually aren't in large building materials cities, let alone specialty stores. Typically, these gray market goods come from wholesale markets for daily necessities, where merchants source from neighboring provinces or production areas. They usually sell semi-finished products or accessories, with wholesale only and no after-sales service, high prices, and poor service, mainly to complement other building materials in their stores.

You can learn about gray market dealers' prices, services, and delivery ranges from wholesale market merchants. Generally, gray market dealers also want to legitimize their operations. As a factory representative, as long as you're not arrogant, they'll treat you with courtesy. Don't underestimate these dealers—their stores are a hodgepodge, with instant noodles next to sockets and wires, and nail clippers on top of electrician gloves. But their distribution capabilities may extend to every street, town, and village. These are potential dealers to consider. Of course, with the advent of the internet, the space for second-tier distributors is shrinking, and many of these dealers are seeking transformation.

Fourth, ask logistics and freight companies. Before 2005, express delivery wasn't as developed as today. A county might have only one freight pickup point, and information protection wasn't as strict. You could offer a couple of cigarettes, call them "brother" or "beauty," or even treat the dispatcher to a meal, and you'd know exactly who shipped how much, where goods were distributed, and which brands each company represented.

Now, express delivery is developed, competition is fierce, and information protection is stronger. Some salespeople now visit freight companies one by one under the pretext of setting up offices or warehouses. Every city now has a logistics park, and freight companies are concentrated. You can spend two or three days and get a good picture. Each freight company, to win business, will tell you about the companies and brands they cooperate with, which is also an important way to build a regional market concept.

Fifth, ask major competitors' dealers. After gathering peripheral information, you've only established a basic concept of the regional market. For direct market impressions, you need direct contact with industry dealers. Contacting dealers isn't necessarily for development purposes; you can also have the motive of understanding the market. Dealers generally don't refuse visits from factory salespeople, even if you're just a small brand's representative. Dealers believe in the creed "more friends, more paths." Even if they don't plan to introduce a new brand, learning more about industry information is beneficial.

Starting with major dealers, you can understand the overall structure and demand of the regional market, see their attitude toward products and needs, analyze their market operation methods, including their attitude toward the products they handle. At least, you won't be unfamiliar with this dealer in the future. If they're talkative or you hit it off, they might share some insider tips, ensuring your trip isn't wasted.

You might not intend to cooperate anyway, since the biggest isn't necessarily the best. But even if you don't cooperate, chatting with major competitors' dealers gives you a starting point for future competition.

In fact, developing new markets in any industry follows this basic pattern, only the focus and content of questions differ. Of course, after asking these five types of people, you've only completed the first step of blank market research. But even though it's just the first step, completing this process at least makes you not look like an outsider when you act, and not sound like an amateur when you speak!

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