In the past, the market initiative was mainly in the hands of brand owners: manufacturers produced, and distributors bought. Now, the market initiative is gradually shifting, as distributors have more product choices, and the initiative is slowly moving into their hands. Of course, this does not mean distributors can fully dominate the market now. To gain greater initiative and voice in the future, distributors must abandon their previous dependence on manufacturers, shift from passive to active marketing, and implement effective market promotion policies. Many distributors fall into traps when designing promotion policies, turning good intentions into bad outcomes. The first trap is investing all resources into stocking customers, desperately pouring resources into terminals—if 10+1 doesn't work, try 5+1; if the original price was 50 yuan per case, now it's 40 yuan, slashing prices to attract terminal customers to stock up. This is a common phenomenon among distributors. The second trap is warehouse transfer: products merely move from the distributor's warehouse to the store's warehouse, without actually being sold. The classic example is an over-aggressive ordering meeting: a store that normally sells only 20,000 yuan per month is induced to order 100,000 yuan at once due to promotions, then doesn't order for the next five months. The store gets a bargain, but the distributor doesn't sell more. The third trap is that promotion policies only consider the store, not the sales staff. The primary person responsible for executing promotion policies is the salesperson; products are sold by them, so promotion policies should be incorporated into their KPI assessments to encourage proactive execution. The root cause of these issues largely lies in unscientific policy design. A scientific and effective promotion policy should be developed from the following three dimensions. -01- A promotion policy that sales staff and stores actively execute is a good policy! Sales staff are on the front lines; if they are motivated and believe the policy is effective and executable, implementation becomes much easier. Next are stores, as the final executors of the policy and the key to delivering products to consumers. Promotion policies should link both sales staff and stores. Sales staff KPIs should be tied to the policy, with rewards for execution. If they only have base salary and commission, they lack motivation, fail to meet targets, and miss out on manufacturer funds, triggering a chain reaction with poor results. Similarly, policies should be linked to terminals. This link isn't about simply throwing resources at stores—like changing from 10+1 to 5+1—but about investing in sales metrics, doing three-dimensional promotions to get terminals moving, making them proactively execute your policy and become your promotional resource. Consumers see your product first, hear about it, and then buy it. A truly good sales process is one where consumers see, hear, get, and receive the product; display process metrics are crucial. For example, invest in store displays, shelves, and sales incentives. Here's a concrete example: In April, I ran a new rice promotion at CL stores in traditional channels, requiring each salesperson to cover 20 stores. The policy was: Each store must stock at least 10 bags, display them in stacks of 10 or more, in a prominent location near the exit or in the grain and oil section, with price tags; sales staff receive 1 yuan per bag (200 yuan per ton), and terminal customers receive a 900ml AE soybean oil bucket as display support; the ex-factory price must not be lower than 30 yuan per bag, with a suggested retail price of 35 yuan; if the minimum price is undercut or conditions aren't met, rewards are forfeited! With this promotion, we achieved the sales target for the same period last year in just 15 days. The benefits of this policy: First, terminals aren't rewarded just for stocking up, but for displaying products prominently, greatly increasing the likelihood of sell-through; second, sales staff get new product incentives, which are extra income, so they're willing to do it; third, setting a minimum price ensures price system stability. A complete promotion policy not only motivates sales staff and stores but also maximizes resource utilization, placing products in the best store positions. -02- A promotion policy that consumers recognize is effective! Let me share a case: Our local Shenghedao restaurant celebrated the opening of its Hunan branch with a 5-day promotion: if customers stored four times their day's consumption amount, their meal was free. This is a typical successful promotion. First, there's a reason for the promotion, not arbitrary, so the product's value isn't diminished. Second, there's a time limit—only 5 days. The restaurant has high consumption levels; the free meal gives consumers a sense of getting a bargain, and they feel they'd lose out by not participating. Now a counterexample: A corn oil normally priced at 69.9 yuan per barrel was discounted by 3 yuan to 66.9 yuan, plus a free 30-yuan soybean oil. Subtracting both the discount and the gift, the oil's value drops to 36.9 yuan, greatly reducing the product's perceived value. As a result, when the price returned to normal and the gift was removed, sales plummeted because the price gap was too large and consumers didn't accept the product's price. Distributors must remember: promotion policies must never create a psychological gap for consumers. Scientific policies always maintain the normal price system, not reduce prices. Especially when dealing with near-expiry products, many distributors slash prices drastically; next time without a discount, consumers feel cheated. Near-expiry products should be handled at specific points, not all stores. Regardless of the policy, it must create a sense of value. High-end products have relatively high prices; even a 10-20 yuan discount leaves the price high. In such cases, with upstream brand support, differentiated promotions are possible. For example, in modern channels, when promoting Arawana rice bran oil, we avoided price cuts and used bundle promotions: buy one barrel of rice bran oil, get a free cup. The cup costs less than 10 yuan, but it's far more effective than a direct price cut. The product price remains unchanged, preserving its value, and the free cup is from a different category, making direct comparison impossible, so consumers see it as an extra benefit. Another point: policies should give consumers a sense of participation, like tastings or interactions. When consumers experience the product and like it, they'll want to buy. Qianhe Soy Sauce has used this approach in recent years to break through the barriers set by Haitian and Lee Kum Kee. Qianhe's price point is above 20 yuan, with no price advantage, so their promotions involve in-store tastings. Consumers taste it, find it good, and word-of-mouth spreads, helping them gradually establish a foothold. -03- Two Key Aspects of Promotion Policies! 1. Promotions must target competitors! Distributors design promotions to boost sales, but more importantly, to attack competitors. The better the competitor's promotion, the worse our sales. So, promotions must be targeted. Study competitor promotion policies, analyze their strengths and weaknesses—items, price bands, core products—and use these analyses to develop targeted regional promotions. Often, salespeople habitually use high-volume, best-selling products for promotions. This sacrifices profits and, crucially, leads to homogeneous promotions with competitors, all using strong movers. In such cases, distributors can differentiate. For grain and oil, if a competitor promotes a 5L soybean oil, matching their price is pointless; the best approach is to use profit products for a "dimensional reduction" attack. We can adjust: while competing with similar specifications and prices, also strengthen high-end product advantages to launch a dimensional reduction, seizing competitor market share. 2. Execution must be fast, accurate, and decisive The time from policy design to implementation must be short, with timely communication. Sales staff need to familiarize themselves with the policy in advance and inform stores to prepare. Many distributors fail to communicate promptly, so sales staff only learn about it at the last minute, leading to execution errors. Second, create urgency by setting a deadline, making customers feel "if I don't order, I'll regret it." The deadline should not exceed 15 days, ideally 7-10 days. After customers participate, promised rewards must be delivered promptly, or good things can turn bad. After implementation, checks are essential: verify that all policy standards are met, analyze data, and summarize the policy. In conclusion: Promotion policies are key for distributors to open markets. Especially with manufacturers' recent "decisive terminal" strategies, distributors must abandon the old "wait, rely, ask" approach and proactively plan marketing strategies to boost sales and profits, and increase control over distribution channels.