Distributors Understand the Logic, But Why Don't They Act?

Click to read the original text for details. As the saying goes, "It takes ten years to cultivate a shared boat crossing, and a hundred years to cultivate a shared pillow." Though the manufacturer-dealer relationship may not reach the level of "shared pillow," it should at least require decades more cultivation than "shared boat." In the journey of mutual support, manufacturers and dealers should remind and pull each other at critical moments, becoming happy playmates. With intensifying competition in the business environment, the marketing awareness of moving the terminal one meter forward and extending promotions to residential communities has taken root in most distributors' minds. Some distributors have attended more training, seen more of the world, and understand more big truths than the enterprises themselves. But what pains enterprises is that although distributors seem to understand the logic, when it comes to actual action, many are like thunder with little rain, or only thunder without rain, or even no thunder at all. This leads to a common problem in our daily distributor services: Marketing creates more sales opportunities—distributors understand this, but why don't they act? Every family has its own hard-to-read scripture, and one key cannot open all locks. The thorny issue of distributors understanding but not acting has multiple causes and requires tailored solutions.

Type 1: Those who don't know how to do it—they know they should promote outside the store and attract traffic, but don't know where to start. Actually, the proportion of distributors who completely don't know how to promote outside the store or attract traffic is getting smaller. Most distributors know the general methods, but because they've heard about it from the sidelines or have dabbled in it themselves, they feel the results aren't that great. So they stop and wait for manufacturers or experts to teach them a one-shot, fatal move, planning to try it once they learn it. But many distributors wait until their stores close without finding anyone to teach them that fatal move. We often say that a third-rate plan with first-rate execution can achieve second-rate results. Especially today, consumers have developed strong immunity to various flashy promotional formats. Creating a groundbreaking promotion that is low-cost and high-return is like looking for a needle in a haystack—it requires both inspiration and timing. So when a promotion plan lacks explosive, viral characteristics, it needs another aspect—systematicness—to compensate. For example, we all recognize that when we say someone's thinking is impressive, it either means their depth of thought reaches levels we haven't touched, or their breadth of thought—the systematicness of their thinking—is thorough and orderly. The essence of designing a promotion plan lies here. Most distributors know that distributing flyers and buy-one-get-one offers are becoming less effective, but few know that an event from water accumulation to return visit has over twenty steps and procedures that can be designed and controlled to expand the customer base and increase conversion probability. I once tested in class that distributors who knew eight or more control points in event design were rare. In practice, controlling one more point increases the chance of conversion, and most steps and procedures don't add extra cost. Whether an event can systematically consider all these twenty-plus steps and intervene effectively is the key to turning an ordinary promotion into a "thirteen orphans" winning hand. For distributors who don't know how, the enterprise's strategy is simply two words: invest people. Enterprise personnel should lead by example, take distributors by the hand, set benchmarks and models. Guide distributors through the four stages: "You listen to me, you watch me do, I listen to you, I watch you do." Break their fear of difficulty, shatter unrealistic fantasies, and let results and numbers speak. Let distributors see that doing promotions and execution solidly and systematically can also make every event packed.

Type 2: Those who dare not do it—they know how, but feel the risk is uncertain. Distributors who dare not act usually feel the input-output ratio isn't worth it, and the worst part is this risk is a feeling—indescribable yet wonderful. If enterprises probe deeply, distributors tend to be evasive, with shifting eyes and changing subjects. After some tai chi, you still can't find the north. The simplest way to judge if a distributor belongs to this category is to discuss the promotion plan with him. You'll find that among various promotional actions, this type prefers actions where customers come to the store, like referral programs. Their interest in other customer acquisition actions is noticeably lower. This can be considered a key characteristic of the dare-not-do type. For distributors who dare not act, the enterprise's strategy is still two words: invest money. A large promotional event has over twenty steps and procedures that can be controlled, each with different costs and effects varying by time, place, and people. Some steps only require adjusting actions without extra cost, like shifting the focus of invitation targets, which only involves changing scripts. But some steps, like return visits, require giving consumers extra sweeteners to be effective. When distributors are uncertain about the results of certain cost inputs, enterprises should share the cost with them. On one hand, this tests the effectiveness and appropriate intensity of actions, building a data foundation for future activities. On the other hand, it helps distributors build systematic awareness of events, using money to help them gain intuitive understanding of key steps—this is truly spending money where it counts.

Type 3: Those who are unwilling to do it—they know how, have some risk tolerance, but feel it's unnecessary. Unwilling distributors fall into two categories: One is in mature industries, where enterprises are large, and distributors have a certain scale. As the saying goes, "money makes you change," and distributors start having more choices, like speculating in real estate or investing, no longer willing to earn hard-earned money. The other is in emerging industries or categories, where enterprises are growing rapidly, and distributors have sufficient channel profits, so business is too busy to handle, or "three years without opening, but one opening lasts three years," so they don't need to endure sun and wind. Such distributors have neither the will nor the motivation for off-store promotions. The appearance of such distributors is mostly due to the enterprise itself. For example, in channel profit distribution, some enterprises, to quickly expand the market, adopt so-called "bare prices," packaging the regional market entirely to distributors and then washing their hands of it, or lacking resources to mobilize distributors to do what they want. This is common among small and medium enterprises in rapidly developing industries. Or enterprises keep their eyes on the market but turn a blind eye to backend supply bottlenecks. Normal shipping is already painful, and during large events, goods haven't been shipped after three months. Seeing this, how can distributors have motivation to run events? If you ask the enterprise boss why they don't keep some inventory, they righteously say: "We aim for zero inventory." This is a key reason many small and medium enterprises in emerging industries miss development opportunities. Of course, we won't discuss the pros and cons of zero inventory today; I just want to say that many enterprises in rapidly developing industries aren't fully prepared. For unwilling distributors, solving this is more complex, requiring a re-examination of the marketing and supply systems, especially pricing and supply chain systems. Generally, my experience is that in emerging industries and categories, the gross margin should be at least over 50% to support rapid industry advancement. If enterprises blindly engage in price wars instead of transferring sufficient profits to improve products and services to grow the industry and raise barriers, such industries struggle to grow, and such enterprises are likely to fail.

Type 4: Those who cannot do it—they know how, are willing to take risks, and see off-store promotion as necessary, but their manpower structure can't support it. I once did an incomplete statistic that at least half of distributors face the problem of retaining core personnel. The issue is that distributors' platforms aren't big, and even with a certain sales volume, it's hard to erase the shadow of being a middleman. Capable people are hard to recruit, and after painstakingly cultivating a core person, they worry: Will I speak too harshly? Will I pay too little? Will I pressure too much? They fear the core person will push back and leave. For core personnel, if they usually perform at 80%, they turn a blind eye and say "Amitabha." In the end, they comfort themselves: be tolerant, use people's strengths. Being a distributor boss is as stressful as being the Premier of the State Council. Of course, I'm not mocking distributors, just expressing the real dilemma most distributors face. Running promotional activities, especially large ones, is like high-intensity cross-country training in a short period, requiring stronger execution than usual. Whether each action and step is done properly directly or indirectly affects the final result. Most distributors don't separate sales and promotion staff, partly for cost reasons and partly because it's unnecessary. When activities are periodic or temporary, having a dedicated promotion team is redundant. But because of this, the lack of separation can lead to salespeople, who are the main force, not executing promotion actions properly, and distributors, even if they notice, let it slide. Especially when distributors feel the pressure of work requirements exceeds the compensation paid to salespeople, problems like deformed actions, non-standard procedures, and leaks multiply. So many distributors, when facing an event, first weigh whether they have enough manpower. If no one can fully execute the plan, it's better to maintain the status quo to avoid turning human resources into chaos and losing more than gaining. Of course, for those who cannot do, the solution must start from the root—institutional design. Many distributors have the idea of turning core backbone staff into shareholders, but they lack clear plans and actions, often just paying lip service. What enterprises should do is follow this trend, turning individual plans into company-wide plans in policy and resource investment, giving core staff a sense of purpose, and allowing distributors to maximize and prolong the "exploitation" of core staff's surplus value. In my consulting work, I've proposed the "Boss Lady Plan" and "Boss Plan," which have worked well, aiming to solve the problem of those who cannot do.