---
title: "Do You Think a Salesperson's Job Is Only Distribution, Distribution, and More Distribution?"
description: "The author, a former distributor, uses real examples to show that salespeople often focus on distribution during peak sales periods, missing opportunities. He introduces the concepts of 'core sales days' and 'core sales time slots' to emphasize that sales efforts should align with when consumers are most likely to buy, and suggests strategies like community direct selling and treating markets as stores."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-07-02"
language: "en"
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# Do You Think a Salesperson's Job Is Only Distribution, Distribution, and More Distribution?

> The author, a former distributor, uses real examples to show that salespeople often focus on distribution during peak sales periods, missing opportunities. He introduces the concepts of 'core sales days' and 'core sales time slots' to emphasize that sales efforts should align with when consumers are most likely to buy, and suggests strategies like community direct selling and treating markets as stores.

Twenty years ago, I was also a distributor, and I feel a close affinity with distributors, dealing with them every day. The topic we discuss today is related to our distributors and the daily work of our manufacturers' salespeople. So, let's start with two examples—
This example is from June this year, when I was in a sales meeting with a company. We picked up a salesperson's work diary and turned to May 20th. The diary recorded that the salesperson distributed products to 24 stores in a township. I asked the manager if this salesperson did well. The manager said this salesperson did very well, distributing to 24 stores. But did he really do well? I asked a few questions. First, what were the characteristics of the township where you distributed on May 20th? The salesperson answered that there were particularly many people. I asked the second question: why were there so many people? The salesperson answered because the town had a market every fifth and tenth day. Then I asked the third question: what does it mean when there are many people during the market? The salesperson answered it means sales opportunities. I asked the fourth question: when sales opportunities come, what were you doing? He was distributing. I ask everyone here: if I asked you these questions, when sales opportunities come, what are you doing? What are your salespeople doing? They are distributing. Why distribute? What is the purpose of distribution? The purpose of distribution is sales. When sales opportunities come, what are you doing?
So, many companies now think they are doing well in sales, but they simplify the salesperson's work to distribution, distribution, and more distribution. They don't know the purpose of distribution. This salesperson's manager praised him for distributing to 24 stores. But I can say that what he did that day was wrong. This is the diary for the 20th. The same salesperson, what did he do on May 21st? He was still distributing in the township. How many stores? 27. Was it good? Yes. We ask again—many things cannot withstand questioning. The first question: what day was May 21st? Saturday. The second characteristic: what is special about Saturday? On Saturday, supermarkets have many people. The third question: what does it mean when supermarkets have many people? It means sales opportunities are coming. When sales opportunities come, what should the salesperson do? Do demonstration and promotion.
Ask the fifth question: do you think your work that day was valuable? The salesperson answered that the value was not high. I asked the sixth question: how long have you been distributing? He said for several months, always distributing. Then the seventh question: why must you keep distributing? Because the terminal doesn't sell well; if I don't distribute, they won't order. Where is the problem? Why must you distribute? Because the terminal hasn't sold out. Then the eighth question: how can you make the terminal sell quickly? When selling, you are not at the terminal. The problem is found. Whether you are a manufacturer or a distributor, think about it. When consumer purchases are most concentrated, what are salespeople doing? Distributing, distributing, and more distributing. So, you must keep distributing.
So, these two cases are from a salesperson I questioned. What inspiration do these two cases give us? Whether in urban supermarkets or rural areas, we find that there are always a few days, every other day, when sales are most concentrated. So, when sales are most concentrated, what should we do? Did we do it? Well, we created a new concept called core sales days. So, if you don't know what core sales days are, you might know in two months, but not now. These two cases give us a concept: core sales days are days when target customer traffic is particularly large and sales are particularly concentrated. Such days pass, and after a few days they are gone; they are not the peak season. For example, core sales days are numerous. A simple example: holidays are undoubtedly core sales days. For cities, Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday are core sales days. In rural areas, market days and temple fairs are also core sales days. I don't know if you've thought about it: what is the difference between temple fairs and market days? When is it a temple fair, and when is it a market? What is a temple fair? It is a temple fair, and there are many.
We can extend this idea further. Let me give another example, one I personally experienced. In 1995, we were providing services for Baixiang Instant Noodles. Baixiang now has about 3 billion in revenue, but at that time it was less than 5 million. The first thing I did was personally act as a salesperson to sell products with them. Let me recall how I sold. What was the difference between me and ordinary salespeople? As a so-called expert, what was the difference? I sold like this: I divided the day into two parts, doing two things. What were they? First, I had to distribute. But you will find that if your brand is not well-known, what happens when you distribute to terminals? Can it sell? It won't sell; if the product doesn't sell at the terminal, it's because there is no brand. And if you can't afford advertising, what do you do? I split it into two segments. First, I took two and a half hours each day: 11:30 to 12:30 in the morning and 17:00 to 18:30 in the afternoon. When is this? It is the rush hour after work. Think about it: what does the rush hour after work mean to us? It is the best time for community direct sales. If you set up a stall in the community at 8 o'clock, there is no one.
I tell you, I sold about 150 boxes of instant noodles a day. At noon, I did direct sales in the community, selling 50 boxes. In the afternoon, I did direct sales in the community, selling 50 boxes. What did I do the rest of the time? Distribution. What is the relationship between the two? Because I did direct sales, what happened? People bought it home and tasted it. Was it good? It was good. What did they do? They wanted to buy more. Where did they buy? At the store. Could the store sell the products? Yes, it could. If I only distributed, I might distribute enough in a few days. But by combining direct sales with distribution, I solved both problems. Importantly, I remind everyone here: what does the rush hour after work mean to us? It means sales opportunities. So, in Zhengzhou, there is a supermarket that advertises like this: "XX Supermarket is on your way home from work." Comrades, many of us keep our eyes on KA, but we squeeze our heads and still don't make money. Has anyone noticed that the flow of people after work means sales opportunities? What is refined marketing? This should be called refined marketing.
Let's look at another example. Last year, I worked with a company in Shandong, a low-temperature meat product company. It also had no brand. Was it easy to sell? No. Were distributors willing to stock? They didn't dare, because the shelf life of low-temperature meat products is only one month, and products after half a month are not easy to sell. What to do? So, this company also reallocated salespeople's time. How? They divided salespeople into two time periods: one period for distribution, and the other period for what? They also did community direct sales. Where? At the vegetable market. So, the characteristic of this company's salespeople was to go to the morning market early and the evening market in the afternoon, and distribute at other times. Whether morning or evening market, they solved a big problem: what problem? They sold products that were approaching expiration but not yet expired through direct sales. Because they sold, did distributors dare to stock? Yes, they dared. In these two examples, we analyzed the day. What did we analyze? We proposed another concept: what concept? Core sales time slots. In a day, we also find the time periods when traffic is most concentrated and sales are most concentrated. I want to ask everyone here: what are your salespeople doing during core sales time slots? Are they still distributing, distributing, and more distributing? We find that whether in supermarkets or vegetable markets, there are core sales time slots. From 9 to 10 in the morning, retired elderly or housewives, even nannies, go to the vegetable market and supermarket to buy ingredients for lunch. Then there is another peak time when office workers go shopping. At other times, you might not find anyone. In a day, there are only one or two hours that are most important. During those most important one or two hours, what are your salespeople doing?
We can extend this idea further. For example, in rural Xuchang, Henan, every April there are about 10 days when farmers concentrate on washing and quilting. You will find that this is the time when laundry detergent sales are the highest. Does laundry detergent have a peak season? Does washing clothes have a peak season? So, for a company that sells laundry detergent in rural areas, if you miss this fleeting time, your profits this year will be lost. Another example: because we do a lot of instant noodles, we noticed a phenomenon: in Hubei, when it rains, instant noodle sales increase several times. Why? I couldn't figure it out before, but recently I understood: when it rains, outdoor activities decrease, so many people stay home and play mahjong or cards. Everyone knows that playing mahjong has several benefits, one of which is curing diarrhea—you sit there and don't want to leave. Once you start playing mahjong, you don't want to cook. So what do you eat? Instant noodles.
Usually, instant noodles are eaten by children, but when it rains, who eats them? Adults and children eat together. Similarly, this time period may not be as easy to grasp as the core sales days I mentioned earlier. But you will find that what you did before was all in preparation for rain. So, Hubei's instant noodle peak seasons are three: the plum rain season, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Spring Festival. If you miss such important days, it's over; when the weather clears, no matter how hard you try, it's useless. So, the concept of core sales days is not necessarily one day; it can also refer to a time period or several days. I can tell you that most sales are bought by consumers on core sales days. I ask again: when consumers are buying, what are you doing?
We can extend this concept further. Because I worked at Shuanghui, I once proposed the concept of treating the vegetable market as a store. Do you know where the most foot traffic is? KA. But KA doesn't have high traffic every day; the place with the most traffic is the vegetable market. In the food industry, I observe that many products are sold along with vegetable market sales, or many products are bought on the way when buying vegetables. So, while everyone is spending money on KA, the vegetable market is forgotten. I once did an experiment in Qingdao. On a weekend at a vegetable market, I treated the market as a store. How? I did promotions, demonstrations, and tastings. How much did I sell in one day? Over 10,000 yuan. At that time, a large supermarket in Qingdao, over 10,000 square meters, had monthly sales of 100,000 yuan. At a vegetable market, I sold 10,000 yuan in one day. So, what does the vegetable market mean to us? It is not KA, but better than KA. It is a main battlefield with little competition.
Through these cases, we should establish a concept: what concept? Sales work must have a core. What is the core? We must remember core workdays, core work time slots, and core terminals. Sales plans and management should revolve around the core, and everything else serves it. For example, this is a weekly cycle I developed for a company's supermarket salespeople. Let's read it backwards. The weekend refers to Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday. What do we do on the weekend? All personnel participate in supermarket demonstration and promotion. Remember these four words: all personnel. If possible, including accountants—on the weekend, don't do accounting; go to the supermarket. Delivery personnel, don't deliver on the weekend; go to the supermarket. Just sell. When it's time to sell, don't do accounting or delivery; go sell. When to deliver? Friday morning to replenish stock, and Monday morning to replenish stock.
What is the purpose of distribution? The purpose of distribution is to stop distributing, to turn distribution into ordering. Once they sell out and make money, they will call you and say, "Hurry up and deliver." Distribution is not about pushing inventory; distribution is to achieve a goal: to ensure the terminal has products to sell. Distribution does not guarantee selling the product; it only ensures the terminal has products to sell. So, what do we do at other times? Other times are for developing customers, maintaining relationships, collecting payments, etc. From Tuesday to Thursday, we further divide the time slots. For example, if a salesperson is called a merchandiser and manages 14 supermarkets, I would require that during core sales time slots, what do you do? Sell. Some say supermarkets are easy to operate, but how do you operate in township markets? I say it's simple. How simple? Generally, the market is in the morning, lasting half a day. So, when you distribute, you know where the market is. When distributing, bring the goods, and also bring promotional tools: banners, sashes, and a computer. When you arrive at the township market, set up a stall and help the township second-tier distributor sell.
After the morning market, what do you do in the afternoon? Distribute, continue distributing. Maybe you don't need to distribute; if you sell out, the second-tier distributor will order more. So, selling on core sales days in townships is entirely achievable. Several companies have followed this approach with good results. Some say it works in townships and large stores, but can it work in small convenience stores? Last year, when I worked with a condiment company, I did convenience stores. Because large supermarkets and KA stores require high fees, I targeted small chain supermarkets. Have you noticed that no one does promotions in chain supermarkets? Very few. Why not? Because sales are too low to support a person. But is it really impossible to support a person? According to the core sales time slot concept, we find that one terminal or convenience store cannot support a person. But during core sales time slots, can it support a person? Yes. Here's what I did: one salesperson managed seven convenience stores. During the rush hour when office workers buy, do promotions and demonstrations. Are small supermarkets willing? Very willing. Moreover, there is no competition, no entry fees, no promotion fees, nothing. You help the salesperson sell. One salesperson manages seven, rotating: Monday here, Tuesday there. What about other times? Maintain customer relationships, distribute, etc. In this way, you enter a battlefield without competition. Why don't distributors make money? Because our targets are all in overly competitive battlefields, so there is sales volume but no profit. As long as you target overly competitive battlefields.
For example, KA definitely has sales volume but no profit. When you find a battlefield without competition, you will generate profit, depending on how you operate. So, the concept of core sales days seems simple, but it is actually related to our daily work. If you arrange salespeople's work according to this concept, you will find that our previous salespeople were inefficient; they didn't sell when they should have. So, this concept applies to both manufacturers and distributors.
I think the questions I raised are basically done. Now, I wonder: where did this concept come from? In the morning, we discussed that the market environment has changed, and we need to innovate, change, and transform. How to transform? Recently, I heard a boss say, "I am very depressed. I have three solutions. First, I go to the bookstore to buy books. Second, I find teachers and experts. Third, I go to the market." I think this problem came from when I went to the market and had sales meetings with salespeople. I don't know if you distributors think that because you are in the market every day, you have been to the market. The feeling of being in the market and going to the market is different. This is not my words; it's from Trout.
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