---
title: "Every Regional Sales Unit Needs a Plan B Amid the Pandemic"
description: "The pandemic is no longer a one-off event but a persistent and certain occurrence that can instantly alter market transaction structures. Therefore, every manufacturer and distributor must have a comprehensive Plan B in place, covering organization, channels, and products, to ensure business continuity and minimize losses during regional lockdowns."
author: "袁来"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2022-06-08"
language: "en"
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---

# Every Regional Sales Unit Needs a Plan B Amid the Pandemic

> The pandemic is no longer a one-off event but a persistent and certain occurrence that can instantly alter market transaction structures. Therefore, every manufacturer and distributor must have a comprehensive Plan B in place, covering organization, channels, and products, to ensure business continuity and minimize losses during regional lockdowns.

Previously, I thought the pandemic was an anomaly that would eventually pass. The unconventional market measures taken during the pandemic didn't need to be summarized or pondered; they would be over soon, after all, it was a "once-in-a-century" event. It was better to continue doing solid market work, more refined, more accurate, and more efficient.

But the recent outbreak in Shanghai should serve as a warning: the emergence of the pandemic will be a persistent and certain event. Although the time cycle is short, it can instantly change the market transaction structure.

**Since it is certain, the time cycle is short, and the market structure will change, I think any manufacturer must have a Plan B.**

Although we hope not to use Plan B, we must be fully prepared.

**Plan B—Organization**

A couple of days ago, I listened to an online sharing session by Wang Wei, founder of Fresh Legend. He mentioned the organizational discipline of "extraordinary measures in extraordinary times":

**1. Senior executives stay off the front line**
**2. Middle management charges forward**
**3. Grassroots staff who leave their posts are fired**

These three organizational disciplines are very interesting. Wang Wei explained that senior executives should not be on the front line; the commander must not "fall in battle." Not being on-site is not laziness; on the contrary, they are busier, directing remotely to ensure smooth progress of all work.

Middle management must charge forward, go deep into the front line, respond flexibly, and adjust in a timely manner. Grassroots staff who leave their posts are fired; when the pandemic hits, the biggest fear is a change in mindset, so strict discipline red lines must be established.

The current pandemic presents as single-point or multi-point regional outbreaks, with controls and shutdowns; there will be no more large-scale shutdowns and controls. For FMCG brands, business is based on the whole country, not a single point region or city.

**Based on a city or a region, make organizational adjustments for Plan B. Regional managers—city managers—sales supervisors—sales representatives should make adaptive adjustments and set basic principles.**

In addition to the sales organization in their own region, the most critical link is the distributor partners. No matter how active the regional organization is, if the distributor's warehouse is sealed and logistics and distribution cannot keep up, it will be a futile effort.

FMCG distributors should also design corresponding adjustments and safeguards: **warehouse staff on duty at all times, vehicles available for emergency dispatch, inclusion in the supply guarantee whitelist, sales personnel dispersed across districts**, and so on.

The purpose of the above organizational adjustments is to ensure that when the pandemic hits, the basic business can continue to operate without stopping. Once these are done, the next step is to consider how to minimize business losses.

In an abnormal market, there is naturally no completely standard method; it's all experience summarized after the fact. The last round of the pandemic is different from this round. Only by actively seeking methods:

**"Everyone is a salesperson." Daily meetings, daily sharing, daily Q&A.**

The more abnormal the situation, the more likely you are to find new business opportunities. Although some unconventional methods may not be sustainable once the market returns to normal, it's still a worthwhile exploration of new business.

Recently, I listened to a sharing session by the president of a brand online. Due to the Shanghai lockdown, 400 employees were quarantined at home, but business not only didn't decline, it actually showed a V-shaped rise in April and May.

In the sharing, he mentioned that from employees spontaneously becoming community group leaders, to cooperating with external professional group leaders, to independently establishing a community group buying business department.

This is the organization's response mechanism in abnormal times. It started as individual behavior and eventually evolved into an independent business department, achieving good sales contributions.

**An organizational adjustment mechanism based on daily units, first let the basic functions turn and move. Then, with the concept of all-staff sales, find sales volume, and in the process of finding, explore another possibility for business.**

**Plan B—Channels**

Just mentioned how to minimize business losses? Based on the cases seen during this period, in a regional market, how to find sales during the pandemic, besides regular store supply, there are five directions to consider:

**1. Government supply guarantee**
**2. Enterprise and institution supply guarantee**
**3. Special channels**
**4. Community group buying**
**5. KA online O2O**

Government supply guarantee is not just about being added to the key supply guarantee list and ensuring logistics vehicles can pass smoothly. The most important thing is to open up channels to provide corresponding materials to various government units.

At the beginning of the Shanghai outbreak, I communicated with a friend in the supply chain. We saw many enterprises or agricultural product bases from various places aiding Shanghai with vegetables, fruits, etc.

The logic behind this is: on one hand, Shanghai indeed needs material assistance; on the other hand, these agricultural product bases or enterprises are paving the way to establish future cooperative relationships with various parties in Shanghai.

Therefore, it is recommended that each region, together with distributors, maintain good relationships with local governments. I particularly agree with a certain entrepreneur's viewpoint: **as operators, we can do public welfare with a private motive.** Through condolences and support to the front line, establish relationship channels with internal parties.

Of course, some categories will not be included in the list of daily necessities, and it is difficult for distributors of a single brand or category to become supply guarantee enterprises. **It is recommended to establish alliances with local distributors of different categories in advance, cooperating with distributors of grain, oil, rice, flour, water, milk, and non-staple foods to create combined product packages.**

Enterprises and institutions are the same.

Establish cooperation channels with enterprises and institutions. If you cannot directly establish a cooperative relationship network, directly cooperate with distributors of different categories. Distributors of mid-to-high-end liquor, grain, oil, rice, and flour have made efforts in the enterprise and institution sector, so you can directly give up some profits for cooperation.

The special channels here mainly refer to channels that can still operate normally after regional control, **such as small shops in communities and stores on campus.**

If there were no pandemic, these two types of stores would also be operating normally, but if the pandemic occurs, these two channels become the main source of business.

Campus channels may be difficult to open up due to thresholds and relationships. But small shops in communities are terminals that many manufacturers have ignored before. **Take the community as a unit, investigate, collect, and inventory. For those not yet cooperating, quickly establish contact; for those already cooperating, mark them in the registry.**

The power of community group buying has been fully demonstrated in Shanghai. Currently, local community group buying platforms should be inventoried. Maybe now they cannot cooperate due to price, product, and other issues, but relationships should still be established.

In addition, **based on community group leaders, establish a directory of group leader contacts. Even if there is no pandemic, these community group leaders may directly contribute to manufacturers' regional new product launches or short-term sales supplementation.**

KA online O2O. In the past, O2O business was required by headquarters, and regions did it if they had time (maybe they had time but were too lazy to do it), and didn't do it if they didn't have time. Indeed, compared to direct offline sales, it was very little. But once the pandemic hits, this will also be a key source of sales.

**Plan B—Products**

With fewer B-store businesses, the focus naturally shifts to C-end consumer business. In the past, regional sales units rarely thought about C-end consumer business; daily work was more about negotiation, fee investment, and market planning.

Once the pandemic hits, the business model must shift from B-end to C-end. **First, how to combine products with the big scene of consumers' families; second, how to combine and match products to meet the small scenes within the big family scene.**

Share two cases:

A while ago, I had a phone exchange with Zhang Jianli, founder of Huanyu Yigou, a distributor of PepsiCo Foods in Shanghai. Lay's potato chips, as a leisure and pleasure snack, are non-essential. As the lockdown continued, the demand for emotional reward emerged.

Huanyu Yigou combined potato chips, melon seeds, chicken feet, duck necks, etc., into product combination packages, and sales soared. Before Children's Day on June 1st, they specially designed a "June 1st" package, with a Winnie the Pooh shoulder bag as a gift.

Another case: a beer distributor in Zibo. When the pandemic hit, restaurants closed, so they had no choice but to make all staff group leaders and all staff salespeople. The products sold were not the regular pure draft or classic beers we see in stores, but mid-to-high-end beer.

In the family consumption scene, if it's not a daily necessity, many consumers still hope to eat well and drink well.

At this time, it is also a good opportunity to push high-end and new products. Although the Zibo distributor friend didn't share, I think if beer were combined with braised products like duck necks to form a product combination package, it could also meet users' needs for watching dramas, games, etc.

Back to the point, **under normal market conditions, our product design starting point is that consumers have clear needs, solving the problem of "buy me not him." But under abnormal pandemic conditions, the starting point of Plan B product design is: in the big family scene, how to create a new scene, bring joy to life or solve life's pain points.**

Traditional festivals, TV dramas, gaming competitions, terrace barbecue, indoor fitness, working from home, etc., based on a series of life scenes, give consumers corresponding solutions, and the corresponding product combination is the most important starting point in solving problems.

Therefore, **the products in Plan B should combine consumption characteristics and demand characteristics, list specific scenes in advance. For each scene, combine across categories and brands, design combination packages. Increase average order value, push high-end and new products, and seize every opportunity for scene-based selling.**

**Summary:**

Under the background of normalized pandemic prevention and control, every regional sales unit must have a complete "wartime state" Plan B, placed in the commander's drawer.

Of course, we hope not to use it, and prefer to solidly cultivate channels according to the natural laws of market and competition, and seize market share. But the unpredictable black swan event may appear any day.

Of course, as a front-line market commander, I should think that when the pandemic comes, we should treat Plan B as a live-fire drill. Win this unconventional battle, win the market, win customers, and even more, win a team that can win battles.

_-END-_


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