---
title: "Fearless of Hardship and Fatigue: Top Sales Representatives Visit Outlets Like This!"
description: "This article details the 41 essential actions for professional store visits, from preparation and self-introduction to in-store observation, merchandising, and administrative follow-up. It emphasizes that consistent execution of these basic steps is the key to outperforming competitors and achieving sales excellence."
author: "俞雷"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-07-21"
language: "en"
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---

# Fearless of Hardship and Fatigue: Top Sales Representatives Visit Outlets Like This!

> This article details the 41 essential actions for professional store visits, from preparation and self-introduction to in-store observation, merchandising, and administrative follow-up. It emphasizes that consistent execution of these basic steps is the key to outperforming competitors and achieving sales excellence.

Click to read the original text for details.
From the day I entered the industry, my boss told me, "Distribution, display, sales, and collection"—this is the sacred mission of a Salesperson, the "eight-character policy" that a Salesperson must be able to recite even in their dreams.
I have seen many people who loudly proclaim slogans like "Iron Army" or "Commando Team," but behind their slogans, I cannot see where their "iron" quality lies or where their "commando" ability is demonstrated. Sales indeed requires some slogan motivation, but what is needed more is persistence and focus in every link. Only in this way can you thoroughly defeat competitors and build a top-tier sales team.
Store visits and management are the most routine work for a sales representative and also the most productive. This article breaks down this work into 41 actions. By standardizing the execution of these actions, your skills in the consumer goods sales field will definitely be improved to the greatest extent.
**Preparation**
If you think sales work starts at the store, you are completely wrong. Before going into battle, soldiers always check their weapons and ammunition. Sales representatives are no different; they must make thorough preparations before setting out.
**1) Fixed Route: Visit customers according to a fixed route.**
**The tools typically used for this task are the "Store Visit Route Schedule" and the "Geographical Map."** The "Store Visit Route Schedule" is used to fill in the weekly fixed visit routes, while the "Geographical Map" shows the geographical locations of each store. The benefit of visiting customers on a fixed route is that it allows customers to get used to seeing the sales representative at a fixed time, which is also beneficial for the store's safety stock preparation.
(Attachment 1: "Sales Representative Store Visit Route Schedule")
**2) Reasonable Arrangement: Consider geographical location and store manager's time.**
The geographical map in Action 1 is designed to reasonably arrange the store visit route. In addition, the working hours of the store manager also need to be considered. If the store has in-store promotional staff, their working hours should also be taken into account. If we have new products to distribute or displays to improve, these need to be negotiated with the store manager during their working hours. Understanding their working hours is also an important task when designing the visit route.
**3) Phone Appointment: Use phone calls to improve visit efficiency and avoid the manager being absent.**
Simple shelf restocking and display work may not require the manager's presence, but if you are negotiating a promotional activity with the store, you must ensure the manager is present. Knowing the manager's working hours is not enough (because unexpected situations like shift changes or sick leave can occur); you also need to make a phone appointment in advance. **This action serves two purposes: first, to confirm the time, and second, to show respect for the other party.**
**4) Set Visit Objectives**
Having a purpose when visiting stores is a sign of a good sales representative's work habits. We are not "shopping" in stores; we are working in them. Therefore, before the visit, you should bring your previous visit records and display progress charts (these are reflected in the customer visit card discussed later) and clarify the objectives of this visit. Are your objectives to distribute new SKUs? Or to increase display space? These must be clarified before the visit.
Objective setting also requires defining the highest and lowest goals. Negotiation is a bargaining process; what you get will always be lower than what you ask for. But if you don't know how to set goals, you won't be able to evaluate whether you made a successful or failed negotiation.
After clarifying the visit route and objectives, the next step is to prepare your sales tools.
**5) Objective Preparation: Prepare appropriate tools and data according to the objectives.**
Based on the visit objectives, you should bring the necessary tools and data. If it's a new promotional activity, check whether you have brought enough POP and display props for the activity. Have you forgotten the promotional items that the promotion girl asked you to bring to the store? If you are distributing new products, have you brought samples, new product introductions, or flyers?
If your objective is to expand display space, you need to bring your sales data. Usually, strong brands expand display space—for fixed shelves, this means squeezing competitors' space—by calculating the profit that the increase in their brand's display space brings to the store. Weak brands often do the opposite, using methods like providing display fees or shelf fees to counter strong brands. The store, in the end, weighs between sales volume × gross margin and display fees to decide whether to expand or shrink a brand's display space.
**6) Bring All Sales Materials**
Now, you need to check your sales bag. The outside of your sales bag is printed with the company logo, which is the company honor that every sales representative should cherish. We fight for this brand. Check if your sales bag is clean. Remember, the image of the sales bag is part of your personal image and also represents the company's image.
Now start checking the contents of the sales bag.
**"Sales Representative Store Visit Route Schedule":** You need to check whether you have followed the planned route today.
**Price List and Suggested Order Form:** The price list is the price given to the store; never give the distributor price list to the store. The suggested order form is the store's order record.
**Customer Visit Card:** See Attachment 2. The customer visit card is a sales representative's weapon. For detailed usage of the customer visit card, please refer to the article "Customer Card: The Soul of Terminal Operations." This form covers records of a store's inventory, sales, display, and promotional activities.
**Company Inventory:** Before leaving, don't forget to bring the company's inventory list or the inventory list of the distributor you are responsible for. If some products are out of stock, you need to explain this to the store. If you don't understand the company's inventory, it's easy to place random orders, leading to a lower order fulfillment rate for the store.
**Order Forms:** Of course, as a salesperson, you must ensure you have enough order forms.
**Invoices:** If you need to settle accounts with the store this time, you must bring invoices and sales lists.
**POP:** Sales representatives should note that POP in stores needs to be updated promptly because each promotional cycle or new product launch has different promotion and marketing focuses, and POP must match these changes. Therefore, the POP in your sales bag should be the latest so that stores can update promptly.
**Various Stationery:** Check again whether you have enough double-sided tape for posting POP or special price labels. Do you have a clean cloth for wiping products and shelves? Also, don't forget to bring your pen, notebook, business cards, scissors, and calculator. Not one can be missing!
Alright, you are now fully prepared. Now, cheer up and set out!
Attachment 2: Customer Visit Card
**Self-Introduction**
**7) Appearance and Grooming**
Sales representatives who visit stores usually do not wear suits, but your appearance must be neat and clean. If the company has a uniform dress code, follow it; if not, you still cannot lower your standards for cleanliness.
Remember, neat attire is only one aspect; you must also smile and show your approachability. A smile can bring you closer to customers and leave a better impression.
**8) Find the Key Person**
If your work objective today involves dealing with store personnel, you must first find those who can truly make decisions. Remember, show your confidence; your confidence will infect your customers.
**9) Introduce Yourself**
If it's a new store, or if you are just starting your sales business, you need to proactively introduce yourself to the manager, introduce the company, and exchange business cards. Remember, the store manager may not remember your name, but the minimum requirement for an excellent sales representative is that others can remember the brand of the company you work for. I emphasize this again: **A brand is the honor of a sales representative. Every excellent sales representative's name is the brand they work for.**
We must defend our brand as we defend our own honor!
Alright, now let's officially begin the various operations inside the store.
**Observing the Store**
**10) In-Store Observation**
I suggest you walk from the main aisle gradually to your product display area. Of course, you can take a shortcut, but unfortunately, most consumers do not do so.
First, you need to understand the store's operating conditions. In the past year and a half, at least 150 large supermarket chains in China have closed down. The credit safety issue of supermarkets has become a topic that must be put on the agenda, and credit control of stores must start with sales representatives. Although some supermarkets close overnight, most show signs before closing: sparse displays, out-of-stock of strong brands, fresh food counters almost empty (fresh products almost always require cash payment), and on hot summer days, instead of beverages, health products are placed on the floor stack. These are all signs of a supermarket's impending failure.
But if competitors' displays are full and your distributor tells you that the supermarket has credit problems, you need to question whether it's because they lack funds to serve the supermarket or because their salesperson's collection ability is problematic.
**11) Watch Competitors**
See what competitors have been up to recently? Have they done a themed floor stack? Bought dedicated shelf space? Published a flyer? Has their display space shrunk or expanded? Record all of these and report to your supervisor so you can respond immediately and seize opportunities to attack them.
**12) Check Your Own Products**
Now start checking our own products.
Have our various product lines met the company's distribution standards? If not, plan your distribution plan.
Is our display up to standard? If not, make a display improvement plan.
Have we achieved regional display? Remember, regional display can maximize the effectiveness of shopping guides, and just regional display alone can increase our sales more.
How is our display position? Is it in the area with the highest foot traffic, or placed on the golden display shelf?
Check the price tags: Has the supermarket's price been executed according to the company's requirements? Is it cheaper or more expensive? Has the promotional price been implemented? Or has the promised price change been executed?
Also, observe whether our POP, flyers, cards, or hanging cards, insert cards in the store are expired or damaged by competitors?
Don't be angry about competitors damaging these items; we will just redo them. The store is a war without gunpowder among brands. Constantly repeating these basic sales actions is the life of a sales representative, and it is your own choice.
**13) FIFO**
How many of our products have become expired in stores because we didn't practice First-In, First-Out (FIFO)? Remember, both out-of-stock and not practicing FIFO are criminal acts for a sales representative and the greatest insult to our glorious title of "Sales Representative"!
Develop the habit of placing older products in front and fresher products in the back. FIFO!!!
You should also check whether products on the shelf and in the warehouse are near expiry or expired. For these, remember to remove them from the shelf promptly, or do some promotions for near-expiry products to clear inventory in time.
**14) Record Inventory**
Use the "Customer Visit Card" to record the inventory of each SKU and note their freshness.
**15) Calculate Orders**
Use the safety stock principle to calculate orders. This can also be seen in the article "Customer Card: The Soul of Terminal Operations." No need to repeat here.
**16) Check Storage Conditions**
Are the storage conditions in the store or warehouse up to the company's requirements? Some products that need refrigeration or insulation are different from ordinary products. If not, correct it immediately.
Now that you have observed these items, let's move to the next step—
**17) Obtain Store Consent in Advance**
The store manager certainly has the right to adjust displays, but don't underestimate the "little people" in the store—the merchandising team leader, the shift supervisor. These people often have decision-making power over your display position. Therefore, maintaining good relationships is very important. But are good relationships cultivated through eating and drinking? Completely wrong! These people are often the ones who pay for meals and are called "suckers" by others; they are used to pay for the store's people.
Good relationships require frequent visits and emotional communication. Inventory day and shelf adjustment day are usually the best times to change shelf positions. The Chinese say "meeting creates affection," and moreover, inventory and shelf adjustments are usually done late at night, sometimes until dawn. All excellent sales representatives have participated in these store tasks. Have you? Do you know why your wine-and-dine relationships can't compare to others'?
Giving gifts is also necessary, but don't cross the moral bottom line. Commercial bribery never ends well and will never earn you respect in the industry.
**18) Position**
High foot traffic and prominent positions are definitely good positions.
(Attachments 3 and 4 show the best shelf positions based on width and height as references, with several sales indicators.)
Best shelf position—Shelf width:
Best shelf position—Shelf height:
**19) Maintain Shelf Share**
You not only need a good position but also need to ensure your shelf share. The minimum level is that you cannot be lower than your sales share in the store. As a strong brand, you need to occupy the largest shelf space; as a weak brand, your display principle should be to closely follow competitors, displaying next to them because their product shelves usually have the highest foot traffic. This sticky-tape approach is called "follow tactics."
**20) Manage the Shelf Well**
Remember, the best position must be for the best-selling products, or for the current season's promotional or main push products. Also, you must keep the shelf full and ensure sufficient stock. Experience shows that even without out-of-stock, a full shelf display sells more than a less full display.
**21) Regional Display**
Products in each series should be placed together as much as possible.
Put our brand together!
Put our flavors together!
Put our sizes together!
Only in this way can we maximize sales efficiency. **The display space for fast-moving consumer goods should be 2-3 times that of ordinary products.** Assuming one display face sells 100 units, two display faces sell 123, three display faces sell 140, and four display faces sell 154!
**22) In-Store Price Management**
If you change the placement position during merchandising, remember to adjust the price tags accordingly. All products must have corresponding price tags, and the price tags must reflect accurate prices and be clear and prominent.
For stores with internal codes on price tags, record this information. You generally cannot order products using the product barcode in the store; the effective ordering symbol is the store's internal code.
**23) Use Promotional Materials Wisely**
What promotional materials do you use daily?
**Posters, hanging flags, stickers, insert cards, KT boards, hanging decorations, dedicated display cabinets, dedicated stack boxes, checkout counter shelves, hot spot shelves, in-store promotion stands... These are all your promotional materials. The effect of promotional materials + display is 1.8 times that of display alone.**
You should use the latest promotional materials, choose corresponding materials for different brands, and update them regularly. Place promotional materials in the most attractive places to draw consumers' attention.
**24) Do Promotional Displays**
Earlier we talked about regular shelf displays. If possible, do as many promotional displays as possible in the store. Promotional displays bring us the following benefits:
**Floor display: sales increase by 42%**
**Floor display + poster: sales increase by 60%**
**Floor display + poster + special price card (special price only): sales increase by 83%**
**Floor display + poster + special price card (original and special price): sales increase by 125%**
**25) Practice FIFO Again**
Don't forget at any time: as long as you touch the display, you must place products according to the FIFO principle.
**26) Clean Products**
Now, take out the cloth from your sales bag and clean the products and shelves. The cleanliness of products directly affects consumers' purchase decisions. No one wants to buy dirty products, no matter how fresh the date is.
**27) Replenish Products**
After a round of display, you may need to replenish some products. Remember the FIFO principle and expand the display space as much as possible.
**28) Returns and Exchanges**
If there are products with unsuitable dates or damaged products, remove them from the shelf promptly and replace them with good products.
**29) Introduce Benefits**
It's not enough to just do it yourself; you also need to communicate to the store staff the benefits that the display will bring them. You need to make them believe that our work will bring them sales growth. Finally, don't forget to tell them to maintain our display, and also tell them that maintaining such a display will bring them benefits.
**30) Communicate with Promotion Girls**
If the store has promotion girls, don't forget to ask about their recent sales—including your own and competitors' sales and promotional activities—and check their sales reports. If the company has information to convey, tell them immediately, and tell them the recent work focus, and ask if they need any help from you.
Is there anything you brought for them? Is there anything to bring back to the company? Go do it quickly.
Alright, the display and merchandising work is done. But the work doesn't end here. Do you have any new work objectives for today's visit?
Now enter the fifth work segment—
**Presenting Objectives**
**31) Reconfirm Work Objectives**
Based on the work just done in the store, you need to reconfirm your work objectives. **These objectives include: selling in new SKUs, expanding display space, stocking up, conducting promotional activities, collecting payments, price changes, etc.**
**32) Use Your Sales Tools**
Using your customer visit card, you can show the store that safety stock is insufficient and they need to order.
Use new product promotional materials to sell new SKUs to the store.
Use the suggested order form to tell the store we have more product lines, increasing their order quantity.
**33) Assist Store Staff in Ordering**
New products usually require the purchasing department to confirm before ordering. Existing products can be ordered directly by the store. In some stores, in-store staff can place orders directly; in others, there is a complex purchasing process.
**The following table shows the ordering process of a certain chain supermarket:**
Here, there can be up to 9 steps, and it is very easy to make mistakes at some step. Sales representatives should not only assist store staff in placing orders in the store but also thoroughly understand the entire ordering process and track each step to avoid out-of-stock due to process issues.
**34) Use Your Sales Skills to Persuade Key People**
Achieving your sales objectives—such as running a promotional activity or distributing new products—is never easy. Here, you need to use the sales skills you have learned to negotiate with the store. Don't take customer rejection as the final answer. An excellent sales representative always discovers the problem behind the rejection.
**Use open-ended questions to find the customer's needs!**
**Stay calm when the customer has objections.**
**Listen carefully to the customer's problems and understand them clearly.**
**Say to the customer, "I understand you mean..." to show agreement.**
**Repeat the customer's problem and ask if there are any other objections. This is to limit their issues.**
**State our benefits to overcome objections. And promptly detect the customer's buying signals and close the deal in time.**
Sales skills are the basic skills of a sales representative, but they are not the focus of this article. The following table shows the general sales process:
Alright, after these efforts, your sales objectives are achieved.
So, is there any work left undone?
**Administrative Work**
Don't forget to check again the administrative tasks you need to do in the store.
**35) Check Whether Each Customer Visit Card Is Accurately and Completely Filled**
Have you recorded each product series and each display method on the customer visit card? Remember, this card is the source of all internal company data; it is the weapon of every sales representative!
**36) Payment Collection Work**
If your work today includes collecting payments, please carefully store the checks you receive in a check holder to avoid loss.
Following your store visit route map and the steps I mentioned above, you have completed a day's visit work. But is your work done? Don't forget, when you return to the office, you still have some final tasks!
**37) Process Orders**
After returning to the office, based on today's work, immediately process your orders and send them to the distributor or to the internal order entry clerk.
**38) Submit Collected Payments**
Immediately submit your collected payments to the company and record them carefully. Payments must never be kept overnight.
**39) Organize Customer Visit Cards**
Take today's customer visit cards. If any are filled out sloppily, rewrite them on a new form and store them in a fixed place. The storage place for customer visit cards must not be locked; they must be available for inspection by supervisors or the company at any time. This is our professionalism.
**40) Fill Out Sales/Payment Collection Reports**
Carefully fill out today's sales and payment collection records and file them in a fixed place, also not locked.
**41) Fill Out Work Plan**
If today is Friday, carefully fill out next week's work plan. Although you may follow the same fixed route as this week, has your supervisor arranged new tasks, new promotional activities, or new product launches for next week?
**42) Finally, Prepare for the Next Day's Work**
Now, the busy day is about to end. Before that, prepare some things for tomorrow's store visits. Ask your supervisor if there are any other work instructions for tomorrow. Take out your notebook and write them down. This workday is over.
Above, we have detailed the 41 action points of the professional store visit process. These are the basic common work standards and requirements of leading global consumer goods companies. Sales itself is actually a very simple job, but the key to success is to repeat simple actions continuously. It is the unswerving repetition of these seemingly simple but tedious tasks that truly differentiates us from competitors.
**This is you, a tireless and glorious sales representative, an unstoppable sales vanguard!**
Source: Internet


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