As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, it is again a busy period for manufacturers and distributors to prepare. Mid-Autumn sales are a crucial step in the year; after working hard for most of the year, it is time to reap the rewards. Typically, Mid-Autumn sales account for one-third of a baijiu distributor's annual sales, with the Spring Festival and normal periods each accounting for another third. However, some distributors may not fully seize this excellent opportunity. The first point in preparing for Mid-Autumn is to manage time well; generally, the Mid-Autumn plan should be formulated two months in advance, and the activity plan should be executed one month before the festival. The second point is to prepare in advance for the execution plan, especially ensuring that information is communicated to channel partners, listening to their feedback, and fine-tuning the plan details based on their responses. Marketing expert Qi Junwen, based on his work with numerous baijiu enterprises, has summarized five things distributors must do to prepare for Mid-Autumn: Conduct a promotional activity; organize an ordering conference; carry out a street-by-street distribution push; make an effective visit to core consumers; and implement a team assessment and incentive scheme.

The above 4+1 strategy: the 4 refers to effective measures targeting consumers and channels, while the 1 is the basic guarantee for your own team. Promotional activities should be directed at both consumers and channel partners; the ordering conference is the best way to convey information and achieve direct sales, mainly targeting second-tier distributors and large sales accounts; street-by-street distribution is a promotional push for terminal store owners based on existing policies; core consumers are the main buyers of high-end products, and making courtesy visits helps strengthen interaction while using gifts to remind consumers to purchase our products; for Mid-Autumn activities, it is essential to establish a team reward mechanism, independent of normal sales commissions, to increase team cohesion and positive energy.

Conduct a Promotional Activity Conducting promotional activities is an essential and effective action for Mid-Autumn. Promotions should consider both the consumer level and the level of second-tier distributors or terminal store owners.

Key points for consumer promotions: Consumer promotions must have a clear theme, usually leveraging real-time hot topics to maximize promotion visibility. Alternatively, create a hot topic to make the promotion a topic of discussion for a period. Choosing this hot topic is challenging; it must not be negative nor unrelated to the product. Consumer promotion strategy is a leveraging tactic. After selecting a theme, it is best to set up a menu-style promotion, such as scratch-card sales with tiers, which facilitates positive interaction between the product and consumers and increases brand awareness. The winning ratios for scratch cards should be controlled at approximately 0.1%, 3%, 20%, and 35% from high to low, with the rest being non-winning; the specific ratios should be adjusted based on the value of prizes and overall costs.

Key points for channel promotions: The intensity of channel promotions is crucial; if too strong, it may cause difficulties for future activities; if too weak, channel participation enthusiasm is low, and the effect is hard to achieve. Channel promotions often involve setting different components corresponding to promotional gifts and intensity, with different tiers having different intensities to encourage channel partners to stock up more during the activity period. Choosing promotional gifts is a headache for distributors; many, for convenience or to satisfy downstream distributors, simply offer the same product as a bonus with shipment, which is a fatal mistake. Gifts must be physical items to avoid monetization affecting the product's price system. Suitable gifts include travel, home appliances, vehicles, or activities that improve quality of life.

Organize an Ordering Conference Ordering is an effective way to connect distributors with downstream second-tier and core terminals. Through ordering conferences, customer relationship maintenance and product sales promotion can be achieved. Preparation for the ordering conference should focus on two aspects: first, sales policies—good policies should be attractive to second-tier and core terminal merchants while preventing them from using the policy for cross-regional dumping that disrupts market order. Second, the conference process should create a lively atmosphere, encouraging second-tier distributors to place orders through comparison. The timing of the ordering conference must be ahead of competitors because second-tier distributors and core terminals have limited resources for stocking up; being early is one of the keys to success.

Pre-conference preparation: After formulating the sales policy, business personnel should visit second-tier distributors to gauge their interest in the policy. This helps ensure market order; if interest is low, the policy can be adjusted appropriately, allowing early assessment of whether the conference will achieve its goals. Additionally, communicate with core customers in advance to encourage them to respond first, setting a good example and ensuring a good start.

On the day of the conference, the typical process includes: sign-in and photo, seating, host announcement, distributor speech, policy presentation and claiming, entertainment activities, banquet, and conclusion. The key segment is the policy announcement and claiming, which should incorporate entertainment to allow participants to enjoy the ordering process in a relaxed atmosphere; people are more receptive to information or decisions when in a good mood.

A distributor in Linyi, Shandong, held a Mid-Autumn ordering conference in 2014 that is worth learning from. Distributor A combined ordering policies with entertainment: for each group of activity products ordered, second-tier distributors received a chance to smash a golden egg, with prizes including a computer, microwave, razor, or a 500ml bottle of baijiu. At the start, the distributor announced that all golden eggs included 10 computers as grand prizes. Throughout the event, a bidding-like atmosphere was created, resulting in orders exceeding 40 million yuan, surpassing the target by over 40%.

【Case】Baijiu Industry Mid-Autumn Ordering Conference Plan

  1. On-site Execution Details
  2. Conference Process (10:30–13:00, adjustable based on site conditions)
    • Site setup: Complete by 10:30 AM on the day (7:30–10:30);
    • Guidance: Dedicated personnel guide guests to the venue (10:30–12:30);
    • Guest sign-in: Guests sign in at the registration desk and receive entry tickets and materials (10:30–12:30);
    • Tour and introduction: Sales staff accompany guests to view products and prizes, explaining policies (10:30–12:50);
    • Payment and ordering: Guests proceed to the payment and ordering area, record their entry ticket number, and after ordering, place the corresponding ticket into the lottery box (10:30–13:00);
  3. Banquet Procedure (13:00–14:40)
    • Speeches: After ordering, guests take seats; regional supervisors speak on behalf of the company, followed by distributor and terminal representative speeches (13:00–13:15);
    • Distributors and company staff sit with guests, ensuring at least one companion per table to answer questions and boost atmosphere;
    • During the meal, set up lottery draws: four draws using entry tickets as lottery tickets, with prizes: Lucky Prize (5 winners), Third Prize (3 winners), Second Prize (2 winners), and First Prize (1 winner);
    • The guest with the highest order amount receives the Special Prize directly;
    • Three people manage the lottery: one holds the box, one announces results and creates excitement, and one pours drinks and distributes prizes;
    • Specific schedule: Time | Item | Content 13:15–13:20 | Toast | Distributor gives toast, banquet begins 13:20–13:30 | Banquet | Continue 13:30–13:40 | Lucky Prize draw | Distributor draws first Lucky Prize winner, who then draws the next; winners must drink a glass of wine 13:40–13:50 | Banquet | Continue 13:50–14:00 | Third Prize draw | Last Lucky Prize winner draws first Third Prize winner, then continues in sequence 14:00–14:10 | Banquet | Continue 14:10–14:15 | Second Prize draw | Follow same rules 14:15–14:25 | Banquet | Continue 14:25–14:35 | First Prize and Special Prize | Follow same rules 14:40 | Banquet ends, gifts distributed
  4. Gift Distribution ? No gifts allowed in the venue before 14:20; ? Gift distribution staff bring gifts to the registration desk or near the exit at 14:20, with dedicated personnel to guard them; ? Guests receive one gift per person upon leaving, using their entry ticket.

Carry Out a Street-by-Street Distribution Push Many distributors think street-by-street distribution is only for new product launches, but this is a misconception. Before the Mid-Autumn peak season, street-by-street distribution can compensate for network coverage gaps due to daily work negligence and stimulate terminal restocking to achieve inventory pressure.

Street-by-street distribution should be planned in advance like new product distribution. Based on regional market data, target terminal locations, and traffic conditions, plan specific routes, completion times, required personnel and vehicles, and related costs. As with the "street sweep" plan, create a Gantt chart for timely checks.

During the street-by-street push, fill out relevant forms as required by the company, typically including detailed terminal information and actual order quantities. This information provides real data for future activity planning and serves as a basis for evaluating sales personnel.

Street-by-street distribution is also an excellent opportunity for market intelligence, including competitor product types, price systems, profit margins, rebates, product display, promotional methods, market management, cooperation duration, customer relationships, and customer evaluations of major competitors. It also allows for display optimization and promotional setup, achieving multiple goals at once.

Make an Effective Visit to Core Consumers Core consumers are the heroes of market launch, the foundation of brand growth, and the early adopters of new product promotions; they play a pivotal role in a company's success. As Mid-Autumn approaches, giving back to core consumers is essential. This visit should include presenting a certain amount of alcohol, which is not just alcohol but a sign of respect and gratitude from the company, making consumers feel warmth and recognition. Such effective visits are the best time to strengthen brand loyalty.

Visits to core consumers should be conducted personally by business managers or above. During the visit, express gratitude for their support of the distributor or brand, and hope for continued support in the future. This visit is a subtle reminder to consume and is unlikely to cause resentment.

Core visit targets typically include second-tier distributors, core store owners, large partner supermarkets, local industry and commerce department leaders, tax department leaders, urban management bureau, health supervision departments, public security治安 detachments, and existing core consumers.

Mr. Wang, a distributor of a certain brand in Xuzhou, visited the above personnel one by one before Mid-Autumn in 2006. He visited 20 second-tier distributors with 20 boxes of 10-year product, 18 terminal hotels (state-owned and large ones) with 3 boxes of 10-year and 10 boxes of 5-year product, 8 supermarkets and hypermarkets with 8 boxes of 5-year product, and 50 social public relations contacts with 10 boxes of 20-year, 17 boxes of 10-year cellar, and 36 boxes of 5-year product. These visits created a favorable business environment and helped drive niche market activation through these core individuals.

Implement a Team Assessment and Incentive Scheme An individual needs motivation, and a team needs even more. A good leader knows how to motivate the team, making each member enthusiastic and confident, which generates tremendous action and achieves team goals.

Team motivation includes positive and negative incentives. Mid-Autumn is a time for sales volume; positive incentives should be primary, supplemented by negative incentives to ensure execution. A strong execution team is one where you tell subordinates what to do and how, while also telling them the benefits of doing well and the penalties for poor performance. This incentive is separate from existing commissions; as the saying goes, extra rewards are a pleasure, and you need to satisfy this psychology.

The author has used such team incentive methods in business with great results. When the Mid-Autumn peak season arrived, the company assigned a sales target of 6 million yuan for the month, double the same period last year. Feeling the difficulty, the author motivated the sales team at a company meeting: if each member could achieve their assigned sales target, in addition to the original commission, the author would request a Youngor suit (market price around 1,500 yuan) for each from the company. If not completed, commissions would be reduced by 30% and they would not be allowed to attend the celebration banquet. Surprisingly, the monthly sales target was exceeded by 120%.

Through this personal experience, the author believes team motivation must combine positive and negative incentives. Additionally, the exclusion from the celebration banquet forces salespeople to complete tasks to save face; it's not just about a meal.

Mid-Autumn is a hard battle for baijiu distributors, and this battle must be prepared with sufficient ammunition. This ammunition is whether we have planned promotions, arranged orders, and executed distribution, visits, and team incentives. Distributors who meticulously implement the above 4+1 strategy will surely reap rich rewards.

-END-

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