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Salespeople, how can you develop market sense?

People often ask: Where does market sense come from? Why don't you have market sense? Bosses ask middle managers, and middle managers question their subordinates. A few days ago, a friend who works as a consultant also asked this question: How can one develop market sense? If we were to analyze this from a theoretical and systematic perspective, many would find it tedious, and newcomers to sales probably wouldn't want to hear it. In other words, how to develop market sense is hard to explain in just a few words. However, I believe that sense also follows certain "patterns." In a sense, "sense" is about finding some "regularities" behind complex appearances, and that's enough.

Let me give an example.

A year ago, I was on a market visit with a client's leader. The market situation was grim, with market share declining sharply. The leader had a rough idea that things were not good before going, but after a day of distributor interviews, distribution checks, and terminal visits, the problems turned out to be much more severe than imagined. The leader was quite "angry" and immediately called the regional manager, telling him to come over right away (the regional manager was handling something else and hadn't joined the visit; perhaps the leader didn't want him to accompany them to see the real situation). The regional manager said on the phone that he had just returned to the office and suggested they have lunch there. The leader flew into a rage, saying, "With the market in such a state, you still have time to cook?"

I overheard this and couldn't help but feel sympathy for the regional manager. First, the leader's frustration was understandable; I know him as a pragmatic person. Second, the regional manager's timing was indeed poor. Third, even if the market is bad, people still need to eat. Later, that market did improve. The reasons were: first, issues with the product and product mix; second, distributor strength (weak distribution channel push); third, the distributor's business focus had shifted.

To be honest, the regional manager was also a pragmatic and hardworking person, but after being in such an environment for a long time, he had become numb. He no longer cared about the competitive situation, not because he didn't care, but because caring didn't help. He had reported issues upward: product problems that couldn't be solved, regional management issues (territory division, channel conflict, distributors, team, etc.), and cost issues. If nothing could be solved, who would keep reporting problems? It's like the boiling frog: how did it die? Who knows? Once numb, how can you have market sense?

Maintain a good mindset and a normal life

Sometimes, we need to take time to think about strategies, competition, products, channels, teams, and brand promotion. What have we done? What haven't we done well? What can we do? Are there better ways? Often, inspiration or effective strategies come unexpectedly. Without a good mindset, you can't do your job well; without a normal life, you also can't do your job well.

Having a normal life may seem trivial, but it contains profound truth. Don't sacrifice health and family for work. If you only work and have no life, work loses its meaning. Mindset determines everything—this might be an exaggeration, but without a good mindset, nothing we do will last. Be attentive to details, don't give up the process for the goal, don't be anxious... If you're tense all day, how can you have feelings or inspiration?

Sharpness comes from daily accumulation and professional habits

Any feeling or inspiration is the result of daily accumulation and its eruption. If you don't accumulate knowledge, you'll find yourself at a disadvantage when you need it. If you don't analyze problems from all angles and gather information, you can't provide complete solutions. If your thinking isn't coherent, you'll have no "follow-up." People's IQs are not much different; as long as you're good at discovering and accumulating, over time, you'll become an expert.

When I was in university, our marketing professor told us before graduation: "Pay attention to 3-5 industries you're interested in, continuously accumulate knowledge and industry data, and it will be very useful in the future." At that time, I didn't fully understand, but I partially followed his advice. Unexpectedly, my first job after graduation asked about the industry, and I had general views and strategies on industry development. Fortunately, because of my accumulation, I passed easily. From then on, I deepened my belief in daily accumulation. There are many ways to accumulate, but in general, you need "three hearts": attentiveness, dedication, and perseverance. Only then can accumulation be long-lasting and sustainable.

If you repeat the same things every day, it means you're not doing well enough. If you truly do well, you've improved at that level, and the problems you think about will no longer be at the level that troubles you. Any problem may seem complex on the surface, but the key points are usually just one or two. There may be more than one or two solutions, because finding problems tests your vision and sharpness.

Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles

Jack Ma often says, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles." The idea is to constantly see how others do things and what inspirations you gain. If you always work behind closed doors and sit in a well, how can you improve? In FMCG, we often mention Zong Qinghou of Wahaha. He said his philosophy is: "Follow the market feeling." What does that mean? Could it be that subjective feeling alone can achieve 60 billion? Obviously, that feeling is just the surface.

Many people criticize the phrase "I follow the market feeling." Many dismiss it. But behind this phrase lies deep meaning. Do you think Zong Qinghou really sat at home "following his feeling" to build such a big market? Absolutely not. He travels over 200 days a year, deeply rooted in the market. Whether it's media, channels, terminals, or consumers, they are all in his "feeling." This is true market research, far superior to so-called "surprise" quantitative and qualitative studies. From this perspective, I strongly support Zong Qinghou taking back the "Wahaha" brand, because I believe Wahaha will thrive under his leadership, even though I think he made mistakes in the "joint venture issue."

"Feeling" arises from methods and tools

Complete marketing knowledge. This is the "big rule" of sales. It tells you within what framework to think and analyze problems. Marketing is a broad concept, encompassing environment analysis, research, market segmentation, target market, positioning, 4Ps, and even branding. You first need to build a framework, then enrich it through practice. Did we really learn much in university that is useful in society? Not necessarily. In fact, what we learned most is a way of thinking and analyzing.

If you don't yet know what marketing includes, what the basic framework is, how to conduct market analysis, or how to design channels, then you should study marketing management or marketing principles. Don't think it's too simple; simple things often contain profound meanings. For example, in junior high, students who didn't fully grasp the textbook content, especially in science, often struggled in high school and didn't do well on exams. Why? Because science is a very systematic subject; without a foundation, the higher you go, the harder it gets.

Marketing is the same. Since it's a discipline, it must be systematic. For instance, the 4P framework: only by fully understanding this can you avoid missing elements when considering a market. Of course, marketing is not just 4Ps, but that's the foundation. Recommended books: classic Kotler's "Marketing Management," "24 Books for Successful Sales," and books on organization, assessment, and processes; branding books: Keller's "Strategic Brand Management"; advertising: "Scientific Advertising," Ogilvy's "360 Degree Brand Management"; thinking and inspiration: "Six Thinking Hats," but not limited to these.

Combining theory and practice

For example, when you visit a regional market for a product, how do you judge the market's current situation and main problems? This involves two levels. First, you need to understand: product (sell-through, display, etc.), product mix (product line), channels (including distributors, distribution channels), terminals (classification), team, competitive situation, pricing system, promotion, etc.

On the other hand, how do you know which products are selling best? If it's beverages, you need to check distribution shipments and inventory, and also look at terminal displays in coolers. What's the difference between one cooler and two? If it's a company-owned cooler, which products are displayed? They must be the best-sellers...

Check distribution: how many product combinations are there, and what are the shipment volumes? Check hypermarkets: end-cap positions, displays, standards, and production dates. A few checks will tell you the sell-through situation.

With theoretical guidance and specific experience, only then can you truly have market sense.

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