--- title: "How General Distributors Should Select Sub-distributors" description: "Many distributors develop external markets by sending a delivery truck to periodically visit several counties/cities to drop off goods, with sales staff earning commissions based on sales volume. While this approach is quick and simple, it often leads to problems such as price chaos, low sell-through rates, poor in-store displays, and stockouts in many stores. The root cause is the lack of a unified manager in the market. Selecting a suitable sub-distributor to centralize supply, while the upstream distributor continues to visit periodically to help with distribution and market maintenance, can solve these issues and improve market performance." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2014-06-11" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-general-distributors-should-select-sub-distributors-6df89b59/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-general-distributors-should-select-sub-distributors-6df89b59.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-dDqXzldvWVB3qxiFHpRew" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%80%BB%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E6%80%8E%E6%A0%B7%E9%80%89%E6%8B%A9%E5%88%86%E9%94%80%E5%95%86-6df89b59.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-general-distributors-should-select-sub-distributors-6df89b59/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # How General Distributors Should Select Sub-distributors > Many distributors develop external markets by sending a delivery truck to periodically visit several counties/cities to drop off goods, with sales staff earning commissions based on sales volume. While this approach is quick and simple, it often leads to problems such as price chaos, low sell-through rates, poor in-store displays, and stockouts in many stores. The root cause is the lack of a unified manager in the market. Selecting a suitable sub-distributor to centralize supply, while the upstream distributor continues to visit periodically to help with distribution and market maintenance, can solve these issues and improve market performance. **Tip: Click the blue text above “FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting” to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management.** Many distributors develop external markets with a policy: get a delivery truck, periodically visit several counties/cities to drop off goods, and sales staff earn commissions based on sales volume. The advantage of this approach is quick results and simple execution, but if you actually take the time to visit the market, you'll find many problems: price chaos, low sell-through rates, poor in-store displays, some merchants with excess inventory, while many stores (small shops, supermarkets, etc.) have long been out of stock and don't know where to get supplies, so they just wait for the next "delivery truck" to come... The root of all these problems is that there is no unified manager in this market; everyone is a second-tier distributor on equal footing, all buying and selling to earn the price difference, and no one takes responsibility, so naturally no one cares. Choosing a suitable sub-distributor to centralize supply, while the upstream distributor still sends vehicles and personnel to visit the local market periodically, but not to sell goods themselves, but to help the sub-distributor stock shelves and maintain the market. The sub-distributor is given the rights of a "general agent" in the local area; the market is theirs, and issues like shelf-stocking rate and customer stockouts directly affect their interests, so they will naturally spare no effort to maintain it. With such a local customer to "worry" for the distributor, the distributor can save a lot of manpower, transportation, and costs, and market performance and total sales will naturally rise. The relationship between the sub-distributor and the distributor is relatively simple (because most distributors do not have the strength to bypass sub-distributors and do "channel refinement" direct operations in external markets); all sales plans and strategies must be executed by the sub-distributor, who acts as the distributor's local sales manager and business partner. Because of this, the success or failure of selecting a sub-distributor often determines the success or failure of market development. Key points for selecting a sub-distributor are as follows: 1. **Treat the sub-distributor as your own employee.** Consider them as part of your marketing team and network. Choose comprehensively, and after selection, give them more care, support, and guidance. Build strong customer relationships with your service and credibility. 2. **Selection criteria should have a global perspective.** Do not approach from a purely commercial or trade standpoint (e.g., are they big enough, do they have money, how much can they take at once). Choosing a business partner is like choosing a spouse; the wealthy and powerful may not be suitable. What matters is whether they love you (i.e., willingness to cooperate). Additionally, their business qualities (including business ethics, reputation, credibility, marketing awareness, service capability to downstream customers, etc.) are key to whether your "marriage" will be happy. 3. **Selection criteria should have a long-term perspective.** I. **Customer network should match the designated area.** The purpose of choosing a sub-distributor is to incorporate their sales network (group purchase network, retail customer network) into your sales system, thereby widely distributing products in the target area, making it convenient for users who need your products to buy nearby. II. **Pay attention to the peripheral environment of the county/city.** If the surrounding counties/townships are relatively affluent and have commercial value, then the sub-distributor here must have sufficient strength (especially manpower and transportation), because you will also rely on them to further develop and maintain these surrounding areas. III. **Try not to choose overly large customers.** Consider the size of your designated area and choose a customer whose network strength matches that area. Try not to choose overly large customers: first, they may not focus on your products; second, their strong sales network can be a tool for "holding the market to control the upstream" and for dumping goods and disrupting prices. IV. **Consider the richness of the customer's channels.** Think about your current main products and future product additions. The external sub-distributor's sales network should ideally be "compatible" with all your main product lines; otherwise, if you choose a sub-distributor specializing in instant noodles, they may be great at selling instant noodles but unable to help with your liquor products. --- **Like this article? Feel free to click the top right corner to share to your Moments.** About us: WeChat ID: FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting Management Account intro: 20 years of FMCG distributor operation and management experience, professionally targeting distributor internal management. Click the "Read Original" link below to enter our micro-community for interactive communication and questions. **Learning and exchange QQ group: 344257092** --- **Tip: Click the blue text above “FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting” to learn more about marketing and distributor internal management.** --- **Like this article? Feel free to click the top right corner to share to your Moments.** About us: WeChat ID: FMCG Distributor Professional Consulting Management Account intro: 20 years of FMCG distributor operation and management experience, professionally targeting distributor internal management. Click the "Read Original" link below to enter our micro-community for interactive communication and questions. **Learning and exchange QQ group: 344257092** --- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671