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Everyone knows that the biggest obstacle to performance is resources. Without resources, even the most "battle-hardened" salesperson cannot achieve excellent results. You can't make bricks without straw.

To be honest, a salesperson's business capability is reflected in their ability to acquire and integrate resources. If you can't even secure basic resources or integrate them properly, how can you do your market well or better? How can you defeat competitors when they are "pressing on the border"? How can you keep your distributor clients respectful? As the saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." A salesperson who knows how to ask for resources is a good one.

But where exactly are resources? And how can you obtain them according to your own intentions?

1. Resources are not given by leaders; they are exchanged.

Every salesperson knows to ask leaders for resources and policies, constantly complaining about poverty and "market emergencies." But have we ever thought: when we ask for resources, what is the leader asking from us? Although resources are in the leader's hands, they are only temporary custodians. You must use certain means and methods to exchange for these resources. Leaders make decisions in their offices every day. Have you thought about what leaders fear most? It's that they give you resources, but you can't give them something in return.

Xiao Wang was recently troubled: in his FZ area, competitor activities were constant, directly weakening his product's local sales power and affecting distributor clients' enthusiasm. Although he called, faxed, and emailed the leader to report the situation, hoping the company would provide some resources to stimulate the market, more than ten days passed with no response. Xiao Wang was full of complaints and grievances. He was fighting on the front lines, accumulating sales bit by bit, but why was it so hard to get resources for an activity? "You can't have your horse run fast and not eat grass." Is that possible? In anger, one night after a few drinks, he called the leader and questioned why he wasn't given resources to counter competitors. Did he want the market or not? The leader listened calmly and said earnestly: "Everyone asks for resources without thinking, as if without resources the market would collapse and clients would rebel. But I need to know: if I give you resources, how will you use them, what effect will they have, and how will they help future business? You never give me an executable plan to exchange for these resources. You're the ones doing the business, so how can I allocate? Too little is ineffective, too much is wasteful. Xiao Wang, you always say I favor the GZ area. Now, I've sent you an email. Look at how the GZ regional manager asks for resources from leadership."

GZ Regional Manager's Resource Application Report: (content is for reference only)

It's not that leaders don't support you; they need a reason and method to support you. So, when asking for resources, you must present a proper resource application report to exchange with the leader.

2. When asking for resources, do you understand the leader's mindset?

Salespeople rely on performance to survive. If they can't achieve results or meet company targets, they face the risk of being dismissed. Perhaps branch managers don't care much about being fired, as there's no big loss.

But have branch managers considered the daily pressure their leaders face? If the leader is dismissed, what would be their fate? How big would their loss be? But if the leader's performance is outstanding, what would their future look like?

Also, managers at all levels are often transferred between regions. No one can guarantee how long they'll stay in one place. In such a situation, what is the leader's mindset? Does the leader prefer to gradually build the market step by step, or to overdraw the market in advance through various means?

So, salespeople or regional managers should understand the leader's mindset: Does the leader focus on long-term development for market promotion and activities, or on short-term sales growth and payment collection? Or do they want both? Only by understanding the leader's mindset can you align your resource application reports and activity plans with their thinking, making it easier to gain approval and support, and thus obtain the resources you want.

Leaders focused on long-term market development care about these 7 aspects of the regional market:

  1. Growth trend of channel network
  2. Loyalty and stability of distributor clients
  3. Sales confidence and capability of distributor clients
  4. Growth trend of terminal sales
  5. The effect of activities on promoting channels, clients, and brand, rather than how many products you sell or how much money you collect from clients.
  6. The purpose of activities is to enhance product and brand pull, not self-destructive activities like "no promotion means waiting to die, promotion means seeking death."
  7. Concern for regional markets with growth potential.

If you have such a leader, your activity report should not focus on grabbing competitor market share or sales volume, or on applying for resources for strong markets or stores just to meet company targets. Instead, you need a holistic, systematic promotional activity approach that helps sales, market, and brand. Such leaders value the process more than the result.

Leaders focused on short-term goals care about these 5 aspects of the regional market:

  1. How much payment can be collected this month?
  2. What methods can extract more payments?
  3. How much payment can you exchange for the resources given?
  4. Resources should be reserved for markets that can generate huge sales, not everyone can get them.
  5. They like large-scale discounts, buy-one-get-one offers, and channel incentive policies to stimulate distributor payments.

Facing such a leader, your resource application report should preferably choose typical, high-sales-volume stores, or use resources for channel stocking and payment policies, using high payments to exchange for leader support.

Indeed, if you understand the leader's mindset or characteristics in providing resources, you will be like a fish in water in actual sales work. You won't be scolded daily for asking for resources: "You only know how to ask for resources for activities. Will giving you resources be useful? What guarantee can you give me?"

3. When asking for resources, have you considered cost-effectiveness?

Company resources are not an inexhaustible "cornucopia." Resources are always used unconsciously, exceeding the company's specified limits. So, for company leaders, resources are a panacea for market operations and a heavy weapon at critical moments. A seasoned leader not only has a clear plan for resource allocation but also reasonable and clear control over the utilization process. How to grasp resources, let salespeople or regional managers use resources on the cutting edge, and pay attention to cost-effectiveness is a concern for leaders. So, if a branch manager, when asking for resources, can put themselves in the leader's shoes and focus on cost-effectiveness, making every penny spent generate huge benefits, even if company resources are tight, the leader will find ways to meet your needs and secure resources for you. If a salesperson thinks resources are the company's, so why not use them, or always wastes resources without significant effect in sales, such a branch manager will gradually form an image of a "prodigal" in the leader's mind. Even if the market really faces an "emergency," the leader will weigh whether it's worth investing resources. It's better to use them for a promotion in another region to stimulate the market than to waste them on you.

Xiao Li is a sales representative in the SR market, recently busy with the development and construction of third- and fourth-tier markets. In the process, it's inevitable to invest resources in various distributor clients, such as booth image construction, signage, and wall advertisement sponsorship. If every client is satisfied, it would be a considerable amount. The market needs construction, clients are waiting for support, and the company is temporarily unable. What should Xiao Li do? Smart Xiao Li classified clients into three levels based on sales capability: core, key, and ordinary. For core clients, he strived for the company to fully bear the cost; for key clients, he sought joint sharing between the company and distributors; for ordinary clients, Xiao Li collected idle or slightly damaged display stands, light boxes, and pull-up banners, made some spray-painted images (of course, according to client requirements), used distributor vehicles to deliver them, installed them personally, and arranged the image, making distributor clients believe the company and Xiao Li genuinely support them, just that resources are temporarily tight.

Xiao Li's actions were noticed by the leader. If resources become available, the leader will first think of supporting Xiao Li, because Xiao Li knows how to use resources, integrate them, and control cost-effectiveness. In short: the leader feels assured when resources are handed to him.

In general, for salespeople to ask leaders for resources, besides the three important aspects above, they should also pay attention to details such as timing, occasion, and expression skills when applying. Don't end up doing everything right but still not getting resources because the leader is unhappy, which would be really frustrating.