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Preface Recently, many salespeople have called me, complaining that during the financial crisis, business is tough, sales are not increasing, and income is too low. Some also complain that company management is too strict, with commission and travel expenses calculated too precisely, leaving no room for extra income. Others say marketing management is too rigid, requiring them to report sales progress to headquarters daily using local landlines (not mobile phones), and to keep daily work logs...
The common theme among these salespeople is that income is too low and management is too strict, making sales seem unpromising.
According to industry surveys, the income of salespeople in China is declining, and their career spans are shortening. Only a small fraction truly makes money; most barely scrape by.
As the saying goes, "Even the most careful plan has a loophole." Despite companies' marketing management rules, there are still marketing black holes. "No man grows rich without a windfall, and no horse grows fat without night grass." Many salespeople exploit these management flaws to get rich, some amassing millions.
Having been in marketing for over a decade and worked for several companies, I have always been straightforward and never opportunistic, so I remain an employee. But I believe my path is correct—earning honest money and sleeping well. Over the years, I have kept detailed work logs, mainly for accounting purposes, because I have handled countless amounts of money, including drafts, cash, rebates, and gifts, all clearly recorded. That's why no company has ever questioned me.
My logs also record the marketing black holes that salespeople use to get rich. Out of sympathy for their situation, I feel compelled to expose these black holes, offering salespeople some "wealth-building" tips and alerting companies to tighten their management.
These black holes are based on my personal observations over more than ten years in marketing, not hearsay.
1. Double-Dipping: Taking Company Policies and Dealer Kickbacks
"The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is common in sales team management. To achieve personal goals, salespeople often complain to their superiors about fierce competition, uncooperative customers, and strong rivals, painting a bleak picture to get more investment. Sometimes, with tears and pleas, they win sympathy, leading superiors to approve extra discounts for dealers or increase terminal expenses by tens of thousands of yuan. The salesperson secretly rejoices, calculating how much they can pocket from these concessions.
Armed with these policies, the salesperson approaches dealers with confidence, describing how hard they fought for these benefits, emphasizing that other regions don't have them, implying the dealer should show gratitude with kickbacks. Some dealers, seeing the windfall, willingly give a few hundred or thousand yuan as a tip. But if a dealer is stingy and doesn't reciprocate, they may never see such favorable policies again.
2. Deceiving Both Sides: Falsifying Reports and Drawing Salaries Without Working
Managing salespeople is like herding horses on the plains—hard to control. In front of superiors, they appear obedient, but in the field, they act like feudal lords, doing as they please. They spend days sightseeing and nights in entertainment venues. Their performance is poor, but they have many women. They are careless early in the month and press dealers for payments at month-end. If dealers resist, they use both threats and promises, warning that the dealership might be given to someone else, or promising overseas trips for year-end payments.
This is common among salespeople of big brands. For small companies, where products lack market foundation, manipulating customers is harder. But they have their own tricks: they skip the market entirely, enjoy themselves in scenic spots, and submit a pile of travel and accommodation receipts for reimbursement. They may have no sales, but their salary and expenses are never cut.
3. Colluding with Superiors: Acting as Middlemen for Personal Gain
Every company has marketing management systems, but they are made by people. Smart salespeople know "to take, you must first give," so they flatter superiors and befriend customers, creating a smooth network that enables them to pull off bold schemes.
When a management loophole appears, they seize it. Even if superiors know, they turn a blind eye because they've already received benefits from the salesperson, making them accomplices. The salesperson instructs dealers to order at list price but has payments sent to their personal account, pocketing the difference. If there's no price difference, they may swallow dealer rebates, crediting them to a compliant puppet customer, then cash out when that customer next orders.
These are tactics of big-company salespeople. Small-company salespeople are even bolder: with fewer customers and larger territories, customers may never meet company leaders, and with poor communication, the salesperson becomes a local tyrant, handling everything and pocketing price differences, rebates, and gifts.
4. Substituting Inferior Goods and Falsifying Records: Embezzling Terminal Expenses
Marketing insiders know that besides price differences and rebates, terminal promotion expenses are a significant source of leakage. These funds are meant for promotional activities and terminal image creation.
Once a salesperson's promotion plan is approved, funds are allocated for materials, gifts, and temporary promoters. Since the salesperson has full authority, they can inflate prices for gifts, use inferior materials, and list fake names for temporary staff (using relatives' IDs) to collect their salaries. Posters, flyers, and billboards can all be falsified for profit.
Promotions are occasional, but terminal image creation is frequent, especially for big brands that invest heavily in maintaining brand image. This is another major source of kickbacks: salespeople can use inferior materials or even fake photos and invoices (for non-existent displays) to claim reimbursement.
If superiors don't supervise strictly, terminal expenses become a goldmine. Some salespeople openly admit that their salary and commission are insufficient, and without skimming from terminal expenses, they'd never get rich.
5. Sleight of Hand: Using Fake Seals to Transfer Rebates and Cash Out
Some salespeople are adept at exploiting financial loopholes. After learning dealers' names, phone numbers, and contacts, they may forge dealer seals and signatures. When tasks require confirmation, they stamp documents from their hotel room, completing tasks and submitting various receipts for reimbursement.
But forging seals isn't just for convenience or travel expenses; it's mainly to obtain rebates and price adjustments from the company. When prices change, companies compensate dealers for inventory differences. The salesperson doesn't tell the dealer it's a price adjustment but claims it's a routine inventory check. Then they transfer Dealer A's compensation to Dealer B's account, use B's name to order goods, and B secretly gives the salesperson cash at a discount.
Price adjustments are rare, but rebates (monthly, quarterly, annual) are more common. The salesperson consolidates rebates, stamps with the forged seal, and uses a controllable dealer to cash them out, sharing some benefits. If other dealers ask, they make excuses.
This "sleight of hand" rebate scheme is a common, unspoken fast-track to wealth for many salespeople.
6. Boldly Pocketing Bribes Meant for Big Clients: Companies Suffer in Silence
In China, news of bribery and corruption is almost daily. Wherever there is power, there is potential for such transactions, and the business world is no exception.
Bribery mainly occurs in state-owned and large chain retailers, not in small private businesses. Salespeople bribe those with power to approve payments and promote products. The bribes come from the company, and these transactions are covert, following an unspoken rule between large retailers and manufacturers.
These large bribes tempt not only the retail executives but also the salespeople. A salesperson's months of hard work may earn less than one bribe given to a key retail leader. Since these bribes are off the books and no receipt is needed, the salesperson handles the transaction. Only they know if the bribe was actually delivered. Some salespeople simply keep the money. The manufacturer's leaders can't call the retail leader to ask if they received it, fearing recording or denial, which could lead to corruption charges.
Salespeople often deliberate whether to deliver the bribe. A salesperson dealing with large retailers might handle hundreds of thousands of yuan in bribes annually. If they pocket it, they'd be rich. Even if the manufacturer's leaders find out, they can't take legal action and can only fire the salesperson, suffering in silence.
7. Moonlighting: Working for Two Companies Simultaneously
Small companies with limited products often hire part-time salespeople to save costs, offering no travel expenses but a base price, allowing them to mark up and keep the difference as commission.
Experienced salespeople from big companies, familiar with the local market and having customer resources, often take part-time jobs with small companies. They use their company's travel expenses to sell for other companies, earning double incomes. No wonder they get rich quickly.
I've chatted with veteran salespeople who admit that if a small company offers good products at reasonable prices and needs part-timers, they'd take it, as the part-time income might exceed their full-time salary.
8. Group Pressure: Sales Teams Unite to Force Concessions
There's a strange phenomenon in sales teams: they are very united, sharing market information. If one tries to stand out, they become a target of criticism, making it hard to stay.
Why do they unite? To pressure superiors into granting more sales expenses and favorable policies. Some leaders, either ignorant or seeking short-term sales, concede. With these policies, salespeople achieve good results easily and still find ways to profit personally. This boosts their income.
I once worked for a company with annual sales of nearly 10 billion yuan. At a sales meeting, dozens of provincial managers collectively demanded better policies from the boss to increase sales and team income. The boss replied, "Don't think I don't know the market. If it's as bad as you say, you can quit. There are many talented people sleeping under overpasses in Guangzhou. I can post ads and hire thousands of managers in days. Dealers won't follow you; they'll follow the product." After that, no such group pressure occurred.
Group pressure sometimes fails but often succeeds.
9. Dual Identity: Salesperson and Boss, Laying Foundation for Entrepreneurship
After a few years in sales, salespeople usually have some savings. To avoid future hardship, they use their current opportunities to find a way out. They invest their savings to become agents for products their existing customers can accept. Customers may buy both the company's products and the salesperson's own, driven by interest or personal loyalty. This way, the salesperson meets company targets while building a market foundation for their own business.
Some bold salespeople, especially those with big brands, even become agents for their own company's products. To the company, they are salespeople; to customers, they are bosses. They might use their own savings or even customers' money to fund the agency, pocketing the price difference.
Some clever salespeople use a customer as a front, pretending the customer is the agent while they secretly control the market.
A big-brand salesperson's territory might generate annual sales of several million or even ten million yuan. With a 10% price difference, their income could be around one million. No wonder a former deputy director at Kelon Group once remarked over dinner, "A smart salesperson can earn hundreds of thousands a year." I didn't understand then, but later I did.
10. Muddying the Waters: Deliberately Disrupting the Market for Personal Gain
Some markets, after generations of salespeople, have stable customers and established channel models. But salespeople who can't profit from the existing setup may deliberately disrupt the market by changing dealers or sales models. After the chaos, they rebuild the network to their advantage, controlling the market for personal gain.
"Without destroying a world, how can you create a new one?" This is a common revolutionary tactic. Capable salespeople are never satisfied with the status quo; they stir up trouble to establish their own market structure and "independent kingdom."
This is risky. If the old market is destroyed but the new one fails, the salesperson not only gains nothing but may be fired. So, this method requires extreme caution.
After writing this article, I feel it might be seen as encouraging wrongdoing, but on reflection, it's not entirely so. There's an unbreakable truth in China: where there is exploitation, there is revolution; where there is oppression, there is resistance. Against unscrupulous bosses, salespeople might justifiably use these methods to enrich themselves.
I hope these marketing black holes are not adopted by salespeople, and I hope society remains harmonious.