---
title: "How to Operate a Weak Market by Returning to the Basics?"
description: "As the beverage peak season approaches, task targets increase sharply, and weak markets face numerous challenges. This article analyzes how distributors and sales personnel can move forward quickly by returning to the basics, emphasizing solid market and sales foundation work, and highlights the importance of ice-cabinet management."
author: "张宇"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2018-06-28"
language: "en"
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markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-to-operate-a-weak-market-by-returning-to-the-basics-31170e12.md"
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---

# How to Operate a Weak Market by Returning to the Basics?

> As the beverage peak season approaches, task targets increase sharply, and weak markets face numerous challenges. This article analyzes how distributors and sales personnel can move forward quickly by returning to the basics, emphasizing solid market and sales foundation work, and highlights the importance of ice-cabinet management.

Click 'Read the original' for details.
The beverage peak season is approaching, and with it, task coefficients will increase sharply. How should weak markets be operated? Facing various market problems, how to move forward quickly with burdens has always troubled all distributors and manufacturer sales personnel. Below is an analysis of the above issues, hoping to help everyone.
First, emphasize one point: **The higher the sales task, the more you must start from the basics.** Anyone who wants to get rich overnight or rely on a single idea to instantly generate a lot of sales is daydreaming. Only through accumulating sales foundation work and market foundation work bit by bit can there be a continuous stream of sales. Everyone must calmly reflect and inspect their own work, removing impatience, utilitarianism, and delusion, and deeply recognize: **Only by solidly doing the basics can there be a continuous stream of sales.**
**Common manifestations in weak regions**
**1. Unclear self-positioning, eager to escape the 'poor student' position, eager for quick success!**
——The result is that backwardness remains backward, and instead, it continuously reinforces the shortcomings of being a 'poor student', leading to self-confidence setbacks at all levels, counterproductive;
**2. Dealing with basic work is always lagging behind, and follow-up actions are not thorough!**
——The result is that when certain basic data falls behind, they are exhausted in response, not only half a beat slow but also with little effect; even worse, it breeds complaints like 'the company has too many tasks'!
**3. Original strengths are diluted and lost, self-destructing in mediocrity!**
——The result is that the driving force that should have been used to establish performance desire and confidence at all levels through these strengths (brand promotion, KA construction, market performance) becomes 'blooming inside the wall, fragrant outside';
**4. Management is impetuous, simple and crude, and team stability remains the biggest problem!**
——The result is a high turnover rate of 'come for the company, leave for the leader'! The root of passive management has not been solved, and the team's collective execution and combat effectiveness still cannot withstand tests.
**Return to the origin to think**
1. Return to the origin: return to 'every person'
2. Return to the origin: return to 'every day'
3. Return to the origin: return to 'every store'
4. Return to the origin: return to 'every brand'
5. Return to the origin: return to 'every channel'
**Unswervingly grasp market foundation work and sales foundation work**
**Two formulas:**
1. Population // 400 people = number of outlets
2. Number of outlets * SKU count = performance
The method to achieve performance is obvious: foundation work must be grasped with both hands, and both hands must be strong.
**I. Market foundation work:**
Key point: Pay attention to display position. Good position definition: within a 1.5M radius of the cash register in terminal small stores.
**Five major visit actions**
1. Press the storefront: check inventory
2. Put on the shelf: check the display surface
3. Enter the freezer: check the number of bottles
4. Do multi-point: check whether products are carried to the door and sold in whole boxes
5. Maintain cleanliness: product cleanliness
Better regions: focus on key stores and highlight stores
Weak regions: highlight stores, cut-box displays
Stack and multi-point displays fully launched: large stores have large stacks, small stores have small stacks
Strengthen the hands-on ability of traditional channel 'carry, unpack, cut, paste, place'
**II. Sales foundation work:**
1. Total terminal customers must not be less than 210, delete duplicate customers, and improve horizontal growth space.
2. Sales representatives visit fewer than 35 stores per day; distinguish between once-a-week, twice-a-week, and once-every-two-weeks storefronts.
3. Route planning: plan daily visit areas based on regional population, outlets, sales, etc.
4. What is the bottom line for daily sales amount? Number of order sheets? Number of SKUs per order?
5. Eliminate the phenomenon of 1 SKU in terminal stores, and improve vertical growth space.
6. Force follow-up on working hours to improve effective working time and efficiency.
7. Develop special channels (internet cafes, catering, hotels, gas stations, highway service areas) for breakthroughs.
**Freezers are the top priority**
The main battlefield for the beverage peak season is the terminal store's freezer. If you capture the freezer position, you capture the beverage market. Our main task is to expand the frozen display area and seize the ice lane.
1. Resource focus: From May to October, especially in the third quarter, traditional channel displays must be linked with freezing, making freezing actions legitimate; all displays must be combined with freezing, and display stores must set a minimum number of frozen products.
2. Ensure 100% purity of self-owned freezers: This is the baseline; increase the display quantity of high-sales-contributing products; self-owned freezers are the position we must guard firmly, and management must be strengthened to not lose the position.
Note: As the saying goes, 'Aim high and you will hit the middle,' so we must implement the 100% purity requirement for freezers.
3. Go all out to do well in peak season freezer displays: control costs and summarize experience to expand promotion.
4. Educate and encourage sales personnel and distributor workers: talk about hands-on freezer management every day, dare to help manage competitors' freezers, and do the four major freezer tasks: invest ice, grab ice, stuff ice, and buy ice.
In short, the weaker the market, the more you must not act hastily. Just like studying, if the foundation is not solid, grades will inevitably fluctuate.
From August 22 to 24, the '2018 China Digital Innovation Conference (2018FDIC)' with the theme 'Finding New Growth Engines' will be held in Shanghai, hosted by the China FMCG Industry Association and organized by New Distribution.
The conference will last 3 days, focusing on two major themes: marketing and supply chain, with six parallel forums: brand, channel, communication, B2B, same-city logistics, and innovative retail. We will invite industry big shots, CEOs, and brand executives to deeply interpret the trends and drivers of digital transformation in the FMCG industry.
We will invite more than 500 FMCG enterprise executives, 200+ B2B industry CEOs, and 1000+ FMCG industry major distributors to gather together to discuss how the FMCG industry can use digital tools to achieve rapid growth again in the digital era. This conference will build a bridge for brand owners, distributors, retail enterprises, and marketing agencies, helping FMCG manufacturers obtain the latest information, understand best application practices, and master more transformation practical skills.
Proposed invited companies
Conference time
August 22-24, 2018
Conference location
Shanghai Baohua Marriott Hotel
Conference content
8.22 All-day check-in
Afternoon 14:00-17:30
Distributor same-city logistics parallel forum
Evening 18:30-21:00
New Distribution Night Big Shot Dinner
8.23 Theme: Marketing Digital Innovation
Morning 9:00-12:00
Marketing Digital Innovation Main Forum
Afternoon 14:00-17:30
Brand, Channel, Communication Parallel Forums
8.24 Theme: FMCG Supply Chain Digital Upgrade
All day: FMCG Supply Chain Conference
Registration method
Registration channel is now open. Long press the QR code below or click 'Read the original' to register. Only 50 early bird tickets remain at half price, while supplies last!
Registration consultation
Ticket inquiries:
Media cooperation inquiries:
New Distribution previous conference highlights
Click the links below to review the highlights of the first, second, third, and fourth FMCG + Internet conferences:
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