In the world's most dynamic Chinese FMCG market, distributors are the most dynamic group. According to industrial and commercial statistics, there are over 700,000 FMCG distributors active today, but most are scattered, chaotic, and small. There are not many billion-yuan distributors, and super distributors with a scale of one billion yuan are even rarer. The ceiling for traditional distributors is obvious. On one hand, distributors' own capabilities are limited, with bottlenecks in market and team management; on the other hand, brand owners have long been dominated by flattening thinking. These are the limitations and obstacles to distributors growing bigger and stronger. Despite this, a number of super distributors have still grown up in the national market, although they account for a very small proportion. Every super distributor has a scale of over one billion yuan, and they are all well-known in the industry. Each of their struggles is legendary. Today, the "New Distribution 100 People" column is fortunate to bring you the struggle experience of a super distributor in the beer industry. In a regional market with a total population of less than 2 million, she started distributing beer at the age of 31 and spent 27 years of youth to become a super distributor with an annual sales scale of 18 million cases of beer. Her name is Wang Bo, founder of Dalian Longsheng Trading Company, a member of China Resources Snow Breweries' Huading Club, and currently the largest distributor partner of Snow Beer. What life experiences has Wang Bo had? How did she grow step by step from small to large into a super distributor? Compared with her peers at the time, what differences made her who she is today? Where are her future concerns and thoughts? Ms. Wang Bo is the 76th outstanding distributor recorded by the "New Distribution 100 People" column. I believe her entrepreneurial journey and insights will definitely benefit you. **The First Step of a Super Distributor: A 15-Fold Increase in One Year In 1994, Wang Bo was 31 years old and was one of 10 distributors of Dalian Bohai Beer in Jinzhou District, while also operating Shenyang's Snow Beer. At that time, what Wang Bo operated could not yet be called a company; it was a wholesale department called "Xiuli Wholesale." Wang Bo considers herself a very ordinary person. The couple operated a beverage wholesale department, mainly selling "Dani Gen" beer from Bohai Brewery. Sales were pitifully small, only 200 cases a day in peak season, at most 40,000 cases a year. If there had been no other changes, "Xiuli Wholesale" might have been like all other small distributors at the time, either working in a small area for a lifetime or being washed away by the waves of time, ending up unknown. But fate began to turn in 1996. This year, the ordinary and weak "Xiuli Wholesale" met the China Resources Snow Breweries management team, which had just emerged from the Shenyang market. In 1994, China Resources Snow acquired Dalian Bohai Brewery. At first, the Dani Gen brand beer was still operated by the original Bohai Brewery team, but the situation was not good, and it was always suppressed by Bangchui Island Beer in the market. In 1996, the China Resources Snow Breweries management team officially took over the operation of the Dalian market. Wang Qun, then general manager of Snow Beer, found Wang Bo among many distributors and hoped to cooperate with her, making her a Snow Beer distributor in Jinzhou and the Development Zone. But the market task assigned was immediately daunting to Wang Bo: the first year's sales target was 200,000 cases! From about 40,000 cases to 200,000 cases, a five-fold increase in one year? Wang Bo did not think she could do it, but Snow Beer talked to her three times, and the last sentence moved her. Snow Beer promised, "In the first year, we guarantee you won't lose money; in the second year, we guarantee you'll make money." ****"To this day, I have been cooperating with Snow Beer for 27 years. Every step and every growth of Longsheng is inseparable from China Resources Snow. It can be said that we are a distributor cultivated locally by China Resources. My biggest feeling is that China Resources Snow is humane, keeps its word, and is honest." Wang Bo commented.** When Wang Bo decided to cooperate with Snow Beer, she deliberately chose her birthday to sign the contract, November 18, 1996. Twenty-four years later, in 2020, China Resources Snow Breweries decided to hold its annual "National Channel Partner Conference" on November 18 every year. The wonder of fate and coincidence made Wang Bo sigh with emotion. Looking back 24 years from today, when the overall situation has been decided, it is often difficult to appreciate the thrilling competition of the market at that time. In 1996, the number one brand in the Dalian market was Bangchui Island Beer, with a market share of over 75%, five times that of Snow Beer in Dalian at the time, and annual profits of tens of millions. At that time, Snow Beer's market share in Dalian was only 15%. The first year's goal was to grow five-fold, with sales reaching 200,000 cases. How was Wang Bo to achieve this? Reviewing the battle with Bangchui Island 24 years ago, Wang Bo modestly summarized: At that time, there was no complicated marketing competition; it was first about service, second about perseverance, and third about a little innovation. It happened to be the Spring Festival. With good customer relations, she told terminals to stock more goods, and if they didn't sell out during the Spring Festival, she would subsidize a little or be responsible for exchanges. At that time, Bangchui Island Beer had already occupied the terminal's inventory resources, and given Snow Beer's brand position at the time, it was impossible for terminals to stock more. So Wang Bo borrowed the sales method of bundling beer from Shandong, bundling the beer into bundles for customers to carry away easily. This "after-sales guarantee" service method made terminals very happy at the time, and a large amount of beer was smoothly distributed to almost all terminals. While distributing goods, Wang Bo was already thinking about sell-through. She noticed Coca-Cola's cumulative bottle cap prize activity at the time. Each Coke cap had a character, and eight caps could be exchanged for a prize with the corresponding characters. She actively communicated with China Resources Snow, which attached great importance to this and innovated on this method. This was the "One More Bottle" promotion method that prevailed for 15 years. Longsheng used its efficient team execution to actively cooperate with the company, launching the "one bottle for one bottle, three bottles for four bottles" holiday promotion during the 1997 Spring Festival, which was widely praised among terminals and consumers. The Spring Festival battle was a great success. In just three months, Wang Bo's market sales broke through from 200 cases a day to 2,000 cases a day! By April 1997, the brewery's goods could not keep up with supply! In 1997, the task target was 200,000 large cases, but Wang Bo achieved 600,000 large cases! Sales exceeded 10,000 tons, a 15-fold increase over 1996! The competition period of seizing the market and striving for share inevitably required high expenses. Although sales soared, there was still a loss of 330,000 yuan at the year-end settlement. China Resources Snow subsidized Wang Bo 330,000 yuan as agreed, but she only asked for 230,000 yuan. After receiving the 230,000 yuan subsidy, Wang Bo and her husband immediately went to Shandong to order 20 delivery trucks, all rewarded to their Snow Beer exclusive distributors and distributors who had reached 40,000 cases. Since 1997, Wang Bo's deep cooperation with Snow Beer has continued to this day, and her position as the "number one sister" in sales among Snow Beer distributors has never been lost. After the great victory in 1997, Wang Bo successively became a distributor for Snow Beer in Jinzhou Development Zone, Lüshunkou District, and Pulandian District of Dalian. Even in 2018, at the invitation of Snow Beer's Guangdong regional company, Wang Bo went to Hainan and became a distributor for Snow Beer in some counties and districts of Hainan Province. In 24 years, Wang Bo's "Xiuli Wholesale" grew into "Dalian Longsheng Trading Co., Ltd.", and its sales scale grew from an annual scale of 40,000 cases to the current scale of 18 million cases, making it one of the few super distributors in the Chinese beer market. ****The Second Step of a Super Distributor: Believe in and Be Good at Uniting the Power of Partners Today's Longsheng Company, it is said, has three regional markets in Dalian: Jinzhou, Lüshunkou, and Pulandian. But Lüshun has a population of 350,000, Jinzhou District 880,000, and Pulandian 630,000, with a total population of only about 1.86 million. The essence of the beer economy is the population economy. How did Wang Bo achieve an annual sales scale of 18 million cases in an area with only 1.86 million people? The answer is ultra-high share. In Wang Bo's three market areas, Snow Beer's market share is nearly 75%, a share figure that makes all competitors fearful. How was such a high market share achieved? Wang Bo's answer is that Snow's brand is constantly growing stronger, and Longsheng must keep pace with Snow Beer's growth and development. At the same time, introducing excellent talents and making them follow wholeheartedly is the key to achieving high share and strengthening the company. When designing their business models, distributors often design around the market, customers, or products. These are all correct, but Wang Bo designed her business model with employees as the core and corporate management mechanisms as the leading factor. Since 1997, when Wang Bo rewarded all the 230,000 yuan subsidy from China Resources Snow to her customers, she understood that people and teams are the core element of market competition, and also the first element. The technology of distributor operation is the art of dividing money. 1) Let partners continue to make money and make big money, so everyone is willing to follow you Longsheng Company has a team of about 150 people. Among them, more than ten old employees with over 20 years of service have retired, and more than ten are still on the job. More than half have been with the company for over five years. There are many customers who have cooperated for over 20 years. Many customers have retired, and their successors still choose to cooperate deeply with Longsheng Company. There are also many Longsheng employees who chose to start their own businesses and turned into Longsheng's most loyal customers and partners. Wang Bo proudly stated that many Longsheng employees and customers have made big money, with many worth tens of millions, and even more driving Mercedes-Benz and BMWs. In her view, so many people have achieved the life they want through Longsheng Company, which gives her more sense of achievement than achieving the scale of 18 million cases herself. Wang Bo believes that although employees are legally in an employment relationship with the company, in reality, like customers, they are close partners with the company. Those who create value should receive equivalent returns, and one should not be afraid of others earning too much. Therefore, since more than ten years ago, Wang Bo has continuously reformed the company's management model, until today forming a unique business partnership model. Longsheng's market model is roughly divided into two types: the urban market uses a direct sales team model, and the rural market uses a distribution model. The urban market has about 8,000 terminals, served by about 80 direct sales teams; the rural market has about 14,000 terminals, covered and served by nearly 100 direct delivery vehicles and more than 20 distributors. The policies for both direct sales and distribution models are the same, and the business earns the product price difference. Longsheng's product purchase and sale prices and product policies are not secrets; the team and customers are clear about them. If a salesperson only gets 1 yuan per case as commission, he won't have much sustained motivation, but if there is a price difference of 3 yuan or even higher per case, the motivation is different. Of course, returns are proportional to effort and responsibility. Wang Bo designed a management model that matches the business model. It is precisely because of this mechanism that Longsheng has a large number of salespeople, supervisors, and managers with annual incomes of hundreds of thousands. Longsheng Company has transformed into a platform company, providing product and market management, as well as unified distribution, financial and policy support, etc. 2) Professional division of labor, leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses, is good for both employees and the company Wang Bo positions Longsheng as a platform company. She is willing to let the team and customers earn enough money, but they must earn it by creating value, not by other dishonest means. "If a person is smart enough and used well, his intelligence will be used in the right place, which is good for both the company and the individual; if used poorly, the smarter he is, the greater the harm to the company." While liberating human motivation with an innovative business model, Wang Bo did not forget to evolve and upgrade management models and tools. For example, among the 8,000 stores in the urban area, there are about 800 A-class stores, of which more than 200 are commanding heights, operated by a contract model for large store salespeople. Beer marketing involves many terminal activities and market expenses. If information is not transparent, there will be many gray areas. Therefore, as early as several years ago, Longsheng Company had already achieved mobile operations for all employees. Including the company's business team and distributor team, all orders must be processed online, ensuring that all market investments truly reach the terminals and are not intercepted in the middle. Especially for commanding height large stores, which involve considerable market investment, Wang Bo set up a simple three-power separation principle. One person negotiates with the terminal, and the salesperson cooperates; the actual investment is advanced by the large store salesperson; finally, the company supervises and audits, then reimburses the salesperson. The professional management design, combined with the full application of information systems and mobile tools, gives the business team and support team both sufficient motivation to continuously improve customer relations, service, and market, and sufficient management means to avoid the dark side of human nature. In fact, through the comprehensive application of information systems, Longsheng's overall operational efficiency has greatly improved, and its response to the frontline market has become more timely. Wang Bo said that she now receives accurate and comprehensive daily operation reports and analysis every day, which was unimaginable before the full application of the system. "Have the awareness to share profits with others, design mechanisms that drive the positive forces of human nature, plus professional division of labor and information system application" - this is Wang Bo's summary of the way to become a super distributor. If these three points are summarized into one, it is to "believe in and be good at uniting the power of partners." "Without the brand partner Snow Beer, without my team partners and customer partners, Longsheng would be nothing." Wang Bo believes that if from 0 to 10,000 tons, a distributor might rely on perseverance, then from 10,000 tons to 100,000 tons, it can only be achieved by closely uniting and relying on partners. The Next Step of a Super Distributor: Thinking Always Half a Step Ahead of the Market From 1994 at age 31 to today, Wang Bo has given the best 27 years of her life to the distributor business. Why is it that among the large number of distributors of her generation in these 27 years, very few still exist today, and even fewer have achieved super distributor status? Wang Bo believes that it is her attitude of always learning and innovating that has allowed her to do "the right and appropriate thing" in the 27 years of multiple disruptive changes in channel models, until today. When the market needed service, she shifted from sitting to traveling; when the market changed to deep distribution, she cultivated terminals intensively; when the market needed scale, she maximized scale; when beer needed to develop towards high-end, she cultivated a high-end team. Wang Bo's love of learning, thinking, and summarizing is quite famous in China Resources Snow. The Liaoning regional company of Snow has sixteen sales regions. Because she always thinks from the perspective of the China Resources Snow brand and market, the leaders of China Resources Snow gave Wang Bo a special title: the regional manager of the seventeenth region of the Liaoning regional company. "Always think half a step ahead of market changes, and do the right thing at the right time, which is more important than doing things right." Wang Bo used a real example to prove this point. In 2017, Wang Bo met Mr. Hou Xiaohai, who had just been promoted to general manager of China Resources Snow Breweries, in Dalian. Hou Xiaohai comprehensively analyzed for Wang Bo that the future trend of the Chinese beer market is towards high-end development, and the structural dividend of high-end products is the biggest dividend in the future. He suggested that she start cultivating high-end product operation capabilities. After careful consideration, Wang Bo agreed with Hou Xiaohai's analysis and suggestions for the future. In just over a year, she expanded the direct sales business team from about 20 people to more than 80 people. It was precisely thanks to the business team expansion in 2017 that Longsheng Company was able to build sufficiently strong high-end product operation capabilities in three years. Before 2018, Longsheng's product structure was such that mid-range, sub-high, and general high together accounted for only about 30%, and ultra-high was almost completely absent. But in 2021, these three together accounted for more than 50%. Especially the high-end part of sub-high and above, this year is expected to exceed 20,000 tons, nearly 2 million cases. It should be noted that the high-end beer market in the entire northern region is not developed, and Wang Bo's team did not have very rich experience in high-end beer operations before. The 2 million cases of high-end is an astonishingly fast growth in the national market. Today, Wang Bo has begun to prepare to move to behind-the-scenes work at Longsheng Company. Her child has also participated in China Resources Snow Breweries' "Snow Beer Second Generation Successor Plan," and she has hired professional managers (with shares) to manage the company full-time. But she is still thinking about where the next step after being a super distributor should go. Wang Bo is now focusing on two directions: one is digitalization, and the other is the company's future transformation into an operator. In terms of digitalization, although Longsheng's own system capabilities are already relatively complete, they are still isolated from the market, mainly used by Longsheng itself. Can digital systems be used to connect data upward with China Resources Snow, greatly improving communication efficiency with the brand owner and business processing efficiency, and on the other hand, sharing market data with the brand owner in a timely and accurate manner, helping the brand owner make better decisions and provide market support? When can the system be extended downward to cover all terminal customers, not just for use by Longsheng's team and distributor team? Under what conditions and in what way can the system be extended to terminals and be continuously used by them? In terms of transformation into an operator. Longsheng's own scale is already relatively large. Although distribution has been professionally divided, can the company's distribution force be separated and combined with the distribution network of distributors? Can the separated distribution force be integrated with other major distributors to form a new professional distribution service platform? After Longsheng divests its distribution services and transforms into a professional brand operator, where are its development model and space? Wang Bo has thought most deeply about these issues in the past year or two. She also frequently communicates with the China Resources Snow marketing team and has had in-depth discussions with the channel development department at China Resources Snow headquarters, which is specifically responsible for empowering distributors. She is very willing to be the vanguard and experimental field for Snow's channel reform, and Longsheng will definitely be able to build a trump card team that conforms to the management model of China Resources Snow Breweries. Wang Bo, already a super distributor, has struggled in the distributor business for 27 years of youth. Today, she still has a spirit of not admitting defeat, is willing to contribute her wisdom and experience to the market, and is still striving to find a path and solutions to the future. After 27 years of cooperation with Snow Beer, Wang Bo deeply understands that who you walk with is more important than where you are going. She is grateful for the cultivation of Snow Beer, because with the big tree of Snow Beer, she has achieved today's success. Looking back at every node of Longsheng's development, it is closely related to the guidance of Snow Beer leaders. From consumer pull, area-based transformation, strengthening the segmentation of large varieties, strengthening mid-to-high-end, cost refinement, and operational specialization, Longsheng has achieved practical implementation, enabling Longsheng to move forward and go far. Wang Bo is willing to lead Longsheng to grow and become stronger together with Snow Beer. Focusing on research and reporting on excellent FMCG brand cases If you need to communicate, you can add WeChat by long pressing, and please indicate your company, position, and name when adding. Are you "watching" me?