Salespeople who have never developed new markets or new brands are not complete sales representatives. Just as a man who has never stood outside a delivery room or received a child from a midwife doesn't know the source of life, you won't understand the origins of sorrow and joy. Whether you are a greenhorn or a seasoned veteran, many have suffered losses and been deceived in new market development. Some wander for half a year without finding the distributor's door; others make careless mistakes and lose the battle. When salespeople are assigned markets, most of the time they have no choice. Those who are lucky or favored by leaders go to affluent regions like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, or Shenzhen, happily taking office. Those who are less lucky or less favored are sent to remote, poor, or border areas like Gansu, Qinghai, or Ningxia, which salespeople jokingly call "places of exile." The leader only asks: are you going or not? If you go, pack up and take office; if not, pack up and leave. Whether it's a good or bad market in the usual sense, as salespeople who call everywhere home, you must find a way to survive wherever you drift. "When an expert stretches out a hand, they know if it's there." When a salesperson arrives in a new market and sets foot on the ground, they must first assess whether the market that has fallen on their head is a trap or a pie. On the first day I entered society, my parents told me that the road is on your lips. When you're in the world, you need to open your mouth. As a salesperson running markets, if you don't ask questions when you see people and look up to see the road, you can't even say you're in sales. When developing a new market, if you haven't chatted with these five types of people, you haven't done the job! Let's take the building materials industry as an example to see how to chat with these five types. First, ask taxi drivers. As soon as you set foot on the ground, get into a taxi or a motorcycle taxi. Even if it's your first time in this market, you start to have initial contact with the city. The taxi is the best environment, relatively enclosed. Taxi drivers are cooped up in their cars all day, and if someone is willing to chat, they enjoy it. Through them, you can best understand the living habits of low- and middle-income people in this city. For the building materials industry, chatting with taxi drivers mainly confirms the following three aspects:

  • The best enterprises and communities in the region: samples of high-quality consumer groups
  • The distribution and current situation of major building materials markets: whether roads are being repaired near the markets, or if there is any negative news
  • Population mobility: housing demand and renovation frequency Of course, you have to speak in a way they understand. For example, for lighting products, don't ask: "Master, what lighting brand is famous here?" They'll be confused. You should ask: "Master, what brand of lamps is good to buy here?" Second, ask small hotel owners. Even if small hotel owners are not middle class, they are middle-income families in this city. They are the second window for us to understand the city. Seize every opportunity to chat when you spend money, so others are willing to communicate. Since you're spending money anyway, why not extract valuable information as the first step in market development? The decoration materials in small hotels are usually not of high quality, which gives a direct reference for where mid- to low-end building materials are sold. Through casual chat, you can learn the daily occupancy rate of the hotel. Generally, you can check the guest registration book and see clearly at a glance. If business is good, it means there are many business travelers, commerce is thriving, and there are many business opportunities. At the same time, you can treat the hotel owner as an ordinary consumer to learn which building material brands are popular, what urban housing prices are like, and whether there are any special customs or habits in local renovation. These are all quick ways to understand the regional market. Third, ask wholesale market merchants. Even for building material brands entering a new market, if the brand is relatively large or the company has been around for a while, products may have entered the market in unconventional ways. For home building materials, if it's cross-regional dumping, these goods usually don't appear in large building material cities, let alone in specialty stores. Typically, the dumping gatherings are wholesale merchants in daily goods markets who bring goods from neighboring provinces or from the place of origin. They mainly sell semi-finished products and accessories, with only wholesale and no after-sales, high prices, and poor service, mainly to complement the sales of other building materials in their stores. The prices, services, and delivery scope of dumping distributors can all be learned from wholesale market merchants. Generally, dumping distributors also hope to become legitimate and formal. As a factory representative, as long as you don't act arrogant with your eyes on top of your head, merchants will usually treat you with courtesy. Don't underestimate these distributors. Their stores have all kinds of products: instant noodles next to sockets and wires, nail clippers on top of electrician's gloves. But their distribution capabilities may extend to streets, alleys, towns, and villages. These are all potential distributors to consider. Of course, with the advent of the internet, the living space for second-tier distributors is shrinking, and many of these merchants who rely on buying and selling are also seeking transformation. Fourth, ask logistics and freight companies. Before 2005, express logistics was not as developed as today. A county town had only one freight pickup point, and there was not as much emphasis on confidentiality of freight information as today. You could offer two cigarettes, call them "big brother" or "beauty," or at most treat the dispatcher to a meal, and you'd know clearly who had more goods, who had less, where goods were distributed, and which brands they represented. Now express logistics is developed, competition is fierce, and information protection awareness is stronger. Some salespeople now use the pretext of setting up offices or warehouses to negotiate with freight logistics companies one by one. Every city now has a logistics park, and freight companies are relatively concentrated. You can spend two or three days and basically get a rough picture. Each freight company, to win business, will tell you about the cooperation of similar enterprises and brands with them. This is also an important way to build a regional market concept. Fifth, ask major competitors' merchants. After asking the peripheral basic information, you have only established a basic concept of the regional market. For direct impressions related to the market, you still need direct contact with industry distributors. Contacting merchants is not necessarily for development purposes; it can also be for understanding the market. Merchants generally won't refuse a visit from a factory salesperson, even if you're just a sales rep for a small brand. Distributors believe in the creed "more friends, more paths." Even if they don't plan to introduce a new brand, learning more about industry information is beneficial and harmless. Starting with major merchants, we can understand the overall structure and demand of the regional market, see their attitude and demand for products, analyze their market operation methods, including their attitude toward various products they operate. At least in the future, when you encounter this distributor in the market, you won't be unfamiliar. If they are talkative or you hit it off, they might share some inside information, ensuring your trip isn't wasted. After all, you didn't come with the intention of cooperating, because the biggest isn't necessarily the best. But even if you don't cooperate, through casual chats with major competitors' merchants, you'll know where to start when you later compete with them. In fact, developing new markets in any industry basically follows this routine and pattern, only the focus and content of questions differ. Of course, asking these five types of people is only the first step in blank market research. But even though it's just the first step, completing this process at least makes you not look like an outsider when doing things, and not sound like a layman when speaking! -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focuses on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operation | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales volume improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new salespeople | 015 Internet, brands | [Long press QR code to follow] To join QQ/WeChat group, click: Read original text