Everyone knows the saying 'A rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its own burrow,' but there's a second half: 'A rabbit always returns by the same path.' From this perspective, wild rabbits die from experience. Pressure from Manufacturers 'Half Joy, Half Sorrow' Task pressure: Manufacturers always set sales targets for distributors. Let me give an example: a certain company requires its distributors to achieve an annual sales growth rate of no less than 30%; if they fall below 30%, the company drops them. Many distributors are unwilling, but they have to comply with the company's demands. This is the way of strong companies. Capital pressure: The biggest issue now is that manufacturers and distributors deal in cash, while distributors and farms operate on credit, and wholesalers and secondary distributors also operate on credit. This creates trouble; many of our distributors are essentially 'loan sharks,' nothing more. Burning bridges: What does 'burning bridges' mean? After distributors have developed the market for the manufacturer, the manufacturer's sales staff say 'we're not playing with you anymore' because they've found something better. This is very frustrating. Such manufacturers are abundant in our industry, so we must be on guard. Channel sinking: This was also discussed in a previous article, 'The Business Environment Has Changed Dramatically; Are Distributors Still Stubborn?' Especially for wholesalers, you'll find they face pressure, including internal management pressure—secondary distributors rebelling. What does 'secondary distributor rebellion' mean? When we initially supported them, they had few people, and we hoped to help them grow. But when they become powerful, they start to 'declare independence' and stop working with us. Can we stop it? No! I remember the famous poet Wang Guozhen wrote a poem called 'A Mother's Heart,' which describes a mother's feelings toward her daughter. I think it also fits the relationship between wholesalers and their secondary distributors: Half joy, half sorrow, the hardest to express is a mother's love; hoping the fruit will ripen, but when it does, fearing it will fall. You see, many of our distributors have the same psychology: we hope our secondary distributors 'grow up,' but when they do, we fear they'll 'marry someone else.' There's no way around it. Note that channel sinking is a trend that no one can stop. What should your change be? You should align with the trend, not resist it. Pressure from Competitors 'Jumping into the Water, Half Drowned' Promotional pressure: If you don't run promotions, competitors will, so you're helpless and must follow suit, or you might lose customers. Now there are endless promotions targeting end customers: travel, conference promotions, product discounts—travel goes from domestic to international, from Asia to Europe. Credit pressure: If you don't offer credit, competitors will, and once they do, you have to follow. So everyone 'jumps into the water' and 'half drowns,' or at least gets choked. Service capability: When our downstream becomes stronger and more specialized, our original service capabilities start to fall short, unable to meet the higher demands of our downstream growth. We can't cope. Product pressure: What does product pressure lead to? You'll find that the better a product sells and the longer it's sold, the more profits decline. If you don't sell it, customers demand it; if you do sell it, there's no profit. Under the trend of regulation, product pressure has two aspects: First, selling compliant products means transparent pricing and low profits; second, non-compliant products, so-called 'miracle drugs,' offer high profits but carry great risk. Pressure from End Customers Service failure: Our simple services used to suffice, but now we find they can no longer meet the needs of end customers. End customer rebellion: Slightly larger end customers want to bypass distributors and deal directly with manufacturers. Also, profit squeeze: No need to elaborate. Pressure from Within 'Putting in Effort Without Results, or Passive Work' Distributor team building: Many distributors lack people and teams. Some want to hire but can't find candidates; others are afraid to hire. Occasionally, a few are trained and grow, but they end up starting their own businesses. Benefit distribution: I often say that training can hardly change any attitude. The effect of training on employee attitudes lasts no more than three days. Team change relies on benefit distribution, not training. When benefit distribution changes, employee attitudes change. Due to unreasonable benefit distribution mechanisms, some employees put in effort without results, or simply slack off. Organizational efficiency: Organizational efficiency is achieved through division of labor and collaboration. Distributors, especially wholesalers, need to improve team efficiency through organizational division. No one is a jack-of-all-trades; social progress and division of labor mean everyone does what they're good at and leaves the rest to others. That's organizational division. People are driven by self-interest; they'll do what they're good at better and better, and give up on what they can't do. Trying to make everyone a generalist is doomed to fail. When someone becomes a generalist, they'll definitely change jobs or start their own business. Pay attention to this. Operating costs: Back in the day, hiring a salesperson ten years ago for a salary of over 1,000 yuan was considered high. Now, a decent salesperson won't come for less than 100,000 yuan a year; anyone hired for less is likely a 'second-rate' worker. In short, operating costs are constantly rising. Resistance from Within 'Wild Rabbits Die from Experience' Empiricism: I often tell the story of 'trapping wild rabbits.' Everyone knows wild rabbits don't dig burrows; only domestic rabbits do. So wild rabbits find a nest, usually under bushes or in hidden places, which isn't easy. To keep predators from finding their nest, wild rabbits travel an average of two to three kilometers or more to eat grass. Their habit is to sleep during the day and go out at night to eat, hoping to avoid predators. But wild rabbits have a crucial trait: when returning to their nest, they always take the same path. This trait has been discovered by clever humans. Especially in winter, after a light snowfall, we see the rabbit's single track. If we see the rabbit hasn't returned yet, we set a snare on the path, and the rabbit gets caught. That's the basic principle of trapping wild rabbits. Everyone knows 'a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its own burrow,' but there's a second half: 'a rabbit always returns by the same path.' From this perspective, wild rabbits die from experience. When they go out, the path is safe, and they think it's safe to return the same way. But when they return, the environment has changed because humans have set a snare on their path, and the rabbit doesn't know, so it's doomed. Outdated knowledge: In the rapid development of the internet, our old knowledge can no longer face the current market. Previously, we relied on information asymmetry, but the future relies on knowledge asymmetry. I repeatedly emphasize that the internet has eliminated information asymmetry, making it harder to make a living from it. Outdated concepts: Not seeing the future of the industry, not using the future to guide the present, but using past experience to guide the present. Herd mentality: What is herd mentality? Doing what others do. The most typical example: if we go to a tourist attraction and have lunch, with several restaurants to choose from, how do we decide? Don't we go to the one with the most people? It's that simple. That's herd mentality. In fact, we don't know if that restaurant is good, but we think 'if it's crowded, it must be good.' Speculative psychology: This is also a typical resistance. Grabbing a product and monopolizing it, selling it arrogantly, making a killing at once—such opportunities are increasingly rare. Earning reasonable profits, earning what you should, is the way to survive in the future. Tips adopted will be paid 400-2000 yuan China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Committed to FMCG Manufacturers' Transformation and Upgrading and Channel Digital Solutions