In offline channel inventory management, whether to pressure dealers with stock has always been a taboo topic. As a business owner, on one hand, you hope dealers' channel inventory is less, and even less, to avoid too many problems later; on the other hand, under the temptation of huge inventory pressure and cash flow, you also wish to transfer all the old stock in the warehouse to dealers' warehouses, more, and even more. So we see many abnormal bosses who shout every day, "Don't pressure stock, don't pressure stock," but then turn around and point at your nose, roaring: Why are there still so many slow-moving items in the warehouse that haven't been sold? Are you planning to keep them in the warehouse for the New Year? Ladies and乡亲们, these are slow-moving items! Even if you sell them at a discount, not necessarily any dealer will take them. Even if some dealer wants them, not necessarily before the New Year. Even if before the New Year, not necessarily they will take as many as you have! Salespeople are used to this indirect coercion, and they usually turn away quickly, responding angrily: Boss, just watch me! Bosses with multiple personality splits, do you have any truth to tell those poor salespeople who are down to their last straw? A Dealer's Growth Story In my early years, I was responsible for a regional market at a company and personally developed a dealer, Old A. I kept in close contact with Old A until I left the company in 2010, and our relationship remained very good. In 2013, I traveled to that region on business and called Old A in advance. He was very happy and insisted on meeting for dinner that evening. I arrived as scheduled, and we had a great conversation over drinks, chatting about everything under the sun. After three rounds of drinks and five courses, with half a bottle of baijiu down, just as we were about to end our boasting session, Old A suddenly burst into tears, sobbing on the table. I was quite surprised. Although Old A and I were close, our friendship wasn't so deep that we'd cry at the sight of each other after a few years apart! I calmed my inner excitement and asked timidly, "What's wrong, brother?" What Old A said next truly opened my eyes: "Brother, I've been in business for 25 years. I started as a laborer at 15, and at 19, I had my first shop. Since then, life stabilized and days got better. Fifteen years ago, in this area, there were about five or six dealers doing 400,000 to 500,000 yuan a year. We used to drink tea, fish, and take photos together. Back then, product margins were high, and anything you had could be sold. Life was quite comfortable. When your brand first came here, I knew the first customer you approached wasn't me; it was those dealers I hung out with. But they all refused, so you finally came to me. But once I took on your brand, my good days were over. I was only doing 400,000 to 500,000 yuan a year. In the first month, while I was still confused, you shipped me 100,000 yuan worth of goods and said if I didn't meet the quarterly assessment, you'd drop me. It's easy to get on a pirate ship but hard to get off. Looking at the pile of goods in my warehouse, I wanted to cry but had no tears. Fortunately, after you pressured me with stock, you brought a team of promoters to fool me: 'Old A, you can't just sit at home waiting for business. You need to go out, do distribution, do promotions, go into communities—all that nonsense about transforming from a sedentary merchant to a traveling salesman.' I was also anxious about the pile of goods in the warehouse—that was real money! So I had no choice but to follow you to do distribution, promotions, and community visits, feeling like I was back to the days when I first opened my shop at 19. By the end of the month, I had actually sold most of that 100,000 yuan worth of goods. Just as I was about to catch my breath, another 200,000 yuan worth of goods was pressed into my warehouse. It was like you didn't want me to live! So I had to bury my head, steel my heart, and charge forward with my eyes closed—running to construction sites, decoration companies, and thinking of ways to sell things bit by bit. After working day and night for a year, I looked back and, wow, I had sold over 1.3 million yuan that year. In the past, I wouldn't have dared to dream of that! From then on, you proactively pressured me with stock, and I silently endured it for 13 years. Thirteen years! After 13 years, now I do 50 million yuan a year, while those five or six buddies I used to hang out with—two of them still do only 400,000 to 500,000 yuan a year, and the most do 1 million or 2 million yuan. Because I chose you, because of that inventory that kept me up at night, I inexplicably became the boss of this region." This story touched me deeply. At least inventory isn't the root of all evil as some people say; at least inventory pressure created a regional leader, even though no dealer would actively accept inventory. Why Pressure Dealers with Stock? Actually, too much theory is useless. There's only one key point: Where the dealer's money is, there the dealer's heart is! That's why during corporate training, employees tend to sleep, but bosses stay alert! Many so-called free trainings find ways to make you pay. Moreover, if you don't pressure, others will. When dealers start revolving around other brands, you'll be crying too late! Domestic manufacturers, especially domestic brand manufacturers, often pressure stock at month-end. We can't applaud stock pressure, but the actual result is: The goods filling the channel improve the response speed of channel circulation, and at the same time force merchants and manufacturers to pay more attention to market expansion, rather than sitting in the store waiting for customers. This actually becomes a very important reason for improving channel efficiency. In reality, if you can't even pressure stock into the channel, then whether you have that channel or not doesn't matter anymore! Source: Sales and Market -END-