Today I'd like to share a key task for the off-season. There's a saying in the industry: peak season for sales, off-season for market building. During the peak season, the focus is on pushing main products and maintaining high-output outlets. As a result, less energy is spent on getting full SKU listings and ensuring all outlets in the region stock up. Now that we're entering the beverage off-season, what methods or market-building activities can quickly make up for the missed opportunities during the peak season? Sales growth has only two dimensions: vertical growth refers to SKU per store, horizontal growth refers to distribution points. Most companies are currently pushing hard to expand distribution points and increase SKU per store to set the stage for next year's market actions. For beverages, October marks the start of the off-season. Off-season market building is about foundational work, including market fundamentals and sales fundamentals. The focus is to get more products into more outlets, lay out the groundwork, and hope that next year the sparks will ignite a prairie fire. Although it's the off-season, time is limited, so completing product listing in the shortest time is crucial. Sales: advance payment is best, cash on delivery is acceptable, goods on credit is worst, and gifts instead of sales is the worst of all. In practice, collecting advance payments or cash on delivery is the best strategy, but the number of outlets that can do this is limited. Pushing hard is not wise. In recent years, China's macro economy has been growing slowly, and the impact of e-commerce has made things worse for traditional retail. As brand owners and distributors, we must put ourselves in the shoes of store owners. What are their concerns? Why do some stores with good sales only sell our product A and never product B? Why do some stores not sell any of our products? The answer is: concerns. These concerns come from two aspects: 1. Lack of trust: buyers are not as smart as sellers. All salespeople are professionally trained and have encountered various rejections. They can always use their eloquence to get store owners to accept goods. But after-sales service varies. If a store takes a bundle and one item expires, and after-sales is not handled properly, the whole bundle is a loss, plus wasted utilities, rent, and labor. 2. Reluctance to try: The survival status of retail outlets is not ideal. In my visits, most retail outlets' monthly rent and utilities eat up more than half of their profits, not including labor and other costs. Many stores are barely surviving. They prefer fast-moving goods that can be quickly converted to cash. Cash flow is their lifeline. If they relied on bank loans, many would have closed. So even if they want to try new products, they can't afford it. In short, whoever solves these concerns can dominate the market. The most common method to solve these concerns is credit sales: Compared to free samples, credit sales are the most cost-effective at this time, with the lowest cost and best results for developing blank points and increasing SKU per store. It can focus market resources, quickly increase distribution points, and improve their quality. But some may argue: won't credit sales get out of control? Won't there be bad debts? Won't it develop bad habits and reduce combat effectiveness? My answer: all of the above can happen. No market operation is perfect. As long as the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, it's a good method. For credit sales, the direct benefits are: greatly reduce opportunity cost and time cost, activate your cash flow (better in the store than in the warehouse; as long as there's sell-through, there's payment). Indirectly, the seed products you plant now will shine next year. Now let's talk about the drawbacks and how to maximize benefits and minimize drawbacks. Let's discuss several issues regarding credit sales: product structure, channel management, verification, etc. 1. Products for credit sales: The ultimate goal is to successfully develop new outlets and improve outlet quality, turning non-selling stores into long-term partners and increasing SKU in stores that only sell one or two items. So the products for credit sales should:

1. Have many SKUs (to give consumers more choices) 2. Have uniform pricing (to help stores understand the price range) 3. Have small quantities (to make stores feel products sell fast and encourage reordering)

Operational plan: a. Choose representatives from different categories. For example, if a store only sells tea series, then for juice series, choose the best-selling product as the representative for credit sales. b. For same category, create variety packs. For example, if a store only sells one juice flavor, manually open boxes and combine other flavors into a variety pack for credit sales. c. For large stores, do credit sales with displays. For larger outlets, credit sales should be done in groups, such as a cut-case display or a visual merchandising layout. d. For small stores, focus on key categories. For example, if a store sells small bottled water well because of nearby meeting demand, prioritize credit sales of small bottled water.

2. Specific process: 1. Define credit sales rights: Salespeople with more than half a year of experience (who know the market) are eligible, with a limit of 200 stores per person. 2. Sign a standard credit sales agreement: Set the credit period at 45-60 days. At the end of the period: pay or return goods. 3. At the start, the team must sign a target assessment document for distribution points and quality. 4. Target stores: principles are to avoid risk and increase the likelihood of long-term sales. Outlet definition: stores that have never sold our products or have not sold our products or a specific SKU for 6 consecutive months.

a. All credit sales stores must meet the outlet definition. b. Prioritize credit sales in strong regions. c. Prioritize stores near existing outlets that sell our products. d. Prioritize blank outlets that can be visited regularly. e. Completely blank areas should be handled by dedicated personnel.

3. Verification process:

  1. Use the mobile terminal system to take photos as evidence, including store sign, shelves, and credit sales agreement.
  2. Fill in the credit sales summary table.

4. Bad debt write-off:

  1. If credit sales do not follow the process, the salesperson bears the bad debt.
  2. If they follow the process, the company bears 90% of the cost, and the salesperson bears the rest.
  3. Bad debts are settled monthly according to the agreed period; overdue ones are not covered.
  4. Total bad debts borne by the company should not exceed 10% of the total credit sales amount.
  5. When salespeople report bad debts, managers must verify all on-site.

Cost estimation: For example, a region currently has 30,000 service outlets and 10,000 effective cooperation outlets. Credit sales can increase SKU in effective outlets and add new blank outlets. Assume a total of 10,000 new and activated outlets. Credit sales cap is 20,000 cases. Bad debts account for one-tenth, costing 2,000 cases, estimated at 50,000 yuan. The cost per store for development and activation is about 5 yuan per store, much lower than giving samples. The main benefit is that restocking is more persuasive, and the time cost, opportunity cost, and future benefits are self-evident.

5. Follow-up service:

  1. Regularly visit credit sales outlets, at least once a week.
  2. Replenish missing SKUs: If the initial credit sales products have stockouts, follow up promptly. Current situation + skills = high closing rate.
  3. Fill in the credit sales summary table in time to check for missing SKUs.

6. Full mobilization to achieve goals: Establish reward and punishment measures. For those who remain indifferent to huge rewards, it is recommended to use severe administrative punishment and light economic punishment.

7. Outlet tracking requirements:

  1. Daily tracking: number of credit sales stores, new developments, tracked via platform (WeChat).
  2. Weekly tracking: comprehensive ranking, evaluation of managers at all levels (weekly meeting).
  3. Monthly assessment: those who can't sell on credit must be removed.

Final thoughts: 1. Conservative policies: Companies or distributors adopting this credit policy are unwilling to bear any payment risk. They only offer credit to customers with unquestionable financial status and timely payments, so overdue risk is almost zero. Therefore, such companies rarely or never use bank support to ensure sufficient liquidity. But their growth is constrained, and as the market tilts toward buyers, they risk losing important customers. 2. Competition is increasingly fierce, and most companies or distributors face the dual dilemma of "hard to sell, harder to collect." On one hand, to win orders, they need to offer more credit; on the other hand, customers delay payments, even causing bad debts, exposing companies to huge commercial risks. 3. Establishing a credit policy is crucial for improving sales and financial work. It's a required course for financial managers and sales personnel in modern enterprises. When initially setting sales policies, companies should make detailed provisions for credit policies. This involves balancing factors like capital strength, market support, market expansion goals, and the size of credit points. In short, credit sales are a double-edged sword. Used well, they can be invincible; used poorly, they can hurt yourself. Process control is especially important. The above plan is just a starting point for your reference. If you wish to communicate with the author, tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan if adopted. China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Committed to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and channel digital solutions