---
title: "Is the Relationship Between Salespeople and Store Owners Worth Anything?"
description: "Stores are where products are sold, serving as the link between products and consumers, and are the most critical link in product distribution. Winning stores means winning the market, and seizing stores has become a key to marketing success. However, stores require good relationships (keqing), and with strong relationships, greater sales can be achieved. In past reports by New Distribution on distributors, especially during the three years of pandemic lockdowns, many distributors who invested in relationship-building saw positive results, avoiding losses and even growing against the trend. China is a society that values personal connections, so in terms of salesperson skills, they are divided into three categories: attitude skills, relationship skills, and business skills. Among these, relationship skills are considered the most important, accounting for 80% of the factors in closing deals."
author: "高级研究员 海游"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-09-15"
language: "en"
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# Is the Relationship Between Salespeople and Store Owners Worth Anything?

> Stores are where products are sold, serving as the link between products and consumers, and are the most critical link in product distribution. Winning stores means winning the market, and seizing stores has become a key to marketing success. However, stores require good relationships (keqing), and with strong relationships, greater sales can be achieved. In past reports by New Distribution on distributors, especially during the three years of pandemic lockdowns, many distributors who invested in relationship-building saw positive results, avoiding losses and even growing against the trend. China is a society that values personal connections, so in terms of salesperson skills, they are divided into three categories: attitude skills, relationship skills, and business skills. Among these, relationship skills are considered the most important, accounting for 80% of the factors in closing deals.

Stores are where products are sold, serving as the link between products and consumers, and are the most critical link in product distribution. Winning stores means winning the market, and seizing stores has become a key to marketing success. However, stores require good relationships (keqing), and with strong relationships, greater sales can be achieved! In past reports by New Distribution on distributors, especially during the three years of pandemic lockdowns, many distributors who invested in relationship-building saw positive results, avoiding losses and even growing against the trend. China is a society that values personal connections, so in terms of salesperson skills, they are divided into three categories:
> **First, attitude skills:** Whether a salesperson's attitude is negative or positive is a prerequisite for closing deals. Experienced salespeople adjust their attitude to avoid being influenced by external circumstances. **Second, relationship skills:** Relationship building is about accumulating personal connections. Some people are good at expressing themselves and quickly build rapport, while others are slower. **Third, business skills:** Business skills include communication that reads the situation, describing product value, profit analysis, and so on. Frontline salespeople continuously hone these three skills in their daily work and can quickly become business backbone and core strength.
**However, among these three, I believe relationship skills are the most important, accounting for 80% of the factors in closing deals.** Common examples: When a regional veteran salesperson leaves, the new salesperson often sees a decline in sales, and store owners stop stocking up; salespeople with good relationships can get payment before delivery, have their products placed in prime display positions, and competitors' salespeople dare not touch them. Even if prices are slightly higher, store owners accept it.
Today, we delve into a fundamental issue: **How to increase regional sales through stable relationships?** I once visited a instant noodle market in a prefecture-level city in Henan and met with Mr. Wang, the distributor for J brand instant noodles. In his region, the market pattern was K holding about 40%, T barely visible, and he and B were in a stalemate, each holding about 20%. Previously, B adjusted its distributor, and Mr. Wang seized this opportunity. After a series of actions, the market pattern changed to: K about 40%, J about 30%, and B less than 10%. I asked him what was behind this success. Mr. Wang replied: just two words, relationships. Next, we break down Mr. Wang's specific actions for maintaining relationships.
**Relationship Maintenance 1:**
**Act on Opportunities, Win Over Stores**
Mr. Wang is very dedicated. No matter how busy, he sets aside at least 2 days a week to visit the market, coordinating with salespeople to communicate face-to-face with store owners.
During visits, he noticed that store owners were reporting a decline in B's service, delayed display rewards, and irregular salesperson visits. Upon investigation, B was in the process of changing distributors. This was a golden opportunity. Mr. Wang took the following actions.
**1. Recruit excellent sales representatives from B's distributor**
Mr. Wang knows the market well, including which areas are B's strongholds and which salespeople are outstanding. Now that B's distributor was switching, Mr. Wang personally visited B's salespeople and spared no expense to recruit them.
In his words: Besides their business skills, excellent sales reps bring relationship resources. It's not just one excellent rep; it's 150-200 quality stores.
**2. Small favors to win over stores**
B's distributor was not focused on business, so service quality inevitably declined, and market issues surfaced, such as problems with soon-to-expire products and slow-moving inventory.
At this point, Mr. Wang introduced a policy:
> **a.** Provide more freebies to stores to help them clear soon-to-expire products. **b.** During visits, salespeople can help store owners handle issues like dust on B products and first-in-first-out. **c.** For some quality stores, especially those not selling his products, B's soon-to-expire items (within 5 pieces) can be exchanged 1:1 for his products.
In his words: People are human. Most store owners appreciate this, even though I lose a bit, I've won back 200-300 outlets. Relationships built through timely help are stronger than those built on flattery.
**Summary: Distributors must always monitor competitors' market status. Once a competitor makes a mistake, adjust immediately, seize the opportunity, and launch an attack.**
**Relationship Maintenance 2:**
**Strike While the Iron is Hot, Improve Service**
Market competition doesn't allow you to sit back when a competitor stumbles. When one player has problems, other brand distributors eye the market share. You must follow up promptly to carve up the market. Mr. Wang first had his team survey and list B's quality stores as targets, then took the following actions:
**1. Increase in-store time at target stores, reward for winning them over**
Require salespeople to spend at least 15 minutes per visit at target stores, engaging in patient and sincere conversations with store owners to understand their needs and preferences, and to make a deep impression. Verification methods: check in-store time via mobile phones and field visits to assess familiarity.
**2. Strengthen product knowledge, build a professional image**
Relationships must be built on professionalism. Be familiar with both your and competitors' products, such as weight, flavor, policies, profit comparisons, and market support. Convey to stores: I have all the advantages others have, and also advantages they don't. When communicating, describe product features in colloquial, concise, and memorable terms.
**3. Use tools well, be hands-on, and ask for guidance**
> **a.** Wear clean, neat uniforms and pay attention to image.
>
> **b.** Bring all merchandising materials, and when posting, always ask store owners for permission, being polite.
>
> **c.** Have cloths, tape, knives, etc., ready, and work efficiently.
>
> **d.** Help store owners with tasks like moving goods, sweeping floors, and organizing warehouses.
These tasks are not only an important part of daily work but also help store owners get to know company personnel more directly and increase trust.
**4. Regular visits and in-depth communication**
Whether or not a partnership is established, maintain regular visits to target stores and engage in deep communication. Regularity leaves a lasting impression and signals good credibility. In the FMCG industry, it typically takes 4-11 visits to move from stranger to partnership. Persistence pays off; even distrustful store owners will eventually be moved by such tenacity.
**Summary: Improve terminal service quality through regular visits, in-depth communication, and meeting needs, to quickly accumulate relationships.**
**Relationship Maintenance 3:**
**Brand Promotion, Expand Brand Influence**
There is no love without reason, and no hate without reason. The relationship between salespeople and stores must be built on the basis of the brand they represent. Therefore, salespeople should combine online advertising and offline brand promotion. **The stronger the brand, the stronger the relationship.**
**Relationship Maintenance 4:**
**Empathize, Retain Key Staff**
If relationships are the vehicle for sales, then salespeople are the vehicle for relationships. Retaining key sales reps means retaining relationships. I've noticed that many veteran distributors have several key sales reps who have worked for over 5 years, and their business thrives. Conversely, some distributors on the decline frequently change staff, falling into a vicious cycle of staff turnover, relationship loss, sales decline, market shrinkage, more turnover, and more relationship loss. Mr. Wang does this well:
**1.** Hold quarterly meetings (all-staff meetings) to commend outstanding employees, award trophies and bonuses, with special rewards for outstanding quarterly sales and growth contributions.
**2.** Establish an employee travel incentive: one year of service earns a domestic solo 3-day trip; two years, a domestic double (with family) 4-day trip; three years, a domestic triple (with family) 5-day trip; five years, a domestic full-family week-long trip.
**3.** Establish a home visit mechanism for outstanding employees: during Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, company management visits salespeople's homes to offer condolences and benefits.
**Summary: Retaining talent means retaining relationships and stores. Invest thought and empathize with employees' material and spiritual needs.** As Mr. Wang said: For distributors to make money, they must let salespeople make more money. Only then can they retain good salespeople. Frequent changes in salespeople inevitably harm relationships and profits.
**Final Thoughts**
Mr. Wang's success is inevitable. Salespeople and relationships are inseparable, as are relationships and stores. In China's cultural and market environment, relationships can be considered the primary productive force in sales. For good relationships to last, daily quality service is essential. Stable, long-term relationships are the guarantee and foundation of company profits. The relationships with store owners and the loyalty of salespeople both hinge on the most basic integrity and sincerity between people. At the **5th China FMCG Conference and the 1st China FMCG Distributor Conference** to be held from **October 9-11**, the industry's first China FMCG Distributor Conference will take place, **inviting 12 outstanding distributors from across the country to share their insights on stage, covering growth paths, challenges and opportunities, operational practices, tax risks, and other aspects of distributor business.** Additionally, the industry's first **"City X Population - Distributor Business Development Model"** and the **"2023 FMCG Distributor Survival and Development Report"** will be released, making it well worth your visit!


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