During a recent national training tour for a famous ham company, I heard more than once: "Some distributors rely on the brand's pulling power and remain in a passive sales state. Their job is to wait for downstream customers' order calls, load the truck, deliver, and then come back to sit and wait for customers or orders." "They are not exactly sedentary merchants, but compared to those, they haven't improved much, which is a headache for us manufacturers."

The above describes a typical 'waiting for orders' approach. Why does this phenomenon exist? What are its drawbacks?

The reasons for the 'waiting for orders' phenomenon are not limited to the following:

  1. The distributor's original business inertia. For example, a serious sedentary merchant mindset: previously they waited for customers to come, basically relying on 'sitting and waiting for money.' Now, proactively seeking customers feels embarrassing.
  2. Conservative management. Because proactive door-to-door selling may lead to unstable sales, they fear excessive labor costs and fuel expenses, worry about 'losing out,' resulting in conservative thinking, weak market participation, hesitation, and stagnation.
  3. The company's advertising-driven positioning has made customers lazy. Since some companies rely on brand and advertising to pull the market, sales can be achieved without much effort. Distributors can sit and wait for customers to achieve profits, forming behavioral inertia.
  4. The manufacturer's nanny-style close service, due to clear division of labor, where the manufacturer's staff are responsible for obtaining orders and the distributor for product delivery. Under this cooperation model, the distributor becomes the manufacturer's logistics distributor, or even 'loader,' further weakening their market position and role.

Regardless of the cause, 'waiting for orders' has the following drawbacks:

  1. Passivity. The word 'wait' reflects a state that may include confusion, helplessness, perplexity, and pressure, but the passive feeling is ultimately unpleasant. They may be ruthlessly abandoned by the manufacturer, crushed by peers, or gradually decline over time.
  2. Extensive management. Sitting and waiting for customers inevitably leads to losing control over the market and customers, losing sensitivity and perception of the market, and unknowingly widening the gap with downstream customers. This extensive approach makes the market increasingly vague and loses market favor.
  3. Vulnerability to competitor attacks. This extensive approach inevitably leaves many market gaps and loopholes, even 'riddled with holes,' attracting competitors who will seize opportunities to capture the market, leading to a sense of being 'besieged on all sides' or 'at the city gates.'

'Change leads to understanding, understanding leads to endurance.' Distributors who sit and wait for orders must transform from sedentary merchants to itinerant merchants, that is, from 'waiting for orders' to 'chasing orders.'

What is 'chasing orders'? It means proactively going out, actively marketing, actively promoting products, and actively providing services. What are the benefits of 'chasing orders'?

  1. Initiative. The word 'chase' reflects initiative, a positive and enterprising spirit, and a boldness to actively participate in market competition. It is a manifestation of keeping pace with the times, showing the distributor's determination to align with market trends and cooperate with manufacturers in market competition.
  2. Refinement. Proactive action helps distributors better find the right fit, such as what products downstream channels and end customers like, how to grasp channels and terminals in the future, how to establish lasting relationships with customers, and how to better interact and communicate with downstream channels and customers. Only by going to the grassroots can they do deeper, finer, and more thorough work on channels and markets.
  3. Cutting off competitors' retreat. The Matthew Effect tells us that in future market competition, the strong will always be strong, and the weak will always be weak. 'Chasing orders' means seizing the initiative, actively discovering customer needs, actively assisting customers in promoting products, and, under the premise of win-win, daring to cut off competitors' retreat.

Since 'chasing orders' is so important, how can distributors do it better?

  1. Find demand trends from 'chasing orders.' By 'chasing orders,' distributors can promptly discover customers' potential and product needs, thereby introducing products that meet customer needs and satisfy downstream customers' increasing demands for profit and product functionality.
  2. Enhance service awareness from 'chasing orders.' 'Chasing orders' reflects the distributor's service awareness. Through activities like shelf restocking, display, and inventory management during 'chasing orders,' they provide maximum after-sales service to downstream customers, especially end customers, and offer maximum added value.
  3. Bosses should regularly visit the market. In market operations, distributors should avoid becoming 'big salesmen, big accountants, big loaders, big drivers,' and also avoid becoming arrogant 'big bosses.' Many distributors easily fall into a state of being content with small success, lacking ambition, being self-centered, and being lazy or disdainful of visiting the market, causing estrangement and unfamiliarity with downstream customers. In fact, distributors should also regularly visit the market to understand the market, observe competitors, and get familiar with customers, so as to know the market and customers thoroughly, make better decisions, and serve as the manufacturer's frontline sales consultant.
  4. Learn refined management from 'chasing orders.' For example, during proactive customer visits, they can establish detailed customer files, deeply understand downstream customers' or even end customers' thoughts, operations, sales, families, management, personnel, and other aspects, thereby building database marketing, doing refined management better, and enhancing their core competitiveness.
  5. Build good customer relationships from 'chasing orders.' Through proactive distribution and 'chasing orders,' distributors can establish an internal connection with downstream and end customers, provide timely help, do consultative selling, and through helping others achieve success, establish a good strategic partnership with customers, enabling sustainable operation and win-win.

In summary, shifting from 'waiting for orders' to 'chasing orders' is a change in business thinking and behavior. By abandoning the 'waiting, relying, and requesting' approach and turning to proactive marketing, distributors can gain more market opportunities, earn more trust and loyalty from downstream customers, establish deeper cooperative relationships, better respond to market competition, obtain greater support from manufacturers, and gain more market initiative and voice in competition, thus standing at the forefront and defeating competitors.

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