I am a distributor in a prefecture-level market in Hunan, mainly representing first-tier brands such as Luzhou Laojiao and Great Wall Red Wine. The company has over 50 employees and is in a growth phase, with internal management being a major issue. In my understanding, management includes two aspects: on one hand, the boss must manage himself well; on the other hand, he must manage employees well. As a manager, the boss must first understand his role in the company's development process. Once this is clear, then we can talk about employee management. Below, I will discuss the boss's self-management and employee management based on my feelings during management, and explore these topics with peers.
The boss should be shrewd but not too clever. A boss who doesn't share profits with employees for fear they might get too much is neither shrewd nor clever. Bosses are essentially businessmen, and businessmen are shrewd; a boss's shrewdness is earned through lessons. In the early days of the company, I suffered many losses due to lack of shrewdness. Initially, I represented a small Sichuan distillery's liquor, paid a lot of fees, but the manufacturer reneged and didn't honor the agreement, causing a big loss. Later, a friend introduced a product, I paid for it, but the goods were never shipped. In short, I stumbled through these experiences and learned to be shrewd. But being shrewd is one thing; the boss cannot be too clever, especially with customers and employees. When cooperating with customers, if you only calculate your own accounts and not others', you will lose many cooperation opportunities. If you are too clever with employees and value money too much, you won't retain them. Previously, when I saw employees earning more, I was afraid, thinking about how much salary I'd have to pay! Now, when I see employees earning more, I'm happy, because when everyone earns more, I earn more easily. To ensure employees earn more, I set up a "chain award" in the assessment. I divide the monthly tasks among business managers, who then assign tasks to each salesperson. If a salesperson exceeds the target, there is a bonus commission for the excess. If a salesperson completes the annual tasks, there is an additional reward; if they rank first in sales, there is also an excellence award. As a boss, if you don't share profits with employees for fear they might get too much, you are neither shrewd nor clever.
Don't train all salespeople to be "Sun Wukong." Most salespeople need a "foolproof training manual" they can use directly; if training fails, the problem lies with the boss. To improve employees' business skills, we spend generously on training, but often the results are poor. We hire well-known marketing and training experts, but after training, only a small portion of salespeople benefit; the vast majority remain stagnant. Later, I analyzed this and found that my starting point was wrong. As a distributor, we all want employees to receive practical skills training, so that what experts teach can be used immediately. But the reality is that what experts teach surpasses the current level of salespeople. For the vast majority of salespeople, what they need is mastery of basic skills, that is, doing standard actions, visiting customers repeatedly. At this point, teaching them how to operate the market is clearly beyond their capabilities. This is like a photography expert teaching students who don't even know where the camera function buttons are, how to compose a shot or shoot against the light. In reality, students need to find the button, adjust it, and then use it like a "point-and-shoot camera." Similarly, for salespeople, telling them how to set up a supermarket display and what requirements to meet is far less effective than showing photos of good and bad displays side by side; they will remember the difference. The root of our training misconception is that we want to train all salespeople to be "Sun Wukong," hoping they can ride the clouds and have seventy-two transformations. In reality, most salespeople need a "foolproof training manual" they can use directly. Therefore, if training fails, the problem lies with the boss.
Motivation should be continuous. An important job for the boss is to find ways to make employees happy; when employees are happy, the boss's motivation is done well. I used to be a salesperson myself, so I know that every salesperson has a tough job; this line of work requires strong resilience and patience, and also a bit of "psychology." When they start, salespeople are highly motivated, but after a period, they enter a plateau. During this time, their income stabilizes, work becomes monotonous, and their drive and momentum decline. At this point, they need motivation. Our approach is to continuously motivate salespeople. For example, after an activity ends or during holidays, we all relax together, balancing work and rest; with energy, there is vitality. Additionally, the company has a canteen that prepares four dishes daily. No matter when salespeople return, the chef is there to serve them, making employees feel that every day is different. I believe an important job for the boss is to find ways to make employees happy; when employees are happy, the boss's motivation is done well.
"Master-apprentice" is not a good method. Without a training mechanism and system, the workshop-style "master-apprentice" approach is not a good method for an efficient trading company. The company recruited batch after batch of new employees but couldn't retain them; those who stayed grew slowly. To solve this, I came up with an idea: let experienced salespeople mentor new ones, i.e., master-apprentice. I thought that "masters" with rich experience and practical skills could directly teach "apprentices," making it easier for them to understand and get started. The idea was good, but within two months, all six newly recruited "apprentices" left, and the "masters" were full of complaints. Later, similar situations occurred twice. So I began to reflect on what went wrong. Through understanding, I found that I hadn't thought through several key issues before adopting this method. First, do experienced salespeople have the ability to mentor newcomers? Second, do they have the time? Third, will mentoring affect their income? In reality, due to the lack of corresponding assessment and incentive systems, most experienced salespeople viewed mentoring as extra work, and some even snatched customers developed by new salespeople to complete their tasks. Many "apprentices" couldn't bear the "exploitation" and chose to leave. After these new salespeople left, they had strong complaints about the company and spread negative word-of-mouth, causing significant harm. Unexpectedly, the "master-apprentice" method brought hidden dangers and increased costs. I think the root of this problem is that we didn't consider the perspective of experienced salespeople, and the company didn't form a mature training mechanism and system. The workshop-style "master-apprentice" approach is not a good method for an efficient trading company.
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