Click to read the original article for details A few days ago, a dealer friend lamented in a group: "At this stage, is the dealer's voice a false proposition? Moreover, dealers are functionalized, with capital advances and employment risks, and not much else of value." My answer was: "The future of dealers must be in their own hands. Many dealers have grown into large trading companies fully capable of engaging in equal dialogue with brand owners. At that point, the communication style of the manufacturer's sales team also changes noticeably. The big store bullies the customer, and the big customer bullies the store. This happens every day in the FMCG circle and will continue. For dealers, if their revenue is highly concentrated with a single brand owner at over 80%, and their marketing capabilities are highly dependent on the brand owner's team, then the trading company has almost no independent personality. Strong dependence inevitably leads to the brand owner becoming more assertive, and the brand owner's marketing team will speak to you with arrogance. This is human nature, and human nature cannot be defied. Today, let's talk about where the dealer's voice lies. What is the voice? How should dealers understand the voice? First, let me answer the dealer's question at the beginning: Dealers will always exist, there is no doubt about that. This is determined by China's unique business characteristics. Of course, the professional development of dealers is also advancing, and fewer dealers are making money by luck. Capital advances and employment risks are essentially about capital efficiency. The pressure of capital advances comes from the fact that money is not free; it requires high-margin product operations. Employment risks also erode profits. When operating products, dealers should pay attention to adjusting the product mix, for example: first-tier products that open up the channel network, third-tier products with high margins, and second-tier products that stabilize business scale and profit guarantees. Each brand has different value for dealers. You can't have it both ways. Dealers should pursue one end and give up the other. Brand owners choose dealers in the vast market, and dealers also choose brand owners. But many dealers hold onto brands they don't want to let go, turning them into chicken ribs, and their pain doubles. Now, let's talk about the voice. The essence of the voice is not who has the final say, but achieving mutual benefit. The best game between manufacturers and dealers is essentially equal dialogue, achieving a balance of interests. Brand owners exercise their voice through professional manager teams. Different professional managers have different market operation methods, which means the strength of the dealer's voice varies. Of course, this game process is also linked to the dealer's own operational capabilities and vision. I once used an analogy: the brand owner is a well, and the dealer is a bucket. If the bucket is too big, it can't draw water; if too small, it can't draw enough. The match between well and bucket is most important. If a small dealer takes on a big brand agency, how can they talk about the voice? How can dealers gain the voice with brand owners? The core of long-term cooperation between manufacturers and dealers is win-win, and the premise of win-win is not mutual accommodation but mutual utilization. It may sound harsh, but that's the truth. Luo Yonghao once said something to the effect: "If you are kept, don't talk about independent personality, otherwise it feels awkward." In the FMCG industry, many dealers lack sales teams, channel networks, occasionally have capital issues, untimely distribution, and poor service. Then talking about the voice with brand owners is a joke in itself. To gain the voice, dealers must increase their utilization value in the eyes of brand owners. The scarcer this value, the stronger the voice. For example, a dealer I once served primarily operated Tsingtao Beer. Using the manufacturer's resources, he opened many restaurant-exclusive stores in his region, gaining strong control over the restaurant channel. Later, he operated a certain beverage. The beverage brand owner was eager to expand the restaurant channel, so they invested heavily in this dealer. As a result, the dealer made a lot of money, and the brand owner explored a new model for restaurant channel expansion in his region, which was promoted nationally, achieving a win-win situation. This is the dealer's voice. Without the core value of restaurant-exclusive stores, he would not have received attention from the brand owner's restaurant channel department, nor would he have had significant voice. How can dealers build their core utilization value? Here are a few suggestions. 01 Continuously develop to become a regional top-tier dealer This may seem like a cliché, but indeed, becoming a top-tier dealer in a local market gives you a protagonist halo with any brand owner. Strong brand owners' sales teams will visit you first, and they will fully consider the dealer's wishes and ideas during cooperation. So, developing towards the top is an effective way for dealers to gain the voice. 02 The stronger the channel capability, the stronger the voice Channel capability here is divided into three levels. First, full-channel coverage capability. Some dealers have very strong control over online or offline channels in their region, with a good reputation, and can meet the current and future channel needs of many brand owners. Such dealers are the partners brand owners urgently seek, and their voice is self-evident. Second, strong control over niche channels. Some dealers may not achieve full-channel control but can firmly grasp certain niche channels. For example, when I was expanding the campus channel in a prefecture-level city in Hubei, there were over a dozen colleges and universities, each with 1-3 convenience stores, with impressive sales, but all controlled by two or three trading companies. So I visited them immediately and only after multiple requests for special resources from my superiors did we reach a cooperation intention. Finally, control over scarce channels. Government and enterprise group purchases, union labor protection supplies procurement, etc., are scarce resources. Besides product sales, there is also brand display, making them dream partners for brand owners. Without channels, products cannot reach consumers. Choosing channel capability is the best way for dealers to gain the voice with brand owners. 03 The stronger the operational capability, the stronger the voice Every brand owner's sales team hopes their dealers have strong operational capabilities. Take my past experience as an example: of the dozens of dealers I served, more than half were of the "waiting to be fed" type, doing whatever the brand owner said, often with poor execution. My team and I, besides receiving instructions from the company, had to spend a lot of time helping dealers operate. I personally attended morning meetings of different dealers almost every day, guiding their team work, and at night I had to call to check on daily progress and improvement plans. Although I grew quickly personally, it was indeed physically and mentally exhausting. For those dealers with operational capabilities, I chose to fully delegate, with the dealer's operations as the core and my logistical support as a guarantee. Operational capability is one of the core capabilities of dealers. No brand owner personnel would go out of their way to manage a dealer with strong operational capabilities; instead, they would cooperate with the dealer's work. At this point, these dealers have a strong voice. 04 The stronger the digital capability, the stronger the voice Enterprise digital transformation is a major trend in the FMCG industry. If one day a brand owner manager visits a dealer and casually asks, "How many outlets do we have in the current market? What is the proportion of quality outlets?" and the dealer stammers and cannot answer, then the dealer's voice with the brand owner will be greatly diminished. The reason is simple: it makes people feel that your market operations depend on the brand owner or are run by luck. Digital capability is a big topic. Currently, no brand owner dares to claim their digital transformation is successful; everyone is on the path of transformation and exploration. For dealers, they should pay attention to these three basic digital capabilities. 1. Strong perception capability – monitoring changes in your market environment and competitive landscape: sudden market changes are inevitable. For example, if your product's primary competitor suddenly explodes in volume this year, this year's explosion is the "effect," and last year's market actions are the "cause." These actions can only be known after the fact by "feeling," but digitalization can predict them in advance, such as changes in the competitor's outlet count and quality, or the number and quality of consumer experience sessions. Dealers with this capability will naturally have a strong voice. 2. Wise decision-making capability – the ability to make the best decisions in specific situations: enhance human judgment through comprehensive data analysis. Predictive analytics can show future trends based on past events. For example, in the past two years, due to the pandemic, many regions have been locked down. Some dealers with digital capabilities can more accurately calculate demand and safety stock for outlets, making optimal decisions before each lockdown, maximizing loss avoidance. They become models for brand owners, and their voice is naturally strong. 3. Rapid execution capability – the ability to implement formulated plans quickly and efficiently: with data support, dealers can boldly try and respond quickly and efficiently to brand owners' calls. For example, when a brand owner wants to promote a new product, while most corporate personnel and dealer teams are hesitating, you have already used data to determine that this new product can be launched in certain channels and outlets through certain promotional measures. This undoubtedly teaches the brand owner a lesson, and teachers have absolute voice in front of students. Digital capability is one of the basic capabilities dealers must possess now. The stronger this capability, the deeper the binding with brand owners later, and in mutual exploration, they will inevitably become the brand owner's first hand, and their voice will grow. Final Thoughts With the continuous development of the FMCG industry and internet information, the transition from a "seller's market" to a "buyer's market" is underway. Whoever is closer to the consumer has more voice. This requires dealers to refresh their experience and capabilities. Dealers are at the hub of the entire market or business industry value chain, with manufacturers upstream and channel members downstream. For manufacturers, dealers are the outlet for their products to enter the market and a key link in most manufacturers' industry value chains. For downstream channel members, dealers are the core link connecting manufacturers and channel members. In a sense, to enhance the dealer's voice in the industry value chain, one must first clarify the dealer's position and value as a "link" in the chain. Combined with market and commercial circulation development trends, we can find the fulcrum to leverage the dealer's voice in the industry value chain. How to improve the dealer's voice? From July 12 to July 14, the (7th) China FMCG Channel Innovation Conference will be grandly held in Chengdu, with two dealer-themed forums, inviting excellent dealers to share their insights on site. Friends who are interested should not miss it! Good article! 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