Click to read the original text for details For manufacturers, the core value of distributors is cost. This includes expense costs, personnel costs, time costs, risk costs, etc., especially personnel costs. Manufacturers can fully utilize the existing business teams of distributors to carry out a large amount of frontline sales work, such as market coverage, display, promotional material placement, customer management, activity execution, and so on. In the early manufacturer-distributor cooperation models, manufacturers had very few sales personnel; it was common to have only one salesperson per province or even per large region. Later, more and more manufacturers attempted to control the market, or planned to flatten channels, refine marketing, or believed their own personnel were more reliable in execution, so they began to increase sales staff. Some added resident salespeople for distributors, while others directly established offices or branch companies. Although increasing personnel leads to higher operating costs, most senior manufacturer executives believe that adding personnel can bring performance improvements or product structure adjustments, and the increased revenue can fully offset these personnel costs. Moreover, it can effectively control the market and better carry out market building and brand shaping. Adding people is not complicated; the complexity lies in the supporting management system, such as professional technical training for sales personnel, standardized operating procedures, work status monitoring, fraud prevention, communication and interaction between manufacturer salespeople and distributor owners and their subordinates, rotation mechanisms, etc. In short, although most manufacturers have added personnel, the corresponding management system has not kept up. As a result, the manufacturer's sales personnel have not played their due role, and the growth rate of comprehensive costs has exceeded the growth rate of profits. There are also cases of manufacturer salespeople committing corruption, giving arbitrary orders, making empty promises, overdrawing market resources, and worsening manufacturer-distributor relations. Capable manufacturer salespeople may even use manufacturer resources to expand social connections locally and start their own businesses. Some distributors even hope that manufacturers will withdraw their resident salespeople, which is more important than any investment. Because in the eyes of many distributors, these manufacturer salespeople are not very capable, but they are well-versed in taking bribes and making demands. They are rarely seen in a month, and every time they come, it's either to collect payments or make demands. They have little ability but big tempers. Their actual function for the manufacturer is just to supervise the distributor. Moreover, these manufacturer salespeople may have secret dealings with other similar distributors in the area, and at any time they might replace the distributor. In short, they have become an obstacle to cooperation with the manufacturer, so distributors naturally hope to get rid of them as soon as possible. Although manufacturers hope that their salespeople should become the bond in the manufacturer-distributor relationship, effectively follow up or manage distributors, lead the distributor's business team in execution, and effectively control and operate the local market, neither the salespeople's own abilities nor the manufacturer's supporting management system are up to par. Some manufacturer salespeople still cannot solve the problem of integration with the distributor's business team. The ideal is beautiful, the theory is valid, but the facts are clearly in front of the manufacturer. Some manufacturers are not giving up and are still trying to make this path work through measures such as increasing and rotating personnel, market rotation, market contracting, changing assessment models, and strengthening supervision. In essence, the manufacturer maintaining a large sales team has already deviated from the essence of manufacturer-distributor cooperation to a certain extent. So, should the current manufacturer sales team be retained or reduced? From the perspective of maximizing the benefits of manufacturer-distributor cooperation, manufacturers indeed do not need to maintain a large sales force; the related operational functions can be transferred to distributors. The manufacturer's focus should still be on products and brands. As for market operations, at the macro level, a structure and overall plan are sufficient (a distributor committee can be introduced for joint consultation and decision-making), and at the micro level of each market, more should be delegated to distributors. Perhaps some senior manufacturer executives think that the direction is correct, but is it too early to transfer now? In fact, the trend of professional division of labor is inevitable. Even if the transfer is not carried out now, early planning, initiation, and preparation are very necessary. After all, this transfer work cannot be accomplished overnight; a sufficiently long preparation period is needed in the early stage to achieve a safe soft transfer. The basic implementation sequence is as follows:

  1. Survey and evaluation of manufacturer salespeople So, should the current manufacturer sales team be maintained or reduced? It is best to first conduct an objective and rational overall evaluation, and then discuss based on the results. Of course, some senior executives may think that the current sales team is fine, with good performance in all aspects and good feedback from distributors. But don't forget that from the perspective of senior executives, what they see is often a rosy picture, especially for manufacturers with a certain industry position. The salespeople seen by the boss are all proactive, distributor bosses have no complaints, and the annual sales data seems good. But is the real situation consistent with appearances? What is the real situation of manufacturer salespeople in front of distributors? Perhaps, as the news says, most party members and cadres are "honest and dedicated"—. For the real situation of current salespeople, it is recommended to conduct an overall evaluation through an independent external third party, including the following content:

1. Basic vocational skill level of sales personnel;

2. Professional technical level of sales personnel;

3. Real work attitude in front of distributors;

4. Fraud cases;

5. In the distributor's operations, how much role do manufacturer salespeople actually play?

6. Are salespeople a bond between manufacturer and distributor or a negative source of internal friction?

7. Facing distributors and their business teams, do current manufacturer salespeople have the ability to guide and manage?

8. The actual recognition of manufacturer salespeople by distributor business teams and downstream customers;

9. In the current manufacturer-distributor cooperation system, how much is maintained by the personal factors of salespeople?

10. If salespeople are withdrawn or rotated, what is the real impact on distributors? Through the above survey and evaluation, first obtain a real and objective summary of the situation to see if there are differences from the previous personal views of senior executives. Of course, those with bad records and confirmed negative effects should be removed as early as possible to minimize losses for the manufacturer.

  1. Survey of distributors For manufacturers, there is a common problem with the distributor group: the imbalance of the entire distributor group. Hundreds of distributors vary in size, management and operation levels, development directions, and cooperation with the manufacturer. Their understanding, execution, and final results of manufacturer initiatives vary greatly. Therefore, distributors cannot be viewed as a standard individual, nor as subordinate units. Instead, a comprehensive survey should be conducted to understand the full situation and then classify them. The survey of distributors mainly includes:

1. Background of starting the business;

2. Current operation and management system status;

3. Current comprehensive strength and external resources;

4. Local industry position;

5. Status and management level of downstream customers;

6. Actual product structure;

7. Actual market operation capability;

8. Main existing problems and hidden dangers;

9. Basic orientation of the company's future development;

10. Current business team size, quality, stability, and supporting management system. Through this survey, achieve a comprehensive understanding of distributors, avoid traditional simple distributor files or one-sided statements from manufacturer salespeople, and set up several main category models to classify distributors.

  1. Formation of solutions Based on a true and comprehensive understanding of the current manufacturer sales team and distributors, design a transfer plan. The transfer direction is mainly divided into three advancement lines:

1. Upgrade plan for the manufacturer's sales team;

2. Technical assistance plan for distributors;

3. Transfer and advancement of related work.

  1. Upgrade of the manufacturer's sales team Except for those confirmed to have misconduct who should be dismissed immediately, assume that all other basically competent salespeople are retained, and then carry out overall technical upgrades, mainly including:

1. Strengthening and consolidating basic vocational skills;

2. Consolidating sales professional skills;

3. In-depth understanding of distributors;

4. Solutions to common distributor problems;

5. Advancement of technical guidance for distributors. During the training and learning process, those who cannot learn at all or cannot accept the transformation and upgrade can also be included in the dismissal category. Upgrade and eliminate simultaneously, that is, gradually reduce the manufacturer's sales team size, and finally retain a small but capable force that can undertake technical guidance and effective management of distributors.

  1. Matched upgrade and transfer for distributors Among the distributor group, some distributors originally planned to undergo comprehensive upgrades to achieve scientific operation and standardized management to take on more market operation functions, which can be directly linked to the manufacturer's transfer strategy. Other distributors need to be gradually guided to accept the manufacturer's transfer work through model guidance, technical assistance, etc., that is, distributors themselves take on more market sales work. Of course, the specific upgrade and sales function transfer work for distributors should be carried out by the upgraded manufacturer sales team. If necessary, manufacturer salespeople can also act as operators for distributors, directly managing the distributor's business team to maximize the utilization of distributor resources. For distributors, through the manufacturer's technical and managerial personnel, they can achieve overall upgrade of their own companies, thus forming a truly strategic cooperative relationship with the manufacturer. The author, a private business owner, has managed a family distributor company for many years, and during that time also served as a business manager and trainer in several production enterprises. His research focuses on the internal management of small and medium-sized private enterprises, with main topics including personnel management, cost control, management backend construction, and the integration of retired military personnel into private enterprises. He has continuously broken down over 400 topics related to private enterprise internal management and maintains the collection of materials and updates of solutions. -END-