Introduction:

Business executives often need to establish contact with key distributors and communicate with them at appropriate times. However, distributors are normally visited by sales representatives, so what should executives pay attention to when interacting with them? How can executives control most of the market by managing the 20% key distributors? Key distributors have a different mindset from ordinary ones, and executives may feel cautious when dealing with them. Therefore, thorough mental and material preparation is essential before such visits. These mental preparations include:

  1. The distributor sees that a "big shot" has come, which is a good opportunity to negotiate for better policies. They may have prepared a "Hongmen Banquet" for you. You should be mentally prepared that this meeting may not be a practical market communication session but could turn into a "talkfest" where the distributor vents grievances and you just respond. You must have countermeasures, such as listening more and speaking less, and preparing answers to potentially tricky questions. Undoubtedly, when a distributor sees an executive, they won't let you off easily!
  2. After figuring out how to deal with the distributor (of course, if the distributor is not as scary as described above, it's better to travel light), you should think about the purpose of your visit. Is it for the next year's plan before the year ends, or to check market and distributor reactions after a promotion, or to discuss a specific issue like cross-region selling, price undercutting, or product quality, or is it just a routine visit during the sales representative's execution? If an executive goes to a key distributor with nothing to do, the distributor may question the quality of your company's employees!
  3. Prepare in advance to discuss and communicate on at least one aspect of market issues with the distributor, reflecting the principle of mutual market planning between manufacturer and distributor. This should be somewhat forward-looking, as it will greatly help the executive provide reference for future sales decisions after returning to the office. For example, if the company is about to implement market reforms, you can discuss competitors' or other product categories' experiences in a way that the distributor may not notice, so as to use them for our benefit without leaking secrets prematurely.
  4. Consider the extent of policy approval authority within your own power, so that you can make reasonable and responsible commitments at the time.
  5. If the distributor is particularly large, requiring very cautious visits, you should communicate with your supervisor in advance to hear their views and opinions on that distributor. If possible, discuss a possible policy support limit with your supervisor beforehand, to prepare for a possible "tug-of-war" over policies with the distributor.
  6. Decide in advance whether to visit with the sales representative or go alone. Generally, it is best to have the sales representative accompany you, and try not to isolate the sales representative by communicating with the distributor alone. ...... After these mental preparations, you need to make material preparations, all of which are to provide more sufficient support for the visit. These material preparations mainly include:
  7. Extract key sales information from the company's sales information management system. Distributors may easily state things that are not the actual situation when communicating with executives, to extract more understanding and support. But if the facts are not as stated, the company will suffer losses. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to understand their region, product variety, prices, second-tier distributors and terminal conditions, and cross-region selling reports. Sometimes, it is also necessary to compare with the targets the company has set for them and with other distributors. If you can obtain sales information on other products they sell, even better, because this can reveal their investment intensity in your products and potential problems.
  8. Understand their personal and basic business situation, even their finance, warehousing, sales, and distribution, to the point of knowing them like the back of your hand. Of course, it is better to get a comprehensive understanding from complete customer profile cards and from the sales representative's mouth. If the distributor does not exclusively sell one company's products, when the executive visits and communicates, they will basically talk about other companies' investments and the difficulty of managing multiple products. So, at this time, the executive needs to understand more about the internal situation of these key distributors. If you don't understand enough, the distributor may use other companies' investment support or their own insufficient warehousing or distribution capabilities to pressure you, and you will be very passive.
  9. Understand the accounts receivable and special support from the company. This is a special issue. Many key distributors have received special support approved by company leaders, sometimes involving issues from previous leaders or executives. Therefore, when visiting a distributor, the executive must understand their special relationship with the company, special payment terms, and the extent and content of special support. Sometimes, it is necessary for the executive to collect all financial statements between the distributor and the company, understand their patterns, and be better able to pursue payment from such distributors. Sometimes, it is also necessary to study these special supports, and if you can find a better and more beneficial method for the company, even better. With the above material and mental preparations, the executive will have a better foundation and confidence to discuss difficult issues with the distributor. However, when visiting key distributors, there is always a preparation to meet the distributor's needs. Therefore, it is still necessary to fully understand and explore the distributor's needs. These needs include policy, market, payment, sales profit, and so on. Of course, if the executive is capable enough to know in advance that the distributor has some requirements and has prepared to meet them, it will undoubtedly smooth the communication. For example, if the distributor has financial difficulties and often needs credit, you can find out their capital operation patterns in advance and arrange purchases in a reasonable and orderly manner; if the distributor has no time to participate in the company's travel rewards, but the executive finds that the distributor lacks a delivery vehicle, you can negotiate with the leader to help fill this important resource with an equivalent amount, etc. The above is about things before visiting the distributor. Of course, with these careful preparations, communication with these key distributors should not have major problems. However, after arriving at the distributor's place, there are still some issues to pay attention to for smoother communication.
  10. Clearly state your views, whether it is yes or no. The distributor must clearly feel that your decision is not wavering and that you are not just muddling through. Many times, if the executive is vague and indecisive, it will give the key distributor an excuse to communicate with your superior, making future communication between you and the key distributor very difficult. Be careful not to block the path of seamless communication yourself. Because if you are clear in your views, even if the key distributor is dissatisfied and complains to your superior, at most they will find another solution. The boss won't think that your communication with the distributor is a big problem, and you may still keep your position.
  11. Learn some methods to handle objections and problems, such as using the excuse of going to the bathroom, brief silence, appropriately changing the topic, appropriate praise, finding their interests and letting them change the topic themselves, and many other methods. Of course, more often, we should use our own thoughts, concepts, and market operation level to inspire the distributor, thereby handling objections and problems well.
  12. Protect the sales representative At this time, if the key distributor leaves the sales representative aside, you should pay attention to protecting the sales representative; if you only focus on communicating with the distributor and neglect the sales representative, that is even worse. The sales representative is still the daily contact person for the distributor, and all communication with the distributor is still handled by the sales representative. If the executive, due to one visit, leaves the sales representative out of this communication, it will be an unforgivable mistake.
  13. After reaching an agreement, express appreciation and thanks to the distributor "Always have a grateful heart, always show sincerity to others." When reaching an agreement or a new intention of cooperation with the distributor, you should, together with the sales representative, thank the distributor for their support and understanding. Only in this way will the distributor welcome you more next time. At the same time, distributors are used to the bullying style of some large enterprises. If you behave like this, the distributor will definitely remember you and may even treat you as a friend!