---
title: "Marketing is a 'Pitfall' Profession | What Should Salespeople Do in the Face of Change?"
description: "This article discusses the transformation of salespeople into marketing personnel in the context of new marketing. It outlines the shift from traditional channel management to a dual role involving both sales and communication, emphasizing new functions such as regional communication ignition, local IP, B-chain and C-chain construction, and scenario building."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-03-15"
language: "en"
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# Marketing is a 'Pitfall' Profession | What Should Salespeople Do in the Face of Change?

> This article discusses the transformation of salespeople into marketing personnel in the context of new marketing. It outlines the shift from traditional channel management to a dual role involving both sales and communication, emphasizing new functions such as regional communication ignition, local IP, B-chain and C-chain construction, and scenario building.

Click to read the original article for details
| Source: Teacher Liu's New Marketing
Nowadays, enterprises generally have two marketing departments: one is the market department (brand department); the other is the sales department.
People in the sales department are engaged in channel management, and practitioners are usually called salespeople.
Before 1998, the term 'salesperson' did not exist; instead, they were called 'salesmen'. At that time, sales technique training was popular, such as gold medal salesman training.
With the market focus shifting downward starting in 1998 (distributors from 'provincial agents' down to 'county agents'), and the deep distribution starting in 2003, the term 'salesperson' was widely accepted as channel management personnel.
The market department is engaged in brand communication, acting as the air force; the sales department is engaged in channel management, acting as the army.
Unified has now renamed its original sales department to the marketing department, and salespeople have expanded from the past channel function (army) to dual functions of communication and channel (air force marines).
Facing new marketing, what should salespeople do? Transform from 'army' to 'air force marines'.
**01
From Salesperson to Marketer**
Every concept has specific connotations, and sometimes new concepts are introduced to forget the past. The term 'salesperson' may disappear in a few years.
**New marketing must connect three-dimensional space. It must be done in offline channels, communities, and cyberspace. It is impossible to have three teams, one for offline channels, another for communities, and a third for the internet.** Of course, exceptions are those purely doing e-commerce or micro-commerce.
After connecting the three-dimensional space, the 'army' function of salespeople transforms into 'air force marines', having both army functions (traditional channels) and air force functions (community, internet, etc. communication).
From a functional perspective, the market department (brand department) does cognition, i.e., Marketing; the sales department does transactions, i.e., Sales. These two functions are generally separated. Of course, Chinese channels themselves also have a cognitive function.
According to Teacher Shi Wei, internet commerce is a trinity of cognition, transaction, and relationship. Then, practitioners of new marketing must integrate all three functions. Each person is an independent marketing unit.
Because of this, Unified directly transformed its original sales department into a marketing department. Marketing, of course, includes both Marketing and Sales. The new function includes the functions that were previously undertaken by two departments in a company, so the appropriate name should be 'marketer'.
**03
New Name, New Functions**
For marketers engaged in new marketing, traditional deep distribution work such as distribution and promotion can only be called child's play. Of course, it must be done, but moving inventory cannot only rely on distribution and promotion.
New marketing operations expert Teacher Lu Anjun believes that new marketing moves inventory faster, repurchases faster, and ignites faster. Offline distribution and online communication accelerate inventory movement. Connecting C-end to establish relationships accelerates repurchase. High-density regional communication cross-coverage accelerates ignition. So, I call the characteristic of new marketing 'quick win'.
I believe that to do new marketing well, marketers should do four aspects of work.
**1. Regional communication ignition.** In the past, brand communication was the responsibility of the market department. Even when placing local advertisements, salespeople only played a communication and liaison role. In new marketing, although there is still departmental IP communication, using localized communication to form cross-coverage and reach ignition density is the work that marketers must undertake.
Communication ignition, originally a typical market department function, now must be undertaken by marketers.
**2. Local IP.** IP is the source of traffic. The future IP layout must be [headquarters IP + local IP]. Local IP is essentially channel IP-ization and terminal IP-ization.
Some excellent people among channel merchants and terminal stores will become KOLs. Enterprises should empower them to become local IPs, activating and harvesting local traffic.
**3. B-chain and C-chain construction.** B-chain is channel digitalization, and C-chain is connecting the C-end.
Whether it is the brand owner's channel digitalization or using B2B platforms, order digitalization will arrive rapidly in the next two years. Using B-chain, from inefficient distribution to precise distribution, is an inevitable trend.
C-chain is to establish connections with consumers and reach consumers directly. Reaching the C-end directly does not mean direct sales, but mainly content communication.
**4. Scenario construction.** Scenarios include consumption scenarios and sales scenarios. Consumption scenarios are determined at the product development stage (scenario is product logic), and sales scenarios are the function of marketers. The past display and terminal vividness should transform into scenario-based.
The above four tasks are all new functions that salespeople did not have before. As for customer development, channel maintenance, and distribution, those are just natural work.
**04
New Name, New Skills**
New marketing will definitely form a new tactical system. Starting in 2003, after deep distribution began, the 'eight-step method of deep distribution' quickly became popular. That was the tactical system at that time.
In 2017, new marketing was proposed; that was the year of logic verification. In 2018, a large number of new marketing models stood out; that was the year of new marketing models. 2019 will be the year of new marketing operations, the year of promotion and replication of new marketing models.
Process, methods, details, and skills. New marketing operations are becoming more refined. This is the characteristic of the operation year.
Communities, mini-programs, and the internet are already surrounding our daily lives and are also necessary for modern consumption. However, playing with them, using them, and using them professionally as a tool for making a living are completely different. For example, everyone can play with WeChat, but how to use WeChat to achieve 'communication cross-coverage' in the short term is a professional task.
From salesperson to marketer, the biggest challenge is communication. Traditional salespeople did not have a communication function.
Facing new marketing, marketers need new skills.
**05
Transformation or Replacement**
**Marketing is a 'pitfall' profession because it changes too fast. When you have rich experience, it is the time you may be eliminated. Some say marketing is also a youth profession. That's right!**
At every marketing transformation juncture, we mention enterprise transformation and employee transformation. In fact, not many succeed in transformation; rather, more are replaced by newcomers. I also published an article titled 'There Is No Transformation, Only Replacement or Elimination'.
Transformation is difficult, and replacement is cruel.
The world will not slow down because of difficulty and cruelty.
**-END-**


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