By Ye Mingjun, Project Manager at Jian Ce Consulting

Terminal sales are the final link in the product sales chain, and the "ultimate leap" in the sales chain, full of risk and uncertainty. How to drive terminal sales is the lifeblood of baijiu enterprises. This article summarizes the terminal sales actions of baijiu enterprises and explains practical operational methods in the simplest and most direct way.

Distribution – Four Steps to Terminal Sales

  1. Create atmosphere to convey brand voice
  2. Build relationships, protect profits, and establish push
Principle Description
Quantity compliance Product display quantity fully meets standards
Best position Best position (front entrance, side, behind cash register) – choose to display next to famous brands or competitors based on product nature; do not place in corners, deepest or innermost positions; do not be blocked by other items; do not be interspersed with competitors
Neat and orderly Maintain consistent product arrangement order across terminals; leading products should be prominent in the product mix; products should be neatly arranged (with fronts facing outward); packaging should always be clean and shiny
Price tags Use company-uniform special price tags; marked price must be consistent with company regulations
  1. Drive sales: ground promotion + free wine + group sales meetings
  2. Engage: activities to build consumer loyalty

(1) Create Atmosphere to Convey Brand Voice

Atmosphere content mainly includes three items: display, ground elements, and storefront signs.

  1. Display is the basic way to start the market

    1. Conduct market research to identify the number of "effective outlets."
    2. Classify terminals and develop different display types for different terminals.
    3. Plan target quantities and promotion pace based on market development rhythm.

  2. Use ground elements to maximize atmosphere building: Match different elements according to terminal classification.

  3. Targeted storefront sign placement to strengthen promotional effects Storefront sign placement follows four basic principles:

    1. Location principle: Intersections are the first priority.
    2. Sales principle: Core terminals are the second priority.
    3. Business hotels: Near business hotels is the third priority.
    4. Competitor principle: Competitor core stores are the fourth priority.

(2) Build Relationships, Protect Profits, and Establish Push

Terminal push is primarily formed by "profit" and "relationships."

1. Types and operations of relationship building

  1. Targeting terminal owners themselves:

    • Daily visits: Visit core terminals at least three times a week; manager visits are more effective.
    • Holiday gifts: Send cakes and tasting wine for owners' and family members' birthdays; give wine on other holidays.
    • Travel activities: Organize two trips per year for core terminal owners, with high-end arrangements throughout.
    • Other services: Award alliance customer medals, provide health insurance for terminal owners, etc.

  2. Targeting customers behind the terminal:

    • Daily banquets: Discover terminal owners' corporate clients and host banquets together with the owner.
    • Visit gifts: Provide multiple rounds of wine gifts to several fixed corporate clients behind core terminals.
    • Factory visits: Invite core or potential clients to visit the factory to deepen their experience.
    • Activity participation: Invite clients to concerts, tasting events, community activities, etc.

2. Protect profits: Terminals can seek profits from the market and can seek investment from the manufacturer. In the early stage of product launch, differentiated investment can be made in some core stores. For long-term product development, terminals need to be encouraged to seek profits from the market. Managing prices well becomes the only way to ensure long-term terminal profits.

(3) Drive Sales: Ground Promotion + Free Wine + Group Sales Meetings

Ground promotion, free wine, and group sales meetings can each be independent sales methods, or they can form a continuous sales process.

1. Ground promotion for cigarette and liquor stores:

  1. Select terminals: Potential core stores or ordinary stores that can be upgraded.
  2. By conducting ground promotion for terminals, achieve:
    • Intercept consumers, leading to purchases after recommendations.
    • Understand the regular customer composition of the terminal for further development.
  3. On-site requirements for ground promotion:
    • Equip with promoters who strictly follow standard scripts for interception and recommendation.
    • Sufficient materials, including product displays, promotional items, tents, display racks, etc.

2. Customer wine gifts:

  1. Target 1: Corporate clients behind the terminal, loyal consumers of this product. Method: Periodic wine gifts to maintain loyalty; also helps terminals build relationships.

  2. Target 2: Corporate clients behind the terminal who consume less of this product or are core clients of competitors. Together with the terminal owner, with the terminal as the main body, give wine gifts to clients twice a month, 2 bottles or 1 case each time, for 2–3 months. During this period, factory visits, major event invitations, etc., can be interspersed.

  3. Conduct group sales meetings:

    1. Target 1: Core clients of this product.
    2. Target 2: Clients who have accepted wine gifts 3–4 times.
    3. Timing: Before Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
    4. Notes for operating group sales meetings:
      • Policy incentives: Small group purchase policies at the meeting.
      • Brand interaction: Salespeople (or a dedicated host) introduce the brand and products.
      • Other brand experience activities: Comparative tastings, on-site craft demonstrations, etc.
      • Atmosphere interaction: On-site lucky draws, smashing golden eggs with wine purchases.

(4) Engage: Activities to Build Consumer Loyalty

1. Brand activities:

  • Concerts
  • Blind tasting competitions
  • Tasting events
  • Community activities

Hotels – Four Steps to Terminal Sales

  1. Create atmosphere to show differentiation at the terminal
  2. Build relationships to activate key people's push
  3. Drive sales: group purchase mining and wedding banquets
  4. Engage: periodic consumer activities

(1) Create Atmosphere to Show Differentiation at the Terminal

1. High-end hotels for image display

  1. For A-class hotels (large government/business)
  2. The core method is to create "high-end liquor cabinets."

2. Dedicated wedding hotels for wedding atmosphere Elements include wall stickers, pillar wraps, etc.

  1. Ordinary hotels vary by product type:
    1. Mid-range products can be displayed at the bar counter.
    2. Mid-to-low-end products can create atmosphere model streets and model stores, including storefront signs, large-area displays, floor stacks, posters, activity promotion display racks, etc.

(2) Build Relationships to Activate Key People's Push

Target Type Common Relationship Methods
Hotel owner Personalized gifts, such as custom-made liquor or new electronic products.
Manager level Travel; banquets; small gifts.
Reservation staff Small gifts.

(3) Drive Sales: Group Purchase Mining and Wedding Banquets

  1. Group purchase mining

    1. Use hotel owners or manager-level staff as intermediaries to entertain their relationship clients and mine group purchases. Or directly develop them into group purchase distributors.
    2. Salespeople or promoters capture information about hotel regulars, identify competitor consumers for conversion, or seek group purchase distributor candidates, with manager assistance for further conversion.

  2. Wedding banquets

    1. Develop hotel reservation staff as private recommenders.
    2. Develop hotel manager-level staff (lobby managers, sales managers, etc.) as intermediaries; intermediary fees can be given to individuals or as rewards for hotel bar staff.
    3. Directly negotiate with hotel owners for guaranteed wedding banquet volume. On top of the regular referral fee, give terminals task completion rewards to further increase push.
      • After signing a volume guarantee agreement, further negotiations can be held: bundle wedding banquet products with menu packages to increase sales.
      • Call ordering customers in the hotel's name or have hotel staff call to confirm information, hint at wine purchase discounts, and invite them for tastings (trial dishes), conducting group sales meetings for the wedding party or related people (parents, managers).

(4) Engage: Periodic Consumer Activities

  1. Form 1: Free drinks The first N diners at the hotel enjoy free drinks.

  2. Form 2: Buy and give Buy wine and get wine, or buy wine and get other gifts. Can be combined with methods that enhance the atmosphere, such as smashing golden eggs, lucky draws, spinning wheels, etc.

  3. Form 3: Drink and give As long as customers come to the hotel and drink this product (whether purchased on-site or brought in), they receive gifts, interacting with the entire market.

Group Buying – Four Steps to Terminal Sales

  1. Do PR to form high-level consumption leadership
  2. Build outlets: group purchase distributors and direct-sales units
  3. Drive sales: three-level group sales meetings to achieve outbound delivery
  4. Engage: activities to maintain stickiness

(1) Step 1: Do PR to Form High-Level Consumption Leadership

1. Selection criteria:

  • Government leaders who can influence high-volume systems such as law enforcement, finance, real estate, construction, large and small enterprises, and chambers of commerce.
  • Existing resources can smoothly connect.

2. PR targets:

  • Urban markets: 4 municipal leaders + 10 district leaders.
  • County markets: County party secretary + county magistrate.

3. PR methods:

  • First, rank matching is essential; PR for municipal leaders requires headquarters coordination.
  • For municipal leaders, provide a one-time large quantity of wine gifts, using the highest-grade product.
  • For district leaders, approach gradually as appropriate, developing them into "tasting consultants."

(2) Step 2: Build Outlets: Group Purchase Distributors and Direct-Sales Units

  1. Ways to find group purchase distributors:

    • Introductions from leaders during PR.
    • Expansion through personal relationships of distributors and salespeople.
    • Organize factory visits and other activities to lock in development.

  2. Characteristics of potential group purchase distributors:

    • Type 1: Pure business owners with 4–5 closely connected enterprises.
    • Type 2: Government leaders. Subtype 1: Non-top leaders with real power who can connect with enterprises. Subtype 2: Village chiefs in urban villages.
    • Type 3: Businesspeople with government backgrounds, such as those who left government to do business, or leaders' drivers.

  3. Direct-sales unit development path:

    • Screen targets: Based on industry position and sales scale, screen out core enterprises.
    • Clarify quantity: Based on the existing number of enterprises, clarify the number of enterprises to be developed.

  4. Cold visits to small and medium enterprises.

    • By region: Divide the regional market into blocks, each with a dedicated person, generally according to administrative divisions.
    • By customer system: For example, tax and finance as one system with a dedicated person; other systems similarly. When dividing this way, try to group similar or highly related systems together, such as public security, procuratorate, court, fire protection, urban construction, tax and finance, press, publishing, culture, etc.

  5. Visit process:

    • Pre-visit preparation: Salespeople carry sales tools including product manuals, corporate promotional materials, business cards, calculators, notebooks, pens, price lists, promotional items, etc.
    • Visit opening: First, pay attention to etiquette; if a phone appointment is possible, make one first. Second, if a distributor relationship can be used, start with "Leader XX, XXX asked me to bring you two bottles of our wine to taste." If no such relationship is available, start with "Leader XX, our XX company is holding an XX tasting event; if you have time, we hope you can honor us with your presence."
    • Observe the target person's expressions and actions. The first visit should not be too long, controlled within 15 minutes.

  6. Vertical PR for large and medium enterprises.

    • First find the system, then find the corresponding upper-level leaders for targeted PR.
    • After initial contact, connect according to hierarchy.

(3) Drive Sales: Three-Level Group Sales Meetings to Achieve Outbound Delivery

  1. First-level group sales meeting: Tasting event

    • Salespeople invite direct-sales unit clients to tasting events.
    • Salespeople help group purchase distributors invite their clients to tasting events.
    • Notes for tasting events:
      • First, there must be brand interaction, such as brand introduction, rubbing wine to smell aroma, blind tasting, etc.
      • Second, the mix of participants should be artistic: either participants have mutual value, or there is a core intermediary, such as a leader's participation.
    • At the tasting event, the core is to convey the news of the large group sales meeting and indicate that promotional policies will be available. Clearly extend a personal invitation to each attendee.

  2. Second-level group sales meeting: Large group sales meeting

    1. Value of the large group sales meeting:
      • The large group sales meeting is not just a scaled-up small meeting; its core value lies first in deeper brand experience on-site, and second, the on-site atmosphere is more effective in stimulating consumption.
    2. Timing of the large group sales meeting:
      • Before Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
    3. Key points for operating the large group sales meeting:
      • Set a trigger point, whether it's a holiday, prizes, or promotional policies.
      • Each table must have a core intermediary to maintain relationships; the clients at that table are basically invited by this intermediary.
      • To ensure results, confirm 50% of ordering clients through intermediaries before the event.
      • During the event, interweave ordering, lucky draws, and performances in multiple rounds to adjust the atmosphere.

  3. Third-level group sales meeting: Follow-up small meetings

    • For clients who order on-site, deliver products and prizes to them the next day without delay to avoid order cancellations.
    • For clients who did not purchase on-site, use the list and database in hand to hold targeted small meetings to facilitate further transactions.

(4) Step 4: Engage: Activities to Maintain Stickiness

  1. Brand activities:
  • Concerts
  • Blind tasting competitions
  • Tasting events
  • Community activities

Supermarkets – Four Steps to Terminal Sales

  1. Set benchmarks to maintain price benchmarks
  2. Create atmosphere to maximize display effect
  3. Drive sales: gift market and group buying
  4. Engage: periodic promoters

(1) Set Benchmarks to Maintain Price Benchmarks

  • After product price adjustments, supermarkets should make price adjustments immediately, especially when prices increase.
  • During holiday promotions with price reductions, "discounted price" and "original price" should be clearly marked. After the promotion period, promptly replace price tags.

(2) Create Atmosphere to Maximize Display Effect

1. Regular atmosphere:

  • Floor stacks should try to occupy the best positions (see above).

2. Holiday atmosphere:

  • Create an overall supermarket atmosphere, including floor stickers, hanging tags, etc.

(3) Drive Sales: Gift Market and Group Buying

  • Gifts are the main sales driver in supermarkets.
  • Group buying is another major outlet for supermarkets.
    • However, for liquor companies (or distributors), caution is needed: when doing business group buying, be careful about giving supermarkets the same group buying policies as other channels. Because supermarkets already have high entry fees, if they have the same group buying strength and engage in malicious competition, the impact on the entire market will be very significant.

(4) Engage: Periodic Promoters

  • Holiday periods are the main sales time for supermarkets, so it is appropriate to have periodic promoters.
  • When conditions allow, other forms of promotion can also be carried out, such as Jin Liufu Happy Wine Shop.

The above is a summary of some conventional terminal sales operational practices. Marketing methods are constantly changing. Enterprises should choose different operational methods based on their actual business conditions to achieve the desired results in the sales link. In short, starting from facts, following basic rules, and using appropriate tools can make you invincible in terminal sales.

Source: Jiu Shi Hui (ID: jiushihui5959)

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