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The distributor management problems summarized here are from the perspective of the manufacturer's headquarters, not the manufacturer's sales staff. In other words, these are issues that the manufacturer's boss needs to think about and address, not simply delegate to salespeople.

Although there are industry differences and many variations among manufacturers, there are still many common problems when it comes to distributor management. For example:

1. Insisting on Not Looking for Causes Within Themselves This commonality rate is almost 100%. When distributors are difficult to manage, manufacturers almost unanimously blame the distributors, complain about the market environment, or blame competitors. They rarely look for causes within themselves. Sometimes, it's even the manufacturer's sales leader or the boss who leads the charge in emphasizing external and other people's faults, insisting on their own infallibility. Since senior management sets this tone, the sales staff below follow suit.

2. Insufficient Understanding of Distributors To gauge how well a manufacturer understands its distributors, just look at the distributor files. If the number of file categories is less than thirty, it's basically safe to say the understanding is too shallow. Without deep understanding, it's impossible to grasp the real situation and characteristics of distributors, and thus impossible to ensure that distributor policies are targeted. If targeting can't be guaranteed, then the results can't be guaranteed either.

3. Insisting on Using the Manufacturer's Values and Thinking Patterns Manufacturers are enterprises that emphasize development and progress, focusing on strategic planning and the overall situation. Distributors, in essence, are individual businesses that prefer quick, short-term gains, with preserving current income as the top priority. There's no right or wrong here, just huge differences. If manufacturers ignore these differences and only consider their own unilateral perspective, without considering distributors' values and thinking patterns, disputes and conflicts will continue to arise.

4. Trying to Directly Reform Distributors Strictly speaking, the process of commercial activity is the process of reforming the other party. Consumers' shopping orientations are constantly being reformed by manufacturers. Naturally, manufacturers also want to reform distributors to achieve "manufacturer-distributor value integration" as soon as possible. Hence, various brainwashing courses, model promotions, personal testimonials, and even arranging for distributors to shout "Long live" in public appear frequently. If such efforts could reform people, then manufacturers could organize a million-strong army and go do something even bigger...

People can be reformed, but it's a slow process. Direct reform, or even trying to change them through a brainwashing-style training course, is almost impossible. Unless under extreme coercive conditions, such as locking distributors up and not giving them food for three days...

5. Ignoring the Real Executors Distributor bosses are the ones who buy goods, but it's the distributor's salespeople who sell them. Various management measures or business policies from manufacturers only act on the distributor boss, at most solving the problem of purchasing. But the goods still need to be sold after being bought, and selling is concentrated on the distributor's sales staff. So, do manufacturers have targeted measures for distributor salespeople? In the channel profit distribution mechanism, have they considered the distributor's salespeople?

6. Single Profit Source Even now, many manufacturers still think that they bring products to distributors, and distributors can make money by selling them. The more they sell, the more they earn. Some even position their products as money-making machines, so as long as distributors get the distribution rights, they get a money-making machine. Therefore, distributors just need to listen to the manufacturer and sell their products well. But besides products, can manufacturers bring other forms of profit to distributors?

7. Homogenized Management Methods with Other Manufacturers Perhaps the manufacturer's distributor management system itself isn't obviously wrong, but many manufacturers' distributor management systems are generally similar, basically changing the form but not the content. This homogenization of management systems inevitably leads to homogenized management results, and it's easily countered and exploited by distributors.

8. Not Paying Attention to Changes in Distributors' Own Needs Needs determine value. Only by grasping distributors' needs can manufacturers design targeted cooperation systems. But the problem is that distributors' needs themselves change. Early on, distributors only needed products; later, they needed brand influence and manufacturer investment and support; now, there's a growing need for operational and management technology introduction. So, as a manufacturer, have you paid attention to the diversification and new changes in distributors' needs? Including how to connect with these needs?

9. Relying Solely on Individual Salespeople's Energy and Professional Ability Specific distributor management work is naturally handled and executed by the manufacturer's sales staff in each market. Some senior managers think that since salespeople are responsible for distributor management, any problems should be solved by the salespeople themselves. However, the professional ability, energy, and time of salespeople are limited. From a personal capability perspective, very few salespeople can handle distributors on their own without headquarters support. Or, if they had such skills, they'd probably be their own boss.

Strictly speaking, the various distributor management problems commonly mentioned today are no longer problems but results! They've already been turned into this state. Moreover, these situations probably appeared three to five years ago and have been dragged on until now. The root causes haven't been deeply studied, and systematic solutions haven't been designed. Most are just treating the symptoms, patching things up, delaying, and covering up. Are you still going to wait? If it's just the sales staff or sales department heads delaying, that's one thing, but as the manufacturer's boss, do you also want to delay?

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