Optimize Visit Routes, Accelerate Terminal Stocking: 10 Tips to Reduce Inventory!

We often see this scenario: many companies mechanically imitate the terminal route visit model of well-known enterprises, compile customer data of terminal outlets, establish route manuals, and salespeople visit 30-40 terminal stores daily on fixed routes, repeating weekly. But after blindly copying, companies find this visit model yields few orders and little sales, wasting manpower and resources, ultimately leading to failure.

So how can you quickly cycle distribution? Here are 10 tips to accelerate terminal distribution!

1. Find Opportunity Stores New product launches are always like this: out of 100 stores, a few sell well even if most don't.

Sales supervisors should focus on these fast-moving outlets during the new product distribution phase. Walk through these stores, chat with the owners, and observe what characteristics these stores have, and what methods they use in terms of product, display, promotion, and pricing... As long as you look, ask, and feel with intention, you will find patterns.

Then it dawns on you: "Ah, I see! The stores that don't sell well are too low-end; we need to concentrate on attacking A and B class stores." "Ha, I found the trick! First, I'll have salespeople walk through all terminals, build customer profiles, and identify stores with unresolved issues, complaints, or customer service problems about competitors. These stores are easier to break into." "Ha, I understand now! My first step is to target surrounding township markets. The competitor is very strong in the city, but their distributors in these areas have poor delivery capability and bad service"...

2. Concentrated Visits to Opportunity Stores In areas where brand appeal is not strong enough, do not follow the traditional once-a-week route visits, because weak brands rarely get orders from broad visits.

First, screen your opportunity stores, arrange salespeople to visit them intensively, design promotional policies for these stores, win them over, and establish a "revolutionary base" for the new product. After the new product is distributed, moves, and "gains a foothold" in these outlets, expand the visit scope.

3. Free Hierarchical Visit Mode This is the most extensive mode: assign salespeople a visit area, establish basic customer profiles, then set order task volumes and let them decide which customers to visit daily. Salespeople know best which stores need more visits and which need fewer.

At the same time, set a minimum visit frequency for all terminals: let salespeople decide which large customers to visit more often and which small ones less, but all terminal customers must be visited at least once a month. Otherwise, it's considered a missed visit or absenteeism, and penalties apply. This method suits small and medium liquor companies and distributors with loose management.

Note that this mode gives employees high daily autonomy, meaning high variability. High variability makes employees prone to slacking off. Therefore, require employees to visit a fixed number of stores daily, e.g., choose 30 stores, and record details. Supervisors should spot-check workloads to see if they miss visits, skip work, or submit false reports.

4. 5+1 Hierarchical Visit Mode Six-day visit route per week: 5 days for normal visits, e.g., visit 30 customers in route order daily. On Saturday, conduct a second visit to opportunity outlets, large stores, or key stores.

For example:

Stores with new product distribution where competitors enter need high-frequency visits to squeeze display space, increase our terminal goodwill and sell-through opportunities.
Our new product distribution stores need high-frequency visits to increase display, execute promotions, and boost sell-through.
Stores with display agreements, exclusive agreements, or promotion agreements need high-frequency visits to maintain agreement compliance.

5. 20+10 Hierarchical Visit Mode Classify terminals into A, B, C grades based on area, sales volume, etc.

A-grade stores are large stores; it's best to separate them and create a dedicated visit route manual, with a dedicated person visiting every two days. The quality requirements for salespeople covering KA supermarkets and large restaurants differ from those covering small stores; it's best to separate them for individual visits.

For B and C stores, establish a hierarchical terminal visit route manual. For example, if a salesperson visits 30 stores daily, 20 C stores are visited once a week, and 10 B stores are visited twice a week. That means B store names may appear twice in the same route manual.

In fact, this method is similar to the 5+1 visit mode, except 5+1 concentrates repeat visits on one day, while 20+10 hierarchical visits first separate A stores for dedicated visits, then B stores are visited once normally, and then repeated once on another day of the week, while C stores are visited once weekly per route.

6. Terminal Visit Route Optimization Establishing basic terminal visit data is to enable salespeople to visit terminal customers systematically, continuously converting blank stores into stocked stores, single-product stores, multi-product stores, and model stores.

Supervisors can analyze terminal structure indicators like blank stores and single-product stores from basic data, assess market space, and set targeted sales and distribution goals for salespeople, thereby locking down target outlet lists. However, improper use of terminal route data can also affect distribution performance, so continuous optimization is needed.

Route Manual Updates Each year, 20%-30% of restaurants and small tobacco/alcohol stores close, and new ones open. Failing to update terminal customer data in time wastes terminal resources, leads to incomplete visits, and causes employee downtime. According to the route manual, you should visit 30 stores today, but due to demolition, 9 stores on that route may have closed. Therefore, salespeople should pay attention to new store additions and old store cancellations in their areas. Supervisors should reward salespeople for reporting new stores and penalize them for missing reports.

Temporarily Stop Normal Route Visits to Focus on Key Areas Weekly route visits are the conventional method. But what about unconventional situations? For example, when competitors aggressively distribute to attack our market, or before Spring Festival when we need to push inventory? Then you must temporarily stop route visits, concentrate on visiting competitor distribution outlets to counterattack, and focus on accompanying trucks to push inventory...

7. Exploit Visit Time Gaps Even tigers nap; during their nap, you can snatch food from their mouths.

During the New Year, most companies give 7 days off. What do they do on the 8th day? Many hold annual meetings, group greetings, training, and assign annual tasks, still immersed in festive atmosphere, and usually don't set out until after the Lantern Festival (15th day). Once on the market, they'll drink with distributors, and after a few more days, it's the 20th of the first month.

Think about it: In the north, there's a tradition of "opening business after the 5th." Many terminals open with firecrackers on the 5th. Do they have money? They hold large sums from selling New Year goods. Do they have stock? They sold out during the holiday. They have money but no goods, and competitors haven't returned to work. This is the hunger period for terminal stocking—a paradise for salespeople!

Once, a company started work on the 4th (and required distributor staff to open on the 5th). On the 5th, company leaders personally led teams to distribute. It was great! It wasn't selling; it was unloading! Customers who usually ordered 1-2 boxes now dared to order 10 boxes.

The first year, they felt a bit cruel to employees. But that month's performance nearly doubled year-on-year, without spending an extra cent on promotions. At month-end, they held a celebration, gave bonuses, paid triple overtime, selected performance champions, and arranged compensatory leave for employees months later. Morale was high, and there was no negative impact.

8. Improve Efficiency of Truck Distribution and Loading/Unloading This method suits truck distribution and can improve efficiency.

Save Idle Travel Time Before departure, call major customers, big bosses, and those often away, informing them of your distribution policy and approximate arrival time, asking them to wait at home and prepare payment to avoid wasted trips.

Save On-Site Picking Time At the distribution site, arrange goods in the truck by category neatly to reduce time spent searching for items.

Save Return Loading Time For long-distance truck sales, e.g., to townships, if a certain item runs short, it affects distribution. Returning to load wastes time. Use several small box trucks for front distribution, with a large truck following as a transfer warehouse to save return loading time.

9. Team Distribution A single salesperson may be rejected by terminals. For key routes and stores, switch to team distribution: 3-5 people on a truck. Upon arrival, one person shows samples, sells, delivers, collects money, and records; one helps the owner organize shelves and displays; one puts up posters and does visual merchandising; one shouts outside to deliver to other stores; one watches the truck and goods... With strength in numbers, distribution results are often better than solo efforts.

10. Improve Order Delivery Rate Standardize Orders Especially at the start of route visits, when the distributor's order delivery process isn't yet smooth, first clarify the standard for valid orders with the distributor, e.g., whether orders must exceed one case, and whether the distributor agrees to split cases for delivery.

Clear Addresses On the first day, salespeople must write customer addresses clearly, even with sketches, and submit to supervisors for approval before passing to the distributor for delivery.

Feedback on Abnormal Deliveries When distributor drivers encounter orders with unfindable addresses or refusals, they should report to supervisors. After verification, supervisors should inform the driver whether to cancel or redeliver.

Salespeople Track Order Delivery Rate During new product distribution, require salespeople to call on the third day after taking an order to check if it was delivered. If not, immediately report to the supervisor to track why the driver didn't deliver.

Weekly Meeting Review Supervisors meet weekly with the distributor and drivers to review orders not delivered on time. Both sides confront, explain reasons, decide whether to cancel or redeliver, and define responsibility. Penalize the distributor as agreed, deducting delivery subsidies or rebates.

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