Today, let's talk about promoters. As market competition intensifies, national and regional hypermarkets have emerged in the terminal market, giving retail terminals more say in sales volume. To increase market share in these hypermarkets, brand owners have invented the concept of "sales assistance," which involves deploying a large number of full-time promoters to hypermarkets. As a result, many "marginal people" have appeared in stores—paid by manufacturers but with work schedules arranged by the store. These are broadly defined as promoters, and they play an increasingly important role in brand owners' personnel and business management. Previously, I visited a distributor of Mengniu in a prefecture-level city with 170 promoters; I also visited a distributor of Jinluo ham in a provincial capital with 300 promoters. The number of promoters is 5-10 times that of sales staff. With such a large team, if not managed properly, one hour wasted per person would result in a huge loss of human resources. Let's explore this.

-01- What is the value of promoters? Let me give an example: A brand distributor initially invested in 20 promoters in its service area, considering labor costs. Due to the short shelf life of the product, the return rate was generally above 10%. Later, they increased the number of promoters to 200, and the product return rate dropped to below 3%, potentially reaching 1.5%. The loss caused by the difference between a 10% and 1.5% return rate is much higher than the labor cost of 200 people. So how do we evaluate the value of promoters? Promoters, also known as sales assistants, play a very important role in the sales process. Promoters must fully understand the product's differentiation, usage, purpose, function, value, and benefits to customers, providing the best advice and help. They are the communicators of information between the enterprise/product and consumers, serving as a bridge. Their main roles can be summarized as:

  1. One-on-one influence on consumers, zero-distance communication of differentiated selling points, accelerating the process of product meeting consumer needs.
  2. Recommending new products, incentivizing first purchases through consumer promotions.
  3. Cultivating loyal consumers and encouraging repeat purchases.
  4. Significantly boosting sales performance within a certain period, playing an important role in countering and suppressing competitors.
  5. Reducing product return rates, maintaining fresh stock age and batch numbers, reducing profit loss while increasing product competitiveness.
  6. Enhancing corporate image and driving sales of other products in the company's portfolio.

-02- Forms of promoters: Full-time vs. Part-time Another case: In a first-tier modern metropolis, Shuanghui and Jinluo engaged in a promotion war in hypermarkets and chain convenience stores. Shuanghui deployed 120 full-time promoters, while Jinluo deployed 30 full-time and 170 part-time promoters, totaling 200. From the perspective of consumer communication effectiveness, Jinluo clearly had higher coverage. From a cost perspective, Shuanghui's promotional labor costs were higher. Excluding brand strength differences, Jinluo came out ahead in overall assessment. So the question arises: Are full-time or part-time promoters better? Many managers believe promoters must be full-time, with the simple reasoning: "I'm paying, so the promoter must listen to me and follow my assessment, making management easier and results more likely." But is that really the case? From the logic of employee hierarchy, managers are responsible for work goals, meaning they receive corresponding compensation and rewards after achieving goals; frontline employees are responsible for the work process, meaning they receive compensation and rewards after meeting process requirements. Clearly, promoters are frontline employees; their job is to do the process items well. As long as process assessments are met, it doesn't matter whether they are full-time or part-time. For example, when launching a new ham product, if the promoter is required to conduct tastings and product introductions for at least 200 people a day, a full-time promoter can spread this over the day, while a part-time promoter can complete it during peak traffic hours. A few more points:

  1. If the labor budget is sufficient, of course, hire all full-time promoters (though this is rare), but you must eliminate the mindset that since you're paying for a promoter to be in the store, they should do all store-related tasks, such as selling products, counter display, communicating with store managers, urging restocking, etc. Understand that the more process assessment items a promoter has, the worse the promotional results.
  2. If the labor budget is insufficient, hire more part-time promoters and schedule promotions during peak traffic hours. But note: be sure to set process assessments, and the more focused the assessments, the better.
  3. Generally, I recommend having both full-time and part-time promoters coexist. Key stores need full-time promoters for continuous consumer influence and to strengthen relationships with key accounts. Full-time promoters are more focused, while part-time promoters balance costs and store coverage.

-03- Work formats and assessment indicators for promoters 1. Standing-type promoters Many managers dislike this type, feeling that since they're paying, the promoter must work, and standing still has no value. But that's not necessarily true. I once saw a 170cm-tall female promoter promoting yogurt in a hypermarket. She just stood by the yogurt stack, and the product sold continuously, with higher sales than the older woman shouting nearby. Three reasons:

  1. She was dressed attractively; 2. She had product logos painted on her face, neck, and wrists; 3. She always wore a charming smile. This is what people call the "looks economy." Of course, I'm not saying standing-type promoters are great, but within specific times and spaces, fully leveraging each promoter's strengths is a key element every manager must consider. Assessment indicators: State is the first priority, time is the second, especially during peak traffic hours when they should not leave their post.

2. Consumer experience-type promoters I have always strongly opposed hiring a promoter and assigning them many miscellaneous tasks to justify the cost. The more focused the promoter's work, the better, like assembly line work—simple and repetitive. The job of a consumer experience-type promoter is simple: continuously let consumers try samples (taste, drink, use), participate in product-related experience games, and simultaneously explain the product's differentiated selling points. Assessment indicators: It's hard to control the number of consumer experiences alone, as the promoter is both player and referee, making it unconvincing. My suggestion is goal-oriented: the ultimate goal of consumer experience is product purchase, and sales volume is easy to track. So, reward the promoter with a% of the product's sales amount on the promotion day. On holidays, you can reward b% of the product's sales amount, where b > a. Also, pay attention to two data points: first, the number of samples consumed that day; second, study the change in single-store sales before and after sampling.

3. Sales-impact promoters The main job of this type is to effectively intercept consumers buying competitor products and win them back. Methods vary, but the core is effective promotional weapons, commonly including: special prices, shocking prices, bundle offers, promotional gifts (which should have high perceived value), etc. The sharper the promoter's weapons, the better the results. Assessment indicators: Can be combined with point 2, and it's recommended for this type (long-term promoters) to add a return reward: the lower the return rate, the higher the reward (e.g., if the normal return rate for a milk product is 8%, and through the promoter's efforts it drops to 5%, then the 3% difference should be heavily rewarded). I once saw a promoter promoting mineral water who, to earn more rewards, proactively displayed his older-stock products in multiple locations, such as the tea specialty area and milk powder area. As long as incentives are appropriate, promoters' wisdom is limitless.

4. Real-time display maintenance promoters This type of promoter is typically employed by leading companies in the industry, where products have natural sales momentum. Due to fast product turnover and many SKUs, the promoter's main job is to maintain displays and guide consumer needs (e.g., consumers don't know whether to buy product 1 or product 2), always protecting the brand image. Assessment indicators: Inspectors randomly check whether displays meet standards.

5. Door-to-door visiting promoters Here, I want to talk about Nongfu Spring's water testing. Nongfu Spring has made significant contributions to educating consumers about the acidity/alkalinity of drinking water. At that time, besides community water station activities, door-to-door water testing was a key tactic. In the closed environment of a home, isolated from external products, it's an ideal place to introduce your product's differentiation. Nongfu Spring's promoters did this, which requires extremely high comprehensive quality, but once successful, the effect of instilling product concepts in consumers is multiplied. Assessment indicators: Number of successful home visits, where success is defined as door-to-door visit + product introduction + sales conversion rate.

Final Thoughts: Regional managers can understand the current state of the promoter team by putting themselves in their shoes.

  1. Promoters have a weak sense of belonging to the company; most are paid by distributors, essentially working odd jobs.
  2. Income and benefits vary greatly, with almost no social insurance, leading to psychological imbalance and poor stability.
  3. Companies provide few training and learning opportunities, greatly limiting personal development.

Given this, it is imperative to treat promoters with a people-oriented approach, use positive incentives for assessment, actively explore management methods, improve their comprehensive quality, leverage their role, protect their rights, stabilize the team, and take various measures to manage promoters well—this is the unshirkable responsibility of regional managers.

Further Reading:

Defensive Battle of Strong Brands | Nongfu Spring's Distributor Reform

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