---
title: "Practical Tips | Survival Rules for Nine Types of Struggling Distributors"
description: "With the rapid development of the internet, internet giants have entered the FMCG industry, either building terminal delivery platforms or opening their own retail stores, weakening the advantages of traditional distributors. This article identifies nine types of distributors who are at risk of being eliminated and provides survival advice for each, emphasizing the need to learn, reflect, and innovate to build core competitiveness."
author: "陈晓明"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-06-13"
language: "en"
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# Practical Tips | Survival Rules for Nine Types of Struggling Distributors

> With the rapid development of the internet, internet giants have entered the FMCG industry, either building terminal delivery platforms or opening their own retail stores, weakening the advantages of traditional distributors. This article identifies nine types of distributors who are at risk of being eliminated and provides survival advice for each, emphasizing the need to learn, reflect, and innovate to build core competitiveness.

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With the rapid development of the internet, internet giants have set their sights on the FMCG industry. Some have directly built terminal delivery platforms, while others have opened their own retail stores. This has weakened our advantages, leading to a situation where we have no stores to supply, no brands to take on, and our carefully cultivated businesses may become history.
Some distributors in large cities have realized this and have either begun a gradual transformation or have developed core advantages for survival. However, most distributors are still at a loss when facing this change, and some are even confused and complaining...
What should most of us distributors do? How can we find our own blue ocean?
In fact, the primary issue we face is survival. We must first ensure our survival, then, in the process, identify our strengths and deliberately build our core competitiveness. No matter how the future changes, there should be a place for us.
So how can we survive? Below are nine types of distributors who are about to be or have already been eliminated, along with survival suggestions, hoping they will be helpful to you.
**1. Those relying on old customers.** There are still many such distributors, but their days are tough now. The number of old customers is decreasing, or sales volumes are shrinking, leading to lower sales and profits.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Help your old customers improve their business situation (because your old customers also face many survival issues; if their pot has less, yours will inevitably have less).
2. Develop more new customers and cultivate them into old customers.
**2. Those waiting for business to come to them.** These are what we often call "sitting merchants." There are still many such distributors in second- and third-tier cities, most of whom started with a stall in a good location. But now business is declining day by day; all they do is wait and complain.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Compile the customer data from the last three months of transactions, visit these customers to chat (bring a small gift), and you will find the problems in your business and how to proceed.
2. Use spare time to have idle staff develop terminal stores and make deliveries (focus on suburban or township markets).
**3. Those working behind closed doors.** These distributors are often self-righteous, unwilling to listen to others' opinions, and reluctant to go to the front lines. They think everything is fine, but when data is analyzed, they are speechless, not knowing whether they are making a profit or a loss. Can such distributors make money?
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Go to the market front lines more often, talk with salespeople or terminal store owners.
2. Visit other markets to learn from peers in other places.
**4. Those relying on manufacturer support.** These distributors always try to manipulate the manufacturer's regional sales staff to extract expenses, but now it's increasingly difficult to get such expenses, so they resort to various tricks, only to end up losing more than they gain.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Spend the energy and time used to cozy up to manufacturers on terminals; you will truly benefit.
2. If you want to ask the manufacturer for expenses, first do something yourself.
**5. Those unwilling to learn.** There are few such distributors now; those who were like this before were forced to change careers or study hard.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Regularly reflect on your business and list your shortcomings.
2. Learn from industry leaders.
**6. Those unable to keep up with market changes.** Some distributors are always a step behind in judging future trends, causing their companies to miss strategic opportunities and lose many chances.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Pay more attention to international news and national policies.
2. Pay more attention to the young consumer groups around you and engage with them.
3. Once you identify your own problems, immediately start solving them.
**7. Those who always think their employees or customers are not good enough.** These distributors often complain that their employees are ineffective, lack ability, or are hard to retain, or that customers don't sell hard enough. It's certain that the problem lies with themselves or their management mechanisms.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Reflect on yourself or your company's management mechanisms.
2. Ask more "why," "what for," "what is," "what to do," and "how to do it."
**8. Those who want to reach the sky in one step.** There are quite a few such distributors. They think that by taking on a certain brand or hiring a certain number of people, they can achieve great things overnight. In the end, they lose both the bait and the fish.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. First set a big goal, along with the costs, time, and manpower needed to achieve it.
2. Break down the big goal into countless small goals, and specify which day they will be completed and who will do them. Remember, only by accumulating many small goals can you "reach the sky."
**9. Those content with the status quo.** These distributors lack motivation, have no goals, and no sense of crisis.
**Survival suggestions:**
1. Delegate authority and position to those who are energetic and driven.
2. Give up the business altogether and enjoy a peaceful retirement.
Of course, there are many other types of distributors. But no matter which category you belong to, to remain undefeated now or in the future, what you must do is learn, reflect, and innovate. Remember, in the future, it's not about conquering the world alone, but about building a platform with a team, integrating all resources on that platform. Only then can you have a chance to win!


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