一 Terminal is King, Terminal Wins Having worked in the FMCG marketing industry for nearly a decade, there's an old saying that I believe still holds true: "Terminal is king, terminal wins." But does having terminals mean everything is done? I don't think so. I believe "winning comes from terminals, but merely completing terminal distribution doesn't guarantee victory." Another key saying is: "Build the market in the off-season, boost sales in the peak season." How are market sales increased? It depends on the stockpiling activities at terminals during the peak season. Stockpiling not only achieves large sales volumes but also occupies terminal funds and warehouse space, squeezing out competitors. 二 Credit Sales Stockpiling vs. Cash Stockpiling (一) Credit Sales Stockpiling Credit sales stockpiling poses no risk to terminals, so there's little pressure or skill required for salespeople. Why does it exist then?

  1. Distributors know the creditworthiness of terminals well and dare to offer credit to those with good reputations.
  2. The product is mature with high consumer recognition, selling quickly.
  3. It effectively blocks competitors, forcing them to increase marketing investment, putting financial pressure on competitor distributors. If the terminal lacks push for credit sales, it's meaningless for the market and puts heavy financial strain on the distributor. (二) Cash Stockpiling During the introduction and growth stages of a product, cash stockpiling should be the primary method. Benefits include:
  4. Achieving large sales targets in the market.
  5. Occupying terminal funds and warehouse space.
  6. Squeezing out competitors.
  7. Enhancing organizational capability and confidence; stockpiling activities test the quality of a marketing team and serve as training.
  8. Protecting company and employee interests. Large sales volumes lead to big profits and high commissions. 三 Cash Stockpiling Techniques (一) Classify Terminals By Channel | Cooperation Status | Who Decides Purchases Catering Terminals | Circulation Terminals | Cooperated | Not Cooperated (To Develop) | Catering Terminals | Circulation Terminals | Boss | Key Person | Boss The purpose of classification is to know our attack direction. In a single terminal, these three states can coexist, so first classify according to conditions. After permutation and combination, there are six situations, but merging conditions yields three possibilities:
  9. Cooperated catering or circulation terminals where the boss decides purchases.
  10. Not cooperated (to develop) catering or circulation terminals where the boss decides purchases.
  11. Cooperated and not cooperated catering terminals where a key person decides purchases. (二) Stockpiling Techniques for Different Situations and Requirements for Salespeople ("742" Secret) Situation: Cooperated catering or circulation terminals where the boss decides purchases Solve with "7" techniques:
  12. Salespeople should work diligently at terminals, fully understand the store's conditions, and have strong control over the terminal. For example, total sales in recent months, monthly sales, sales of each product, which sells best, competitor's strength and profit margins, boss's preferences and needs, maximum purchasing power (typically about 3 times monthly sales for catering terminals).
  13. Fully understand the activity details, know the start and end times, and use time to batch stockpiling.
  14. Don't promote with a communication letter; tailor the introduction of activities to different terminal situations.
  15. Learn to calculate profits for the boss, i.e., the profit from the product's policy, and amplify the benefits of promotional items based on the boss's preferences or needs.
  16. For terminals with predictable sales, wait during the activity period; when the terminal proactively orders, it indicates demand. Use the activity to amplify demand, and create a state of scarcity to make the terminal grateful.
  17. Terminals have a herd mentality; start with easier ones, then use them as examples to encourage others to follow.
  18. Display promotional items as real objects to stimulate the boss's visual senses, which leads to higher conversion rates than photos or text. Situation: Not cooperated (to develop) catering or circulation terminals where the boss decides purchases Uncooperative terminal bosses typically have two concerns about new products: Will they sell well? What are the profit margins? Solve with "4" aspects:
  19. First, dispel their concerns with examples: mention how well products sell in other stores, total sales to date, and how much they ordered in this activity. In short, our products sell well.
  20. Learn to calculate profits for the boss, i.e., the profit from the product's policy, and amplify the benefits of promotional items based on preferences or needs. Use the activity's strong incentives to develop new terminals.
  21. Don't promote with a communication letter; judge purchasing power based on communication and competitor products in the store, and promote targeted activity content.
  22. Use real objects to attract; display promotional items as real objects. Situation: Not cooperated catering terminals where a key person decides purchases This type of catering terminal is usually B-class or above; C and D-class stores are too small, and the boss decides personally. Solve with "2" key points:
  23. Benefit the key person. Whether for entry or stockpiling, split the promotional strength into two parts: one for the key person, one for the store. The split depends on the key person's power; if more power, give more to the key person, otherwise more to the store.
  24. Keep transactions discreet. Don't use a communication letter; communicate only with the key person, and don't let others in the store know about the promotional activity to protect the key person. 四 Real Case Analysis Based on the above three situations, I'll share my personal experience from a brand I worked for, a terminal stockpiling activity case: (一) Activity Plan (二) Activity Execution Results and Analysis I'll list the results of representative terminal executions: Results from salespeople who fully understood the activity content and stockpiling techniques
  25. Know the terminal well, use time differences for batch stockpiling: One terminal had monthly sales of about 3,000 yuan for a certain brand. They ordered at the beginning of each month. The store's maximum purchasing power was about 3 times monthly sales, i.e., 10,000 yuan acceptable. I achieved a stockpiling result of 13,000 yuan during the activity. How? Many might ask: there's no 13,000 yuan activity policy? If you go with a promotional flyer, the store might choose any of the three levels, even the largest at 10,000 yuan, with probability less than 1/3. Because I knew the store's situation well, including inventory, I predicted they'd order at the beginning of the month. When they ordered, I only introduced the 3,000 yuan policy. The owner would definitely order and be grateful, as they sell 3,000 yuan monthly even without activities. Near the end of the activity, I promoted the 10,000 yuan policy. Since inventory was gone and sales were stable, purchasing power was assured, so the deal closed. Thus, two batches achieved 13,000 yuan in sales. If I had pushed 10,000 or 5,000 yuan first, they'd still have large inventory near the end and wouldn't order again.
  26. Work diligently at the terminal, optimize product mix to increase sales: One terminal had monthly sales of about 2,300 yuan for the brand series, ordering at the beginning of each month. Monthly sales of premium products were about 1,800 yuan. Normally, maximum purchasing power is about 3 times monthly sales. However, this store had recently opened, and the boss had debts, limiting purchasing power to about 3,000 yuan at a time. How to execute the activity? For this situation, only promote the 3,000 yuan policy when the terminal orders at the beginning of the month, and focus on product mix. Normally, the brand sells 1,800 yuan monthly. For the first batch of 3,000 yuan, allocate at most 1,500 yuan of the brand's products. Before the activity ends, the brand's products will sell out, and other products will have low inventory, prompting another order. Then promote the 3,000 yuan policy again, mainly for the brand's products, and it will succeed. The activity was executed twice, collecting 6,000 yuan.
  27. Use real promotional items to stimulate vision and close deals, and develop new terminals with promotional activities: In Tianjin's outer ring, there was a Hui-style restaurant called Wuwei Tuca. All products sold well, but they didn't carry our brand. I talked to the boss several times, but he was firm: no entry without an entry fee. I kept visiting but didn't agree to the fee. When the activity started, I promoted the 5,000 yuan policy, but the boss refused. A few days later, when delivering to another terminal, I brought the promotional phone (real item) to show the boss, saying it was already ordered and about to be delivered. The boss's wife loved the phone and couldn't put it down, so she finally chose the 5,000 yuan policy. We not only completed the sale but also developed a new terminal.
  28. Benefit the key person, keep transactions secret: Another terminal was a state-owned enterprise's tertiary industry, where a key person decided. Monthly sales of the brand were about 3,000 yuan. At the end of last month, they had just ordered over 1,000 yuan. The store's maximum purchasing power was about 3 times monthly sales, i.e., 10,000 yuan acceptable. How to communicate this activity? If you promote at the start, the store would demand to count the recent order into the activity sales. So wait until they need to order again, then approach the key person. Given their purchasing power, promoting the 10,000 yuan policy is fine. Leave the computer to the key person, give the products to the store for display, so the key person has something to show the store. In this activity, I was responsible for 22 terminals, 17 executed the activity, with 21 executions, and no changes to the promotional gifts. My collections accounted for nearly 40% of the company's total, with over 20 salespeople at the time. General results from salespeople who didn't fully understand the activity content or lacked techniques
  29. Promoted with a flyer.
  30. Begged like a beggar; businesspeople only care about profit, not pity.
  31. Low success rate; most terminals rejected the activity.
  32. Introduced activities without targeting, leading capable terminals to choose smaller activities.
  33. Didn't manage activity time; a terminal would only order once during the activity period.
  34. Changed promotional items, harming company interests. Some stores did accept the activity but, seeing Arowana (cooking oil) as a gift, refused phones and computers, converting them all to Arowana at 1,600 yuan for the phone and 3,800 yuan for the computer, with Arowana at 60 yuan per barrel. Some even discounted products to Arowana. Everyone knows Arowana is a daily necessity with government price controls; no matter how much you order, prices are inflexible. Phones and computers are different; same model with different configurations varies in price, and buying one vs. multiple changes the price, with differences of hundreds or even thousands of yuan. If salespeople promote with a flyer and compromise with terminals, and leaders under sales pressure also compromise, the activity is executed but the gifts are changed, ultimately harming the company's interests. Although the case is from the catering channel, the principles apply equally to circulation channels. Terminal stockpiling is like solving a math problem: if you consider all conditions and make reasonable predictions, the result is obvious. The above is my summary of terminal stockpiling techniques based on practical cases, hoping to help colleagues in the industry. Source: Yuanjing Consulting, Zhao Junde The 3rd (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in November 2017. The conference will focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology," inviting 1,000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment institutions to explore new chapters of cross-industry integration! Core topics of this conference:

  • How can the FMCG industry leverage B2B for new growth opportunities?

  • How should the new supply chain behind new retail be built?

  • How can intra-city logistics help B2B achieve leapfrog development?

Highlights of this conference:

  • The industry's first "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness White Paper"

  • Case sharing of excellent transforming distributors

  • Upgraded conference + exhibition, Hall 6 Internet Technology Exhibition strengthens networking

  • Leaders from Alibaba Retail Link, Puhua Finance, EAS Supply Chain, Best Store Plus, Yijiupi, and Hdware will deliver speeches with pioneering views.

Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. Add friend with note "Conference Registration" Click the links below to review the first and second FMCG + Internet conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum -END-