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As promotions increasingly become a necessary tool in terminal sales battles, the demands on a company's terminal promotion team become more stringent: it must possess a professional promotion and marketing team.
Indeed, "sharp tools make good work." To achieve great success in terminal promotions, it is essential to establish and build a capable terminal promotion team. Many home appliance companies, to enhance market responsiveness, increase flexibility in terminal promotion work, and boost the effectiveness of terminal promotional activities, have gradually organized various terminal promotion teams, such as terminal squads, promotion squads, and promotional squads. For now, let's define these terminal promotion teams as "promotion squads" and discuss their work forms and their value and significance to the enterprise.
As the saying goes, a toothless tiger can only starve; an enterprise without terminal promotion capability can only wait to die! The value of the promotion squad in terminal sales is to add wings to the tiger, fuel terminal promotions, and create market miracles.
In practical business operations, the promotion squad is a mobile, cyclical, and practical terminal organization that conducts brand promotion, sales promotion, promotional attacks, and training enhancement. The terminal squad selects regional markets, terminal stores, promotional personnel, and store staff to comprehensively implement hard and soft packaging, organize promotions, and conduct promotional activities. Through hard terminal packaging, they fully create promotional publicity and sales atmosphere in terminal stores, conducting terminal interception; through soft packaging, they enable terminal sales guides to master product selling points and sales techniques, cultivating excellent terminal sales teams. Thus, in on-site terminal sales, they act as professional sales guides; in terminal sales training, they act as expert trainers; in terminal promotion planning, they act as seasoned commanders. In the eyes of the enterprise, they are a moving landscape of brand communication, enhancing customer confidence in distributing the brand and stimulating customer enthusiasm for selling the brand's products; in the eyes of customers, they see the professional and strong support from the cooperative manufacturer for their terminal promotion, as well as the enormous benefits brought by the activities, invisibly increasing loyalty and gratitude towards the enterprise.
Given the significant role and effect of the promotion squad in the market, what exactly is its organizational structure? How is it organized and how does it execute daily work? How does the enterprise manage and assess them?
I. Organizational Structure of the Promotion Squad:
- In provincial capital markets, the branch's sales guide supervisor typically serves as the terminal and squad leader, with sales guide assistants, training supervisors, and professional temporary promoters as members, totaling about 6 people.
- In key regional markets, the regional sales guide assistant usually serves as the squad leader, with professional temporary promoters as members, totaling about 4 people. Professional temporary promoters are often older former sales guides with professional sales skills, event organization abilities, and training capabilities, who have worked at the company for many years.
- For the entire branch, the promotion squad has about 20 members in total. They plan, organize, and implement terminal promotion activities flexibly according to the needs of various markets.
II. Responsibilities of the Promotion Squad:
- Based on the center's promotion activity plan for the regional market, coordinate with the local regional manager and cooperate with local customer requirements to plan, organize, arrange, and execute specific activities.
The main work content of the promotion squad in a certain promotion activity is shown in the table below:
| No. | Main Item | Main Responsible Person | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pre-activity communication and negotiation | Regional manager, squad leader | Mainly for communication and negotiation with customers |
| 2 | Planning of promotional activities | Customer, regional manager, squad leader | Mainly for planning and designing activity methods |
| 3 | Work arrangement for activity personnel | Regional manager, squad leader | Mainly to ensure squad members perform their duties, avoid unclear division of labor, and prevent chaos at the event |
| 4 | Activity process arrangement | Regional manager, customer, squad leader | Mainly for designing on-site programs or activity processes |
| 5 | Pre-activity store sales training | Squad members | Training for sales guides and temporary promoters on product knowledge, sales skills, and precautions to enhance sales information |
| 6 | On-site material arrangement | Squad members | POP, DM, gifts, product displays, etc. |
| 7 | On-site sales interception | Squad members | Assist terminal sales guides in on-site product sales |
| 8 | Post-promotion summary | Squad leader | Identify gaps, summarize reasons and experiences, and leverage strengths while avoiding weaknesses |
- Strong support during holidays and major company or store events.
During special holidays such as May Day, National Day, and Spring Festival, during large joint promotional activities organized by manufacturers in various stores, or when stores organize their own activities, the terminal promotion squad must provide strong support, conducting terminal sales encirclement, blocking, grabbing, intercepting, and cutting off to maximize the promotional atmosphere and achieve maximum terminal sales.
When there are no promotional activities or support, they stand at designated stores to sell and promote.
Training and guidance for promotional sales personnel to enhance their capabilities. Training is key to improving terminal sales force. Squad members, whether during promotional activities or when standing at designated stores, must use the "teach, instruct, help, and lead" training method for the brand's sales guides or temporary promoters in the store, enabling them to master more product knowledge and sales skills.
Inspection, assessment, and improvement of terminal stores in various locations. A unified, standardized, harmonious, and eye-catching terminal image is one of the main factors in attracting customers and creating a good sales environment. During promotional activities, the squad must inspect the terminal showroom or booth for 6S (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain, Safety) compliance, check whether it meets the terminal 6S management standards, provide on-site guidance for serious deviations, and include this in the sales guide's performance assessment.
Collection and organization of information and intelligence from terminal stores in various locations. In terminal sales competition, you must know yourself and your enemy to find the root causes of sales obstacles and achieve victory in every battle. The promotion squad is one of the main channels for headquarters to obtain market information from various regions. Many valuable first-hand materials about competing brands' product information, price information, activity information, and public relations information come from their diligent collection and organization.
III. Salary Requirements for the Promotion Squad:
Squad member salary = basic monthly salary + daily assessment salary for terminal promotion activities. Due to different responsibilities and work intensity, their incomes vary. For sales guide supervisors, training supervisors, and sales guide assistants, their income is quite considerable compared to the average income in each city.
Professional temporary promoter salary = basic daily wage + daily assessment wage for terminal activities. The salary for professional temporary promoters is set according to local temporary promoter market conditions; daily wages and terminal activity assessment wages vary by region. However, their income basically meets their requirements, achieving a win-win situation; otherwise, it is difficult to retain talent.
Rewards are given based on the effectiveness of inspection, assessment, and improvement of terminal stores, as well as the quality and timeliness of terminal information collection and organization.
IV. Performance Assessment of the Promotion Squad:
The branch is responsible for the performance assessment management of squad members. The specific assessment method is formulated based on store sales indicators and activity performance during promotional activities. Headquarters evaluates and tracks the work effectiveness of the squad, using the following three-level assessment methods from shallow to deep, to provide incentives or penalties.
Level 1 Assessment: Analyze and compare the squad's work performance and sales results based on the "Terminal Squad Sales Performance Table."
Level 2 Assessment: Analyze the rationality, seriousness, and effectiveness of the squad's work based on the "Squad Member Monthly Work Plan," "Squad Member Monthly Work Summary," "Store Terminal Inspection and Improvement Form," "Terminal Store Information Intelligence," and "Squad Activity Case Sharing."
Level 3 Assessment: Evaluate the satisfaction with the effectiveness of terminal store promotion activities and the influence formed in the market or store. Headquarters conducts assessments through phone calls to customers, store sales guides, or market spot checks.
In the smoke-filled terminal sales competition, the promotion squad is just one organization and form of terminal promotional activities. Its purpose is to change the previous drawbacks of promotional activities that were unorganized, unplanned, non-standard, "flexible," wasting manpower, materials, and money without sustained effects or sound assessment mechanisms. Now, the promotion squad has achieved a professional standard with unified image, unified culture, unified clothing, unified execution procedures, and unified quality, showcasing the grandeur and scientific approach of the enterprise's terminal promotion activities.
Source: Zhi Zhuo Ying Xiao Da Jiang Tang