Click to read the original article for details. Although the straight line between two points is the shortest, it is not necessarily the fastest! In a broad sense, the terminal is the last link in the journey of a product from the manufacturer to the consumer; in a narrow sense, it refers to the various retail outlets where consumers purchase goods, the place where products meet consumers and where the exchange of goods and money occurs. There are many types of terminals. For distributors, the ones they frequently encounter include hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery stores, and retail stalls. Terminals hold significant commercial value, such as shortening distance, providing convenience, offering speed, and promoting purchases. As a result, food manufacturers place increasing importance on terminals, leading to phenomena like "grabbing territory," "grabbing terminals," and "grabbing displays." However, distributors face numerous problems in terminal operations: chaotic product displays, disordered pricing systems, weak channel management, inconsistent execution by sales staff, poor new product launches, salespeople covering large stores while neglecting small ones, exploiting system loopholes, and the boss doing the work while employees take it easy. Over time, these issues lead to poor terminal sell-through. Therefore, it is necessary for distributors to re-understand terminals. The specific forms of terminal marketing can be summarized in one sentence: one map, one route, three tables, and seven determinations. One map refers to the terminal network distribution map. Historically, every great battle ended with street fighting. As a commander, does your war room display the terminal network layout map of your area? Are you thoroughly familiar with every terminal, every store owner, and their shops? When you hire new employees, can they immediately locate your store positions? One route refers to the sales personnel's visit route. Do your sales personnel follow your planned routes for market visits? Every trading company divides business visit routes according to different market distributions. For example, some divide the entire area into several blocks by villages and towns, some divide by routes, and some divide by the order-taking ability of salespeople. The three tables are the salesperson's visit record table, competitor information statistics table, and terminal customer profile table. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. When salespeople visit customers, they need to update three information databases about customers in a timely manner. Effectively grasping customer information is the foundation for successful orders. When you know when a terminal owner's child is born, when they move, or when they lack care, you can act accordingly. People are emotional beings; when they need you, you can cater to their preferences and extend a warm hand to maintain good relations. Once the relationship is strong, how could they not help you sell your products? Seven determinations: fixed points, fixed periods, fixed times, fixed personnel, fixed routes, fixed sales targets, and fixed standards. This means creating a systematic, standardized management model for terminals and a strict execution system. Distributor bosses must first break down sales targets for salespeople. Sales representatives, armed with terminal information cards, follow the daily planned routes to track and visit stores. They should visit according to the set terminal visit frequency, with different service standards for different types of stores. Pre-set the time to spend at each terminal to ensure professional planning and expected order prompts. Most importantly, require sales reps to master the eight steps of terminal visits and the four key points of terminal maintenance. Without standards, you cannot grow; without standards, you cannot do well; without standards, you cannot be strong. Future market competition will ultimately be a battle for terminals. Whoever controls the terminals will control market initiative and voice. Reasonably arrange the terminal marketing process First, collect and organize basic data, determine development targets, and set routes and frequencies. Second, based on the summary of the first stage, data revision, and data analysis, classify customers by level and adjust visit frequencies accordingly. The core is data analysis based on sales volume. Finally, remember the three principles of terminal marketing: focus on large stores for sales, focus on image stores for publicity, and focus on specialty stores for loyalty. Distributors have five major misconceptions about terminals In the course of business, distributors often fall into the following five misconceptions: emphasizing sales over market; emphasizing large customers over small ones; emphasizing major products over minor ones; emphasizing incentives over management; and emphasizing the middle over both ends. These five misconceptions are also the main causes of various operational problems for distributors. Rome wasn't built in a day; distributors' operational issues accumulate over time, eventually leading them into the abyss of poor sales. In market operations, distributors must have a comprehensive and correct understanding of terminals to fight according to the enemy, the terrain, their own conditions, and the timing. Source: Entrepreneur -END-