“Ruining” a Person? Just Make Him an FMCG Salesman!

Click to read the original article for details “Once you enter FMCG, it's as deep as the sea; toiling and bustling, turning back is hard. Retail upgrades show no mercy—where is the path for FMCG people?” Seven years ago, I joined my first FMCG company. Nearly 200 people interviewed for the same batch, and I was fortunate to be selected, starting my career as an FMCG management trainee. As business deepened, my peers gradually left. After one year, only I remained, and I also chose to switch roles—almost all of the dozen or so FMCG management trainees had fallen by the wayside. Seven years have passed, and I'm still in the retail industry, but long since left the original FMCG sector, entering my dream company and holding a position I love. This National Day, I also bought a house in Beijing through hard work. Before I knew it, I'm approaching thirty, and the FMCG mentors who once guided me have changed their former joking and scolding ways; many are also nearing forty. Looking back on those days, more often than not, my old buddies are stuck in place. The FMCG comfort zone, to some extent, makes people feel decadent.

-01- Ruined by Stable Compensation and Benefits I still remember the first month's salary at my first company. After working over 20 days, I paid over 100 yuan in personal income tax—a huge amount for a fresh graduate. That month, my performance wasn't outstanding. But once you understand my salary structure, you'll know why I could earn so much. Basic salary (base) + performance + housing allowance + high-temperature allowance + phone allowance + seniority bonus + transportation allowance; all together it added up to 5,000–7,000 yuan. Even without much effort, you could earn this much; the performance portion was relatively low. For many frontline brothers, this salary structure basically ensures a steady income regardless of conditions. The monthly salary in FMCG has pros and cons: the advantage is stability, but the disadvantage is that it's too "stable." When setting assessments, income gaps among people aren't large—maybe the difference between working hard and working very hard is only 500–1,000 yuan a month. Many FMCG veterans might, for the sake of ease, default to not striving for that extra 500–1,000 yuan, letting performance scores be high or low as fate dictates. Another huge temptation of FMCG compensation is the generous year-end bonus. When you have thoughts of leaving, another voice reminds you: wait a bit longer, the year-end bonus is not far off. Who can argue with several months' salary? This cycle repeats, and in such stable compensation and benefits, people become less willing to strive and reluctant to lose that sense of security. After all, this salary is not as good as some, but at least better than many.

-02- Ruined by Basic, Repetitive Busywork The basic work in FMCG isn't difficult. My former sales manager summarized it as "three diligences": "diligent legs, diligent mouth, diligent brain." Diligent legs mean visiting more stores; diligent mouth means communicating more with customers; diligent brain means having business awareness and learning to calculate business accounts. Externally, it's about selling products; internally, it's about selling customer relationships. Long-term interest binding and customer service establish a relationship. After a certain stable period, it becomes more about service, and often work falls into a busy cycle. Repetition leads people to take shortcuts. A mature FMCG mentor might not need to visit many customers in a month; a few phone calls can close deals, and they're too lazy to develop new clients. Repetition traps people in fixed thinking: do it this year, and next year follow the same old path and tactics. Busyness, on the other hand, robs people of thinking time: pushing inventory, collecting payments, distributing, Spring Festival battles, water season battles, Mid-Autumn and National Day double festival battles... Life's invisible forces push people forward. It seems we're not too invested in work, but we also seem to pour all our energy into it, wasting away in basic busyness.

-03- Ruined by Lack of Promotion and Development "Work is discharging, learning is charging." In an era where you either advance or fall behind, lacking promotion and development is another way to "ruin" a person. I once heard a saying: "A good company is one that can cultivate employees' ability to leave at any time." For frontline salespeople who lack both promotion and development attention, switching career tracks at a certain age becomes especially difficult. Promotion and development should be discussed separately. First, the lack of promotion for frontline FMCG staff. Frontline FMCG levels are relatively low: sales representative or senior sales representative. Many frontline brothers have been in the same position for 5–10 years. Even when changing jobs, they move from one FMCG brand to another, essentially repeating the same basic work without improvement in content or vision. When HR sees such a resume, there's not much freshness. If a resume shows promotions every 1–2 years, that indicates potential and is a strong plus. Second is development, specifically referring to empowerment in the position and on-the-job learning. Frontline staff have no rotation opportunities in their career path, and training empowerment opportunities are especially scarce. Maybe after five years on the job, you've had no more than five learning or certification opportunities. You're unaware of new industry trends, haven't mastered new systems and tools, and gradually you only know your small FMCG circle: a group of distributors, a territory, a few FMCG buddies... When you want to change, you find you're out of touch with many new models in society, unknowingly trapped in the comfort zone you once excelled in. "Finding problems is good, but solving them is the big deal." Next, let's talk about how to break the deadlock, and also discuss some of my "naive" thoughts from back then. What did I think when I discovered these problems? First, I assessed my two-year development: with great effort, I might be promoted from sales representative to senior sales representative, with a base salary increase of maybe 1,000 yuan, but the job content would still be basic repetition. I thought I couldn't stay complacent. As the song "Perseverance" goes, "I want to surpass this ordinary life, destined to drift temporarily." After a year at work, I hoped for some change, considering both internal and external dimensions. Looking at external opportunities, I thought about what I could do with existing resources. The first idea was to sell credit cards as a bank employee, since my clients had payment cycles and personal consumption needs. But after developing existing customers, expanding the market would be difficult. I was also in the FMCG foodservice channel, so I thought about doing Dianping business, getting stores to join group buying. At the same time, I looked at internal opportunities. I happened to see an internal recruitment for a training assistant position at the group headquarters. Considering my interests and hobbies, I ultimately chose the training assistant role and have since been cultivating my career in training. When we transition, we should have two insights: What do I want to do? What can I do? Find a balance between the two. What you want to do is your long-term goal. Even if the starting point is low, as long as the foundation is solid, every step won't be wasted. Second, what can I do? What resources do I have that can be monetized? What abilities can be replicated and transferred? Everyone's experiences and abilities have their own shining points when placed in the right position. With the advent of "Internet+" and new retail, many opportunities suitable for FMCG personnel have emerged. If you have offline experience and some online operations knowledge, you'll be a sought-after talent, with great opportunities for career transformation. Currently, top internet companies are heavily deploying in the retail sector. There are many companies focused on channel sinking and quality retail, all with strong backgrounds. How can you enter these companies? The simplest way is to get referrals from acquaintances—find friends already at your target company to recommend you. This has a high success rate and lets you learn about the company culture and work pace in advance. The second way is to submit your resume directly. Currently, for urgent positions, I've seen a lot of use of "BOSS Zhipin" (not an ad). You might consider it. After understanding the job requirements, customize your resume and submit it. Maybe an opportunity suited to you is waving at you. The pace of the internet is fast, but growth is also multiplied. It forces you to learn and improve. To avoid falling behind, you'll keep moving forward. Also, although the business is tough, there are many big-platform resources you can leverage, which you might not have experienced before. The internet is like a lever, giving you a qualitative leap in both contribution and growth. In a traditional company, you might sell 100,000 yuan worth of beverages a month. With platform traffic conversion, you might sell 1 million or 10 million. One year of experience in a traditional company might give you three years of growth in a fast-paced environment. Investment guru Zhang Lei, in his book "Value," advocates "long-termism" and "being friends with time." Aren't we all investing in ourselves? Every day we make choices; different choices are also investments. Today's results stem from yesterday's choices, and tomorrow's results stem from today's choices. Invest in yourself with a long-term perspective, refine yourself, and you can stay on track with the times amid the waves. Hedgehog Band has a lyric: "A generation will eventually grow old, but there are always young people!" A generation of FMCG people goes from youth to middle age, and a new generation of young FMCG partners floods in. May you not forget self-improvement even in basic positions, not sink into decadence in busy days, and find a direction you both want and can do. May we all have a bright and colorful future~ Although basic positions are tough, there are many beautiful memories. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the FMCG brothers who once took care of me! Recognize tomorrow's destination, but never forget yesterday's path.