---
title: "Sales Notes: My Terminal Sales Rep Was Counter-Marketed!"
description: "Sales reps should learn to assess whether a store's business has prospects before investing resources, especially for restaurants. Many restaurants close within two months of opening, and blindly investing for metrics like distribution rate will only hurt yourself."
author: "陈波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-02-19"
language: "en"
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# Sales Notes: My Terminal Sales Rep Was Counter-Marketed!

> Sales reps should learn to assess whether a store's business has prospects before investing resources, especially for restaurants. Many restaurants close within two months of opening, and blindly investing for metrics like distribution rate will only hurt yourself.

Introduction
When deciding whether to invest in a store, sales reps should learn to assess whether the store's business has prospects, especially for restaurants. Many restaurants close within two months of opening, and if you blindly invest resources just for metrics like distribution rate, you'll only end up hurting yourself.
**A Mistaken Small Terminal Decision**
Three months ago, I had a performance review with a sales rep. When we got to support, the rep said he had found a potential restaurant that needed a display cabinet and a store sign, and hoped for leadership support. I asked, what does this restaurant do, where is it located, and how's business? The rep said the restaurant currently does breakfast, plans to do lunch and dinner, and will also have a night market. The location is great, with high foot traffic. I thought it sounded good and that sales would be high. Plus, the rep was new and had been struggling with restaurant accounts, so I wanted to give him some confidence, so I agreed immediately.
A month after investing the resources, I asked the rep how sales were at that restaurant. He said they had stocked 20 cases of product, but it was a bit cold, and not a single case had sold. Isn't there a restaurant and night market? Why is sell-through so slow? He replied that those were still in preparation...
I felt something was off. After the morning meeting, I went to the restaurant the rep had mentioned. It turned out to be a beef rice noodle shop. As soon as I walked in, I saw the 20 cases of beer untouched next to the counter, and two freezers—one stuffed with beef, the other with vegetables. I immediately identified myself as being from the beer company. The owner immediately offered me a cigarette and poured me a glass of water. Before I even sat down, he started talking about his plans, a whole bunch of stuff about restaurant plans and night market preparations... just like the rep had said. I asked the owner when these plans would come to fruition. He said soon. What does soon mean? The owner replied, "We're still missing a few things. Yesterday, a certain beer company came by and offered to provide some tent umbrellas and light boxes. But since we've been working with you, I didn't agree. I was just about to talk to your rep. Since you're here today, how about your company supports a few more tent umbrellas and light boxes? Once those are in place, the night market and restaurant will open immediately, and then your beer will sell well..."
Walking out of that store, I clearly felt we had been counter-marketed. We were in a dilemma: continue investing resources, fearing the owner wouldn't keep his word, or stop investing, and the previous investment would be wasted. It's like being stuck with a stock—do you sell or hold? You need a bit of a gambler's mentality.
To be safe, I decided to use a "delay" strategy. Every time the customer made a request, we'd fend them off with "we're applying, waiting for higher-ups to approve." Sure enough, three months later, the customer's lunch/dinner and night market projects still haven't been implemented...
**Avoid Being "Counter-Sold" by Customers**
Where there's competition, there's resource investment. Every sales rep has some resources at their disposal. Whether to invest or not, and in whom, is mostly up to the rep. To some extent, reps are like investors, and achieving maximum return with minimum investment is the ideal state every company pursues. How can you avoid being counter-sold and achieve that ideal state of low input and high output? Reps must do the following:
1. **Fully grasp information about the store owner and the store.**
Typically, we need to know the owner's family background, reputation, financial strength, hobbies, etc. Also, is the store owned or rented? How long is the lease? And historical sales data—all should be known. Only by fully understanding the owner's personal info and the store's basic situation can you act with precision, ensuring at least a proportional return on investment.
2. **Learn to judge the quality of the store's location.**
Location is key to business success. On streets with high foot traffic and concentrated consumers, business can't be too bad. As a rep, only by correctly identifying the quality of a location can you have confidence and avoid blind investment when negotiating with customers. Foot traffic and consumer concentration are obvious issues; just observe and pay attention, and you'll naturally know.
3. **Forward-looking foresight.**
As an investor, when investing in a project, you first consider whether it has prospects. As a rep, when deciding to invest in a store, you should also learn to discern whether the store's business has prospects. Especially for restaurants, many close within two months of opening. If we lack discernment and blindly invest resources for metrics like distribution rate, we'll end up hurting ourselves.
4. **If uncertain, wait and see.**
For new stores or those you can't yet assess, the best approach is to wait and see. Once you've figured out the situation, invest immediately. Of course, you also need to learn to paint a picture for customers to prevent competitors from snatching the best customers with minimal investment.
5. **Learn to sign self-protection agreements.**
If competitors are aggressive and the customer's demands are strong, leaving no room for delay, and you feel you must secure the store, what do you do? It's best to sign a self-protection agreement with the customer when investing, to ensure you don't suffer losses or minimize them. For example, stipulate how much sales the customer must achieve within a certain time, and agree that if the store closes or transfers, they must return the resources we invested in full. If possible, ask for a small deposit.
Although this is a cliché topic, I still hope to remind everyone to avoid being "counter-sold" by customers.
**-END-**
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