---
title: "Salespeople Are Degrading, 99 Out of 100 Distributors Feel the Same!"
description: "As a distributor, dealing with manufacturers' salespeople is inevitable. Since 1992, the author has encountered over a thousand such salespeople. Overall, the capability and quality of manufacturers' salespeople have been on a declining trend over the past two decades, a sentiment shared by many distributor peers. This article contrasts the characteristics of salespeople from ten years ago with those of today, analyzes the reasons for the decline, and suggests that the root cause lies with the manufacturers' bosses."
author: "潘文富"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-04-02"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-are-degrading-99-out-of-100-distributors-feel-the-same-a8bef796/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-are-degrading-99-out-of-100-distributors-feel-the-same-a8bef796.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/p3cwZenG_R065w2F1XwHpQ"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B8%9A%E5%8A%A1%E5%91%98%E5%9C%A8%E9%80%80%E5%8C%96-100%E4%B8%AA%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%8699%E4%B8%AA%E6%9C%89%E5%90%8C%E6%84%9F-a8bef796.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-are-degrading-99-out-of-100-distributors-feel-the-same-a8bef796/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Salespeople Are Degrading, 99 Out of 100 Distributors Feel the Same!

> As a distributor, dealing with manufacturers' salespeople is inevitable. Since 1992, the author has encountered over a thousand such salespeople. Overall, the capability and quality of manufacturers' salespeople have been on a declining trend over the past two decades, a sentiment shared by many distributor peers. This article contrasts the characteristics of salespeople from ten years ago with those of today, analyzes the reasons for the decline, and suggests that the root cause lies with the manufacturers' bosses.

As a distributor, dealing with manufacturers' salespeople is inevitable. Since 1992, I have encountered over a thousand salespeople from various manufacturers. Among them are those from large and small companies, state-owned enterprises, township enterprises, and foreign-invested companies—a diverse mix. Although industries and companies differ, overall, one can clearly sense the varying levels of capability and personal quality among manufacturers' salespeople. Over the past two decades, the overall capability of manufacturers' salespeople has been on a declining trend. This is not just my personal view; many fellow distributors share the same sentiment. Today's salespeople cannot compare with those from ten years ago.

So, what were manufacturers' salespeople like over a decade ago? What are they like now? What factors have led to the decline in their capability and quality?

**Previous manufacturers' salespeople, especially those from large companies, maintained a relatively good level of capability and quality. Overall, they had the following characteristics:**

**1. Older age**
They were older, with richer life experience. Salespeople in their 30s and 40s were common (many were former supply and marketing personnel). Many were of similar age to distributor owners, allowing for more common ground and smoother communication. At least on a personal level, they quickly found shared experiences.

**2. Solid product knowledge**
They had solid professional product knowledge. Many early salespeople were selected from production departments, having personally participated in product manufacturing. They possessed certain product expertise, such as knowledge of raw materials, processes, procedures, and warehousing. This professional knowledge provided practical guidance in later manufacturer-distributor cooperation.

**3. Adept at social graces**
They handled social situations well. Given their age, they were perceptive, quickly reading distributor owners' facial expressions and unspoken words. When visiting, if they encountered loading or unloading, they would proactively help. Moreover, many veteran salespeople remembered the owner's and family members' birthdays, even chronic illnesses, noting them for future use.

**4. Lacking theory but strong in practice**
Salespeople from over a decade ago did not have today's 4P/5P theories. Their methods were simpler and less clever, but they were hardworking and practical. In fact, sales work has no profound secrets; being steady and hardworking suffices.

**5. High stability**
It was common for salespeople to have over a decade of tenure at a manufacturer. Their stability meant they avoided short-sighted actions and considered long-term cooperation and market plans. Stability also enhanced their sense of responsibility, allowing them to consider issues from the distributor's perspective and understand their difficulties.

**The above describes manufacturers' salespeople from ten years ago. Now, what is the situation with current salespeople?**

**1. Young age.**
Some salespeople enter the manufacturer's sales department directly after graduation. They are greenhorns, unable to speak properly, always citing company requirements and regulations. They lack basic social skills, cannot read the boss's expressions or unspoken words, and even fail to recognize a dismissal hint. Communication is exhausting; in the eyes of distributor owners, some salespeople are simply children.

**2. Little ability but big airs.**
Some salespeople, despite their youth, learn to put on airs, treating themselves as leaders and distributors as subordinate customers. They often speak in a tone of reprimanding subordinates.

**3. Lack of patience.**
When a newly opened distributor's sales grow slowly initially, salespeople do not investigate the market, analyze problems, or find solutions. Instead, they cut off the current distributor and open a new one. If the new one also fails, they cut again. Often, in certain regional markets, salespeople have already developed all potential distributors for the product, leaving no clients to develop—effectively killing the market. In such cases, their solutions are either to request a market transfer or simply switch jobs.

**4. Using distributors to climb the ladder.**
To achieve personal promotion goals, they ignore market conditions and distributor situations, disregard the harm of overstocking on distributors' working capital, and overlook the dangers of bulk ordering new products untested by the market. For personal short-term gains, they devise ways to coax distributors into paying and stocking up excessively. It is common to see distributors' capital chains collapse due to excessive stocking.

**5. Widespread deception of distributors.**
In recent years, the popular term is "hustle." To facilitate their work, meet personal sales targets, or even gain improper benefits, salespeople use various means. For example, they impersonate the manufacturer's headquarters to deceive distributors, and there have been cases of forging headquarters documents. However, many salespeople believe that distributors must be deceived; otherwise, work cannot proceed.

**6. Not helping distributors solve problems.**
They only make simple demands of distributors, such as paying or stocking up. Beyond that, they rarely help solve any problems.

**7. Unclear about basic product knowledge.**
They are unfamiliar with product knowledge but memorize commission and bonus methods for each product.

**8. Believing distributors grow only because of the manufacturer.**
They think distributors should be grateful to the manufacturer and, by extension, to the salesperson personally.

**9. Lack of creative thinking in market work.**
They have only a few tricks. When they cannot devise new methods, they blame distributors for not working hard or claim the company provides insufficient resources, refusing to examine their own problems.

**10. Not caring about the distributor owner's personal and company background.**
After years of cooperation, they do not know the distributor owner's age or birthday, let alone the internal management and development issues of the distributor's company. In fact, this information is accessible, but salespeople are too lazy to inquire or research, believing it unnecessary.

The above lists the current state of some manufacturers' salespeople. Compared to those from ten years ago, their overall quality and capability have significantly declined. Yet, over the past decade, marketing theory and technology have advanced greatly, and salespeople's theoretical level has improved. Why is there such a gap in practical operation?

Everything has a reason. The decline in salespeople's capability is primarily the responsibility of the manufacturer's management and boss. As the saying goes, "Problems lie in the front rows, but the root is on the rostrum." The boss's concepts and practices are key factors. As companies grow, more flatterers surround the boss, and more bosses believe they built the market themselves. They think distributors are just following the manufacturer's lead to get rich, so they should obey. Moreover, many bosses look down on distributors, viewing them as uneducated nouveau riche who deserve to be deceived. Even when designing training programs for distributors, they openly say they need to "brainwash" them. "When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams are askew." The boss's attitude directly affects salespeople's attitude toward distributors. Additionally, as companies grow, bosses focus on government relations, new investments, and new fields—bigger things. They pay less attention to sales (often delegated to VPs or marketing directors), become distant from frontline employees and distributor clients, and thus are less aware of market changes. Fewer meetings between bosses and distributors also give unscrupulous salespeople more opportunities. Besides these reasons, there are also issues in the manufacturer's management philosophy and systems. Of course, salespeople themselves have problems. Here, I offer some analysis:

1. Companies grow too fast, employee recruitment is too rapid, but management systems lag behind, especially with a shortage of managers. Many managers only pressure subordinates without providing methods, leading salespeople to treat distributors simply or even crudely.

2. To gain government support or go public, bosses expand company scale and capacity abnormally, increasing market sales pressure. To achieve goals, sales management departments only value sales volume, implementing reward and promotion policies that drive salespeople to focus solely on short-term sales increases, while market-building work that yields no immediate sales returns is suppressed.

3. As companies grow, institutions and managers increase, leading to bureaucracy. Internal friction and infighting become common, especially in joint-stock companies. During the founding, shareholders worked together; now that the situation is stable, each believes their contribution is greatest, leading to power struggles and factionalism. Salespeople must consider which leader to follow; if they back the wrong one, even excellent performance is useless, leaving no time for market work or distributor management.

4. Veteran employees with seniority now have positions and power, some reaching mid-level management. They believe they deserve to enjoy life and show off their seniority to new employees. Market visits become pleasure trips, and promotions become opportunities for enrichment. Although bosses may organize internal competitions, these are often just for show to please the boss. Meanwhile, to secure their positions, veterans emphasize the value of their experience and ideas, suppressing newcomers and rejecting new ideas, which kills salespeople's enthusiasm for creative work.

5. Some salespeople are overly eager for quick success, believing hard work is less effective than building relationships, and that sales bonuses are slower than direct money-making. They switch jobs after a short time, having no interest in studying business. With such a mindset, they not only seek personal gain but also collude with superiors, subordinates, and distributors in corruption.

6. The boss's management ideas are exploited by unscrupulous employees. For example, the supervision system becomes a company's "Eastern Factory," making employees fearful. The corporate culture that bosses promote is used by middle management to exclude dissidents, suppress subordinates, and advance themselves.

7. Some manufacturers' salaries remain unchanged for years. I once worked for a famous grain and oil company that still implemented the 2000 salary standard. Some companies face cost pressures, but instead of optimizing systems, they cut employee salaries directly. Low income leads to the loss of excellent salespeople and, to some extent, forces salespeople to find ways to increase their own income.

8. Regarding stocking distributors, many bosses believe that by pressing goods onto distributors and draining their funds, they force distributors to find ways to digest inventory. This also prevents competitive brands from pressuring distributors to stock. This is another reason salespeople force distributors to stock up.

9. Although every boss talks about brand, innovation, and strategy, daily work focuses on promotions, sales volume, and costs. That is, they only consider hard indicators like sales, not soft indicators like distributor satisfaction. If the boss does not care, subordinates naturally do not either.

There are many other reasons for the decline in salespeople's quality and capability. I have only analyzed a few for reference. In summary, I believe the core cause lies with the manufacturer's boss. As the saying goes, "What is done above is followed below." The boss's thoughts, concepts, and practices directly affect subordinates. To change the current decline, the boss must lead by example, starting with self-change and adjustment, to gradually improve salespeople's capabilities and stop cultivating salespeople who rely on deception.

Pan Wenfu
Born into a private business family, operated a family distributor company for many years, during which he also served as business manager and trainer in several production enterprises. His research focuses on internal management of small and medium-sized private enterprises, with main topics including personnel management, cost control, management backend construction, and demobilized military personnel entering private enterprises. He has continuously broken down over 400 topics related to private enterprise internal management, maintaining material collection and solution updates.

********-END-********

China's best FMCG distributor learning platform
Dedicated to providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors
Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly
**The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry**
Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content
Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base
| **001** Excellent Article Selection | **002** Distributor Market Operation | **003** Terminal Visit Management | **004** Sales Supervisor Skills | **005** Sales Improvement Techniques | **006** Channel Expansion | **007** Managing Distributors | **008** Distributor Development | **009** Distributor Internal Operations Management | **010** Team Management | **011** Efficient Distribution Techniques | **012** Sales Manager's Eighteen Skills | **013** KA Operation Methods and Strategies | **014** First Lesson for New Salespeople | **015** Internet, Brand |
[Long press QR code to follow]
**Join QQ/WeChat group, please click: Read Original**


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671