---
title: "Salespeople Disobedient, Obedient Ones Underperform, and Those Who Perform Don't Make Money: 80% of Distributors Fail Due to Poor Management. How to Break the Cycle?"
description: "This article explores why many distributors are losing money, attributing it to management failures such as unproductive sales teams and outdated sales methods. It recommends adopting sales management software to improve oversight and efficiency, and provides guidance on how to implement it effectively."
author: "赵波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-11-16"
language: "en"
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markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-disobedient-obedient-ones-underperform-and-those-who-perform-0177b87d.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pTawAOPXLHIYo8bSZ0HFTg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B8%9A%E5%8A%A1%E5%91%98%E4%B8%8D%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%9D-%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%9D%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%8D%E5%87%BA%E6%B4%BB-%E5%87%BA%E6%B4%BB%E4%B8%8D%E8%B5%9A%E9%92%B1-80-%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%86%E9%83%BD%E4%BA%8F%E6%AD%BB%E5%9C%A8%E7%AE%A1%E7%90%86%E5%A4%B1%E8%B4%A5-%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E7%A0%B4-0177b87d.md"
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# Salespeople Disobedient, Obedient Ones Underperform, and Those Who Perform Don't Make Money: 80% of Distributors Fail Due to Poor Management. How to Break the Cycle?

> This article explores why many distributors are losing money, attributing it to management failures such as unproductive sales teams and outdated sales methods. It recommends adopting sales management software to improve oversight and efficiency, and provides guidance on how to implement it effectively.

**I. Why Are Distributors Losing Money?**
Recently, I visited over a dozen distributors in Henan and Jiangxi, and many complained that business isn't profitable this year. I noticed that most of these distributors, with sales exceeding ten million, have management issues in their sales teams: **salespeople being lazy, withholding promotional items, combining orders to exploit bundle deals, overcharging, and misappropriating funds...** Analysis shows that these problems are more prominent in markets where distributors still use the **vehicle sales + handwritten order** method, which was suitable for lower sales volumes.
I strongly recommend that distributors using handwritten orders switch to sales management software. It's not that handwritten orders are inherently bad, but they become unsuitable once sales exceed ten million. Handwritten orders work when the boss is still personally involved in the market and the team is small, as it's efficient and cost-effective. However, once sales exceed ten million and the team grows beyond 6-7 people, the boss can't be in the market daily, and the drawbacks become apparent. Moreover, what salespeople do all day is based solely on their word, and distributors rely on daily sales figures and order forms to gauge performance.
These issues are just part of the management problems. As bosses become busier with social engagements, their sensitivity to the market decreases, causing **a disconnect between their understanding and actual market conditions**. They rely on salespeople's feedback and past experience for decisions, leading to inevitable mistakes and deviations.
Thirdly, regarding actual product distribution: What's the store penetration rate for old products? What's the distribution rate for new products? What are the top 50 sales volumes per store? How many active outlets are there? These data-driven analyses can't be handled by experience alone. When asked, most distributors are in the dark, relying on gut feelings for market analysis.
Distributors are aware of these problems, but few realize that this is exactly how money is lost. These issues aren't unsolvable; distributors just don't know how to solve them.
I suggest distributors install sales management software to address these issues. **Using such software is like giving distributors two pairs of clairvoyant eyes: one to see what salespeople are doing, and another to see what's selling at the terminal. Through effective market feedback and analysis, distributors can enhance management capabilities, reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and boost sales.**
Of course, some forward-thinking distributors have already used or are using such software, but they find it doesn't meet their management expectations. Salespeople also resist it, and after a while, they revert to old methods or use it only for order processing.
**II. Why Doesn't Sales Management Software Work for Team Management?**
Few distributors come from corporate management backgrounds; most lack professional management training and lack theoretical and practical skills. This professional gap in team management becomes the biggest shortcoming in their business growth.
Software vendors are mostly IT professionals who may lack team management experience themselves. They can tell you what features their software has and what sales scale it can support, but they won't teach you how to use it for team management. Distributors, without management experience, have to figure it out on their own, let alone solve specific problems.
**It's like buying a car: the seller tells you its features and top speed but doesn't teach you how to drive. Whether the car runs, how fast it goes, and how to handle it is left to the buyer, who has no driving experience, to figure out.**
**Do you think, for a driver, is driving ability more important than the car's performance?**
Ultimately, management effectiveness depends on the boss's own skills and mindset.
Sales management software is a tool; it can't create value by itself. Only when combined with management needs and fully utilized will it yield real benefits. Using such software isn't just adding a tool; it's fundamentally changing the company's management model and processes, requiring surgical adjustments. This requires the person making changes to have the right reform ideas and skills. If distributors aren't professional, it's better not to change at all.
**III. How to Use Sales Management Software to Improve Management?**
Distributors should remember: The goal of introducing sales management software is to improve management efficiency. The core isn't teaching employees how to use the software but changing mindsets, processes, and methods from the boss down. Software features aren't the most important. Before reform, bosses should consider four questions:
**1. What are the benefits of this management system?**
**2. What problems can it solve for me?**
**3. How should it operate?**
**4. How to implement it?**
The benefits and necessity have been covered, so I won't repeat. For the other questions, distributors should design a management plan and process supported by the software, based on their actual situation and internal issues. Follow these four steps:
**1. Identify core problems.**
**2. Analyze root causes.**
**3. Determine how much can be solved through technical management.**
**4. Figure out how to integrate these technical measures into daily work and management.**
Once distributors have a preliminary framework, they can start using the software. Early use often encounters two issues:
**1. Unfamiliarity with features and backend, causing fear and resistance, leading to plan failure.**
**2. Disruption of existing workflows, causing operational chaos.**
These are the main reasons many distributors fail to implement. From my experience, implementation should be phased, starting with easy tasks. When changing the team, remember:
**First fill pockets, then change minds;**
**First adjust attitudes, then change habits;**
**First establish standards, then change the market.**
Explanation: Start with simple features, provide timely and effective rewards (small but frequent daily cash bonuses), and make users realize the software can increase income, thus changing their attitude and habits.
During attitude change, continuously emphasize the benefits: increased income, higher efficiency, better decision-making, and data analysis. Once the team gradually accepts it, introduce all management features in stages.
When using software for terminal operations, design quantifiable, measurable, and evaluable standards. These should be based on effective market operations. Only with standards can market operations change quickly and uniformly.
Many distributors rush implementation, which often backfires. Generally, software implementation takes 3-4 months at best, or 6 months to a year, before seeing results.
**IV. What Software Options Are There and How to Choose?**
There are many sales management software options online, such as 外勤365, 管家婆, 用友, 智客通, 骑兵软件, 商无忧, 速达3000, etc. I won't delve into their pros and cons here, but remember to compare before buying. Compare from three aspects:
**Technical, usability, and service**: feature completeness, ease of use of front-end, UI friendliness, backend data analysis and statistics, customer support, software/hardware prices, and consumable costs. Match these with your needs before deciding.
2016 is a critical year for internet B2B models in the FMCG industry. As I've mentioned before, don't avoid, resist, or reject the internet. Learn to use advanced tools to arm yourself, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs. Using sales software is a must for distributors.
**-END-**
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