As the year ends again, regional managers are busy writing their annual work summaries and next year's work plans to submit. No matter how this year's regional market operations went, and whether this report card passes, the report submitted to the company is almost unchangeable. For next year, regional managers will undoubtedly receive sales targets that increase by a certain percentage. Many regional managers find this very troubling: products have been sold in the market for so many years, the market is becoming mature, and to increase by the company's required percentage on the original basis is indeed very difficult. Yes, does your market really have no room for growth? How can we increase regional market sales next and strive for the report card to pass the company's review next year? Let's discuss effective methods for regional market increment:

  1. Tap into the sales potential of existing customers As a regional manager, you must clearly understand which channels your company's products mainly sell through in your region. Create a tracking table for products, recording which customers consume them. The tracking table should clearly record the order time and amount for each major customer. Identify the top 10 customers in your region by sales, analyze which ones have potential for sales growth, and which need enhanced communication and maintenance to boost sales. Don't only focus on these big customers; also list customers who buy small amounts but are strong in strength, and cultivate them as key accounts, because such customers have the most explosive sales potential. I remember when I was responsible for Product A, I had a customer in my region with annual sales of only 60,000 at the time I took over. For my region with annual sales of nearly 30 million, whether I had such a customer didn't affect me at all. I was about to cancel their dealership, but after visiting the customer, I found that the reason for poor sales was that they weren't putting effort into our product; they were just selling it incidentally, not taking it seriously, and focusing their main energy on other brands. Once I found the root of the problem, I had to solve it; I couldn't irresponsibly change customers, as that would be too rash. I communicated with the customer's boss, saying that if this continued, we would change distributors. We support the market, but we can't watch the market be lost; only by increasing sales is the only choice. The customer also knew that if they continued like this, their dealership might be at risk. After a year of effort, that year's sales reached nearly 800,000. Of course, this customer still has potential to tap.

  2. Tap into the sales potential of existing products Many regional managers think that since the company's products have been sold in the market for so many years, almost all supermarkets and small shops are selling them, and with such high distribution rates, sales are still the same. How can we increase regional market sales? Yes, high distribution is a prerequisite for sales, but not the whole story. How can we increase sales in such a highly distributed market? We can start from the following aspects:

    • Product display: Your products are placed at the sales terminal, having the chance to meet consumers, but in what condition do they meet consumers? Are they placed in a corner, covered with dust, or in the golden position on the shelf, clean and tidy? Is the product shown to consumers in its best light? Also, if the company has a series of products, are they displayed together on the shelf, or are they scattered by the merchant? When your products are buried in the sea of other products, it's hard for consumers to find you. How can sales be achieved? How should products be displayed in supermarket terminals? How should they be displayed in small shops? Different channels have different display requirements. Regional managers should make display plans according to different channels. Once you do the basic work of display well, your sales will naturally increase.

    • Choose the product mix: Generally, every enterprise has many categories (or items), and each category (or item) with its packaging specifications should target a certain segment of consumers. They carry different missions: some are for brand building, some are not for profit but for volume, and some are strategic products against competitors. Have these products played their roles in the market over the years? The market is constantly changing; have competitors launched corresponding products to block yours? Have we adjusted our combination of products in response to market changes?

    • Establish a visit mechanism: Do regional sales staff visit customers according to the company's route every day? When they arrive at the customer's place, are they just going through the motions or seriously tidying up the products, wiping dust off them? Without a good visit mechanism, your products won't be well displayed in the market. It's not that the supermarket gives you a few facings and your product position is fixed; product display must be "fought for" bit by bit by sales staff. Through a standardized visit workflow, dynamically maintain the performance of products in various terminals (display, inventory, price, promotion execution, sales aids), so that company products are presented to consumers in a good state in all terminals, maximizing benefits.

  3. Promote new products Regional managers should seize every opportunity to promote new products. Many regional managers are short-sighted, thinking that promoting new products is the most laborious and doesn't bring much volume, so they are unwilling to invest time and energy in promoting new products, especially when new products face setbacks in the market; this mentality becomes more obvious. Yes, promoting new products is quite hard, and many new products don't sell well initially, but weren't those old bestsellers also once new products that were cold-shouldered in the market and later became the company's flagship products? The company promotes new products as a good growth point for regional market sales. Don't be short-sighted and use the budget for new product promotion to do promotions for old products to increase volume; that is a short-term method. What if one day old products are no longer popular in the market, and merchants are unwilling to sell them because the price is too transparent and there's no profit?

Promoting new products cannot be rushed; you need to have a long-term promotion mindset, use funds for their designated purpose, and ideally have dedicated personnel. As long as you successfully promote new products in your regional market, first, your regional sales will increase; second, you will become a model for the company, and your future will be bright.

  1. Develop blank markets (channels) Which channels have you covered in your regional market? Which products have entered which terminals? Are there blank markets (or channels) that haven't been developed or are not doing well? What product mix should you choose to develop these blank markets (or channels)? What strategies should you adopt to develop them?

Example: Company A is a large frozen food enterprise listed in Singapore. Due to the listing, the company has very high requirements for increasing sales. Company A is very strong in the supermarket, wholesale, and circulation channels in a certain regional market. To complete the headquarters' task, it would be very difficult relying solely on existing channels and products. At this time, how can regional sales be increased? This question always troubled the regional manager. Through market research, the regional manager found that the catering channel was a blind spot; the company hadn't really done it. In recent years, catering consumption has been huge, making it a very potential market. If this channel could be successfully developed, this year's sales would be no problem. The regional manager, based on actual market conditions, proposed a specific strategy to develop the catering channel to the company, hoping the company would launch a few more products with folk characteristics in line with the catering market. After discussion, the company listened to the regional manager's opinion and piloted in several markets. Later practice proved this method was very correct; all pilot markets saw significant sales growth. Seeing the sales potential of the catering channel, the company decided to promote it to all markets.

  1. Promotions A well-conceived promotional activity is a powerful means to increase sales, but when doing promotional activities, you must plan carefully; you can't do promotions just for the sake of doing them. The market fears unplanned promotional activities the most; they lack novelty, don't help much with volume, and instead disrupt the market.

A good promotional activity should have:

  • Promotion purpose: Why do this promotion? What goals to achieve?
  • Promotion theme: What theme to show to consumers and terminals?
  • Promotion products: Which SKU(s) to promote?
  • Promotion schedule: When to do it? How long will it last?
  • Promotion location: Which KA, which KA store, inside or outside the store?
  • Promotion form: What form to use? (discount, buy-and-gift, bundle, coupon, lottery, points, exchange, joint promotion, etc.)
  • Promotion props: What props are needed? (posters, gifts, bands, etc.)
  • Promotion execution methods and steps: What steps to take during execution? What are the key points?
  • Promotion budget: How much will it cost? (personnel costs, terminal costs, prop costs, etc.)
  1. Management of promoters Many enterprises have promotions, but why do their sales performances differ? There are three reasons:
    • Recruitment of promoters: Many people say that being a promoter is simple; just hire someone. This view is unacceptable. Promoters are at the front line of sales, and this position is very important; sales depend on their selling ability. When recruiting promoters, check carefully, choose the right person, and choose a good person; then half of your task is done.
    • Training of promoters: Whether you hire promoters for long-term promotion or for temporary promotional activities, they must undergo strict pre-job training by the company. Product knowledge, sales skills, personal appearance, etc., are all training topics. To build a combat-effective sales team, training is indispensable.
    • Motivation of promoters: This is about the motivation of promoters. Not only material rewards but also spiritual rewards are needed. To keep good promoters in your team, you need to establish a scientific incentive mechanism.

The market is constantly changing. How to increase regional market sales cannot only rely on the above points; ensuring supply, product packaging, and the quality of regional personnel are also factors affecting regional sales growth. When managing a regional market, we should not treat things as trivial; the key is to complete the small daily tasks, so as to accomplish the big tasks of the regional market.

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