Click 'Read Original' for details. Inventory loading is a required course for sales personnel. Before the peak season arrives or when new products are launched, loading inventory is almost a habitual action for every manufacturer. Thousands of troops crowd onto the single-plank bridge of inventory loading; some emerge into brilliant sunshine, while others are left with a mess of feathers. For cases where people fall off the bridge during loading, we often see either excessive loading leading to warehouse overflow, poor loading techniques causing failure, or bad timing leading to expired goods... What is inventory loading? Loading goods to the terminal is inventory loading! Some might say: Wrong! Loading goods into consumers' hands, homes, mouths, stomachs, and even minds is what we call distribution! Not only into their minds, but also 'registered' in their minds! I can only reply: Keep bluffing! Blind Spots in Loading Actions Who performs the loading action? Only manufacturers or channel members! Whether loading is successful depends on whether the loading actions are solid. Loading is like a martial arts routine; to defeat the opponent, you must execute a series of lethal moves! 1. Dealer Loading Inform dealers of promotional policies, or hand over loading costs to dealers, who then organize their teams to distribute goods everywhere. Blind Spot: Dealer loading is a matter of conscience. If a dealer is tempted by profit, intercepting or altering loading promotional costs is almost effortless. Some dealers may also use large funds to stockpile goods and sell at high prices after the event! Moreover, most dealers are accustomed to 'rough work'; during loading, they often prioritize large orders over small ones, leading to leaks, omissions, and even sacrificing price and order for the sake of loading. For example, many liquor dealers, upon receiving loading costs, typically hold ordering meetings, collect advance payments, and then dump goods on secondary wholesalers, caring only about shipping, not selling, since they already have the money! This leads to chaos among secondary wholesalers: those who pay more get more goods and sell longer, while others sell out sooner. For instance, Zhang San's advance payment goods sell out by March, while Li Si, who paid more, can sell until the Mid-Autumn Festival. By April, Zhang San can only watch his livelihood disappear because Li Si still enjoys the advance payment policy, leaving Zhang with no price advantage! This uneven distribution not only causes channel chaos but also leads to a proliferation of short-lived products. That is, each collection of payments results in a product change, often just a superficial change—new bottle, old wine—ultimately leading to consumer distrust! 2. Order Loading In markets with branch offices and route visits, order loading relies on sales reps visiting to secure orders, which are then delivered by dealers. Blind Spot: Order closure is just the beginning; order tracking is a critical issue supervisors must not relax. Often, due to attractive loading policies, a day's orders may reach a dozen or more, leading to a situation where orders are placed but not followed up! That is, orders are sent to dealers, but whether they are fulfilled is neglected! Dealers, under delivery pressure, rush around delivering here and there, sometimes forgetting orders, losing addresses, or facing rejections—even fake orders! 3. Ride-Along Loading Manufacturer sales personnel accompany dealer vehicles during distribution. Ride-along loading can partially solve the above drawbacks. Its advantages include not only supervising the implementation of dealer loading policies but also strengthening the loading force; appearing in the manufacturer's name can increase closing rates. Blind Spot: Ride-along loading may yield miraculous short-term results, but over time, it not only wastes resources but also leads to visit fatigue, such as low visit efficiency and lax discipline among sales personnel. Additionally, ride-along loading must involve immediate unloading upon closing; orders cannot replace actual loading. Some reps, to meet loading quotas, avoid unloading and prefer writing orders. Moreover, placing extra orders is rarely noticed, helping dealers extract more loading costs, gaining face, or even earning a free lunch. 4. Blitz Loading Also known as shock team loading or aggressive loading. This involves gathering sales personnel, grouping them in twos or threes, and distributing with vehicles. It is characterized by impressive momentum, clear division of labor, with loading, shelf management, merchandising, cash collection, and搬运 each assigned. This is a 'concentrate superior forces to annihilate the enemy' approach, easily delivering heavy blows to competitors in the short term and locally. Blind Spot: Blitz loading is only suitable for local, short-term operations! Because even a team of 3–5 people, to blitz an entire urban area, even with 5 groups, would take about a week. A group can only hit about 40 stores per day, and a county town has no fewer than 1,000 outlets, so it is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly—a 'signature move' not to be used lightly! Each of the four loading actions has blind spots, but not every action can conquer the world, win with one move, or be repeated hundreds of times! You must continuously change combinations, use different actions in different environments, and form complementary combinations to gradually eliminate blind spots! Key Points: 1) Tighten control over personnel. Soldiers must be strong, and horses must be sturdy. Whether dealer personnel or manufacturer staff, strict discipline is essential during loading to ensure efficiency. Many small and medium dealers use a mixed sales team model, where two or three people handle beer, liquor, food, and beverages. This often leads to neglecting liquor when the beer season arrives, and vice versa, causing the market to be like 'cutting leeks'—one crop after another, like weeds that sprout in spring, yellow in autumn, and vanish in winter! The market repeats year after year, opening and losing! 2) Act at the right time; different environments and backgrounds require different loading methods! Different loading actions have different characteristics. For example, dealer loading excels in closing rates and distribution accuracy because dealers can leverage their customer relationships and store knowledge. However, for newly opened areas, dealers may not be more professional than manufacturer sales reps, so 'ride-along loading' should be considered. Once ride-along loading reaches a certain level, consider transferring outlets to manufacturer reps for periodic visits and maintenance. Blind Spots in Loading Promotions Promotions are like medicine! Don't take them without illness, and don't overmedicate; overuse has side effects and can harm health! Everything has its counterpart; there is no invincible 'promotion'—all have antidotes! (1) 'Promotion Dependency.' Long-term loading policies can lead to terminal promotion fatigue or dependency. For example, an original loading policy of 'buy 10 get 1 free' for a month can make terminals think it's the norm. Without promotions, they won't stock up—this is promotion dependency. (2) 'Promotion Fatigue.' Loading, loading, and more loading. 'How much is your beer now?' the hotel owner shouts: 'Last month it was buy 10 get 1, this month buy 30 get 2, today buy 40 get 3! My warehouse is full! Even buy 1 get 1, I don't want it!' 'It's so cold; I can't sell half a case a day. Even if you give it away, I have nowhere to put it.' When terminal owners show no reaction to promotions, promotion fatigue sets in! Due to seasonal factors or low turnover, store owners lack confidence. Combined with continuous promotion upgrades under sales pressure, terminals become numb, viewing promotions not as benefits but as burdens! (3) 'Promotion Resonance.' The so-called 'promotion resonance' occurs when a loading policy of 'buy 20 get 1' runs for half a month, followed by another loading activity. At that point, 'buy 20 get 1' fails, forcing a 'buy 10 get 1' policy, and then 'buy 5 get 1'... Footstep resonance can collapse a bridge; promotion resonance will inevitably pierce the price system. Promotion dependency can be 'cured,' and promotion fatigue can be 'avoided,' but once you enter the promotion resonance stage, prices will hit bottom, and channels will be in chaos. If you also rely on single products without timely new product rotation to rest and nurture the channel, it often leads to disasters and irreparable damage! For sales personnel, their duty is to complete sales. In the process, promotions and sales form a seesaw: headquarters demands sales, and they demand promotions! Give them enough promotions, and they could lift the Earth! A beer company, to quickly open a strategic market, used a 'buy one, get one free' with a 100% win rate, aiming to sweep the battlefield! The first week, distribution was lightning-fast and unstoppable! In the second and third weeks, sales skyrocketed, with even a buying frenzy! One day, the market manager looked at the river in the city center, full of white foam, and wanted to cry! It turned out the whole city was opening bottle caps, pouring the beer down drains, then redeeming caps for more beer, and repeating... Why? Because a beer bottle could be sold for 30 cents! Self-Check: 1) Are you sales-first and old-product-first? Selling old products means less effort and less thinking for sales reps. By seizing a few seasonal turning points and running promotions, the year's harvest is secured. Sales achievement is the primary indicator tracked by manufacturers; without sales, no marketing action matters! In sales-first markets, we often see price erosion and channel chaos. Sales reps typically think: If you want sales, give me promotions! Old products are the foundation for 'channel protection,' while new products are the 'channel maintenance' experts. Old products sell well but don't make money. Transparent prices not only trouble manufacturers but also frustrate dealers! 2) Does the loading policy last more than a week? Have you loaded more than three times consecutively? Loading should be short, quick, and decisive. The longer the campaign, the bigger the problems. 3) Dare to raise prices when the peak season comes? Loading is usually done before the peak season. After large-scale loading, competitors are suppressed, and the market is under your control. When the peak season arrives, the price damage from loading needs time to recover. At this point, not only should loading policies stop, but basic promotions should also be adjusted, even considering price increases. Otherwise, channel members facing increasingly heavy distribution tasks may rebel if they don't get their share! 4) Is new product follow-up timely? Many believe new product success depends on consumer acceptance! But marketers must never use consumer acceptance as an excuse. I don't think the purpose of launching new products is to meet consumer needs; half the purpose is to cover the thin profit margins of old products, giving them breathing room; the other half is to find opportunities to squeeze competitors at the terminal. Blind Spots in Loading Price Systems Don't be superstitious about brands; brands are just legends! A brand without price order has no channel foundation—it's a castle in the air! (1) Regional Price Chaos. Especially in mature or semi-mature markets, the popularity of your product can lead to distributor sales exceeding dealer direct sales. When dealers receive loading policies, they pass them to distributors. Distributors, to maximize loading promotional resources for sales and profits, will expand outlets as much as possible. After covering old outlets, they'll look at other distributors' areas and start cross-selling. Initially, it's just a few extra deliveries, but over time, they'll pass on loading policies and sell at low prices across regions. (2) Naked Pricing. Loading policies are usually greater than regular promotions, typically a combination of regular + loading, e.g., regular policy 'buy 10 get 1,' loading policy 'unload 50 cases get 3 free.' So the total promotion becomes 'unload 50 get 8 free.' Distributors might simply remove the freebies, convert them to cash, and sell at naked prices. If others sell at 18 yuan per case with 50+8, they'll sell at 15.5 yuan per case. They break bulk and deliver small orders! When questioned by manufacturer reps, they have a ready excuse: 'Unloading 50 cases at once is too much for the store; I deliver less but more often!' (3) Cross-Region Dumping. Combating cross-region dumping is a headache for many manufacturer reps. Just as the market starts to grow, external goods flood in, sweeping like autumn leaves, causing massive damage! Self-Check: 1) Do you have a distributor management system? Distributors are a love-hate relationship for manufacturers, but for some FMCG companies, they are an indispensable 'enemy.' Especially in third- and fourth-tier markets with unique channel structures, distributors' agility and pervasive delivery contribute greatly, but they are often 'independent' and unconstrained. If not managed well, they pose a huge threat to price systems and channel order. If these 'Monkey King' characters aren't given a tight band, without strict distributor management, they'll not only soar to the heavens but also stir up storms, causing chaos! 2) Do you have regional or outlet divisions? A hotel gets deliveries at 20 yuan per case from Boss Zhang for years. When Boss Li delivers at 19.5 yuan, a local war erupts, with Zhang and Li fighting, and the hotel owner joining in, cursing Zhang for being dishonest and profiteering! So when managing the market, clarify delivery ownership for each region or outlet, ensuring exclusive delivery, avoiding two or three suppliers for the same area. This prevents price chaos and allows monitoring and punishment of price-cutting distributors! 3) Do you have distributor rebate management? Superficially, distributor rebates might be seen as a way to 'trap' distributors and prevent defection. But if handled well, distributor rebates are an effective lever for market control. They can control not only the 'quantity' but also the 'quality' of distributors! Quantity means sales; quality means price, region, and even product appearance! Used skillfully, they become the 'tight band' on these clever monkeys! 4) Do you have a product batch traceability process? A distributor delivers goods at low prices to another's region or outlet, and is reported. When manufacturer reps check, the distributor denies it. Reps can only trace the batch to a first-tier distributor in the area, not to which distributor the goods were sent. Then disputes arise, often unresolved! Secondary batch registration management is essential. Without it, we can only trace batches at a macro level, but we're helpless against cross-selling within small areas! Blind Spots in Loading Channels Channels are the present; brands are the future! Do you choose the present or the future? Seize the present to have a future! Control channels to build brands! (1) Multi-Level Channels. The more channel levels, the harder management becomes. The optimal beer channel level should not exceed three: first-tier, second-tier, and outlets. Once third-tier wholesalers form below second-tier, the entire market price system becomes chaotic. Third-tier wholesalers operate without management, and they'll swarm like flies to blood for profit. (2) Unorganized Channels. These are naturally formed second-tier wholesalers. First-tier ships at naked prices, second-tier distributes freely, relying entirely on turnover and old products—a disorganized, undisciplined army that swarms distribution, slashes prices, blames each other, curses, and even fights over outlets. (3) Mixed Channels. An excellent brand inevitably nurtures a group of excellent channel partners. When a brand matures in a local market, the first to mature may not be consumers but the channel! That is, only channel maturity can support a locally mature market, especially for second-tier brands. In other words, when a local market matures to a certain degree, a situation arises where 'no grass grows under a big tree'—competitor channels are suppressed by your strong channel, just as a big tree prevents another from growing beneath it. For competitors to enter your mature market, the fastest way is to borrow your mature channel. If your channel members also handle competitor goods during loading, a mixed channel forms. Once a mixed channel forms, especially in your strong regions, you must quickly self-check and rectify! Self-Check: 1) Do you know your channel levels? Which level can you control? In new markets with new products, finding a distributor is hard. Once products sell well, distributors flock in! Facing a swarm of second- and third-tier wholesalers, you must stay clear-headed; not everyone can join the team. They must follow the 'Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention'; those with different paths cannot work together! 2) Why do second-tier wholesalers dare to slash prices? Those who dare to slash prices may be bold, but they must have a reason to take the risk. There are high-voltage lines, but only 'lines' without 'electricity'! These clever monkeys will swarm once they taste sweetness, because those who slash slowly lose out. After slashing, everyone stops selling and moves to another manufacturer! So, second-tier wholesalers dare to slash prices mostly because manufacturer management is weak, they 'don't fear,' and then they 'don't regret' slashing! 3) The reason channel partners take on competitor goods is loss of confidence in your product! What makes them lose confidence? Price slashing is not the nature of second-tier wholesalers! They also want to follow a disciplined army, with clear rewards and punishments, fair distribution, and peace of mind to earn money. When they see a chaotic army with unclear rewards and punishments, fighting over scraps, even drawing weapons, sweating and bleeding, they'll definitely seek to leave and find their light! Excerpted from Mr. Fang Gang's book 'What FMCG Veterans Do: Regional Manager Playbook.'