---
title: "Struggling to Recruit and Retain Staff? How a Distributor Kept Employees Motivated and Made Them Work for Themselves"
description: "While many distributors are trying various transformations, a condiment distributor in Rongchang District, Chongqing, Mingwang Trading, took a different path: upgrading operations and honing internal skills. By introducing the Amoeba management model and breaking down into smaller organizational units, they made every employee an independent operator. Recently, New Distribution interviewed this county-level condiment distributor, which serves a population of 700,000 in Rongchang County (now Rongchang District), with annual sales of nearly 50 million yuan and covering over 1,800 outlets. Despite the sluggish distribution market, this company has maintained a 30% profit growth in the past two years."
author: "袁来"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2018-10-11"
language: "en"
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# Struggling to Recruit and Retain Staff? How a Distributor Kept Employees Motivated and Made Them Work for Themselves

> While many distributors are trying various transformations, a condiment distributor in Rongchang District, Chongqing, Mingwang Trading, took a different path: upgrading operations and honing internal skills. By introducing the Amoeba management model and breaking down into smaller organizational units, they made every employee an independent operator. Recently, New Distribution interviewed this county-level condiment distributor, which serves a population of 700,000 in Rongchang County (now Rongchang District), with annual sales of nearly 50 million yuan and covering over 1,800 outlets. Despite the sluggish distribution market, this company has maintained a 30% profit growth in the past two years.

"While many distributors are trying various transformations, a condiment distributor in Rongchang District, Chongqing, Mingwang Trading, took a different path: upgrading operations and honing internal skills. By introducing the Amoeba management model and breaking down into smaller organizational units, they made every employee an independent operator."
Recently, New Distribution interviewed a county-level condiment distributor. In Rongchang County (now Rongchang District), Chongqing, with a population of 700,000, this distributor has annual sales of nearly 50 million yuan and covers over 1,800 outlets. Despite the sluggish distribution market, this company has maintained a 30% profit growth in the past two years. How did they achieve this?
Mo Wenbin, General Manager of Chongqing Rongchang Mingwang Trading, told New Distribution, "Around 2015, our sales were around 30-40 million yuan, making us a mid-to-upper-level distributor locally. Over the past few years, we've been pondering: should we grow bigger first or stronger first? Growing bigger means expanding outward, or stepping out of condiments to cross-category operations. Growing stronger means improving market services, digging deep into terminals, and focusing on condiment distribution."
Mo Wenbin chose the latter: "grow stronger." In his view, growing bigger and growing stronger are like digging a ditch. Some distributors like to dig 1 meter deep and 1,000 meters wide, while others choose to dig 1 meter wide and 1,000 meters deep. Mo Wenbin prefers to dig 1,000 meters deep in one thing. As a distributor surviving in the cracks, facing upstream brand owners and downstream retailers, only by being strong can you have the right to choose, the right to equal dialogue, and even the confidence to say "no." Only then can you face "barbarians" like JD New Path and Alibaba Retail Link without anxiety or worry. Grow stronger first to establish market competition barriers; growing bigger will naturally follow.
**Choosing to grow stronger is one thing, but implementation is key.** How does Mingwang Trading practice this on the path to strength?
**01 Introducing Amoeba Management**
Mo Wenbin has been in the distribution business for over ten years. He told New Distribution, "The distribution business over the past decade has been exhausting; I had to handle everything myself. I wanted to recruit but it was hard; after recruiting, it was hard to retain staff, and I didn't know how to retain them. It was painful." Mo Wenbin usually enjoys learning and communicating. Facing organizational issues, from the second half of 2015, he began focusing on organizational management content. During this period, he encountered various professional content on personnel management, organizational building, and organizational management, but he always felt it wasn't ideal and lacked practicality.
By chance, Mo Wenbin came across a promotional course on Amoeba management. After in-depth understanding, he believed this management model was what he wanted—the management method he had been searching for. It fully activates individual organizations, making everyone an operator.
After learning, Mo Wenbin began to practice, starting with a pilot. In March 2016, he started with the sales department, convening the sales team and announcing the introduction of Amoeba management. Of course, just talking wasn't enough. To alleviate salespeople's concerns (about income reduction), Mo Wenbin decided to run a trial for three months with two salary systems: one new, using the Amoeba salary system, and one continuing the old commission method. During this period, each month, team members could choose either salary standard at their will. After three months, each person had to decide which one to keep.
Mo Wenbin told New Distribution that after the three-month trial, every sales team member chose the reformed (Amoeba) commission method. This commission method not only increased income but also offered greater flexibility.
The previous salary standard was based on sales revenue commission: the more you sold, the higher the percentage, and the more you earned. Salespeople only focused on sales volume. In the early stage of the Amoeba pilot, Mo Wenbin adopted gross profit commission and disclosed product operating data to salespeople, making the sales team also pay attention to the gross profit structure of products.
**Example:** Using gross profit as the salary commission standard (the following are not real data, for reference only), set different gross profit levels corresponding to different tiered commission ratios. Suppose a salesperson's monthly "balanced" target is 60,000 yuan gross profit, with a commission ratio of 10%; the "minimum" target is 50,000 yuan gross profit, with a commission ratio of 8%; the "stretch" target is 70,000 yuan gross profit, with a commission ratio of 12%.
In the early stage of introduction, the results were significant, with overall business income increasing by over 30%. After the pilot, the sales department officially adopted it, and other departments began to adjust accordingly, implementing small organization operations.
**02 Principle of Sales Maximization and Cost Minimization**
Amoeba emphasizes that everyone is an operator. **Operations pursue "volume, cost, profit"** : how much sales this month, how much gross profit on products, what the costs are, how much the company earns, and how much the small organization earns—all clear. **Management emphasizes "responsibility, authority, benefit"** : what rights are given to subordinates, and what responsibilities and benefits correspond to those rights. The advantage of Amoeba management is that it weakens management and strengthens operations. Everyone is an operator, and by breaking down into smaller organizational units, each person develops an independent operator mindset.
In addition to adjusting and upgrading daily sales income, Mingwang Trading also established an annual dividend mechanism. This ensures that every department and individual strives toward the operational goal of **"sales maximization, cost minimization."** The specific annual dividend mechanism is as follows:
**Taking annual sales of 100 million yuan as an example** (the following are not real data, for reference only)
The sales department calculates with a 12% gross profit margin, resulting in an annual gross profit of 12 million yuan. After deducting service fees of 5 million yuan (mainly service fees paid to the distribution center department, calculated at 5% of sales), and subtracting sales team expenses of 3 million yuan, the remaining net profit for the sales department is 3 million yuan.
**Annual dividend standard:** If the sales department sets a balanced target of 3 million yuan for the year, then at year-end, the sales department can enjoy a 10% profit dividend; if only the minimum target of 2.5 million yuan is achieved, the sales department can only get a 5% dividend; if the stretch target of 3.5 million yuan is achieved, the department can get a 15% dividend.
The distribution center, previously a cost center for the distributor, is also a "profit center" under the Amoeba management philosophy. The distribution center collects 5 million yuan in gross profit annually (based on sales of 100 million yuan, at a 5% fee). After deducting about 4% in expenses (vehicles, personnel, warehouse, etc.), the net profit is 1 million yuan. Similarly, if the balanced target of 1 million yuan is achieved, the distribution center team enjoys a 10% year-end dividend, and so on.
To achieve net profit targets and get more dividends, employees will spontaneously consider how to maximize sales and minimize costs. Mo Wenbin told New Distribution that to shorten the profit accounting cycle, in August of this year, Mingwang also introduced the Maideline system to further realize data online and real-time, fully implementing Amoeba management. **It is understood that in 2017, Mingwang Trading achieved a 20% increase in sales, with net profit growth of nearly 30%.**
**03 From "I Have to Do It" to "I Want to Do It"**
Through the transformation of internal operations, the entire staff shifted from the past "I have to do it" to "I want to do it." Mo Wenbin believes that traditional distributor operations are like a "green-skinned" train, where all power is in the locomotive. The boss alone is tired, and only the boss considers operational issues. In contrast, adopting Amoeba small organization operations is like a bullet train, with eight carriages corresponding to eight small organizations. Each carriage has power, and each organization needs to consider operational issues.
In the past, Mingwang Trading used sales revenue commission. To earn money, salespeople often only sold best-selling products (easy to sell, but with low profit for the company). They didn't care whether the company made or lost money, or whether it made more or less. Now, with net profit commission, employees know their gross profit, net profit, and corresponding income every day. They will proactively choose to promote high-gross-margin products and adjust the product structure of stores in their responsible areas.
Mo Wenbin told New Distribution that many distributors are currently trying various transformations, but Mingwang has taken a different path: **upgrading and honing internal skills.** Of course, upgrades can be divided into software and hardware: first, hardware upgrades (things that money can solve), such as investments in warehousing and distribution; second, software upgrades (things that money may not solve, or even if money is spent, cannot be solved in a short time), such as business philosophy, business models, and business thinking. We place more emphasis on the transformation of our partners' thinking.
According to Mo Wenbin, Mingwang Trading currently has an annual employee turnover rate of less than 5%, and the working atmosphere has greatly improved. In addition, Mingwang Trading is actively cultivating and retaining talent by adopting a partner model, providing virtual stock incentives to the Amoeba leaders (core talent), allowing them to truly participate in the overall business operations and enjoy the dividends of the company's growth. In Mo Wenbin's view, Mingwang Trading has basically achieved the goal of growing stronger. The next step is to use the partner mechanism to cultivate a group of excellent operators, allowing them to grow and expand together with the company.
**Final Thoughts**
The above is another upgrade case of Chongqing Rongchang Mingwang Trading Company in the current era of widespread anxiety. In fact, in the 6th issue of "New Distribution 100 People," New Distribution reported on Shaanxi Baihui Trading, which also upgraded its organization by selecting excellent business managers and partnering with them to establish separate trading branches for different categories. Although the form differs from Amoeba management (contract system vs. management system), each has its benefits, but the goal is the same: **use the company as a platform, empower employees, and fully motivate them.**
1. In New Distribution's view, for distributors, whether introducing the Amoeba management model, transforming to B2B or urban distribution platforms, or even not transforming, improving operational efficiency requires digital distribution. At the very least, you must "know your numbers"—which single product generates profit, which employee contributes, and which outlet sells it. Digital operations are a prerequisite for any transformation and upgrade path for distributors. If operations remain a muddled account, you will inevitably be eliminated by the times.
2. The distributor boss's own operational awareness and vision are crucial. Mo Wenbin told New Distribution that, not to mention how distributors should introduce Amoeba management, to activate individual organizations and make employees proactively charge forward and run, the premise is whether the distributor has "altruistic thinking." For example, if I earn 10,000 yuan today, and through employee efforts, we earn 11,000 yuan tomorrow, do you have the vision to take out 500 yuan for team dividends, rather than taking out 100 yuan to reward employees when earning 11,000 yuan, giving them a "small sweetener" and expecting them to "create more brilliance" tomorrow?
3. Regarding organization, Teacher Liu Chunxiong once expressed that future organizations should transform from control-type organizations to platform-based organizations. In a control-type organization, only the boss is responsible for profits, and employees share the boss's money. In the future, with platform-based organizations, employees with operational capabilities become partners and operators, and the boss shares the employees' money.
**On October 23-24, during the Autumn Sugar and Wine Fair, New Distribution will host the "2018 FMCG Urban Distribution Logistics Conference."** We will invite industry experts, FMCG warehousing and distribution specialists, and distributors who have transformed into unified warehousing and distribution platforms to discuss and answer questions about the future development trends of FMCG urban distribution logistics and practical cases of distributor transformation to unified warehousing and distribution, under the theme "New Distribution, New Urban Distribution." We hope to bring you different inspiration and thinking! The specific conference topics are as follows:
**List of Participating Companies**
In no particular order
Hunan Zonglan Diandan Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Jingbang (Wuhan) International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd.
Mengniu Dairy
Qinghai Hanxiang E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Unilever Services (Hefei) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch
Huicong
Hunan Xuan'ang Food Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Tongdaoren Information Technology Co., Ltd.
Qingdao 888 Trading Co., Ltd.
Uni-President Enterprises (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Hunan Province Zhongxiang Gongpei Logistics Co., Ltd.
Shenglong Ingredients
COSCO Shipping Logistics Warehousing and Distribution Co., Ltd.
Guangxi Yongpai Liquor Co., Ltd.
Shangqiu Kangrong Trading Co., Ltd.
Jinan Dingzhong Economic and Trade Co., Ltd.
Liaoning Bimai Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.
Kunming Xiongjia Trading Co., Ltd.
Shaanxi Houheng Trading Co., Ltd.
Guangzhou Dingwo Enterprise Information Consulting Co., Ltd.
Shaodong Jiajiale Commercial Firm
Boda Trading
Industrial Bank Changsha Branch
Wuhan Muchen Convenience Store Chain Co., Ltd.
Fujian Fuxing Yuncang Logistics Co., Ltd.
Guizhou Yilimi E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Jiangxi Xiao Laoer E-commerce Co., Ltd.
Jinshankoufu
Shanxi Taihang Yuanjing Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Shanxi Dezhun Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Shaoyang Tongdeli Trading (Xiangbang Logistics)
Huanfu
Tongda Express Urban Distribution
Beijing Xinjingxiang Food Co., Ltd.
Wuhan Huizhong Tianhong Liquor Co., Ltd.
Changsha Paide Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Chao'an Tuqiang
Guizhou Yihe Bopin Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd.
Jiangxi Kang'en Industrial Development Co., Ltd.
Xiangtan County Yisuhe Town Yuhua Paper Store
Luoyang Yuanlang Trading Co., Ltd.
Tongchuan Yaozhou District Huayuan Supermarket Co., Ltd.
Hunan Yongfu Jiujiu Trading Co., Ltd.
Zhejiang Chengchengtong Logistics Co., Ltd.
Chongqing Kaiguo Materials Trading Co., Ltd.
Beijing Xianmaixianmai Data Technology Co., Ltd.
Hanchuan Qixing Trading Co., Ltd.
Tongxin Jiuzhiru Trading Co., Ltd.
Guizhou Meiguo Guoguo Network Technology Co., Ltd.
......
**Representative Distributors in Transformation (Tentative)**
In no particular order
Jiangsu Huashang Urban Distribution Network Co., Ltd. Chairman, Rong Jun
Hubei Yijiaren Logistics Co., Ltd. Chairman, Wang Bo
Sichuan Chengdu Xingrenxing Trading Co., Ltd. General Manager, Jiang Shuming
Shandong Yunbang Warehousing and Logistics Co., Ltd. Chairman, Liu Jichen
Chongqing Lingyu Consumer Goods Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Chairman, Tu Mingyu
Guangzhou Zhongshan Wanrong Marketing Co., Ltd. Chairman, Yang Su
Sichuan Bajie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Chairman, Yuan Xia
Hubei Pengdun Meiyitian Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Co-founder, Li Qiangyun
Henan Xuchang Jiulegou E-commerce Co., Ltd. Chairman, Zhang Jianyong
Hebei Changyi Logistics Co., Ltd. Founder, Ma Haichao
Hebei (Chengde) Wulian Yun Warehouse Co., Ltd. General Manager, Meng Yucun
Xinjiang Urumqi Su'an Jinchi Logistics Co., Ltd. Chairman, Zhang Xun
Jilin Sanxing Lianguo Chairman, Zhang Hailing
Hebei Dunjie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Founder, Qiang Huitao
Hunan Damei Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. General Manager, Liao Lei
......
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