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Distributors are essentially different from entrepreneurs; we are accustomed to calling those who own substantial businesses entrepreneurs. No matter how strong a distributor's financial strength, how broad their channels, or how high their sales climb, ultimately the brands belong to manufacturers, and products are supplied by various manufacturers. In this calculation, apart from profits, it seems distributors have little left that belongs to them.
What puzzles and troubles distributors even more is that it seems all the talent has been snapped up by manufacturers of all sizes, leaving only second-rate or even third-rate talent for distributors. The lack of talent makes distributors feel strained when negotiating with upstream manufacturers and downstream retail giants. The author believes that talent is to a company what shoes are to a person; only the wearer knows if they fit, and what fits is best. Here, I suggest distributor friends pay attention to the following points when recruiting various talents needed for business development:
1. "Appoint people by merit," not "appoint relatives as virtuous"
Most distributors in the Chinese market started as mom-and-pop shops, with a few guns and two or three people beginning to conquer the world. When the business grows and the company strengthens, distributors realize that to develop further, they must introduce talent to sustain the business they created. In fact, the Chinese market is not short of super distributors with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan, or even several hundred million. But no matter what, it seems impossible to escape the deeply ingrained definition of a middleman, because distributors do not have their own product brands; the company name is the brand, and the boss's reputation represents the company's credibility to a certain extent. For this reason, in the organizational structure of Chinese distributor companies, the male boss handles external business, and the female boss handles internal finance, which has become a special symbol and the most fashionable combination for this group. The family groups and friend groups represented by both sides occupy an absolute proportion in the enterprise and hold power over important departments. Generally, the leadership of money-spending and control departments such as finance, procurement, and engineering budgeting is hard to delegate to outsiders. Therefore, blood and relationships become the chain maintaining the lifeline of the entire distributor enterprise. Couples use the strength of their respective families to form a strange circle of mutual checks and balances and joint development within the enterprise. Employees who fought together or stayed long are naturally classified into one of the camps. New employees must first spend time understanding these complex relationships before starting work, otherwise it is difficult to carry out work, and they may even die in this complex network. Even if bosses and their wives realize the seriousness of this problem and hope to complete the circulation of corporate blood by introducing talent, the chronic disease of the enterprise cannot be reversed by the strength of a few individuals. It requires the courage and determination of the helmsman, the ability, strength, and rich experience of the executor, and even more so, the willingness of employees to face and dare to confront their own shackles and resolutely reshape themselves.
Being able to "appoint people by merit" is also an important sign of a company's maturity and its move toward standardization and internationalization. "Recommending relatives without avoiding nepotism" is a great wisdom, but the premise is that the relative must be a talent; otherwise, the company will never escape the strange circle of family-style, workshop-style management. The practice of Ningbo "Fotile Kitchenware" can be used for reference, considered a model of "recommending relatives without avoiding nepotism," but how many are like Ningbo Fotile?
In fact, professionals who choose to work at distributors are well aware that junior talent seeks a job to support their families, while senior talent hopes to realize their own value while supporting their families. But they all understand one truth: at a distributor, they may never become general manager or higher, because these positions are the exclusive domain of the bosses. Therefore, while working hard and receiving compensation, they hope the enterprise can provide a peaceful sky and gain full respect, seeking a sense of belonging and feeling like family. Please, distributor friends, think carefully: see if you treat employees other than your own family as part of the enterprise, trusting and identifying with them as you would your own family.
2. The best talent is not necessarily the most suitable
The rapid economic development and fast-paced social progress have allowed humanity to enjoy the fruits of economic and technological development like never before. Humanity has never lived so comfortably, and the world has never been so close. It is we humans who create all this, and the elite among humans, i.e., talent, naturally become hot commodities. Please allow me to use the word "commodity." Commodities are products of natural market circulation; barter or monetary exchange is the essence and premise of commodity circulation. The environment and soil that talent needs possess the attributes of commodities themselves, so calling them commodities is not inappropriate.
Since talent is a commodity, it is normal for it to have a price and value. If you fancy a liquid crystal TV and want to take it home from the mall, paying for it is a matter of course. A 42-inch and a 54-inch will definitely not be the same price. You cannot deny that high quality and high price are, to a certain extent, a truth. Therefore, if you want to watch a 54-inch LCD TV, you are destined to pay more money. This is like talent: good talent is always more expensive. On the one hand, they have high requirements for themselves and do not allow themselves to depreciate; on the other hand, a good educational background, rich work experience, and the ability to create value give them reason to be high quality and high price. Generally, when people buy goods, they essentially meet some need: TV solves entertainment needs, and talent solves enterprise development needs.
But distributor friends, have you ever thought about a question? Is a 10-square-meter room suitable for placing a large rear-projection TV or a large-screen LCD TV? The starting point is fine; everyone wants to enjoy a better life. It is not a question of whether you can afford it or need it, but from a practical standpoint, a 10-square-meter room is simply not suitable. Forcing it would only harm your eyes and make the room seem smaller; I cannot think of any other benefits.
This is the same as hiring in a company. Everyone wants to use the best talent, hoping they will rejuvenate the company, bring it back to life, or take it to the next level. But have you considered that talent is not innate; it is shaped and tempered by the environment. Their growth carries distinct corporate characteristics and personal traits. Here, I advise distributor friends to remember to tailor the clothes to fit. The most suitable talent is the best. When introducing talent, you must consider which development stage your company is in. Do not overspeed. Talent that performed brilliantly in other companies may not create the best value for you.
3. Trust is more important than salary
Trust and being trusted are both joyful things. The ancients said, "A scholar dies for a confidant," which is a spiritual need beyond material limits. In fact, this is exactly the same as the sense of belonging and identity emphasized by modern enterprises. While employees work for the enterprise and receive compensation, they hope to gain respect, recognition, and belonging. All of this comes from trust: the enterprise believes in the loyalty and creativity of employees, and employees believe in the development prospects of the enterprise.
Distributors have weathered market storms and bloody battles, and their success is hard-won. Therefore, they do not allow their victory fruits to be stolen. Guard-style management naturally becomes the management method adopted by many distributor enterprises. In fact, they find it difficult to establish true trust in anyone in the company, and even more so in new employees. In contrast, foreign companies believe that employees who can pass interviews are good employees. Sound corporate systems allow them to dare to delegate authority and fully mobilize employees' initiative, letting them create maximum value. Once employees leave, foreign companies will proactively review whether they have done something wrong that caused employees not to do well or to leave. This concept is true trust in a real sense and a concrete manifestation of institutionalization, standardization, and process orientation.
Distributor enterprises often arbitrarily judge employees' work enthusiasm and ability by whether they voluntarily work overtime or do not rest. In fact, this is absolutely a misunderstanding. Rest is first of all a right that workers should enjoy. Moreover, can frequent overtime be interpreted as low effective work efficiency during the day? If you judge employees' effort by how much overtime they work or whether they rest, then wouldn't those who are inefficient and need overtime to complete normal work all be good employees? In essence, this is the thought of distrust at work. Due to distrust of employees, they are afraid that employees will not work hard, afraid that they will take their money and not do the work well. They wish employees would work every day, and preferably work more and get paid less. There are not a few distributors with this mindset. But if you are a distributor with an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan, please do not think in this way anymore. You must first establish a sense of trust in your employees. This comes from your definition of the corporate mission: do you want to make more money, or do you want to make money while ensuring your company's longevity? This determines how big your company can become, what kind of manufacturers you can cooperate with, and whether you can transform from a distributor into an entrepreneur with real assets in the future.
In fact, many companies do not offer the highest salaries in the industry, but they have a group of employees who have followed them for many years. This stems from mutual trust between the boss and employees. Let me share a sentence with distributor friends: It is scary when your opponent tries to poach your employees with double salary, but if it is less than that, give your employees a bit more trust.
4. "Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs" also requires timing
In ancient times, there was a man who liked eating eggs, so he raised a chicken. The chicken laid one egg a day, but the man felt it was not enough. He thought the chicken laid eggs too slowly, so he killed the chicken hoping to get more eggs. To his disappointment, there were only a few unformed eggs in the chicken's belly. Many times, haste makes waste.
Companies often impatiently introduce talent they believe can quickly turn things around, then impatiently wait for the talent to create miracles. When they become impatient, they part ways and continue the next round of talent hunting. According to statistics, the honeymoon period between talent and a company is six months. In other words, if the expected results are not achieved within six months, it is time for the talent and the company to clash and possibly leave.
Distributor enterprises make a mistake here. First, they overestimate the role of talent. Talent is indispensable for enterprise development, but they are not omnipotent. Supermen who save the world are not everywhere, and even Superman needs a place to survive. Second, the enterprise is not clear about what kind of talent it really needs, or is not clear about its development prospects. When they feel the need for talent, they go to recruit and poach. After the enthusiasm fades and calm returns, they find they have taken a detour. Third, the talent recruited by the enterprise is not given the rights, growth space, and soil they deserve. The sense of urgency and guard-style management make new employees feel suffocatingly oppressed. Under such circumstances, any strategy or tactic inevitably has short-term effects, and the psychology of seeking quick success and instant benefits occupies a large part.
5. Performance is important, but rules are more important
One important rule for distributors is profit maximization, and a large part of profit comes from increasing sales. Manufacturers impose increasing sales targets on distributors every year, so completing sales targets to get higher rebates becomes the goal of distributors and a powerful tool for manufacturers' regional personnel to manage distributors. There are many distributors with sales of over ten million yuan but zero institutional rules. At the end of each year, distributors have to check IOUs and count cash to know whether they made a profit or loss that year. The talent introduced almost always writes lengthy management systems and processes, but in the end, very few are actually implemented.
Years of experience dealing with distributors tell me that the growth and expansion of an enterprise is not achieved overnight. Every successful enterprise must undergo painful rebirth. We see too many distributors who, after many years, are still a husband-and-wife team fighting alone; too many distributors who have reached annual sales of over ten million but are still a one-man band, then stagnate for years, barely maintaining existing sales and finding it hard to grow; and even too many distributors who were once brilliant but flashed by like meteors in their regions, surpassed by many latecomers.
If distributors want to become bigger and stronger in their regions, they must pay attention to a certain "Tao" in both hiring and market operations. The Tao of heaven, the Tao of humanity, and the Tao of business are indispensable, and this is also a rule.
Your vision determines your future. "Look far with a broad view." Distributor friends, broaden your horizons, widen your hearts, and refine your management! Finally, let me share a sentence with you: Service is the beginning of management and marketing, not the end.
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