Click to read the original text for details An industry expert once said: "In the FMCG industry, everyone talks about 'distribution rate.' In fact, the premise of distribution rate is 'visit rate.' Visit rate is the cause, and distribution rate is the effect." Discussing distribution rate without considering visit rate is putting the cart before the horse. The visit rate, a key metric, is often forgotten, a common mistake in the marketing world. In fact, many distributors I know overlook this crucial indicator. Today, let's discuss how to achieve sales growth through a scientific visit rate. A few days ago, a boss called me. He said his company does 50 million yuan a year with 20 vehicles and 20 salespeople. I calculated that each vehicle's daily output is 8,000 yuan. But what about the depreciation and wear and tear of these vehicles? Such costs are obviously too high. In my own company, each vehicle's daily output is around 50,000 yuan, a difference of seven or eight times. Similarly, I have another friend who is a salesperson; with 40 million yuan, they only use 6 people and 6 vehicles. This data tells us that distributor bosses must firmly let salespeople do visit sales. So how to scientifically arrange visit sales? And how to manage salespeople? We'll divide this into two parts. 01 Scientific Visit Design and Planning We need to understand the significance of scientific visits. Because every distributor has hundreds or thousands of customers, and these customers vary in size. It's unrealistic to treat every customer equally and visit them regularly. Therefore, designing a scientific visit plan is an important prerequisite for improving visit efficiency. Below, we'll see how to design a scientific visit plan. 1) Classify Customer Types First, before visiting, classify customers. The frequency of customer visits should be determined by customer sales volume. Sales volume varies across channels, but within the same channel type, it is often proportional to store size. So we can classify customers based on channel and store area. For example, the following chart: This is a grading standard for a distributor specializing in grain, oil, rice, and flour, based on the customer's channel and store area. Distributor friends can use this as a reference. 2) Set Visit Frequency Based on Customer Type With customer classification and grading, consider setting visit frequency based on customer level. Why set visit frequency? Because salespeople have limited energy, and business requires cost control. Personnel costs are often the largest expense. Scientifically setting visit frequency for different customer levels can reduce unnecessary personnel while ensuring business efficiency, thereby controlling costs and improving profitability. Here's another table for reference. For example, some customers have stores of 50 square meters, some 70 square meters. Some small stores mainly sell beverages and snacks, rarely selling grain and oil, occasionally selling small items like condiments and dried noodles. For such small stores, salespeople should be required to reduce restocking frequency. With smaller areas and less foot traffic, a visit every four weeks might be set to save personnel energy and costs. For high-traffic supermarkets and other channels, salespeople need to visit 2-3 times a week, or even daily during special periods. 3) Divide Visit Routes Based on Salesperson's Responsible Area After determining the visit frequency for each customer, it's also necessary to design visit routes to improve efficiency. In a market, customers won't gather for you to visit, so we must scientifically divide salespeople's responsible areas and visit routes. Visit routes need to be extremely detailed, even specifying morning and afternoon routes. This is because reasonable routes greatly reduce logistics delivery radius, improve efficiency, and save fuel. With clear routes, there's clear responsibility division; each salesperson is responsible for their own route. One of my salesperson friends delivers to over 40 stores at peak times because he follows scientific routes, greatly improving efficiency. Scientific customer classification, visit frequency, and route setting are like a compass, giving the sales team a clear direction, telling them what to do daily and weekly, and just follow the plan. Remember, with standard work methods, execution is the most efficient. 02 No Rules, No Standards: Management Systems Determine Success Scientific visit design gives salespeople clear work plans, but there's still a headache for most bosses: how to ensure salespeople execute the plan and complete the work? We all know that salespeople work dispersed outside, making management difficult. Take a real case I encountered: once I drove past a park and saw one of my salespeople playing with his child. I called him and asked where he was. He said he was at a certain customer's place. I told him I was nearby and would come over. He then said he had something to do and was leaving the store soon. Eventually, I exposed him. I believe many of you have similar situations with your salespeople. It's hard to control and manage them during visits, a common worry for every distributor. If not managed strictly, salespeople might use work time for personal matters. Even an average salesperson, if fully committed to work, can perform excellently. So management is important. What does management rely on? Yes, on systems. Only reasonable and strong systems can make the team more effective. How to formulate a customer visit management system for salespeople and department managers? Refer to the following business visit assessment system from a company: Business visit trajectory time assessment (assessment tools: modern channels use "Yijiaren," traditional channels use "Yifenxiao") Method: Check in upon arrival, check out upon departure; 1. Traditional channel personnel: Morning check-in: Arrive at the planned store in the area by 8:20; leave the last store after 15:30 in urban areas; after 15:00 in townships; 2. Modern channel personnel: Morning check-in: Arrive at the planned store by 8:30; leave the last store after 15:30; 3. Catering channel: Morning check-in: Arrive at the planned store by 8:20; leave the last store after 15:30 in urban areas; take photos (with time-stamped watermark) in the "Catering Terminal Group" in the order of customer visits: "storefront + self" 4. Work status determination: Late by 90 minutes or early departure by 90 minutes is considered half a day of absenteeism! Late by 180 minutes or early departure by 180 minutes is considered a full day of absenteeism! For CL stores, staying more than 30 minutes, and for modern channels, staying more than 90 minutes, requires valid reporting in the attendance group. No reporting is considered absenteeism; if travel time exceeds 30 minutes, valid reporting is required. No reporting is considered absenteeism; valid reporting standards are: watermark photo time + self + scene proof + explanation. 5. Visit assessment: Traditional business personnel must visit no fewer than 90 customers per week; catering channels no fewer than 50 per week; a fine of 10 yuan per missed visit per week. Assessed weekly (sick or personal leave reduces accordingly). Such an assessment system is relatively complete. As long as dedicated personnel are arranged to check and execute, you can basically control the sales team's reasonable work plan. Why is the management system so important? Let me give another example: A salesperson in a branch office failed to take photos as required one day, so he was fined. He explained that others saw him working, but since he was in the branch, the clerk couldn't verify it, so I punished him according to the system. In the short term, this salesperson or a few people in the branch might think it's harsh, but in the long run, it's definitely beneficial; everyone will comply with the management system. For a company to scale up, it must strictly enforce the management system. After determining the assessment system, data analysis of actual situations is needed, and strict systems for rewards and punishments should also be established (specific reward and punishment systems based on your company's situation and employee income). Through data analysis, identify the 30 customers with the worst monthly activity and the 30 with the worst sales for each salesperson. With data, we can clearly know which channels and customers need attention and adjust visit plans promptly. In execution, department managers spot-check visits to see if salespeople skip stores; if so, punish according to the system. Finally, don't forget to set up a customer complaint hotline. Because salespeople are relatively free, sometimes they might do small tricks. So I suggest distributors leave a complaint hotline in a visible place at the customer's location. This way, customers can reach you if the salesperson's service is inadequate or if they can't find the salesperson when they need goods. It's also a form of supervision for salespeople. In this regard, I always prepare business cards and personally give them to customers, ensuring all customers have the opportunity to complain. Now, the development of mobile internet facilitates our management. We can use online software like DingTalk to monitor salespeople's locations in real-time, making such management systems executable. We should utilize management tool backend data, designate dedicated personnel to check salespeople's visit execution daily, issue reports, publish daily, and punish daily. The formulation of systems is for strict execution. I suggest having dedicated personnel for checking. Only executed management systems are truly effective. On this basis, consider improving and perfecting the system. Of course, during execution, if loopholes are found, supplement them promptly. Over time, your management system will become more and more complete. Today's content mainly covers these two areas. Every distributor should value the visit rate. On one hand, a scientific visit plan; on the other hand, a management system with strong execution. Combined, they can achieve efficient visit sales and ultimately sales growth. The author of this article, Mr. Li Feng, General Manager of Anshan Hongye Hengda Trading Co., Ltd., will be a speaker at the "2022 (7th) China FMCG Channel Innovation Conference" held by New Distribution in Chengdu from August 31 to September 2. He will focus on interpreting and analyzing the "Nine Pain Points of Distributor Business" and provide corresponding solutions and paths. Interested friends should not miss this conference. -END-