The following 'Ten Sins' were summarized by a manufacturer's salesperson with years of experience in communicating with distributors. It must be noted that this article is not intended to offend or insult distributors, but rather to summarize the thorny and difficult issues that arise during cooperation between companies and distributors, so as to avoid them appropriately in future cooperation and make the 'marriage' between both parties more pleasant and effective. Of course, the occurrence of these problems is not solely due to distributors; it is also related to the quality and service level of many mixed manufacturers themselves. The editor may later publish a 'Ten Sins of Manufacturers' for self-examination.

Sin 1: Bullying the Supplier Due to Size 'Bullying the supplier due to size' is a common mentality. Large distributors demand more and more from manufacturers, leaving manufacturers passive and led by the nose. They demand lower purchase discounts, high-end product demonstration meetings, strong market personnel, higher year-end rebates, more freebies, and so on. Many manufacturers, in order to please distributors, cater to their every need, naturally neglecting service and brand building.

Sin 2: Over-Reliance on the Manufacturer A company executive said: 'When distributors choose products, they often use the support you provide as the criterion, rarely considering core factors like product vitality and quality.' They ask the manufacturer for everything: policies, personnel support, promotional activities. In short, they want the manufacturer to bear all market needs. Yet manufacturers can never fully satisfy distributors' demands. As a result, many small manufacturers, once they grow stronger, consider replacing their current distributors.

Some distributors operate the market alone, juggling multiple roles: boss, salesperson, beauty consultant. For example, a distributor of a certain brand in Yunnan has monthly sales of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, but only one person serves the market. When the manufacturer asks him to hire more staff, he always laments 'can't find good talent.' Such distributors rely on a good product to secure stable customers, while requiring the manufacturer to send personnel year-round to help with the market, while they reap the benefits without effort.

For large brands, market management levels are typically divided into director, brand manager, regional manager, and beauty consultant. These people have varying degrees of power. Distributors may build relationships with them to jointly request policies from the company or seek special treatment, affecting the orderly operation and management of the entire market.

Sin 3: Whoever Offers the Most Is the 'Mother' 'Whoever offers the most is the mother' is a common trait among many distributors. They promote products from whoever offers the highest rebates, best policies, or largest investment, without considering long-term issues like brand, product, promotion, customer relationships, or customer satisfaction. This results in low loyalty to manufacturers, severe channel member attrition, and characteristics of rapid, large-scale, and irregular loss. This not only causes many problems for manufacturers (such as inventory checks and finding new distributors), but also often leads to abrupt discontinuation or disappearance, leaking company secrets and causing enormous economic pressure.

Sin 4: Promotions That Cut Flesh to Feed Eagles Although many manufacturers spare no expense on promotions, the results are often unsatisfactory. Some industry insiders describe the current promotion craze as 'cutting flesh to feed eagles.' On one hand, operating costs increase; on the other, sales do not improve significantly. The main beneficiaries are distributors and terminal stores, as promotional items intended for customers often end up in their pockets.

Sin 5: Arbitrary Price Increases or Decreases Many distributors, after taking products, arbitrarily raise prices to increase their own profits. While this increases the distributor's intermediary profit, it makes it difficult for the manufacturer to guarantee sales volume, and monthly sales are often unsatisfactory.

Due to imperfect return and exchange mechanisms, some distributors privately lower prices, turning potentially promising brands into 'chicken ribs' (something of little value) in the local market.

Sin 6: Too Many and Mixed Brands Typically, distributors represent several or even a dozen brands. Companies naturally care about the position of their product: Is it in the first position? Is it a main push product? Distributors use this as leverage: 'If you send people to do the market, I'll cooperate; I'll push whoever offers more promotions; I'll push whoever offers higher profits; other products will be shelved.' Therefore, when seeking market distributors, companies must clarify the product's status with the distributor, whether it is a beneficial supplement to the distributor's product line, and how the distributor plans to operate the product. Some distributors take on a brand solely to prevent competing brands from entering their market.

Sin 7: Cross-Region Dumping (Channel Conflict) Cross-region dumping is currently the most thorny issue between manufacturers and distributors. There are two common types: first, dumping from non-selling areas to selling areas; second, dumping from selling areas to other markets at low prices. Some distributors engage in dumping to increase sales for rebates or out of malicious competition. Dumping on one hand causes great harm to the company's market management, leading to price chaos, disorderly competition, false sales, and reduced profits for both the company and distributors; on the other hand, it worsens the relationship between manufacturers and distributors, damages the company's image, and in severe cases, may cause the company to lose control of the market. A distributor of a certain brand in Heilongjiang is 'famous' for dumping. Although his monthly sales are only a few hundred thousand yuan, his goods spread across the three northeastern provinces. When distributors in Jilin and Liaoning hear about this Heilongjiang distributor, they often back off.

Sin 8: Not Cooperating with Manufacturer Plans The lack of active cooperation with market plans is a headache for many manufacturers. Manufacturers carefully prepare for promotional activities, but distributors respond passively. They say: 'You can do promotions, but you send people, bring gifts, and we'll provide the venue.' They also demand that giveaways be distributed by them; otherwise, they resist or refuse to cooperate. When manufacturers require detailed terminal customer information to strengthen promotion management, they often face refusal.

Sin 9: Lack of Long-Term Cooperation Planning Modern marketers emphasize the importance of resource integration. If beneficial resources are artificially destroyed, triggering unnecessary vicious competition, it is detrimental to both the brand and the market. There is a balance of interests between manufacturers and distributors. Once this balance is broken, partners may turn into competitors, which is an outcome that truly strategic companies do not want to see.

A certain new brand, leveraging the distributor's resources and operational experience, quickly became popular within two years and became a well-regarded brand. To continue stabilizing the market, the manufacturer did not forget the distributor's hard work. They adopted a brand-sharing strategy, forming a joint venture with the distributor, cross-shareholding, granting the distributor autonomy in the regional market, making them permanent owners of the brand, truly achieving a win-win strategic shift where both become brand owners.

However, more manufacturers rely on distributors to develop markets. Once cooperation problems arise, they often set up local offices to replace distributors. On one hand, distributors demand the most favorable conditions from manufacturers; on the other hand, they have no long-term brand-building plans. Due to a lack of human resources and capital, they do not keep promises even while requiring strong manufacturer support, which easily leads to cooperation failure.

Sin 10: Short-Term Behavior Some large distributors have good networks, but their behavior towards many new products is short-term. They often use strategies from big brands to stabilize the network, then make a quick profit from new brands. In two or three months, they build up a brand locally, push it to its peak, and then shelve it, causing the manufacturer's performance to plummet. Even if the market and friendship are withdrawn, it is not easy, because others will say: 'This brand was ruined by so-and-so.' Thus, a potentially promising brand becomes a 'chicken rib' locally, and the distributor will look for new brands to 'play' with.

Therefore, when seeking distributors, companies should not blindly look for large ones, but rather see where they place your brand—whether it is a main push or an incidental one. If the positioning is wrong, even a large network will not bring benefits.

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