-01- Responsibility Laws

Law 1: The sales manager's duty is to make salespeople 'forced to be diligent' In ordinary companies, diligence is a commendable virtue; in excellent companies, diligence is a natural habit. Salespeople in excellent companies are initially 'forced to be diligent,' but later become habitually diligent. Most salespeople are ordinary people who want to sleep in, enjoy a drink at noon, chat online at night, or play mahjong or 'Dou Dizhu,' wasting time. Moreover, salespeople are 'far from the emperor's reach' when out in the field. Excellent managers never let salespeople 'ignore orders while away.' They have salespeople focus on the market and implement centralized management with 'morning reports and evening briefings.' Even if a salesperson slacks off, it's only for one day; even if they make mistakes, it's only for one day. If salespeople must work alone, they should still 'manage every person's every task every day.' Strict reporting and supervision systems make salespeople feel that 'although far away, the all-seeing eye of management is everywhere.'

Law 2: The sales manager's duty is to make salespeople 'forced to succeed' Excellent companies don't have all experts; they turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, making ordinary people 'forced to succeed.' Their strict hiring standards may not always attract experts, but they never hire fools. Newcomers who can't work independently after systematic training become 'sales assistants' to veteran salespeople, placed in a team to be 'watched,' not giving them a chance to make mistakes. Once newcomers become veterans, good habits are formed, and they've learned from experienced salespeople, making it hard to make mistakes. Even if they momentarily act out, the company's monitoring system quickly detects it. Excellent companies typically have a 'paperwork' system that records daily activities clearly, making it hard to play tricks. Under excellent managers, you have no chance to make mistakes or slack off. In the end, it's hard not to succeed.

Law 3: The sales manager's duty is not to cultivate a few marketing elites, but to 'let ordinary people achieve extraordinary results' Successful management doesn't assume employees are moral saints but assumes they are ordinary people. They may not have malicious intentions, but they inevitably have self-interest. Successful management doesn't plan to recruit a batch of marketing experts or elites. They know that in ordinary positions, experts or elites have only two paths: internal promotion or being poached by competitors. The truly stable sales force consists of ordinary people with average abilities. Marketing management is about getting results from these people. The above two points are the premises of marketing management. Marketing management uses institutional construction and effective supervision to make those 'inevitably self-interested' people find no opportunity to make mistakes, thus becoming 'moral models' in terms of results. Excellent managers never let salespeople 'cross the river by feeling the stones,' because many would 'fall into the river.' They provide a platform for ordinary salespeople through training, standardization, modeling, and process optimization, enabling them to achieve results beyond their inherent abilities.

Law 4: The sales manager's duty is not to rack their brains for innovation, but to discover and promote innovation Marketing innovation doesn't come from pondering in the office but from flashes of insight on the front lines. This is the source of marketing innovation for salespeople. Marketing innovation can't rely on individual flashes of insight but must become a process within the organization. This is the source of marketing innovation at the enterprise level. This is a dialectical understanding of two different levels of marketing innovation. Sales managers far from the front lines may lack the innovative flashes of salespeople. But sales managers must be adept at discovering individual innovations from salespeople and, through a certain process, turn them into enterprise-level innovations and promote them widely.

Law 5: If dealers are managed well, they are 'angels'; otherwise, they are 'devils' Some people say high-sounding phrases like 'manufacturer and dealer are one family.' It can be said that even the speakers don't believe it. But when someone says this insincerely in public, don't embarrass them. Manufacturers and dealers are close but are like lines that never intersect. Some say, 'Dealers are not gods.' Consumers are gods; dealers aren't even their spokespeople. Anyway, Chinese people don't have the religious sentiment of Westerners; 'God' is just a phrase. The reality is 'the big store bullies the customer, and the big customer bullies the store.' Whoever holds the dominant power is the god. Some say, 'Manufacturers and dealers are game opponents.' That is, they are like chess players, both interdependent and opponents. When making money from consumers, they are highly aligned; when 'dividing the spoils,' they are not. Dealers always demand: better quality, lower prices, bigger promotions, and more advertising. Some say, 'Manufacturers and dealers are like a couple in the same bed with different dreams.' Couples are bound by contract, fathers and sons by blood. Manufacturers and dealers are also bound by contract, often one where the 'contract' isn't taken seriously. What sustains a couple is 'love,' which is shared. What sustains the manufacturer-dealer relationship is 'interest,' which cannot be shared—hence, they are like a couple in the same bed with different dreams. Some say, 'Manufacturers and dealers are tools for each other.' Tools are discarded once the goal is achieved. Enterprise development is actually a process of continuously eliminating and replacing dealers. Every marketing reform will target dealers. So-called channel flattening is impossible without the determination to 'kill the big accounts.' The realistic understanding of dealers should be: if managed well, dealers are 'angels.' If managed poorly, they are 'devils.'

Law 6: Many salespeople are 'model workers turned politicians,' but be careful not to leave the 'post-model-worker syndrome' Many salespeople are promoted to sales manager not because of outstanding management ability but because of outstanding performance. Salespeople achieve results themselves; sales managers guide others to achieve results. The post-model-worker syndrome is when sales managers have too much of a salesperson complex, always treating themselves as 'super salespeople.' When they encounter salespeople who don't understand their intentions, they get anxious and want to do the work themselves, acting as the 'super salesperson' and relegating salespeople to mere helpers.

-02- Human Nature Laws

Law 7: For excellent people, management is trust. For ordinary people, trust is management For those who are self-disciplined and highly capable, management is giving them the boundaries of freedom to let them shine. The larger the boundary, the more room to excel, and the more unexpected the results. For ordinary people, management is constraining their behavior within acceptable boundaries, ensuring their actions conform to company norms.

Law 8: Humanized management is not favoritism. The greatest humanity is to make the other person succeed Humanized management doesn't mean indulging the other person and spoiling them with bad habits. The greatest humanity is to push the other person to succeed. Therefore, when punishing employees, never be soft, and tell them: 'In punishing you, I have a kind heart.' Perhaps they will resent you at the time, but soon they will thank you. Ten years later, they might still remember you. If you don't believe it, recall your school days. We've forgotten the teachers who indulged us, but we remember the strict ones.

Law 9: A successful state is an irrational state and the most dangerous state People have the lowest IQ and are most prone to mistakes in three states: being in love, being successful, and being wealthy. The low IQ during love is well-known. Mistakes made then affect life happiness. A successful state exposes all human weaknesses. Mistakes made then affect career success.

-03- Problem Laws

Law 10: Problems already discovered are no longer problems; problems not yet discovered are the most important Once you find the problem, you usually find the answer. The key is: Is the problem you found the real problem? For example, when a new product launch fails, the problem is often summarized as 'the product doesn't meet consumer needs.' This might be a false problem. The real problem might be that 'the new product was vetoed by the sales force before it even entered the market.' For example, people often think 'new product development is to meet consumer needs.' In reality, in channel sales, new product development is more about meeting dealers' profit needs. Therefore, when you rack your brain for answers, spend more effort thinking about what the real problem is.

Law 11: The instinctive reaction to a problem, even if not wrong, is usually ineffective There are no simple answers without thought; truly effective answers often lie around the corner of thinking. For example, when summarizing why a product isn't selling, people often say 'the brand isn't famous,' as if once the brand is famous, sales will be solved. This is simple instinctive thinking. With a little thought, you'll doubt this answer: all well-known brands started as unknown brands. How did they sell when their brands weren't famous? Further thought reveals: the most valuable thing to learn from excellent companies is not how they operate after success, but how they operated before success—how they went from failure to success. For example, if someone isn't doing well in a position, the instinctive reaction is to replace them. But the real problem might not be the person but the position design, because the position might be an 'impossible position' that 'only God could handle.' For example, what to do when sales decline? The instinctive reaction is to cut prices, promote, or advertise. But sales managers should consider: Who doesn't know this? Any normal adult can think of it, so such instinctive reactions are usually ineffective.

Law 12: Admitting problems requires courage; solving problems requires wisdom Finding problems isn't hard, but because problems are tied to responsibility and ability, admitting them becomes difficult. Having problems without admitting them is the biggest problem. When problems are found, the first reaction is to cover them up rather than solve them. People tend to solve problems privately rather than publicly. Meanwhile, the problem might be worsening. When admitting a problem means denying oneself, the problem is no longer just a simple problem. Whether you dare to admit problems is a true test of self-confidence. Because many lack the courage to admit problems, the following phenomenon occurs: problems are only fully exposed when a manager is transferred.

Law 13: The problem-handling process should be 'first rescue, then accountability' It's common to see serious market problems with no department or individual stepping forward to solve them. Everyone thinks: whoever steps forward might be seen as admitting responsibility. To avoid responsibility, the best way is to 'not stick your neck out.' Some companies' problem-handling procedure is: first find the responsible person; whoever caused the problem solves it. Since some problems are hard to pin on one person, or have multiple responsible parties, the process of finding the responsible person worsens the problem. The correct process should be 'first rescue, then accountability.' 'First rescue' means prioritizing customers and the market, not letting 'accountability' delay 'rescue.' ❑ Case: Most hotels have rules that guests must compensate for damaged room items; if the attendant doesn't notice, the attendant must compensate. So we often see: when the hotel demands compensation, the guest denies it, and the attendant insists the guest damaged it, leading to conflict. According to the customer-first principle, if there's no concrete evidence and the guest firmly denies it, the lobby manager should sign off. Because the attendant's thinking is: if the guest doesn't pay, I have to. Offending the guest isn't my responsibility; not noticing the problem is. So even without full evidence, they insist because it's the best way to avoid responsibility.

-04- Team Laws

Law 14: A team is a new substance formed when members blend and sublimate through chemical reactions If your team members don't divide work and cooperate, each fighting alone, even if they are all brilliant, they are not an excellent team. A true team requires each person to 'need' others and 'contribute' to others. That is, team members must 'coordinate' and be 'indispensable to each other.' Team formation is a chemical reaction, not a physical one. A volleyball team of six spikers isn't a team; a football team of eleven forwards isn't a team. Similarly, a group of salespeople fighting alone isn't a team. A team isn't just a simple aggregation of people. An effective team must have four elements: common goals (team goals take priority over personal goals; personal behavior helps achieve team goals), organizational identity (psychological identification with the team, behavioral compliance), effective organization (mutual division and cooperation), and a team leader (who commands the team's respect). Only such a team can achieve '1+1>2,' and the team's goal is precisely to achieve 'the whole greater than the sum of its parts.'

Law 15: An effective team can achieve 'one Zhuge Liang leading three cobblers is better than four Zhuge Liangs' Three cobblers will always be cobblers, never Zhuge Liangs. Zhuge Liang represents a level of excellence that cobblers can't reach even in a group. One cobbler leading three Zhuge Liangs equals four cobblers. This is like 'a soldier is brave, but a general is cowardly; one bad apple spoils the barrel.' Three Zhuge Liangs are worse than one cobbler. Without complementarity and coordination, team members' strengths can cancel out. One Zhuge Liang leading three cobblers is better than four Zhuge Liangs. A team structure can only multiply value if it meets these conditions: first, division of labor; second, complementarity; third, a pyramid structure.

Law 16: Excellent teams constantly produce talent; pay special attention to sending talent to excellent teams for training and selecting talent from excellent teams The best training is team assimilation. Being exposed to an excellent team is better than carefully designed training courses. Team leaders' hands-on guidance is the best training method.

-05- Training Laws

Law 17: Never scold subordinates as 'a bunch of idiots'; otherwise, you're the 'big idiot' If only a few subordinates are idiots, the responsibility may lie with them. If all subordinates are idiots, the responsibility lies with the manager. Calling subordinates idiots only shows you're 'blind' and can't select talent. Calling subordinates idiots only shows you can't cultivate talent; those who follow you are 'out of luck.'

Law 18: Training is not the HR department's business, nor the subordinates' business; the manager is the primary person responsible for training Parents don't shirk the responsibility of raising children, and managers shouldn't shirk the responsibility of training employees. The HR department is just the organizer of training, not the responsible department. Training is a basic function of every manager and part of their job. If training isn't done well, don't blame leaders or HR; reflect on yourself.

Law 19: The hardest part of training is not changing people's minds, but changing their behavior What determines behavior is not knowledge but habit. 'Knowing is easy, doing is hard' is always a challenge. Changing one person's habits is hard; changing a group's habits is even harder. Habits can't be solved through training alone; they require daily management correction. So, instructors can't solve the ultimate training problem; only managers can 'turn training content into corporate behavior.'

Law 20: Training doesn't increase employee loyalty; on the contrary, it may accelerate turnover When companies offer training as a reward, employees may not appreciate it. If employees' growth after training outpaces their supervisors and the company, training only accelerates dissatisfaction with the company and supervisors. Dissatisfaction accelerates turnover. Managers are the ceiling for employee growth. When employees reach the ceiling, they either stop growing or seek new growth space. Therefore, training should start with managers; train managers before training employees. Previously, sales managers might say: employees' skills are too poor; they need training. Now, sales managers should say: employees' quality is too low; managers need training.

-06- Management Laws

Law 21: Management has no 'let it go this time,' only 'take this as an example' Chinese managers are often too lenient, not punishing first-time violators or punishing lightly, then sternly saying, 'Don't do it again!' Little do they know this is a dangerous precedent. The correct approach is: punish according to company rules without compromise, and set the precedent: 'take this as an example.' Those who habitually say 'let it go this time' usually have three mindsets: first, 'Everyone makes mistakes; punishing for one mistake is too harsh'; second, 'Give them a chance to reform'; third, 'Maybe the violator didn't know the rules; it was an unintentional mistake; this lesson will make them remember.' These intentions may be good, but the consequences are terrible. The first violator is watched by all; handling the first violator sets an example. 'Let it go this time' is an example that tells people: rules are flexible; don't take them too seriously; at least the first violation isn't scary. 'Take this as an example' is also an example that tells people: don't gamble; follow the rules seriously! Otherwise, you're next.

Law 22: 'Use people without doubt; doubt people without using them.' This is an agricultural society's view. The modern commercial society's view is: 'Use people with doubt; doubtful people can be used.' People are unreliable, no matter who, including God. Years ago, Americans wrote a book called 'The President Is Not Reliable,' which merely acknowledges a basic fact of an institutional society: people are unreliable, and social mechanisms must limit and regulate their unreliable behavior. 'Use without doubt; doubt without use' essentially discusses morality and ability outside of systems and rules. In an agricultural society, this might be feasible because the radius of survival is small, and moral and ability risks are high. Modern society is a migratory society with high mobility, making it costly to determine someone is 'without doubt.' Therefore, use with doubt. At the same time, with good systems as a guarantee, 'doubtful people' can't find opportunities to exploit, and their behavior can be limited to acceptable boundaries.

Law 23: 'No excuses' might be the excuse of incompetent managers 'No excuses' implies a crucial premise: effective organizational support and effective leadership from superiors. Without this premise, simply demanding 'no excuses' from subordinates is just an excuse for incompetent leaders to shirk responsibility. Do what leaders should do first, then you have the right to demand 'no excuses' from subordinates. Don't just use 'no excuses' to brush off subordinates' objections after assigning tasks.

Law 24: Better not use execution as a shield. If subordinates lack execution, it must be that the manager lacks management and control Execution is first a goal management issue: the 'what to execute' problem. All work must be planned; all people must have goals; only do what's planned. This is the beginning of execution. Otherwise, you're asking for 'creative execution.' Execution is a management system issue. If people management can 'manage every person's every task every day,' and material management can 'manage which product is sold to whom at what price,' marketing execution naturally emerges. Execution also involves work processes. Execution isn't doing whatever you want; it's following predetermined processes and standardized procedures. Execution requires a closed-loop feedback system so managers can know at any time whether execution is truly in a healthy state. Otherwise, adjustments must be made to ensure execution. Execution also needs to address the motivation for execution. Those who execute effectively should be rewarded; those who don't execute or execute ineffectively should be punished. Execution has strict requirements for personnel quality. Employees must be willing and able. Those who 'won't do' or 'can't do' should be trained or eliminated. Execution is a management style and a leadership quality. US Secretary of State Powell is considered the most execution-oriented manager because of his firm will and perseverance. Execution needs cultural support. Haier advocates 'quick response, immediate action,' which is a positive execution culture. Too many 'let it go this time' and 'let bygones be bygones' create a negative execution culture. So, the responsibility for poor execution isn't with subordinates but with managers themselves. Or, if one subordinate fails, it might be their fault. If subordinates collectively fail, the responsibility is definitely with the manager.

Law 25: The highest level of marketing management is standardization Ordinary people think marketing is an art, only understood, not explained, and hard to replicate. Excellent managers view marketing as a science and standardize it as much as possible. Only standardized things can be replicated. Standardized things allow more people to succeed. 'Crossing the river by feeling the stones' is often misunderstood. In ordinary companies, everyone is feeling the stones, and most fall into the river, so ordinary companies have more lessons than experiences. In excellent companies, ordinary people are never allowed to feel the stones; that's the work of a few excellent ones. Once they cross, they standardize the experience, and others follow the standard, so excellent companies have many standards. Excellent companies always have many 'standard operating manuals.' When problems arise, first check the manual; if it's not there, seek supervisor support. Things like Coca-Cola's '1.5 times safety stock' and 'visit customers in clockwise order' aren't things ordinary salespeople could figure out; they are the crystallization of collective wisdom. In ordinary companies, experiences and lessons belong to individuals; in excellent companies, they belong to the corporate wealth.

Law 26: Only with inheritance is there accumulation; only with accumulation can you grow. Marketing and management need inheritance, and inheritance requires 'paperwork' When you compete with Procter & Gamble, you find you're not competing with current salespeople but with P&G's 160+ years of history. The marketing wealth accumulated over 160+ years can't be matched by younger competitors. Everyone's marketing experience is corporate wealth. Whether employees serve a company for life or leave, their experiences and lessons should be left behind. If predecessors have crossed the river, successors shouldn't have to feel the stones again. Transaction processes and sales records should be documented as 'paperwork.' With 'paperwork,' market handovers become simple, no longer relying on memory. With 'paperwork,' problems can be easily traced. With 'paperwork,' no one will say at year-end, 'I'm busy every day, but I don't know what I did.'

Law 27: The ability managers most often lack is not planning but control Planning is the primary function of management; control is the final function. Control ensures the completion of plans. What is control? Control is taking effective measures to ensure plan implementation when results deviate from the plan.

-07- Thinking Laws

Law 28: Successful managers usually 'think like outsiders, act like insiders' The basic meaning: in thinking and decision-making, dare to break through and innovate, unconstrained by traditional thinking; in specific actions, be professional and meticulous. Decision-making requires judgment, not expertise. Even if the decision-maker is an outsider, with sufficient judgment, they can effectively evaluate and decide on proposals from insiders. When entering an unfamiliar industry, you may not be an expert or understand the situation. But as long as the decision-making process is correct and you have sufficient judgment, relying on the process, you can make correct decisions. As long as you have no preconceptions and dare to ask 'why' about trivial issues, it's easy to make innovative decisions. After 3-4 years in an industry, you might feel adept at handling all problems, making decisions quickly out of habit, and losing the courage to ask 'why' about trivial issues. Previously, it was 'think like an outsider, act like an insider.' Now it's 'think like an insider, act like an insider.' Efficiency improves, but effectiveness decreases, and innovation points diminish. If the environment changes, what was insider behavior in the old environment becomes outsider behavior in the new. That's why Chen Yuxin, general manager of Huaxi Hope Group, proposed to 'always maintain an outsider's mindset.' What a thought-provoking statement!

Law 29: Successful people may not have profound knowledge, but they have unique thinking patterns Successful people are always a minority, so their thinking must not be mainstream. Whenever you think of a solution, ask yourself: 'Would others think the same way?' If yes, the solution's feasibility is questionable. Because effective solutions are usually 'unexpected but reasonable.' Marketing is a competition; competitive thinking is 'opponent thinking,' meaning the primary consideration isn't what you think but what the opponent thinks. Zhuge Liang always outsmarted others because his thinking wasn't self-centered but 'opponent-centered,' deciding strategies based on the opponent's thinking.

Law 30: To secure your position as sales manager, rather than figuring out others' thoughts, make others figure out yours If a sales manager tries to 'please both sides' between the boss and salespeople, the result is usually pleasing neither. Sales managers face pressure from two opposing forces: the boss and frontline salespeople. The boss's expectations are mainly work-related, like executing company policies and systems, supervising frontline work, and not being too lenient. Salespeople's expectations are mostly emotional, like caring for their needs and psychological satisfaction. They want the sales manager to be their spokesperson, to convey their grievances and wishes to higher-ups, and to cover up their misdeeds. The conflict from both levels focuses on the sales manager, placing them between two opposing pressures, like 'a mouse in a bellows, getting squeezed from both ends.' If the sales manager plays the 'smooth operator' or 'peacemaker,' trying to appease both superiors and subordinates, even compromising principles, the result is usually dissatisfaction from both. Anyone who survives by 'pleasing' usually ends up 'not pleasing.' If you're irreplaceable, even your boss might 'please' you. A sales manager's position is solidified not because they're liked but because they're the best fit for the role and can fulfill its duties better than others. So, instead of figuring out others' thoughts, make others figure out yours.

Final Advice: If you don't have enough charisma, be professional enough; if you're not professional enough, lead by example; if you can't even lead by example, don't be a sales manager.

Source: Teacher Liu's New Marketing A reward of 400-2000 yuan will be paid for any tip once adopted.