Three Key Points for Launching New Products?

The complete flow of a product is "manufacturer-distributor-retail store-consumer", meaning distributors purchase from manufacturers, then distribute to retail stores, and finally retail stores sell the product to consumers. Completing such a channel flow means the new product has completed its launch process. In a narrow sense, new product sales are essentially the process of clearing the flow chain, and how to effectively clear the flow chain is the key to new product launch. Therefore, this article will focus on how to clear the flow chain and provide advice for distributors to effectively operate new product launches. Key Point 1: Distributors Willing to Push As a key link in new product promotion, the distributor's promotion philosophy and marketing actions significantly impact the success of a new product launch. Distributors must fully recognize the value and role of new products in their growth and development. New products not only have strong profitability but are also the best choice for optimizing product mix and enhancing operational safety, and are necessary for the survival and development of distributors. Therefore, distributors must remove obstacles to new product operations, stimulate new product sales power, and make every effort to ensure the success of new product promotion. Remove Obstacles to New Product Operations Conceptual Obstacles: Most distributors adopt new products with a trial sales attitude, lacking sufficient attention and investment, resulting in ineffective promotion measures and difficulty in opening up sales channels. When this concept dominates distributor market operations, new product sales are usually not optimistic. Therefore, distributors should either not choose new products, or once chosen, fully push them. Only when distributors have this boldness and mindset can new products be successfully promoted. When new product promotion fails, the biggest loss is borne by the distributor. Because poor new product movement not only damages retail store profits but also loses the trust of retail stores. Additionally, poor movement also dampens the enthusiasm of sales staff and reduces team cohesion and pioneering spirit. Market Risk Obstacles Distributors face two major risk mindsets: first, whether the product can open up sales channels; second, whether market investment can be recovered. Facing these two risks, first, sufficient product and market analysis must be done during the product selection process to reduce market risk. All commercial behaviors carry certain risks, and the risk and return of commercial behavior are proportional. The key is for distributors to enhance their ability to analyze and judge risks, and use systematic methods to reduce market risks in product selection. Marketing Method Obstacles New products need new methods to sell. Many distributors have operated for years and feel they have accumulated rich marketing experience, adopting various marketing strategies. Therefore, in promoting new products, distributors should not be limited to existing marketing experience but should objectively analyze and explore suitable sales models for new products. Internal Marketing Obstacles Distributor sales staff not valuing new product promotion is the most fundamental marketing obstacle. Through studying many new product launch processes, we find that many new products do not die in the market but in the hands of distributor sales staff. The sales staff's rejection of new products and lack of effort in pushing them are the biggest obstacles to successful new product promotion, which must be taken seriously by distributors. Stimulate New Product Sales Power For new product launch work, first, it must be elevated to the height of distributor operational strategy. All internal departments must make promoting new products the core work, and all company personnel must recognize that if the company fails to promote new products, it will inevitably be eliminated by the market. Second, increase the enthusiasm of sales staff. Salespeople are accustomed to selling mature products that are easy to sell because they are the simplest to sell, while new products require a selling process, requiring salespeople to introduce the product, marketing plan, profit margins, etc. to retail store owners. Therefore, special rewards must be set for new product launches to ensure the enthusiasm of sales staff, such as high commissions and high incentives for new products. Finally, distributors must ensure appropriate resource allocation, especially terminal resources, such as advertising and display fees at terminals, and accounting, warehousing, and other departments must treat new product launch as core work, because only distributors who can push new products can obtain final profits. Key Point 2: Retail Stores Willing to Sell For distributors to achieve good sales results in retail stores, they must implement two major strategies: retail store development strategy and retail store willingness to sell strategy. Retail Store Development Strategy First, identify retail stores that can sell new products. Not all retail stores are suitable for selling new products. Distributors must analyze product attributes and target consumer groups to determine which channels sell well and identify retail stores that can sell new products. This is the first and most critical step to ensure successful new product launch. Second, through surveys of terminal outlets, classify retail stores based on expected product sales volume, that is, classify the retail stores under their control according to certain standards, distinguishing the quality of terminal outlets. Generally, evaluation can be based on sales scale, location, inventory quantity, and product date codes. Finally, grasp the pace of new product retail store development. In the early stage of new product promotion, concentrate resources to develop the highest quality first-tier retail stores in the shortest time possible; then focus on developing second-tier retail stores, striving to maximize the number of terminals and create a strong terminal atmosphere; after the market sales atmosphere improves, distributors can develop third- and fourth-tier outlets as channel supplements. During development, distributors must establish the awareness that the quality of retail stores is more important than quantity. If only pursuing distribution rate unilaterally during new product promotion, the new product is doomed. Retail Store Willingness to Sell Strategy Interest, pressure, and customer relationships are the three core factors affecting retail store owners' sales. First, let retail store owners gain benefits. This requires distributors to control retail prices, ensure profit margins, formulate reasonable and effective product movement plans, ensure product sales turnover, adjust channel promotion plans in a timely manner, and design reward plans that small store owners are willing to accept to enhance their sales enthusiasm. Second, increase sales pressure on retail store owners. As the saying goes, pressure creates motivation. For distributors, this is actually a process of squeezing warehouse space and occupying funds. The key to stocking pressure lies in improving the work ability of distributor sales staff. Salespeople must establish a stocking awareness, as sales performance comes from stocking, and learn to use stocking to choke competitors' throats. Sales personnel should also have a certain momentum, dare to use promotional policies for reasonable stocking, but must adopt reasonable and appropriate methods, such as scenario description, using cumulative sales data to persuade terminal stores to stock up. Finally, enhance customer relationships with retail store owners. The core of building customer relationships is service work. Distributors must conduct regular visits to retail stores because customer relationships are generated through continuous face-to-face communication. Distributors should provide appropriate and in-place services to retail stores as much as possible, such as product returns and exchanges, timely product delivery, and training for retail store owners on sales skills. Key Point 3: Customers Willing to Buy Difficulty in movement is a problem many distributors face and urgently want to solve. "Production-sales-use" is the complete life chain of a product, but how can products smoothly move from the sales stage to the "use" mission? It is essentially solving the problem of how to make customers willing to buy. Therefore, the first issue distributors must consider is what elements drive product movement, that is, what factors influence customer purchases. After clarifying the elements customers care about most when choosing products, targeted measures can be taken to "cure the disease." First, let customers feel value for money during purchase. The completion of consumer purchase behavior requires product quality support, and consumers must feel that the product is worth the price. This requires grasping consumers' purchasing psychology, that is, "not buying cheap products, but buying products that offer a good deal." Therefore, timely and flexible consumer promotion activities will increase customers' purchase desire, such as buy two get one free, or half price for the second item. Second, do a good job in terminal display. Adhering to four core principles: best display position, placing products where consumers can see and reach them most easily; maximize product display, with full shelves and stacks; highlight new product placement, with the most profitable products in the most prominent positions; best display image, with products placed centrally and full use of promotional materials. Third, create a good point-of-sale atmosphere. The so-called point-of-sale atmosphere refers to making consumers notice new products, feel the sales heat of new products, and even be infected by the strong sales atmosphere, actively paying attention to the product. To achieve a good point-of-sale atmosphere, first fully utilize materials, such as outdoor display boards, posters, banners, display boxes, indoor display boards, triangular price tags, explosion tags, and shopping bags; in addition, implement classified execution of terminal store atmosphere creation. Among them, stores with monthly sales of 1,000 yuan are standard stores, with display requirements of top three positions and use of new product promotional materials; stores with monthly sales of at least 3,000 yuan are image stores, with display requirements of first position, and new product store signs and promotional materials; stores with monthly sales of at least 4,500 yuan are flagship stores, where new product displays must occupy a strong position, and new products should be placed in good locations, preferably in high-traffic areas, with store signs, outdoor, and indoor display boards simultaneously, and display packaging such as column wraps, box stacks, and TG end caps. Fourth, recommend through sales assistants. In supermarket-type terminal stores, in-store sales assistants are the core factor in product recommendation. Sales assistants can be full-time explicit promoters or in-store staff doing implicit promotion. At this time, strengthening the training and management of sales assistants and improving their promotion efficiency is particularly important for product movement. First, training for sales assistants mainly includes promotion knowledge training and skill training. Enterprise knowledge, product knowledge, and marketing knowledge are the foundation for their promotional activities, while behavioral skills, communication skills, and closing skills are essential for successful promotional activities. When promoters master certain promotional knowledge and skills, distributors should formulate comprehensive incentive measures, increase profit stimulation for new products, and set implicit promotion commissions above 5 yuan. Fifth, carry out promotional activities. The so-called promotional activities refer to an auxiliary sales model for product sales, conducive to rapid breakthroughs for new products. Promotional activities must be executed according to requirements to maximize effect. Promotional activities have three key points: publicity function, through on-site atmosphere creation and publicity, making customers have a certain understanding of new products; tasting sales, for food new products, tasting is the most effective movement method, letting customers personally experience; promotional function, through on-site promotional sales, letting customers experience the psychology of getting a good deal, achieving sales. Sixth, improve product freshness. Consumers are very sensitive to the date code of food products, which is an important factor affecting purchases. When a product exceeds half of its shelf life, consumers are no longer willing to buy it, and an old-date product placed at the terminal will affect the sales of 5-10 new-date products. Therefore, distributors must promptly handle the recall of old-date terminal products and always remember that the fresher the product, the better the sales. Product freshness is the fundamental basis for distributor profitability. If distributors do not adjust products with longer dates in a timely manner, the market loss will be greater, and product freshness superior to competitors is the fundamental means to increase terminal store customer relationships. So, how to improve product freshness? First, strictly implement the dynamic transfer process, strengthen sales staff's hands-on ability, transfer products from slow-selling outlets to fast-selling outlets, and accelerate product exchange and circulation; second, in terminals with sales assistants, adjust reward measures to mobilize the enthusiasm of sales assistants to sell products with longer dates, such as increasing partial commissions for sales assistants to accelerate the digestion of old-date products; third, continuously carry out promotional activities to digest old-date products, such as increasing bundle sales in B-type stores and supermarkets; finally, use special channels to digest long-date products, such as schools, factories, military, breakfast stalls, hot pot restaurants, etc., and also through gift box packaging during Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival. The three key points for successful new product launch include: self-movement, distributors willing to push; terminal movement, retail stores willing to sell; customer movement, consumers willing to buy. Doing these three key points well can effectively clear the chain, establish a highway for product flow, and thus achieve successful new product launch. _I studied financial management and have a good knowledge foundation for financial knowledge and management needed by food enterprises, especially good at enterprise operation and management. Email >>: __2447132843@qq.com_ Source: China Marketing Communication Network -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent Article Selection | 002 Distributor Market Operation | 003 Terminal Visit Management | 004 Sales Supervisor Skills | 005 Sales Improvement Techniques | 006 Channel Expansion | 007 Managing Distributors | 008 Distributor Development | 009 Distributor Internal Operations Management | 010 Team Management | 011 Efficient Distribution Techniques | 012 Sales Manager's Eighteen Skills | 013 KA Operation Methods and Strategies | 014 First Lesson for New Salespeople | 015 Internet, Brand | [Long press QR code to follow] **To join QQ/WeChat group, please click: Read Original Text