At the start of this year, I joined a southern food group as an FMCG beverage salesperson, working in townships with second-tier distributors. There wasn't much substance to it, and I won't bore you with the details. After six months of various hardships, I was transferred back to the city and assigned to District A. District A had gone through five salespeople in a year without any success! With over 130 outlets, after four days of visits, I could only sell about 30 cases a day. Honestly, I felt like I was cursed—would I become the sixth?

I asked about the situation and how to solve it. My supervisor said, "Dabing, let me be honest with you: any problem you can think of exists there! I don't know how to fix it either! But I'll give you the green light and provide any special support you need." After my tough months in the countryside, I had learned some problem-solving methods online, so I stayed calm and didn't rush. Later, I thought that if I hadn't had that FMCG experience in the countryside and had played by the usual rules, I would definitely have become the sixth!

After two days of analysis, I got to work. I took out my best HANY suit, carried a briefcase, styled my hair, and brought a buddy. We both wore suits and ties, with shoes polished to a shine. This wasn't the look of a salesperson—even a provincial manager wouldn't dress like this! That was the effect I wanted, because this visit wasn't about making sales!

"Hello, boss! Wishing you prosperity. I'm Dabing, assistant to the general manager of the market supervision department for Region B of [Company]. Thank you for your support! I'd like to take two minutes for a market survey. Due to two consecutive quarters of declining sales in this city, we're here to investigate. How is the sales staff's service? How is the delivery service from [Company]? ... Please give us your valuable feedback."

Guess what happened? As soon as I finished speaking, over 90% of the store owners burst out like a flood, rattling off a long list of complaints.

"Look, I have dozens of bottle caps for prize redemption, but the salesperson won't redeem them!"

"They promised me fees, and I displayed the products nicely, but when the salesperson changed, they didn't honor it, so I took them off the shelves!"

"Change the distributor—they haven't delivered in a week!"

"Your products aren't selling well now! Look, these are expired. The salesperson said they'd replace them, but then never came back!"

"I'll sell only when you pay me the fees I'm owed!"

...

Every problem you could imagine was there!

While I was talking, my buddy pretended to inspect the products. When the store owners vented, he pretended to take notes. After they finished venting, I said:

"We've visited several stores, and the feedback is similar. Many areas haven't been handled well, which is a failure in our company's supervision. I'll report the situation to the provincial office and strive to resolve the issues as soon as possible...!"

I did this for three purposes.

First: to understand the market situation firsthand; any decision detached from reality won't work.

Second: to vent the store owners' anger; this is the principle of traditional Chinese medicine.

Third: to build my own image. This laid the foundation for future visits, where store owners would trust that I could solve problems.

The following Monday, I officially started visiting.

"Hello, boss! Wishing you prosperity! Last week, I compiled the survey issues and, incorporating your feedback, submitted them to the provincial office. Approval will take some time, and there's no suitable person to serve you yet. If you don't mind, I'll temporarily take over as your salesperson and set a benchmark for the company here. Please look after me in the future!"

Almost all store owners were surprised and treated me with respect. I opened my notebook:

"You see, last time at your store, I noted several issues. Here's my proposed order of resolution: let's first handle the expired products. Let me take a photo, then we'll dispose of them, and I'll give you cash at wholesale price or exchange for new products (depending on the situation; for a dozen or so bottles, I'll handle it on the spot). For the bottle caps, it's the same—I'll issue an order, and the delivery person will bring products for exchange. As for the fees owed to you, I need to verify them one by one with the manufacturer and the distribution company; there are many procedures involved (so I'll stall for now). Please give me some time. We'll tackle the easy ones first and solve them one by one. How does that sound?"

Most would say, "Solve what you can; it's fine."

"Do you need to restock anything? If not, I'll take my leave and visit you next week!"

"Many products have been sold out for a while. They're still sellable, but I'm just angry and don't want to sell. You can replenish that one for me."

"You see, you're out of this, and only a few bottles of that are left. The company currently has a promotion: buy 7 cases and get 1 free. How about rounding up to a full set?" I could usually get a 7+1 deal. For popular items in good locations, they'd order two or three cases, and I'd say, "That's not cost-effective. This product sells well and is profitable. Why not take a 10+1 deal? It's more economical!" That usually worked.

This was the first time, so I remembered not to be greedy. It's best not to push too hard, or all intentions would be exposed. I had to go with the flow and not force it. If they were satisfied, restocking was natural. Later, when the relationship was good, I could push more stock. Because our products have substitutes, they're not essential like Red Bull.

After four days of visits, I sold over 1,800 cases—ten times the previous salesperson's order volume!

With these sales, all the bottle caps and expired products were replaced. The distributor paid out of pocket to exchange them. It was simple: the distributor valued the market. I had already helped him earn money, and replacing the expired drinks and prize caps on the market wouldn't cause much loss. The money comes from the sheep's wool; if you can't sell the products and haven't made money first, the distributor won't exchange anything! The bottom line was no loss.

By the second month, when I gave orders to store owners for confirmation, they'd say, "Why check? Just fill it in as you see fit!"

Business went smoothly, and I had time to interact with other salespeople. It scared me. Why was the market doing poorly? These guys would clock in at the company in the morning, then find a place to play mahjong. After lunch, they'd slowly go out, rarely visiting small stores, and after pushing a load of stock, they wouldn't check for three months. They were thick-skinned with familiar faces, pushing stock at busy stores and making promises at weak ones, then not returning for six months or more until they needed to replenish, and then they'd ask colleagues to help. I couldn't learn their gift of gab that could talk the birds out of the trees!

My supervisor asked me to share my experience at a meeting. I said maybe I looked honest, and I didn't know why they gave me face, or perhaps they happened to be out of stock. Actually, I didn't want to share because there were many senior salespeople with narrow minds who were jealous of talent; playing dumb was a good way to protect myself from being ostracized.

Later, after I left, my supervisor visited that area, and store owners asked him, "Where's your general manager's assistant, Dabing? Will he come back?" My supervisor suddenly realized and called me: "You rascal! No wonder you refused to carry a backpack and used a rolling suitcase instead, and dressed in a suit and tie for FMCG. You played it well—everyone thought you were a manager, and they don't give me any face!"

2017 (3rd) FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in November 2017. The conference will focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecosystem," inviting 1,000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to explore new chapters of cross-industry integration!

Click the link below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences:

2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum

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