In September 2013, I joined a southern food group as an FMCG beverage salesperson, working in townships as a sales rep for secondary distributors. There's no real substance to that; I'll skip the rambling. After six months of hardship, I was transferred back to the city and assigned to District A. District A had gone through five salespeople in a year without success! Visiting over 130 outlets over four days, I could only move about 30 cases a day. Honestly, I felt, "Why am I so unlucky? Will I be the sixth?"

I asked my supervisor about the situation and how to solve it. He said, "Dabing, to be honest, any problem you can think of is there! I don't know how to fix it either! But I'll give you a green light; I'll give special consideration to whatever you need!" After months of tough township experience and learning problem-solving methods online, I stayed calm and unhurried. Looking back, if I hadn't had that FMCG experience in the countryside and had played by the usual rules, I would 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 a salesperson's getup; 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! Good business! 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's the service from our salespeople? How's the delivery service from [Company]? ... Please give us your valuable feedback."

Guess what? The moment I finished speaking, over 90% of the store owners burst out with a flood of complaints.

"Look, I have dozens of bottle caps for redemption, and the salesperson won't honor them!"

"They promised me fees, and I displayed everything nicely, but when the new salesperson came, they didn't recognize it, so I took it all down!"

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

"Your products aren't selling well now! Look, this is expired, and the salesperson said they'd replace it, but then never came back!"

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

...

Every problem you could imagine was there!

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

"We've visited several stores before this, and the feedback is similar. Many areas haven't been handled well, and that's our company's oversight failure. I'll report this to the provincial office and work to resolve it as soon as possible...!"

I did this for three reasons.

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 image. This laid the foundation for them to trust that I could solve problems when I visited later.

The following Monday, I officially started my visits.

"Boss, good business! Here's the thing: last week, I compiled the survey issues and, incorporating your feedback, submitted them to the provincial office. Approval takes time, and there's no suitable person to serve you right now. If you don't mind, I'll step in as your salesperson and set a benchmark for the company here. Please look after me in the future!"

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

"You see, last time, I noted down your issues. Here's my plan: let's handle the expired products first. Let me take a photo, then we'll dispose of them, and I'll pay you in cash at wholesale price or exchange for new products (depending on the situation; if it's within a dozen bottles, I'll handle it on the spot). For the bottle caps, same thing—I'll write an order, and the delivery person will bring products to exchange. As for the fees owed to you, I need to check with the manufacturer and the distribution company one by one; there are many processes (I'll stall on this). Please give me some time. We'll start with the easiest and most immediate issues 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!"

"I've been out of stock for a while. The products sell, but I'm just angry and don't want to sell. Add one case of that product for me."

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

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, not force it. If they were satisfied, restocking was natural. Later, with better relationships, I could push more stock. Because our products have substitutes; they're not necessities like Red Bull.

After four days of visits, I moved over 1,800 cases—ten times what the previous salesperson had ordered!

With these sales, I replaced all the bottle caps and expired products. The distributor paid for the replacements out of pocket. It was simple: the distributor saw the market potential. I'd already made money for him, and replacing expired drinks and redemption caps in the market wouldn't cause much loss. The money comes from the market; if you can't sell, and you ask the distributor to replace before making a profit, forget it! The bottom line is not to lose money.

By the second month, when I wrote orders for store owners to confirm, they'd say, "What's to check? Just write what you think is right!"

Business went smoothly, and I had time to interact with other salespeople. It scared me. Why was the market failing? These guys would clock in in the morning, then head off to play mahjong. After lunch, they'd slowly go out, rarely visiting small stores, and after pushing stock, they wouldn't check for three months. They were thick-skinned and would push stock hard at popular spots, make promises elsewhere, and push products out. They'd only restock after six months or more, and then they'd ask colleagues to help. I couldn't learn their gift of gab that could charm birds from the trees!

My supervisor asked me to share at a meeting. I said maybe I looked honest, and I didn't know why they gave me face; perhaps they happened to be out of stock. Actually, I wasn't unwilling to share, but there were many senior salespeople in the company who were petty and jealous. 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 assistant general manager Dabing? Will he come back?" The supervisor suddenly realized and called me: "You rascal! No wonder you wouldn't carry a backpack to work and used a rolling suitcase instead, and dressed in a suit and tie for FMCG. You played it well; everyone thinks you're the manager, and they don't give me any face!"

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