Distributors have always focused on three things in their careers: managing people, reaching end consumers, and making money. But the environment distributors operate in is constantly changing. From the past, when they could simply make phone calls from home to sell products, to now, where they need to lead teams and drive into the market. Behind this shift is the reality that China's FMCG industry has moved from an incremental market to a stock market. Relying on products to make money, management to handle people, and channels to reach end consumers, yet the proliferation of homogeneous products is squeezing distributor profits; low employee income makes retention difficult; and channel saturation makes terminal maintenance increasingly tiring. In a highly competitive market, distributors need to find a path suitable for their own development. In the future, they will earn not 'opportunity profit' but 'management profit'. Recently, the national distributor conference organized by Want Want Group's Marketing Division II's independent brand, Food Tech Research (食技研), was held in Nanning, Guangxi. This was the third of eight investment promotion meetings nationwide. This meeting was not just about new product recommendations, policy briefings, and distributor payments. More importantly, through the presentations by the Food Tech Research team, it aimed to help distributors upgrade their management at a deeper level. Choosing the right product is the source of distributor profit At the meeting, Food Tech Research independently launched products targeting office workers and young consumers, such as the 'I Feed Everyone' (我喂人人) and 'No Snack, No Enjoyment' (无嗑不享) series. Both in packaging and naming, the team strives to be close to consumers and meet consumption needs in different scenarios. The eight-character motto for new product development is 'No sharpness, no push; no specialty, no do' (无尖不推, 无特不做). For distributors, good products are important, but facing intense channel competition, distribution is even more crucial. For most distributors, the traditional distribution model follows a three-tier channel, which is purely a layer-by-layer transfer of goods. If products are not strong or sell poorly, the channel can quickly become clogged, preventing real sales; if products sell well, the price system can be disrupted by wholesale channels, leading to price chaos, and no link in the chain can make money or have opportunities. Therefore, distributors need an advanced digital management system to solve issues like inventory management, stock control, fund accounts, and even salesperson KPI assessments. Managing employees, innovating management, and earning easily This time, Food Tech Research not only brought high-margin new products to distributors but also prepared a digital system specifically designed for distributor management: SOCS (Sales Operation & Coaching System). The SOCS system focuses on two key aspects to help distributors manage their regional business well. 1. Terminal management: First, it helps distributors achieve transparency in salesperson terminal store visits. From new product distribution, the system digitizes a series of actions including visits, distribution, display, expense management, and store data collection. The results of sales representatives' execution are recorded in the system, with photos taken via the system's built-in camera. After backend verification, Food Tech Research returns the market expenses advanced by distributors, making cooperation simple, clear, and efficient. 2. Improving internal management efficiency: After salespeople become familiar with the system for store visits, distributors can further use different sales models within the system (e.g., vehicle sales, order taking, credit sales, cash sales) to streamline product circulation. This covers everything from terminal orders, store deliveries, loading goods onto vehicles, inventory management, actual sales figures, to product age management, and finally provides a clear view of the distributor's product inflow and outflow. Additionally, orders can be placed directly with Food Tech Research warehouses via mobile platform. For distributors who are serious about managing their business well and aiming to grow stronger, this is truly a powerful tool for improving management. At the same time, Food Tech Research has integrated 'methods to boost performance' into the SOCS system. For regional distributors, each month is broken down into specific actionable sales tasks, all presented digitally in the SOCS system, and directly incentivized with Want Gold Coins to guide distributor salespeople to complete these tasks. As long as they work hard, they get paid. Salespeople work very hard, and traditionally, bonuses are based on performance, with little attention paid to execution quality. Food Tech Research breaks with tradition by offering substantial bonuses to encourage careful execution, guided by the system. Business coaches accompany terminal line visits to ensure optimal product display and process indicators, thereby boosting actual sales rather than pushing inventory onto distributors and then requiring salespeople to push it to terminals. This solves many traditional FMCG problems like slow sales, inventory, and capital backlog. This management system closely links Food Tech Research and distributors for mutual benefit. Most brand owners only look at results in distributor management—payment amounts, inventory pushed, new store openings, and speed of new product promotion—but do not care about the process distributors go through in these actions for the brand. The SOCS distributor management system shifts from pure result-oriented management to process-driven sales management, truly restoring product responsibility and business responsibility. Beyond rationality, the SOCS system also deeply understands human nature by incorporating gamification, making distributor salespeople willing to participate and take action. This system connects the data chain of terminals, distributors, and Food Tech Research, enabling visualization, sharing, and interaction at every node. It allows distributor salespeople to demonstrate value through action and increase income; distributor owners can clearly and timely understand the benefits each person and brand brings; and manufacturers can obtain a complete data chain from terminal outlets to distributor warehouses to company production, enabling scientific production and sales coordination, and more importantly, providing important references for product optimization and brand investment. Two-way selection: finding the right distributors Good products plus a good system do not mean it suits all distributors. Food Tech Research has its own requirements in distributor selection. In terms of software:

  1. Fully recognize that FMCG distribution is their core or important business;
  2. Fully identify with and support Food Tech Research's business philosophy;
  3. Be young, with a shared responsibility and progressive attitude; have a 'profit-seeking' business ambition;
  4. Have strong organizational and communication skills, long-term vision, and fully understand and accept the organic combination of IT and FMCG;
  5. Have sufficient goodwill and integrity in the industry, with no bad habits; In terms of hardware:
  6. Have a basic business team, not just a sedentary or pure delivery distributor; have corresponding logistics support capabilities for the business scale;
  7. Have good profitability and cash flow; no excessive bad debts or risk of bad debts;
  8. Have target BC customer group resources in the industry; What distributors value: real outlets, motivated employees, and sales management At the investment meeting, Wang Minglin, General Manager of Nanning Maichao Trading Co., Ltd., was interviewed by New Distribution. Wang told New Distribution that as a veteran distributor with over ten years of experience, he knows traditional distributors face transformation but lack brand support. At the Want Want Food Tech Research meeting, he immediately saw the value of the SOCS system. It clearly shows the real situation at sales points, allowing timely adjustments to plans, which multiplies the possibility of product sell-through; sales management indicators can be corrected and strengthened based on operating conditions, keeping salespeople proactive and optimizing actual sales opportunities and performance. The system also reduces work intensity. After a salesperson places an order, it syncs to the backend almost instantly, allowing the backend to follow up based on actual conditions with high efficiency. From upgrading Want Want products to developing high-end products that meet young consumers' needs, and then to developing the SOCS system to help distributors manage and motivate salespeople, Food Tech Research has made a splash, showing distributors a rising new brand. The process management coaching and empowerment functions of the Food Tech Research team can accelerate distributor growth.