---
title: "What Should Leaders Look at When Visiting the Market? How? Five Steps for Terminal Inspection Process!"
description: "Before entering a store for inspection, prepare by reviewing management priorities and relevant inspection items. Check the route manual for the store owner's name, the sales rep's visit times, purchase history, and gift records. This step involves not only familiarizing with basic store information but also thinking about key products and issues to inspect. For example, if the route manual shows altered visit times, plan to verify them upon entry. If purchase records show product A hasn't been reordered for five consecutive weeks, consider checking its display and dates, watch for damaged goods, and ask the sales assistant about difficulties and reasons for slow sales."
author: "魏庆老师"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-04-22"
language: "en"
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---

# What Should Leaders Look at When Visiting the Market? How? Five Steps for Terminal Inspection Process!

> Before entering a store for inspection, prepare by reviewing management priorities and relevant inspection items. Check the route manual for the store owner's name, the sales rep's visit times, purchase history, and gift records. This step involves not only familiarizing with basic store information but also thinking about key products and issues to inspect. For example, if the route manual shows altered visit times, plan to verify them upon entry. If purchase records show product A hasn't been reordered for five consecutive weeks, consider checking its display and dates, watch for damaged goods, and ask the sales assistant about difficulties and reasons for slow sales.

**Preparation Before In-Store Inspection**
Manage what you inspect; think about recent management priorities and related inspection items in the store. Check the route manual to know the store owner's name, the sales rep's recorded visit times, purchase history, and gift order records.
In this step, besides familiarizing with basic store information, the supervisor should think about which products and issues need focused inspection. For example: altered visit times in the route manual—think about rechecking visit times upon entry. Purchase records showing product A hasn't been reordered for five consecutive weeks—think about checking product A's display and dates, beware of damaged goods, ask the sales assistant about difficulties, and why the store isn't moving stock.
**Greeting, Handling Complaints, and Resolving Issues**
"Hello boss, I'm the business manager from [Company] (first clarify identity). I'm here today to see how the market is doing and how products are selling. Any problems? If there are, just tell me. I came specifically to understand product sales and any service shortcomings from our sales reps or distributors. I'll do my best to help resolve any issues." (The first contact focuses on breaking the ice; don't make them feel you're there to inspect, but to serve.)
 **Thinking:**
In this step, the terminal may raise strong complaints, such as "Our display rewards haven't been honored," "The boxes you delivered were short two bags, and the sales rep keeps making excuses," or "New products just don't sell." The supervisor should consider: Is this an isolated case requiring individual handling, or a common issue needing a management project?
Distributor management: For example, how to manage distributor delivery quality, and how to penalize distributors for untimely complaint handling.
Personnel management: For example, manage our sales reps to immediately fill out a "Terminal Complaint Registration Form" upon receiving complaints, follow the complaint handling process to prevent such incidents; adjust visit frequencies for problem stores and key stores.
Policy management: For example, give sales reps certain authority to handle complaints on the spot within limits; adjust new product display, promotions, and terminal pricing policies to boost new product turnover; find opportunity products and outlets that can move stock, focus on distribution and visits.
**Verify Sales Rep Honesty**
"Does our sales rep visit often? Do you remember his name? Did you receive the gifts? What day does he come? Did he come yesterday? Morning or afternoon?" If you find "suspicious signs," follow up thoroughly. If one store reports discrepancies between visit times, gift records, and route manual records, check surrounding stores in detail. If several stores show discrepancies, you can "file a case, interrogate, and judge" the sales rep.
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring punishment and correction of individual behavior, or a common issue?
Distributor management: If terminal visits are mainly done by distributor personnel, should we get involved in assessing distributor staff, requiring them to visit door-to-door regularly, and coach distributors to inspect their employees?
Personnel management: For example, pressure supervisors to strengthen management, or introduce management systems or projects to fill management gaps.
**Compare and Evaluate Our Terminal Visit Rate**
"Which manufacturer's sales rep visits you more often? Which phone number do you call for orders?" If terminals call our sales reps for orders, it indicates the distributor is idle at home, only handling deliveries.
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring assignment, or a common issue? If we are losing overall in visit frequency to competitors, the supervisor should think about how to improve.
Distributor management: For example, push distributors to add staff and vehicles for terminal visits, increase sub-distributors, push distributors to build teams for outbound marketing, and have terminal order calls go to distributor phones.
Personnel management: For example, increase our staff's visit volume; adjust terminal tiered visit frequencies; remove ineffective small stores and increase visits to key stores.
**Inspect In-Store Sales Drivers**
Check distribution codes: Look for opportunities to improve product mix. Tell the sales rep, "I helped you place the items you missed during my inspection. Do you need me to handle your store? That means you missed an order!" For terminals that don't close immediately, the manager notes on the customer's purchase record card to remind the sales rep to add items on the next visit.
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: How to get distributors involved in improving distribution performance? For example, set up distributor distribution reward projects, persuade distributors to sell on credit to key stores.
Personnel management: If sales reps generally have incomplete distribution items, how to use distribution leverage to improve performance?
Product line management: For example, compare with competitors and consumer feedback; is our product line inherently deficient? Do we need to add or adjust items?
Special management: For example, whether to adjust terminal distribution standards or modify target distribution outlets for new products.
Check in-store display performance: Does the store's visual merchandising meet company standards? Can the visual effects be further improved?
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: How to get distributors involved in improving display performance? For example, set up terminal display reward projects for distributors.
Personnel management: For example, whether to adjust display reward and penalty assessment systems.
Policy management: For example, whether to adjust display standards or invest in targeted display costs (e.g., create model stores in small and medium supermarkets, maintain year-round stack displays to communicate selling points).
Check in-store price execution: How is clear pricing? Are there abnormal prices? Compare with competitors (our old products are also the biggest competitors to new ones) to see if we are at a disadvantage in channel profit.
 **Thinking:**
Are abnormal prices and profits an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: For example, manage distributor ex-factory prices, require distributors to cut off supply to price-cutting outlets, and require delivery staff to affix price tags when delivering.
Personnel management: For example, implement reward and penalty projects for clear pricing by staff.
Policy adjustment: For example, adjust channel bonus policies, delay gift distribution, or stipulate withholding gifts for price-cutting terminals.
Product line management: For example, if the current product line is inherently deficient in channel profit, consider product upgrades; or launch different products in different channels to avoid price cutting.
Special management: For example, negotiate with terminals to change markup rates, manage or even cut off supply to leading price-cutting terminals, or limit the number of terminal outlets to protect prices.
Check in-store promotion execution: Does the store owner know our promotional policies? Do staff know our staff promotion policies like bottle opening fees? How well are company-promoted policies executed at terminals? Compared with competitors, are we at a disadvantage? What feedback do store owners and consumers have about our promotions?
 **Thinking:**
Are poor promotion execution and losing to competitors in promotion policies an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: For example, penalize distributors for untimely distribution of display gifts.
Personnel management: For example, set promotion display standards, require hanging gift posters, and implement reward and penalty projects.
Policy management: For example, increase channel bonuses, switch to more locally suitable gifts, or shorten the cycle for redeeming display rewards.
Special management: For example, update promotion expense management processes, report model store lists to regional audit departments for spot checks, and require terminal signatures for gift distribution.
Check in-store inventory: Do all products maintain safe stock levels? Do we have an inventory advantage? What is the product age?
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: For example, launch management projects for distributors to ensure terminal safe stock; set minimum safe stock levels for all terminal tiers; for stores where we've bought displays and shelves, require minimum stock levels, otherwise treat as out-of-stock.
Personnel management: For example, clarify safe stock levels for each store tier, define penalties for out-of-stock and missed orders, implement reward and penalty projects, and clarify responsibilities and reward/penalty systems for ordering, delivery, follow-up on store requests, and shelf replenishment.
Policy management: For example, clarify how long products can be in the terminal before exchange for fresh stock, and give inventory rewards to key terminals to enhance inventory advantage.
Special management: For example, before peak season, count terminal inventory, list stores without inventory advantage, and conduct promotional replenishment.
**Inspect Other In-Store Matters**
Information dissemination: Does the store owner know our promotional policies, new product information, and pricing? Sales assistants: Are they on duty? What feedback do they have? How is progress on recent company management priorities (e.g., model stores, terminal sales ledger establishment, exclusive sales agreement signing)?
 **Thinking:**
Is this an isolated case requiring immediate resolution by leadership, or a common issue?
Distributor management: For example, set up reward and penalty projects for distributors regarding "terminal information dissemination," and follow up on distributors fulfilling sales assistant salary and commission bonuses as per company requirements.
Personnel management: For example, implement reward and penalty projects for information dissemination and sales assistant management systems.
Special management: For example, conduct a stocktake of terminals that signed exclusive agreements but still sell competitor products, find "soft targets" (stores where our products are strong and competitor sales are weak), and set a deadline to "clean house."
This article is excerpted from Mr. Wei Qing's book "Terminal Sales Sunflower Manual"
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