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As the year draws to a close, it's time for review and summary. Annual work reports, next year's plans, and budget forecasts have become routine. Beyond these, as a regional manager, you should also engage in deeper thinking—a self-inspection of your market management.
Market problems are ever-changing, and most are related to people, so market management is an art. At the same time, it is a science, because within the ever-changing market phenomena, there are always certain patterns to follow. A regional manager is essentially the "general manager" of their region, independently responsible for market development, channel management, personnel management, and cost control. This nature of work determines that they must establish a rational way of thinking when facing the market, learning to see through the complex market phenomena, discover the patterns, and grasp the key points of market work.
At the year-end summary, regional managers should conduct a self-inspection of the key points of market management, identify gaps and loopholes in their work, and reflect in preparation for improvement in the coming year.
Self-inspection steps:
I. Basic Stage: Avoid Low-Level Mistakes
- Are there large blank areas in the key markets within your jurisdiction (such as the office location, major cities in the area) that are not visited, not delivered to, and not covered?
Explanation: The premise of sales is logistics coverage. If terminals are not stocked, and even second-tier distributors have many blank spots with no service, how can you achieve good sales? If self-inspection reveals large blank markets in your area, solutions are as follows: a) If there is a large blank area worth adding a customer—add a distributor to cover it. b) If the blank area is small and the existing distributor can provide comprehensive service with effort—persuade and guide the existing distributor to increase manpower and transportation capacity to improve service and cover the blank area. c) If the original customer is small, has outdated concepts, cannot provide necessary market service, and has poor willingness to cooperate, and cannot improve in the short term—replace the distributor and find a customer with stronger service and delivery capabilities. d) If the local general distributor has good performance in cooperation willingness, strength, and market network, and plays an important role in the company's market development in the area, but cannot cover this blank area or the cost of delivery/coverage is too high—add a secondary distributor, find a wholesaler with good coverage of this blank area to serve as the secondary distributor for the local general distributor, supply at factory price (the old distributor earns rebates), and use the secondary distributor to fill the market gap.
- Are there any malicious operations by distributors such as price undercutting, price gouging, arrears, or interception of promotional policies that go unchecked?
Explanation: Distributors and manufacturers are two economic entities with fundamentally different interests. "Shared journey, win-win for both" is just a concept, an ideal state. In real life, distributors cannot be absolutely loyal to manufacturers. They may delay payments, occupy the manufacturer's funds; they may intercept promotional policies; they may inflate the price of a new product to reap huge profits, causing the product to lose channel profit push and terminal price advantage; they may also undercut prices to boost sales (actually to get higher rebates at year-end), disrupting market order, and even sell your product at low prices to build relationships and clear channels to drive sales of competing products (because competing products have higher profits)...
The regional manager is the manufacturer's business representative and also the interest representative, exercising distributor management authority on behalf of the manufacturer. Their mission is to ensure the manufacturer's policies are effectively implemented at the distributor level, guiding and restraining the distributor's resources (people, vehicles, money, goods, warehouse, attention) toward the direction favorable to the company's product sales. Therefore, proactively stopping the above malicious operations is the most basic action for regional managers in distributor management. Otherwise, the title "manufacturer's business representative" loses its meaning.
Methods for handling malicious distributor operations are summarized as follows: a) Tell them you already have evidence of their "crimes." b) Appeal to emotion, interest, and use threats, and set a deadline for correction. c) Use threats such as cutting off supply, stopping promotions, reporting to the company, replacing the distributor, reducing their distribution area, or developing a secondary distributor to replace them. d) Get other regional managers to deliberately ship goods into this market to bring down the inflated price (note: this is a controlled cross-shipping premeditated by two managers). e) Obtain evidence of their price undercutting, interception of promotional items, or selling competing products (e.g., delivery orders), and have the company issue a written warning and penalty notice, stating the reasons, the penalty amount, and the method for future violations. f) For customers who maliciously disrupt market order and ignore advice, consider cutting off supply, cultivating a second customer to prepare for replacement, or directly replacing them. (Note: This customer may have large sales, but their sales growth comes at the expense of many smaller customers who suffer price attacks and lose willingness to distribute. Comparing this customer's sales growth with the decline of other "small customers," the manufacturer is actually losing market. Such customers, despite large sales, often have a negative contribution to the manufacturer's market. Tolerating them repeatedly will further deteriorate market order, often accompanied by abnormal increases in arrears, ultimately raising a tiger that will bite—when the customer becomes too big, they bully the manufacturer.)
- Are there large quantities of soon-to-expire or damaged products in various channels that have not been handled in a timely manner?
Explanation: The principle for handling soon-to-expire products is: a) Control normal shipment volume, do not overstock, and pay attention to product batch numbers in the market to minimize the occurrence of soon-to-expire products. b) Once soon-to-expire products appear, handle them as early as possible (delayed handling of soon-to-expire or defective products will eventually lead to expiration). If a large number of soon-to-expire or expired products cannot be properly handled, it will cause resistance throughout the channel. The hostility of channel owners due to "losses" from expired/damaged products and the word-of-mouth that "product X doesn't sell well" can destroy your entire market (especially for new products).
Specific methods for handling soon-to-expire products are as follows: a) Closely monitor the distributor's safety stock to minimize the occurrence of soon-to-expire products. b) Warn sales personnel "do not overstock customers," make them understand that "overstocking is just inventory transfer, not actual sales," and "those who overstock to meet sales targets will be penalized." c) Warn sales personnel that "inspecting the market is not like a county magistrate's tour, waiting for someone to block the road and cry out for justice before getting off the sedan." When visiting customers, proactively check product batch numbers to avoid handling only when products are about to expire. d) Once soon-to-expire products appear, handle them as quickly as possible: · Transfer to other booming regions for quick digestion · Transfer to supermarkets or high-volume outlets for bundle promotions or special prices · Transfer to residential areas for exhibition sales · Use for sampling or free tasting to digest e) The costs incurred during the digestion of soon-to-expire products should be attributed to responsible parties: · Generally, require distributors and manufacturers to share the costs of handling soon-to-expire products. · Hold the responsible sales representative accountable, impose a certain percentage penalty to warn everyone to pay attention to customer safety stock and resolve soon-to-expire issues early to avoid greater losses over time. f) Soon-to-expire products during new product distribution: When new products are launched and forced into retail stores, due to immature brand power, they often become slow-moving and soon-to-expire (especially products with short shelf life). The recommended method is to promise retail outlets that new products will be replaced after one month, and at the end of the month, transfer the returned old products to booming areas for digestion. Although the company bears some transportation and damage losses, it ensures smooth new product distribution, retail stores are more willing to exchange and stock, and it prevents the market from being paralyzed due to terminal expiration caused by insufficient pull in the early stage of new product launch.
- Do you have any blind spots in visiting key customers and key channels (such as large supermarkets, hotels, large second-tier distributors) and major townships in your area?
Explanation: In market management, on-the-ground observation and operation are more important than desk work. If self-inspection reveals that the regional manager has blind spots in visiting key areas (such as key townships, special channels) and key customers (such as large hotels, large second-tier distributors, large supermarkets), that is a "low-level mistake." Regional managers should maintain high-frequency visits to all levels of the market and maintain good relationships with key customers. This allows timely discovery of competitor information and market dynamics to formulate response plans, and when you are familiar with the distributor's downstream network, you will also be more proactive in distributor management.
- Have the promotional plans arranged by the company been supervised and implemented by subordinates? Have they been checked and tracked in a timely manner to ensure execution effectiveness?
Explanation: Promotional forms are imitated by everyone, and few manufacturers can innovate in promotional forms. The effectiveness of promotions depends on whether the timing is precise, whether the form suits the current market conditions, and more often on whether execution is thorough.
As the "general manager" of the region, the regional manager has an unshirkable responsibility to control market costs, strive to reduce per-case sales costs, and ensure the authenticity and effectiveness of promotional resources.
To ensure promotional activities are effectively implemented, the following key points must be grasped: a) Break down goals, assign responsibilities, and set schedules: Promotional tasks should be broken down into steps, people, places, times, and resources. Step: Break the promotional activity into indivisible steps. People: Each step should have an executor and responsible person. Place: Specify the location and target customers for execution. Time: Set completion times for each step, check times, and reward/punishment rules. Resources: Ensure materials and resources needed for each task are available. b) Establish and implement operating standards: · Business standards, such as: □ For retail store distribution promotions, establish standard sales scripts and retail store visual merchandising standards; □ For wholesale market stack-box rewards, establish standard agreements, standard display methods, and standard check methods; □ For supermarket exhibitions, establish standard poster writing methods, gift storage and bundling methods, standard salesperson scripts, and standard display booth arrangements. · Institutional standards, such as: Labor discipline, dress code, form filling requirements, and reward/punishment rules for promotional personnel. c) Track progress: · Grasp promotional effects daily, and immediately explore improvement plans if abnormalities are found. For example: □ If outdoor exhibition sales are poor (due to a sandstorm), consider postponing or switching to indoor supermarket promotions. □ If retail store distribution is ineffective, consider changing the promotional policy or having the manager train distribution personnel on-site. · Spot-check execution results: For example: □ The manager personally checks whether wholesale market stack-box promotions are ongoing. □ Check supermarket promotional personnel's labor discipline, whether the promotional booth is set up according to standards, whether forms are filled truthfully, and penalize those who neglect their duties. ... d) Reimbursement review: · Clear reimbursement vouchers. For example: □ For distribution rewards, require the store name, address, phone number, quantity purchased, gifts, and store owner's signature; □ For supermarket promotions, require retaining customer shopping receipts; □ For free samples, require recipients to fill out a simple market survey form as a receipt. ... · Signatures of all handlers: Require all personnel involved in the promotional activity (drivers, sales reps, promotional girls, etc.) to sign collectively, creating obstacles for individual employees trying to fish in troubled waters. · Recheck: Let employees know that the manager will definitely spot-check reimbursement vouchers, and anyone found maliciously misappropriating company promotional resources will be severely punished.
- Guide distributors in designing a reasonable channel price system to avoid market chaos caused by price system design errors.
Explanation: Especially in the consumer goods industry, channel profits determine the market competitiveness of products. When channel profits begin to bottom out, it often signals the arrival of product decline.
Regional managers should be intimately familiar with the various levels of distribution prices of distributors in their area, and provide guidance and correction for abnormal distribution prices to ensure that every layer of the channel makes money.
Points to note in price design: a) If the distributor directly serves retail stores (very good, indicating the distributor has terminal awareness), ensure that the retail store purchase price is higher than the wholesale price, leaving room for wholesalers to sell. Help the distributor recognize the significance of direct retail store operations—"promoting new items and flavors, rapidly increasing distribution rate within a certain range; direct retail store operations are definitely not about competing with second-tier distributors for market." The idea of "skipping second-tier distributors to directly serve retail stores to achieve channel flattening" is unrealistic. China's market is vast, outlets are scattered, per capita purchasing power is low, and single-store sales are small. No manufacturer or distributor can fully control retail stores (cost is too high). Mainstream sales still rely on second-tier distributors, and most retail stores still rely on second-tier distributors for coverage. Even large-scale distribution rates are achieved through second-tier distributors' radiation to retail stores. The purpose of direct retail store operations is to guide consumption, promote new products, smooth the distribution channels of second-tier distributors, and better serve them. If there is no price difference between retail and wholesale, second-tier distributors will lose willingness to cooperate, and if they don't help cover retail stores, you will eventually "lose the retail market because of doing retail." b) Wholesale price tiers: Is it better for the distributor to supply all second- and third-tier distributors directly, or to set up a large first-tier distributor who supplies the second- and third-tier distributors? Both methods have pros and cons. Direct supply to second- and third-tier distributors: higher delivery costs, prone to price undercutting, but finer market cultivation, stronger control over wholesale channels, easier execution of second-tier promotions, and faster improvement in wholesale distribution rate and sales. Using a large first-tier distributor to supply second- and third-tier distributors: lower delivery costs, less likelihood of price undercutting, but coarser market management and weaker control over second-tier distributors. Weighing the pros and cons, the recommended strategy is "befriend distant, attack near; combine long and short." Specific methods are as follows: · For key wholesale markets in the urban area, close to the distributor's warehouse, do not set a first-tier price; have the distributor directly visit second- and third-tier distributors. These areas are close, important, and the distributor can provide high-frequency visits and thorough service, thus can control prices to some extent (e.g., cutting off supply to malicious price undercutters). The sooner you intensively cultivate these key areas, the sooner you gain initiative; delay and you may be passively beaten—because if you don't do it, others (your competitors) will. · For remote areas or even outer townships, adopt the "borrow shell to list" method: set up a large first-tier distributor to cover these areas on behalf, saving transportation and sales costs. c) Special channel prices: Supermarkets, hotels, and other special channels often require credit sales, and the supplier bears the risk of accounts receivable, so supply prices must be higher. Especially for supermarket channels, supply prices must be higher than wholesale market prices (consumer goods supermarket supply prices generally maintain a 10-15% markup rate). Otherwise, supermarkets may offer special prices lower than wholesale market purchase prices, thereby "killing" the wholesale channel. d) Group purchase prices: · Group purchase prices should be divided into invoiced and non-invoiced prices. · Group purchase prices should be higher than supermarket supply prices, because many units first inquire at large supermarkets before making group purchases (some supermarkets keep records), then negotiate with manufacturers or distributors. If supermarkets find your group purchase price is lower than theirs, "stealing their group purchase customers," it may lead to fines or being removed from the store. · The contradiction of group purchase prices being higher than wholesale market prices can be resolved with free gifts. · Generally, group purchase prices should include a gift voucher for the person in charge at the buyer.
II. Intermediate Stage—Proactively Maintain Market Order and Improve Market Performance:
- Are there serious cross-shipping behaviors in your area? As a regional manager, have you actively investigated and controlled cross-shipping?
Self-reflection: a. Is there cross-shipping in my area? How serious is it? b. Do I know where the cross-shipping originates? What is the volume? What is the price? c. Do I do my best to investigate and control cross-shipping, or do I think "cross-shipping cannot be eradicated, so why bother? Let it be, as long as I meet sales targets."
Explanation: Cross-shipping is a chronic marketing disease that seriously harms market order. To date, no marketing expert or manufacturer has fundamentally solved cross-shipping! But in many regional managers' and distributors' areas, cross-shipping has been solved—"Cross-shipping happens everywhere, but they dare not ship into my area."
To solve cross-shipping, regional managers must first have the right attitude—cross-shipping is indeed difficult to eradicate, but you must not give up "resistance." Ignore objective difficulties, make every subjective effort to control cross-shipping, and strive to reduce its negative effects from 80 points to 60, then to 40, then to 20...
Regional managers have no method to cure cross-shipping (impossible to eradicate), only means (to reduce its malignant spread).
For example: a) Try to take photos of cross-shipped products or vehicles, or obtain delivery orders of cross-shipped goods, trace the source to find the culprit, and use this as evidence to report to the company or negotiate directly with the shipper. b) Negotiate with large local customers who can take full truckloads of a single item to form a supply alliance. The local distributor provides these large customers with priority supply, promotions, and service, and requires them not to accept cross-shipped goods, cutting off the sales channels for cross-shipping (cross-shipping is usually volume-based; it's impossible to ship half a truckload. Especially in markets below the prefecture level, if large customers don't accept cross-shipped goods, cross-shipping has nowhere to go). c) For repeat offenders who ship goods across regions or second-tier distributors who accept cross-shipped goods and undercut prices, "fight fire with fire"—find out the products they distribute or mainly sell (non-competitive products) and their downstream customers, then purchase a small quantity of that product and sell at ultra-low prices (at a loss) to make them suffer, then negotiate with them. d) Coordinate with local health and industry and commerce departments to combat cross-shipping—check the "Food Industry Employee Health Certificate" on cross-shipping trucks, and the "Hygiene License" and "Quality Certificate" for each product and batch number on the truck (they certainly don't have them), then impose penalties. ... There are many similar means, and each cannot completely eliminate cross-shipping, but each can set obstacles. If there is a method to cure cross-shipping, it should be: sensitive information, act immediately, strike hard, and use strong measures. If it recurs after repeated bans, ban it again. Make the cross-shipper feel that shipping into your area is too risky and that you are not to be trifled with; they will naturally restrain themselves. Maybe they will just shift to other areas—but at least your area will be better off. This may sound selfish, but if every regional manager treated cross-shipping this way, cross-shipping would have nowhere to escape!
- Can you effectively manage second-tier distributor price undercutting?
Self-reflection: a. Do I know the second-tier distributor's purchase/sale prices and profit margins for this product? b. Are there serious price undercutting and price inversion phenomena among second-tier distributors in my area? c. Do I actively manage second-tier price undercutting or let it go?
Explanation: Second-tier price undercutting will cause the entire channel's profits to decline, prices to bottom out, and eventually easily kill the product.
Second-tier price undercutting, like cross-shipping, is a chronic marketing disease with no cure. The trick to solving it is also to establish the right attitude—ignore objective difficulties, make every subjective effort to ban it repeatedly, and use various means to set obstacles for second-tier price undercutting, striving to reduce negative effects.
Common means are as follows: a) Be sensitive to information. For malicious price undercutters, use the method of warning → stop supply → fight fire with fire (undercut their other products) → negotiate. b) Supply appropriate quantities to second-tier distributors; do not overstock. Most second-tier distributors with small inventories will not maliciously undercut prices. c) Set up a ledger for second-tier purchase quantities. If a second-tier distributor suddenly increases purchases, investigate whether they are undercutting prices to dump goods. d) Use more gifts and fewer products for second-tier rewards. Moreover, gifts should not be given on the spot—use "display reward activities" as an excuse (e.g., purchase 30 cases, stack 10 cases at the door daily, and at the end of the month reward...), deferring the prize redemption so that second-tier distributors dare not easily undercut prices. e) Have the regional manager mediate for the distributor and second-tier distributors to sign an agreement: second-tier distributors purchase from the distributor, sell at the same price they buy, making no profit at the time. At the end of the month, the distributor calculates the second-tier purchase volume and gives rebates according to the agreement. f) For products where long-term second-tier price undercutting has caused price inversion, use the method of raising prices → high-price promotions (actually not raising prices) → gradually reducing promotional allowances (gradually raising prices in disguise, while stopping supply to second-tier distributors who continue to undercut) to gradually pull prices back up.
- Do you fully utilize the manpower allocated by the company to directly visit important terminal outlets, improving distribution rate and visual merchandising effects?
Self-reflection: a. As a regional manager, have you attached sufficient importance to terminal work ideologically? b. Are the personnel allocated by the company revolving around various distributors, or are they doing some terminal sales work within their capabilities? (For example: if the company allocates only 2 people, do a good job on local large supermarket model stores and key wholesale markets. If the company allocates 15 people, consider periodic visits to downtown retail stores, wholesale markets, and A/B-class supermarkets.)
Explanation: Actual product sales are realized at terminal sales points.
Doing terminal work well and improving terminal distribution rate and visual merchandising effects can: · Communicate with consumers at the closest distance, increasing brand reminder and publicity effects. · Promote impulsive consumption and increase sales opportunities. · Suppress competitors through rapid feedback of terminal market information and occupying terminal display space. ... The more terminal outlets the manufacturer controls, the greater the initiative in promoting new products and stabilizing prices. Although terminal work does not directly boost sales, it can guide second-tier distributors to sell full product lines, stabilize prices, and promote second-tier volume.
Terminal work is the only way to win the market (especially for consumer goods).
However, terminal work requires significant manpower. Regional managers should do terminal work within their capabilities according to the manpower allocated by the company. Rank the importance of various terminal outlets based on the market conditions of the product, concentrate forces to capture the commanding heights, and first do well on important terminal outlets.
An example of terminal outlet importance ranking (for consumer goods):
- Local landmark large supermarkets and hypermarkets
- Local major wholesale market outlets
- Local A-class supermarkets
- Retail stores on busy streets
- B/C-class supermarkets
- Special outlets such as schools and residential areas
- Downtown wholesale, retail, and special channel outlets
- Urban wholesale, retail, and special channel outlets
III. Qualified Stage: Possess Certain Planning Mindset and Face the Market Rationally.
- Is full-line selling in place? Is new product promotion orderly and effective?
Self-reflection: a. Is my area's sales overly concentrated on a single product? b. Has the current main product in my area experienced price bottoming out? c. Am I systematically promoting new products to achieve full-line selling?
Explanation: Most regions have their own main products, but often a product selling too well is not a good thing—the hotter the product, the higher the distribution rate, the higher the price transparency, the lower the channel profits. At the same time, competitors will launch substitute products for low-price competition, and eventually the product may "decline after prosperity."
If regional managers want long-term healthy sales, they must treat new product promotion as a routine task.
From a macro perspective: new product promotion is to improve the company's product line and implement a brand diversification protection strategy.
From the company's interest perspective: the company invests a lot in new product R&D, production, and promotion. If sales are hindered, it causes resource waste.
From the perspective of regional manager performance: why can other managers promote new products, but you cannot?
When new product promotion performance is poor, many regional managers always have excuses: the product is not good, the taste is not right, the packaging is too large, the price is too high, etc. But before complaining, ask yourself: have I done everything within my subjective ability?
If new product promotion is ineffective, regional managers should look for gaps in the following areas: a. Does the distributor have reasonable inventory of the product? b. Have you guided the distributor to design a reasonable price system for the product to ensure every layer of the channel makes money? c. When launching a new product, do you let the distributor operate independently and fight alone, or do you actively guide, assist, and participate in the distributor's new product distribution and promotions? d. Does the product occupy an advantageous position, display space, promotions, and price in supermarkets? e. What is the distribution rate of the product in wholesale markets? (Has "availability" been achieved in retail stores?) Are there sufficient stack displays, banners, and POP arrangements? f. According to the manpower allocated by the company, how is the distribution rate and visual merchandising of the product in the terminal outlets you can control within your capabilities? g. During the new product promotion period, does the bonus system for subordinates reflect the principle of promoting new product sales?
- Do you fully grasp the local basic data and usage/sales information of your product and competitors, and can you promptly and accurately propose plans to attack competitors?
Self-reflection: a. Do I know the local population, administrative divisions, and consumption capacity of each district? b. Do I know the data on special consumer groups such as local residential areas, universities, and large enterprises? c. Do I know the data on special channels suitable for this product (e.g., milk can be sold in cake shops, instant noodles can be sold in construction site canteens)? d. Do I know the data on special channel outlets and their supply networks (stations, airports, schools, and other special channels usually have their own dedicated suppliers)? e. Do I know the competitor's manpower investment, prices at various levels, best-selling product items, and strong channels in the local area? f. Do I know the local prices at various levels, best-selling product items, strong channels, and market gaps for my product? g. Do I know the distributor's manpower, transportation capacity, and real network coverage (in which areas and channels can they fully cover, and in which areas and channels do they lack coverage)?
Explanation: Many regional managers' first reaction to sales pressure is to ask the company for promotions, special prices, and policies. In fact, if you always rely on price advantages to sell, what use is a sales manager? Promotions are a means to promote sales. If you ignore basic sales work and unilaterally use promotions, you will turn promotions into morphine—the more you use, the greater the addiction and the more obvious the side effects.
This does not mean regional managers should not apply for promotions (market competition is so fierce that many promotions are forced by circumstances), but promotion applications should be made after rational thinking.
First, conduct the market management self-inspection mentioned earlier to find and improve low-level mistakes and weak links in basic market work.
Second, be fully familiar with various market information in your area (as in the self-reflection content of this section), make rational judgments based on market conditions, and propose effective and accurate promotion plans.
For example: · Know the distributor's network coverage—so apply for company promotional support to subsidize indirect first-tier distributors or add customers, because some channels and areas cannot be covered by the original distributor. · Know that local consumers have the habit of buying by the case (found in supermarkets that competitors have large case-stack displays)—so request the company to customize small-case products to attack the supermarket case-buying market. · Know that competitors' second-tier distributor profit is 0.5 yuan per case higher than ours—so apply for second-tier purchase rewards plus stack display rewards. · Know that competitors have invested more manpower in this area and have begun periodic visits to retail stores, wholesale markets, and supermarkets, but they have not invested much in internet cafes and school channels—so apply for promotional policies to focus on attacking these two channels. ...
IV. Advanced Stage—Master the Principle That "Marketing Is a Behavior with Causes and Effects," Possess a Global Vision, and Proactively Develop Reasonable Incremental Opportunities.
Reflection: a. Is my current thinking on increasing sales still at the level of "discounting existing best-selling products, doing promotions, and relying on price to boost sales"? b. Do I have a clear idea for the incremental tasks assigned by headquarters—in which channel, which area, and which new product will this volume be achieved?
Explanation: For a regional manager, the generation (increase) of sales comes from the following aspects: a. Rationalizing the price system. Ensure every layer of the channel makes money, eliminate price undercutting and malicious price gouging, and leverage the role of each channel layer to actively distribute products. b. Improving terminal effects of mature products. An increase in distribution rate means more outlets help generate actual sales. · An improvement in visual merchandising means an increase in single-store sales at each terminal outlet. c. Improving logistics: As mentioned above, the premise of sales is logistics improvement; cleaning up blank areas and developing new areas will directly bring incremental sales (of existing mature products). d. Starting new channels: Innovative thinking: find new sales channels and new sales opportunities for the products you are currently selling. For example: · Mid- and low-priced instant noodles can try to develop factory and construction site canteen channels, and grain and oil stores. · Mid- and low-priced foods can try the unique rural market exchange points (outlets that exchange grain for instant noodles or food). · Cup noodles (bowl/bucket noodles), beverages, etc., can try highway service stations, internet cafes, hotels, hot pot restaurants, and mountain roadside water stations. · Red wine can start gift shops, boutique stores, even tea houses, and gold/jewelry stores. · Milk can try cake shops and pastry shops. · Use the candy stalls that fill the streets before the New Year to sell gift-appropriate foods, such as small-case gift-boxed milk, instant noodles, and beverages. · Use seasoning departments in farmers' markets to sell ham sausages. · Use morning market channels to launch new products. · Use vegetable, grain, oil, and seafood suppliers to enterprise canteens to promote alcoholic beverages and seek group purchase orders. ... e. Promoting new product items: In the early stage of new item promotion, investment may be large and volume small, but once it takes off, it is like opening a "branch store," bringing you stable sales. It is worth mentioning that promoting new items does not necessarily mean promoting new brands. Promoting a second flavor or second specification of a mature product is more labor-saving and faster to increase volume, and should be the first choice for seeking incremental sales through new product promotion.
Marketing is absolutely a behavior with causes and effects. When a regional manager learns to examine their market with a rational eye, you will find: Because the second-tier prices in your market are too chaotic, and second-tier distributors are not actively distributing, you lose 10,000 cases of sales per month. Because there is a large blank area in the eastern suburbs of the city with no visits, you lose another 1,000 cases of sales. Because you only did retail stores and wholesale, and did not start school and group purchase channels, you lose sales. Because dozens of surrounding townships have not been entered, low-price products have never sold well. ... The practice of clinging to a mature product, desperately doing promotions, overstocking, and seeking incremental sales is the most unwise. Overdrawing the market resources of a single product will eventually lead to price bottoming out and decline after prosperity—such a regional manager cannot be called a salesperson; at best, they are a delivery manager.
A mature regional manager should learn to see the overall market, grasp the causal relationships of marketing behaviors, plan before acting, and proactively develop appropriate incremental opportunities. They will plan where this increment will come from: which channel, which product, which area. How much sales will terminal activation achieve, how much will price adjustments achieve, how much will new channels achieve, how much will new products achieve, how much will new areas...
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