Follow and star ↑↑ [New Distribution] to see how many friends are with you in following industry trends It's time to consider transformation! This is a real case, highly representative, with great inspiration and benchmark significance. Handan Zhuoyue Trading in Hebei, a prefecture-level distributor, operates third- and fourth-tier brands and often achieves the nation's top sales. It is well worth studying. The author visited Handan and interviewed Mr. Liu Jiangang, General Manager of Zhuoyue Trading, to uncover the secrets of Zhuoyue's success. Foreword: Currently, traditional businesses are struggling, including retail stores. Distributors face pressure from shrinking market share, declining sales performance, and rising costs. Retail stores face the problem of customer loss because the post-90s and post-00s generations do not enter retail stores; retail stores are living on past glory. The bleak business of retail stores transmits to distributors, making them difficult, leading to brand performance decline, a chain reaction from top to bottom, and distributors caught in the middle find it especially hard. Based on actual market cases, the author conducted field visits and personal verification to explore the way out and prospects for new-type distributors. What should the boss do? The boss is the one who sets up the stage and builds the platform. Therefore, promote the ambitious, reward the capable, be close to the brave, and cultivate those with the right attitude. The boss's ability lies in using people's strengths; the manager's ability lies in being capable; the employee's ability lies in full execution; the team's ability lies in creating performance; the boss's ability lies in providing logistical support; the boss's ability lies in listening to advice. If a boss thinks every day about how to manage employees, the company will definitely not do well. An excellent businessman, a wise boss, lets employees work proactively without needing supervision. The boss only needs to grasp the direction. Use systems and systems to constrain people, use interests and development results to drive mechanisms. When employees get tangible benefits, they will work hard without being urged. High-speed rail vs. traditional train As we all know, high-speed EMUs have power in odd-numbered cars, driving even-numbered cars forward. If it's an 18-car high-speed train, 8 cars have driving force, other factors aside, which is the core reason for the high speed of winter trains. Traditional trains rely only on the locomotive to pull, and the rear cars have no driving force; they can only follow. New-type boss vs. traditional boss Fighting together and building the world together is the new thinking. Position brand managers as bosses, employees as shareholders, sharing the fruits of development together, enduring hardship and wealth together. Each project manager is the boss, fully controlling brand discounts, bottom prices, and manufacturer support, including full knowledge of the company's financial data and costs. Project managers earn big money, and employee teams share the profits. The manager and team take the lion's share of the brand's profits, while the boss takes only a small portion. The boss doesn't need to supervise or watch, nor pay fixed salaries. Everyone knows what to do and how to earn more income, so employees work proactively and efficiently. Traditional thinking is that employees follow the boss, and the boss leads everything, urging managers and watching the team daily, but business still declines. The boss gets angry and shows a stern face, but it's useless because only the boss enjoys the fruits of development; managers and employees are just passersby. Summary: When all employees have the boss's mindset, they work proactively, actively find solutions to problems, no longer wait, rely, demand, delay, or slack off. The boss doesn't need to worry about everything. When the boss rests, dozens of people are working desperately, so sales performance is naturally good, customers are satisfied, and market reputation is naturally good. Conversely, even if the boss watches, employees are still passive and slack. The difference is as vast as heaven and earth. Employee first: retain employees' "firsts" In many traditional distributor companies, good things go to confidants, relatives, and close associates. New-type distributors treat all employees equally, regardless of distance or closeness. The first opportunity to go abroad, the first chance to fly, the first house bought, the first car purchased, the first travel opportunity, the first learning opportunity—all are given to employees. Managers may not participate, and the boss may not go, but employees must have the chance. With such a philosophy, employees naturally thank the company and are grateful to the boss. A company that can help employees buy cars and houses must have high income. Mencius's theory of human nature's goodness says that people have a grateful heart. Put yourself in others' shoes. If the boss treats employees sincerely, employees will repay the boss with integrity. Only by working hard and achieving results can they thank the boss. When the company is united, stones can turn into gold, and the company's operations will naturally be good. The Art of War says: "He who is united with his men will win," fully demonstrating the power of unity. Individual strength is limited, but team strength is infinite. Earn money from upstream brands, never deduct from employees Typically, traditional distributors calculate costs and leave about 10 points of gross profit. They calculate all expenses multiple times before calculating wages for project managers and employees. This thinking is outdated, backward, and obsolete because only the boss knows everything. As the saying goes, "When wealth is dispersed, people gather; when wealth is hoarded, people scatter." Everyone understands this great principle, but how many can see through it, and how many can do it? So the successful are few. Many distributors say they have adopted manager partnership systems and team profit-sharing, but they always hide behind a veil, not putting everything on the table, always concealing something, not daring to let employees know everything. As they go along, things change. When brand managers' and employees' incomes rise, and they hear peers gasp in amazement, they become unsettled and think, "Why do they get so much? I invest and take risks, pay their salaries, and in the end, they take so much. No, I'll change the method next year." Thus, they can't continue, and the company returns to calm and mediocrity. In the current environment, business is bleak. Distributors try every means to get manufacturers to lower tasks, but new-type distributors do the opposite: they not only don't ask for lower targets but proactively propose increasing tasks. Such a request makes brand owners jump for joy. Increase tasks, increase payments, and ask for cash rebates from manufacturers. As the company boss, you only earn the manufacturer's cash rebate, giving all the gross profit from the brand to the project team. After signing the task, the boss doesn't worry about anything. The project team fights desperately, not only completing the target but exceeding it. Such things are rare in the market. The author believes this distributor is highly representative and, especially in the current environment, worth studying and analyzing. Protect employees, regardless of inside or outside High-voltage lines cannot be touched; once touched, the cost is high. All employees are treated equally, regardless of ability or closeness, strictly following the company's iron rules. For single men and women, the company not only allows dating but also actively plays matchmaker, showing humanistic care. However, for those with families—married men or women—if there are lifestyle issues in the company, they are immediately dismissed, and both are dismissed. This is one of the few companies in the country that strictly manages lifestyle issues. Perhaps other regions have similar cases, but the author encountered such a company for the first time. The company's training teachers on business trips, or promotional staff doing activities at terminal stores, still apply the iron rules to customers. If a customer has improper intentions toward an employee, and the employee reports it, cooperation is immediately terminated, regardless of the customer. This is the first in the country. Many distributor companies don't have such a system; they only check attendance and performance for employees on business trips, and don't care about other matters. Caring for employees regardless of inside or outside the company, and protecting employees regardless of profit size, is true care. Handan Zhuoyue Trading has risen against the trend. As a prefecture-level distributor operating 8 brands, it does thriving business. Although it doesn't represent very big brands, in a small prefecture-level region, it often achieves the nation's top payment collection, highly sought after and praised by third- and fourth-tier brand owners. The company has 7 sales departments, each sales manager is a boss. With Mr. Liu Jiangang, the company's boss, regarding the company's development model, marketing team, brand operation, terminal promotion, market reputation, and employee income, compared to other companies, it's not the largest, but employee income is the highest. Flanking tactics and foresight At the company's inception, it was poor and weak, and big stores looked down on it. Mr. Liu secretly resolved to do business well and then find opportunities to cooperate with big stores. Starting with small stores, helping them with activities and promotions, over the years, the small stores they cooperated with became prosperous one by one, and big stores began to contact for cooperation. Currently, Zhuoyue Trading has over 400 terminal networks in the Handan area, making it a first-class local distributor. Do a fashion company, do a different kind of distributor, be a company that solves problems for retail stores. Only when stores do well can your business do better, just like when employees do well, you do better. Based on the philosophy of not forgetting the original intention, the company has grown and developed. Currently, Mr. Liu, the boss of Zhuoyue Trading, is basically a hands-off boss. Market and customer matters are fully decided by brand managers. How to operate the market, customer selection, who to use or not use in the team—brand managers decide on their own without asking for approval. The boss only handles one thing: directly dealing with employee issues and complaints, including market and customer issues and complaints. The boss is logistics, the helmsman, the protector. The boss doesn't manage things because managers and employees have already done everything. Closing remarks: Traditional distributors should consider transformation. Relying on one person to drag the company, like a train pulled by the locomotive, or adopting the high-speed rail model where the whole team moves—if you don't change, the consequences are severe. Fully rely on managers and the team. Only by mobilizing employees' enthusiasm and giving everyone driving force can the company have hope for development. It's time to consider transformation.