---
title: "Whose Approval Killed the Market?"
description: "As sales teams retreat, they rely on approval forms to hold the line, but it backfires. What can hold the market bottom line when approvals can't?"
author: "胥忠进"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-01-25"
language: "en"
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---

# Whose Approval Killed the Market?

> As sales teams retreat, they rely on approval forms to hold the line, but it backfires. What can hold the market bottom line when approvals can't?

Click the image for details.
**Sales teams are retreating step by step, always hoping to use approval forms to hold the line, but things go contrary to their wishes. If approvals can't hold the market bottom line, what can?**
**1**
**Approval Forms Flying Everywhere**
"After sitting down with the client and confirming the details, I decided to give the client an additional 2% rebate as market support, hoping the company leadership will approve." The regional manager of Anhui submitted his approval request to the company.
Sales Director Mr. Yang signed it.
When the approval reached Boss Liu, he looked at the stack of approvals already piled on his desk and smiled.
At the meeting, Boss Liu said: "Maybe we should change the approval to: 'After the client treated me to a meal, I decided to give the client an additional 2% rebate as market support, hoping the company leadership will approve.'"
Mr. Yang could only remain silent.
Mr. Yang was one of two sales directors parachuted into the company within six months. They played around for three months during the off-season, with no improvement in sales, but they submitted a large pile of approvals requesting special support. The company's sales policy was 3 points rebate for 10,000, and 5 points for 20,000. If approvals asked for 2 points each time, how could the company survive?
The boss couldn't stand it anymore, so he had no choice but to invite back the expansion director who had left in anger before.
**2**
**Quitting the Approval Habit**
To balance the relationships among the three directors, the company established Sales Department 1, 2, and 3, each managing different markets nationwide.
It was September, before the peak season.
Expansion Director Zhang Bing returned to the company, responsible for the southwest market of Department 3. This market was complex. In Guizhou, the company had already sent two teams, both returning saying, "It's a poor place, impossible to develop." In Sichuan, of the forty or fifty customers developed in the previous three months, only seven or eight were replenishing normally; the rest were dead. New stores couldn't be pushed, old stores didn't replenish, and the provincial managers had lost all confidence.
At the beginning of the month, Zhang Bing led two regional managers from Guizhou to the market. Two days passed with no results. The two regional managers stared at their boss, wide-eyed.
After two consecutive days of no sales, Zhang Bing analyzed the reason: "It's not that our product is bad, nor that the model is wrong, but that we haven't visited enough customers. Let's strive to get orders before the 4th!"
On the third day, they signed two customers; on the fourth day, two more. The two regional managers' spirits immediately lifted.
At that point, the Sichuan provincial manager requested Zhang Bing's assistance. He rushed to Sichuan and went with the provincial manager to talk to a store. During the discussion, the provincial manager twice wanted to relax the policy, such as not collecting a deposit or lowering the initial order quantity, but the director blocked him in advance.
Zhang Bing talked to the client about how the company's operating model would significantly improve his overall business, and that the company's requirements were reasonable. "If you value the company's model, you won't see these as requirements..." In the end, the client said he would consider it.
After finishing with this client, Zhang Bing realized there was nothing wrong with the market here; it was the same as other markets. The problem was the team's mindset, especially the provincial manager's own mindset. The urgent issue was to get the market moving, dispel the rumor that "the market can't be opened," and let them see with their own eyes that this market wasn't as mysterious as others said!
That evening, Zhang Bing held a team meeting to rectify the team's style and clarify the next steps. Most importantly: unify company policy—no special requests at all!
After the meeting, seeing the provincial and regional managers looking even more bewildered, Zhang Bing encouraged them: "Tomorrow, let's visit a few more stores and try."
On the sixth day, Zhang Bing led the team to successfully develop three stores and collected 3,000 yuan in deposits on the spot. The old employees believed, and the new colleagues' confidence swelled, all believing what Zhang Bing had said the night before.
Immediately, Zhang Bing announced to all areas under his jurisdiction: "Company policy is tightening. No rebates for 10,000 or 20,000; 3 points for 30,000; 5 points for 50,000. Also, deposits must be collected for cooperative stores, and each batch order must be no less than 10,000 yuan. Note: no special requests!"
Why did Zhang Bing unify the policy?
Because he understood that the customer circle is small, and information spreads quickly. Inconsistent policies lead to both large and small customers suspecting there are policies behind policies, making the team more passive. By cutting across the board, the sales team focused on improving their own sales skills rather than pestering for policies and requests.
This change increased company profits by a few points; all new customers were executed according to company standards, laying the foundation for healthy market development later; if other regions could do it, they should too, and people began to tap their own potential. Thus, it killed three birds with one stone.
**3**
**Denouncing "Approval Brother"**
After September, they returned to headquarters for a meeting. The three sales departments gathered with other departments, and it was like a boiling pot.
The customer service manager said to the directors of Sales Departments 1 and 2, "You're sending approvals flying everywhere. Every payment you collect comes with an approval."
The logistics manager also said, "You're shipping goods for one or two thousand yuan. A 9.5-meter truck loaded with over thirty orders, and you still want door-to-door delivery. Our logistics department is becoming a courier company for parcels."
The leaders of Departments 1 and 2 explained: "Developing new markets is difficult. It's reasonable for the first order to be small, to give more rebate the first time, and to pay on delivery the first time, after all, they've never heard of us. Do you think it's as easy as a mature market? Without company support, how can we do it!"
The customer service manager said, "Go look at Sales Department 3. They haven't submitted a single approval in a month. They're also a new market. Why don't they have so many problems?"
The logistics manager also said, "Department 3 ships orders starting from 10,000 yuan. It's easy to load the truck. We never see orders of a few thousand yuan."
The customer service manager added, "They also collect deposits from newly opened stores."
Zhang Bing sat there silently. He understood that making things convenient for other departments was making things convenient for himself. He also understood that if sales were professional enough, the problems mentioned by the directors of Departments 1 and 2 wouldn't be problems.
Boss Liu patiently listened to the department managers' discussions and then began his concluding remarks: "Does the company need normal payments or payments that come with approvals? The goods produced could be sold for 200 yuan, but with an approval, they become 180 yuan. I have to sign ten or twenty approvals every day..."
Finally, the boss announced: "Starting next month, each department can have no more than six approvals per month. Also, for orders with approvals, the salesperson's and the supervisor's commissions will be halved!"
**4**
**Holding the Bottom Line**
Nothing was evident in September, but before October ended, the director of Department 2 couldn't continue and voluntarily resigned.
After October, the director of Department 1 was demoted to provincial manager, with a big salary cut, experiencing a roller-coaster ride.
At the general meeting, the boss announced that the director of Department 3 would be responsible for integrating the three sales departments, and the company would have only one sales director from then on.
At the end of October, at the monthly meeting, the sales director gave a special training on "Rejecting Approvals" and pointed out the stakes in the sales process: "Sales is actually a game of mutual combat; whoever takes the initiative has the advantage. A true sales expert is good at creating momentum and turning passivity into initiative. The most important point in their negotiation inner skills is: never give in unless there's an exchange!"
On the surface, approvals promote payment collection and increase order volume, and salespeople sell favors to customers, improving customer relations. In reality, the joy of sales brought by approvals masks the harm they cause:
Harm 1: The salesperson listens to the customer. In this market, the customer calls the shots. "If you don't give me an extra 2 points, I won't pay." "If you don't stock, I won't do it." "If I have to pay a deposit, I won't do it either."... From the start, they fall into a passive position. Can you expect to change this situation in the market later? Customers who are used to benefits will mostly choose another path: drag the salesperson into the water and make money together.
Harm 2: The salesperson relies on approvals to collect payments, still basking in the joy of high collections, and cannot shift focus to helping customers move inventory and do basic work, leading to channel blockage later.
Harm 3: A unified policy is the fair starting line within the team. Performance obtained through approvals is a challenge to normal sales.
So, the result of approvals is often a win-win for the salesperson and the customer, but it leaves a pile of legacy problems for the company.
The markets under Departments 1 and 2 relied on approvals to collect payments in the previous months, but by November, the peak season, when they should have been harvesting, they lost their passion and collections plummeted. When trying to boost the market again, customers always blocked with excuses like, "The previous manager promised me extra points on every replenishment."
The old colleagues from Sales Departments 1 and 2 also complained to the sales director, unconvinced: "The company's policy is too harsh for new markets; it's impossible to open them!"
The sales director looked at these salespeople, smiled, and said three things:
First, doing sales is like high jump. When others fail to clear the bar, they strengthen their training. Once they clear it, they conquer that height, then train again, conquer again, and challenge higher heights. But approvals are like cheating: if you can't jump over, you put a brick underneath. In fact, for our sales team, the skill of high jumping is your true sales skill.
Second, the company's conditions are not harsh. Can't collect a 1,000 yuan deposit? Is it hard to pay before delivery? Excellent companies in the industry can do it, so why can't we?
Third, Guizhou is also a new market, and others developed it entirely according to company requirements and succeeded. In the same company, why can some do it while others can't?
The sales director softened his tone and continued: "Actually, there are two types of approvals: benign and non-benign. I believe that if an approval can increase sales while ensuring healthy market development, the company will definitely approve it. For example, support for customer order conferences, or larger quantities of trial samples—these are reasonable. When writing approvals, you should also be reasonable and evidence-based, and convince your leaders. In short, remember: promotions are to sell better, not just to sell well."
Three months later, the company's approvals significantly decreased, but sales did not shrink. The market gradually developed healthily, a new batch of young salespeople emerged, and management became standardized.
The sales director often sighed: "Approvals are like smoking. After resolutely quitting, you feel full of energy and vitality, taking a step closer to health."
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**-END-**


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