---
title: "Whose Approval Killed the Market?"
description: "The sales team kept retreating, hoping to hold the line with approval forms, but it backfired. If approval forms can't hold the market bottom line, what can?"
author: "胥忠进"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2018-04-04"
language: "en"
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---

# Whose Approval Killed the Market?

> The sales team kept retreating, hoping to hold the line with approval forms, but it backfired. If approval forms can't hold the market bottom line, what can?

The sales team kept retreating, hoping to hold the line with approval forms, but it backfired. If approval forms 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 form to the company.

Sales Director Yang signed it.

When the form reached Boss Liu, he looked at the stack of approval forms on his desk and smiled.

At the meeting, Boss Liu said: "Maybe we should change the approval form 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.'"

Yang could only remain silent.

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 pile of approval forms requesting special support. The company's sales policy was 3% rebate for 10,000 yuan, and 5% for 20,000 yuan. If they asked for 2% more, 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 in Department 3. This market was complex. In Guizhou, the company had already sent two teams, and they all came back saying, "It's a poor place, we can't make it work." In Sichuan, of the 40-50 clients developed in the previous three months, only 7-8 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. After two days, there were no results. The two regional managers looked at each other, then at their boss.

After two consecutive days without opening accounts, Zhang Bing analyzed the reasons: "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 open accounts before the 4th!"

On the third day, they signed two clients; on the fourth day, two more. The morale of the two regional managers immediately lifted.

At that point, the Sichuan provincial manager asked Zhang Bing to come and assist. He rushed to Sichuan and went with the provincial manager to talk to a store. During the negotiation, 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 it in advance.

Zhang Bing talked to the client about how the company's operating model could significantly improve his overall business. The company had requirements for clients, but they were all reasonable. If you value the company's model, you wouldn't see these as requirements... In the end, the client said he needed to consider it.

After finishing with this client, Zhang Bing realized there was nothing wrong with this market; it was the same as other markets. The problem was the mindset of the team members, especially the provincial manager's own mindset. The urgent issue was to get the market moving, break the rumor that "the market can't be opened," and let them see with their own eyes that this market wasn't as difficult as others said.

That evening, Zhang Bing held a team meeting to rectify the team's spirit and clarify the next steps. Most importantly, he unified the company policy: no special applications at all!

After the meeting, seeing the provincial and regional managers looking even more confused, Zhang Bing encouraged them: "Tomorrow we'll 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 his regions: "The company policy has tightened. No rebates for 10,000 or 20,000 yuan; 3% for 30,000 yuan; 5% for 50,000 yuan. Also, partner stores must pay a deposit, and each order must be at least 10,000 yuan. Note: no special applications!"

Why did Zhang Bing unify the policy?

Because he understood that the client circle is small, and information spreads quickly. Inconsistent policies lead to both large and small clients suspecting there are hidden policies behind the official ones, making the team more passive. By cutting it all at once, the sales team focused on improving their own sales skills rather than pestering for policies and applications.

This change increased company profits by a few percentage points; all new clients were required to follow company standards, laying a foundation for healthy market development; and since other regions could do it, they should too, so people began to tap their own potential. It was a triple win.

**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 approval forms left and right. Every payment you collect comes with an approval form."

The logistics manager also said: "You're shipping orders of one or two thousand yuan. A 9.5-meter truck loaded with 30-odd packages, and you still want door-to-door delivery. Our logistics department is becoming a courier service for parcels."

The heads 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 accept cash on delivery. 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 succeed?"

The customer service manager said: "Go look at Sales Department 3. They haven't submitted a single approval form in a month. They're also in a new market, so why don't they have so many problems?"

The logistics manager added: "Department 3 ships orders starting at 10,000 yuan. It's easy to load, and they never have orders of a few thousand yuan."

The customer service manager added: "They also collect deposits from new 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 you're professional enough in sales, the problems mentioned by the directors of Departments 1 and 2 wouldn't be problems.

Boss Liu patiently listened to the department managers' discussion, then began his concluding remarks: "Does the company need normal payments, or payments that come with approval forms? The goods we produce could sell for 200 yuan, but with an approval form, they become 180 yuan. I have to sign ten or twenty approval forms every day..."

Finally, the boss announced: "Starting next month, each department can have no more than six approval forms. Also, for orders with approval forms, the salesperson's and the supervisor's commissions will be halved!"

**4**
**Holding the Bottom Line**

Nothing was apparent in September, but before October ended, the director of Department 2 couldn't take it anymore and resigned voluntarily.

After October, the director of Department 1 was demoted to provincial manager, with a big salary cut, experiencing a roller-coaster ride.

The boss announced at the general meeting 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 Approval Forms" and pointed out the pros and cons of approval forms in the sales process: "Sales is actually a game of mutual combat; whoever takes the initiative has the advantage. True sales experts are good at creating momentum and turning passivity into initiative. The most important point in their negotiation skills is: never give in unless there's an exchange!"

On the surface, approval forms promote payment collection and increase order volume, and salespeople give face to clients, improving relationships. In reality, the joy of increased sales from approval forms masks the harm they cause:

Harm 1: The salesperson listens to the client. In this market, the client calls the shots. If you don't give me an extra 2% rebate, I won't pay; if you don't deliver goods, I won't do it; if I have to pay a deposit, I won't do it either... From the start, you're in a passive position. Can you expect to change this situation in the market later? Clients 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 approval forms to collect payments and is still immersed in the joy of high collections, so they can't shift their focus to helping clients sell through and doing basic work, leading to channel blockages later.

Harm 3: A unified policy is the fair starting line within the team. Performance achieved through approval forms is a challenge to normal sales.

So, the result of approval forms is often a win-win for the salesperson and the client, but it leaves a pile of legacy problems for the company.

The markets under Departments 1 and 2 had collected payments through approval forms in the previous months, but by November, the peak season, when they should have been harvesting, they had no passion and payments plummeted. When they tried to boost the market again, clients blocked them with excuses like, "The previous manager promised me extra rebates on every replenishment."

The old colleagues from Sales Departments 1 and 2 also complained to the sales director, saying: "The company's policy is too harsh for new markets; we simply can't open them!"

The sales director looked at these salespeople, smiled, and said three things:

First, sales is like high jump. When someone fails to clear the bar, they train harder. Once they clear it, they've conquered that height, and then they train again, conquer again, and challenge higher heights. But approval forms are like cheating: if you can't clear the bar, you just put a brick underneath. In fact, for our sales team, the skill of high jumping is your real sales skill.

Second, the company's conditions aren't harsh. Can't collect a 1,000 yuan deposit? Is it hard to require payment 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 people do it while others can't?

The sales director softened his tone and continued: "Actually, there are two types of approval forms: benign and non-benign. I think if an approval form increases sales while ensuring healthy market development, the company will definitely approve it. For example, support for client order conferences, or larger requests for trial samples—these are reasonable. When writing approval forms, you should have valid reasons and evidence to convince your leaders. In short, remember: promotions are to sell better, not just to sell well."

Three months later, the number of approval forms decreased significantly, but sales didn't shrink. The market gradually developed healthily, a new batch of young salespeople emerged, and management became standardized.

The sales director often sighed: "Approval forms are like smoking. Once you resolutely quit, you feel full of energy and vitality, taking a step closer to health."

-END-


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