---
title: "Whose Approval Killed the Market?"
description: "The sales team, retreating step by step, hoped to hold the line with approval forms, but the result backfired. If approval forms can't hold the market bottom line, what can?"
author: "胥忠进"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-07-29"
language: "en"
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---

# Whose Approval Killed the Market?

> The sales team, retreating step by step, hoped to hold the line with approval forms, but the result backfired. If approval forms can't hold the market bottom line, what can?

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**The sales team, retreating step by step, hoped to hold the line with approval forms, but the result backfired. If approval forms can't hold the market bottom line, what can?**
**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 Anhui regional manager's approval request was submitted 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% 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 former expansion director who had left in anger.
**Quitting the Approval Habit**
To balance the relationships among the three directors, the company established Sales Department 1, 2, and 3, each responsible for 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, both reporting, "It's a poor area; 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 had all died. New stores couldn't be pushed, old stores weren't replenishing, 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 any accounts, Zhang Bing analyzed the reason and said: **"It's not that our product is bad, nor that the model is wrong; it's just that we haven't visited enough customers yet. Let's strive to get orders before the 4th!"**
On the third day, they signed two clients; on the fourth day, another two. 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 waiving the 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, 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 needed to think it over.
After finishing with this client, Zhang Bing realized there was nothing wrong with this market; it was the same as others. 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 difficult as people 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 confused, Zhang Bing encouraged them: "Tomorrow we'll visit a few more stores and try again."
On the sixth day, Zhang Bing led the team to successfully develop three stores, collecting 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: "Company policy is tightening: no rebates for 10,000 or 20,000 yuan; 3% rebate for 30,000 yuan; 5% for 50,000 yuan. Also, all partner stores must pay a deposit, and each batch order must be at least 10,000 yuan. Note: no special requests!"
Why did Zhang Bing unify the policy?
Because he understood that **the client circle is small, and news spreads quickly. Inconsistent policies lead both large and small clients to suspect there are hidden policies behind the official ones, making the team increasingly passive.** By cutting it off uniformly, the sales team focused on improving their own sales skills rather than pestering for policies and approvals.
This change increased company profits by a few percentage points; all new clients were developed according to company standards, laying the foundation for healthy market development later; if other regions could do it, they should too, so people began to tap their own potential. It was a win-win-win.
**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 left and right. 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 30-odd shipments, and you still want door-to-door delivery. Our logistics department is becoming a courier company for parcels."
The directors 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, since 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 in a month. They're also in new markets. Why don't they have so many problems?"
The logistics manager added, "Department 3's shipments start at 10,000 yuan, so loading is easy. We never see 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 sales were done professionally, the problems mentioned by the directors of Departments 1 and 2 wouldn't be problems at all.
Boss Liu patiently listened to the department managers' discussions, then began his summary: "Does the company need normal payments, or payments that come with approvals? The goods we produce could sell 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!"**
**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.
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 pros and cons of approvals 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, approvals promote payment and increase order volume, and salespeople sell favors to clients, improving relationships. In reality, the joy of increased sales from approvals masks the harm they cause:
**Harm 1:** Salespeople listen to clients, and in this market, the client has the final say. "If you don't give me an extra 2% rebate, I won't pay. If you don't deliver, 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 later? Clients who get used to benefits will mostly choose another path: dragging the salesperson down with them for mutual gain.
**Harm 2:** Salespeople get payments through approvals and are still basking 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 approvals is a challenge to normal sales.
So, the result of approvals 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 relied on approvals for payments in the previous months, but by November, the peak season, when they should have been reaping the rewards, they lost their 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, "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.** If someone fails to clear the bar, they train harder. Once they clear it, they've conquered that height, then they train again, conquer again, and challenge higher heights. But approvals 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 jump is your real sales skill.
**Second, the company's conditions are not 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.** They developed it entirely according to company requirements and succeeded. Same company, why can some people do it and 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, if a client needs support for an ordering meeting, or if the request for trial samples is larger, 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 number of approvals in the company had significantly decreased, but sales had not shrunk. 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. Once you resolutely quit, you feel full of energy and vitality, taking a step closer to health."**


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