Click to read the original text for details. Why are middlemen so unpopular? Since ancient times, merchants have been looked down upon in China. Since commerce was born in the Shang Dynasty, the policies of every dynasty have been to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce. Whether it was "rewarding farming and warfare" or "suppressing merchants," or listing merchants as the lowest of the four classes (scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants), the traditional Chinese culture has consistently demeaned and suppressed "commerce." In literary works, the idea that "merchants value profit over parting" is deeply rooted and has not diminished even today. Even after the founding of New China, merchants were initially disparaged as "profiteers," and there was even a crime of "speculation and profiteering." Even today, many preferential policies are still difficult to apply to the distributor group, such as difficulty in obtaining loans. Even the "middlemen" themselves look down on "middlemen." Guazi Used Cars, a "middleman," claims to have "no middleman to take the price difference." Why have middlemen suffered such long-standing and numerous prejudices? In fact, it is these distributors, who are not well-regarded, that support the vast offline market and meet the commodity circulation needs of 1.3 billion people. With their diligence, courage, and shrewdness, they earn their due profits and complete their life's accumulation and leap. But we must also admit that the entry barrier is not high, and many distributors did not choose this path voluntarily out of preference; most were "forced" into it. And some distributors with ambitions, once they grow, inevitably have the idea of escaping, giving themselves an "industrial dream." Besides traditional culture, real policies, and environmental influences, the overall progress of middlemen (distributors) is too slow, and most distributors have many shortcomings of traditional merchants. It is for these reasons that the social phenomenon of "middlemen being unpopular" has emerged. Six Fatal Weaknesses of Traditional Distributors Note: The problems listed in this article refer only to an industry phenomenon, not to all distributors, and this phenomenon often exists in other fields as well. Moreover, we must objectively recognize that traditional distributors tend to have the following problems more concentratedly. Besides their own reasons, external environmental pressures are also a very important factor. So what traits of traditional distributors are not suitable for the development of the current era? Mainly the following points: 1. Weak learning ability and willingness As a group born under special historical circumstances, due to objective factors, the distributor group generally has a low level of education, and as this generation ages, their learning ability and motivation have greatly diminished. 2. Lack of market investment awareness It is understandable to do business to make money, but most of this group lack market investment awareness. They instinctively believe that "the brand and the market belong to the manufacturer," so "if there is to be investment, it should be the manufacturer's investment." They are unwilling to invest during the brand building period, and when the brand matures, naturally, the manufacturer will not treat the distributor well. This is a relatively common phenomenon. 3. Nepotism, difficulty in accepting external employees and managers The most prominent manifestation is that many trading company employees are either family members or relatives. Even if external employees enter, it is difficult for them to gain the distributor's trust; being marginalized and suspected is common, and employee turnover is high. 4. Poor contract spirit and insufficient compliance Generally speaking, this group's respect for contracts is insufficient. Take expense allocation, for example; channel interception is particularly common. Many distributors prefer to take shortcuts by bribing manufacturer managers to privately divide expenses rather than truly invest in market building. In terms of compliance, distributors also do not do well. For example, delayed wages and arbitrary deductions were very serious in this group in previous years, and only recently, due to labor shortages, have they been forced to improve. 5. Poor awareness of norms and preference for shortcuts Distributors are relatively poor in normative awareness, whether in taxation, finance, or market operations. Of course, some say that the cost of standardization is too high, which is also true. But in the future, distributors who cannot operate in a standardized manner will inevitably fail to survive. This current state of non-standardized operations often leads government departments to look down on trading companies, and banks are also reluctant to trust them. Distributors also feel anxious and guilty when facing industrial and commercial, tax, and other law enforcement departments. In addition, distributors often like to take shortcuts. For example, when solving problems of being penalized by government departments, the first reaction of distributors is often not to correct the mistake but to find people or connections to "settle" it, and afterwards, things remain basically the same. Moreover, many distributors seek improper benefits through private, non-standard operations with manufacturer managers. Once such operations cause losses, distributors often resort to making a scene to demand compensation or resolution from the manufacturer. This situation has frequently occurred in recent years. 6. Lack of sharing spirit, making cooperation difficult to last It is a common phenomenon that distributors who partner with others often do not last long. Due to the lack of a sharing spirit, in almost all cooperation, distributors unconsciously magnify their own role and contribution, leading to cooperation breakdown due to imbalanced distribution. This situation has occurred multiple times in the industry. For example, in many places in previous years, when fighting against chain terminals, an alliance approach was adopted, but in the end, it always failed due to "traitors." Another example is the "distributor joint warehousing and distribution" model popular in recent years, which also mostly failed due to lack of unity, with less than one in ten surviving. The problems reflected in the above behavioral characteristics have certain commonalities in the distributor group. These problems make it difficult for the distributor group to align with the values and behavioral views of the upstream and downstream of the industry, and they cannot gain respect and trust from all parties. We believe that these deep-rooted backward traits of traditional distributors are the core reason that truly affects the future survival and development of the distributor group. Before Transformation, First Upgrade Thinking In recent years, there have been many viewpoints and articles on distributor transformation and upgrading, and they have indeed provided many practical transformation suggestions for distributors. However, under the premise that thinking has not changed and the inherent weaknesses of the distributor group have not been changed, most transformation and upgrading plans ultimately cannot be well implemented and effective. Before distributors transform, they must first upgrade their thinking. A change in thinking brings about a change in behavior patterns. Only by moving away from the traditional "middleman" level can they talk about a bigger and better future. Distributors should at least start thinking upgrades from the following three aspects. Thinking Upgrade 1: Learn to take a long-term view and extend your expectations for the time between investment and return. Distributors should realize that the era of supply shortage is over. No product can have good sell-through without a period of market investment and solid foundational operations. The market is a common market for manufacturers and distributors. Distributors' careful promotion in the market can not only reap market rewards but also exercise their own capabilities and teams. The latter is something no one can take away and is the foundation for the distributor's future survival. Thinking Upgrade 2: Enhance normative awareness and value contracts. All distributors should recognize that the future society is a standardized society, and without standardization, no one can move forward. Standardization and valuing contracts should start from small things and from within. Do not neglect agreements because they seem small. Distributors should begin to form their own independent finances, relatively standardized company systems, and value the agreements formed between the company and employees. Distributors should reflect: Why can some trading companies grow big? Is it because they grow big and then standardize, or because they standardize and then grow big? In the future credit society, only individuals and organizations that value agreements can gain the trust of others. Thinking Upgrade 3: Continuously learn and progress. Learning, only learning, only continuous learning, can provide opportunities to grow and seize growth opportunities. There are many effective ways to learn, such as reading beneficial books and articles, communicating with excellent peers, consulting upstream brand managers, and attending conferences or forums on advanced industry thinking. Only such effective learning and communication can help distributors improve their horizons, clarify directions, find feasible methods and models, and even find many useful resources. As an important part of commercial circulation, "middlemen" will always exist, but the future "middlemen" will certainly not be the same as today's "middlemen" in terms of capability requirements and functional positioning, and their industrial status will be even more important than today. All distributors should objectively and rationally face and analyze the weaknesses of this group, but should not give up confidence and hope, and should maintain the courage to continue progressing and moving forward in the current difficulties. Thinking is the foundation, transformation is the key, both must be strong The change in thinking is the basic condition, and operational upgrading is the key element. The directions for distributor transformation and upgrading are roughly the following four points: 1. Continuously enhance category operation capabilities, through an effective combination of long-tail products and high-turnover products, to ensure product sell-through while also ensuring the company's operating gross profit; 2. Implement a "going out" strategy: The era of cross-border disruption has arrived; the competitors defeating the distributor group are not only peers in the same industry but also e-commerce and chain convenience stores. At this time, distributors should not only focus on their own "one acre and three parts of land," but also pay more attention to the upstream and downstream of the industry chain, and when necessary, extend business to upstream and downstream industries, while enhancing competitive barriers and continuously improving their own operating profits. 3. Partner and small boss strategy: The era of one person conquering the world is over! If you want to grow your business bigger, you must recognize the boundaries of individual capabilities, be brave in developing employees into partners, enhance employee work enthusiasm, and also help to do the regional market deeply and thoroughly, continuously increasing your business scale and building barriers. 4. Be good at using information technology tools and means, not only to optimize internal operational processes but also to improve operational efficiency. For traditional distributors, whether it is transformation or short-term development, the core key lies in breaking their own cognitive barriers, first recognizing their own shortcomings, and then choosing a transformation path suitable for their own development, so as to achieve twice the result with half the effort. Avoid being complacent and sticking to your existing business plate. Learning leads to progress; change leads to success!