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First, let me explain an idiom: Han Xin commanding troops—the more, the better. Once, Han Xin discussed the art of leading troops with Liu Bang. Han Xin said, "Your Majesty, you can lead at most 100,000 troops." Liu Bang was somewhat displeased and retorted, "What about you?" Han Xin confidently replied, "The more troops I lead, the better." This actually talks about a manager's ability to manage a team: the greater one's capability, the more troops one can lead, and the larger the team one can manage.

In the current FMCG industry, companies commonly require distributors to add vehicles, which is a consensus in the industry. Improving delivery service capability, increasing visit frequency, and doing detailed and thorough market work will naturally boost sales—this is undoubtedly correct. However, distributors generally oppose the requirement to add vehicles. Why? I believe it's because manufacturers have not fully considered distributors' management capabilities. "Han Xin"-level distributors can increase sales capability, expand business volume, and raise profits, achieving win-win for both manufacturer and distributor—why not? But what about "Liu Bang"-level distributors? They are already overwhelmed and struggling with current vehicle and personnel management; how can they afford to add vehicles? And what about distributors even less capable than Liu Bang? Adding vehicles and personnel is not just about increasing costs by tens of thousands of yuan or adding delivery vehicles; the greater difficulty lies in the management capability to "afford the vehicles, manage them well, and make money."

Let's analyze the unfavorable factors of adding vehicles for distributors.

1. The difficulty of rising costs. Adding vehicles inevitably means adding personnel, which naturally increases costs. If the profit from increased vehicle allocation exceeds the added costs, then adding vehicles is a success for the client. If the increased profit over a comparable time period is less than the increased expenses, it's hard for clients to accept. Especially given some distributors' short-term return and short-sighted mentality, they simply dare not (and will not) attempt to add vehicles.

2. The difficulty of personnel management. Personnel management is currently the most headache-inducing issue for distributors (and manufacturers, too). All distributors lament: "People's hearts are scattered; the team is hard to lead." We live in a rapidly changing society where various opportunities, temptations, and information make everyone's inner world restless. This restlessness is especially evident among frontline staff; everyone has different thoughts. I've heard many distributors sigh: "In the past, hiring someone for a few hundred yuan, they were dedicated to doing well; now hiring someone for several thousand yuan, they think about jumping ship every day."

3. Whether distributors' own management capability can meet the requirements of expanding the team. Company management is the top priority for distributors. Management yields efficiency—this is industry consensus. Through management, enhancing efficiency and increasing profit margins is the only way for distributors to cope with rising industry costs. But can current FMCG distributors manage a corporately operated team well? Recruitment, team training, vehicle safety, per-vehicle output, salary assessment, inventory management... Frankly speaking, many distributors can operate two vehicles at low cost, achieve annual sales of 6 million yuan, and still make some money. If they expand to four vehicles, even if they reach 12 million yuan, without proper management, they might even incur losses. Management capability is likely the biggest shortcoming for distributors when adding vehicles.

Looking at the history of distributor development, most started with one vehicle. The basic model then was: the boss as driver, the boss's wife as salesperson, and a relative helping to guard the warehouse or storefront. At that time, distributors were essentially salespeople; though physically tired, they were mentally relaxed, managing themselves with no management difficulty.

Later, as business gradually grew, distributors expanded to two-vehicle operations. In the early two-vehicle stage, distributors usually drove one vehicle themselves and hired a driver and a salesperson for the other. Once business stabilized, they hired someone to take over the boss's original vehicle, freeing themselves to focus on managing supermarkets or large secondary wholesalers. At this stage, besides the couple, they managed at most 4-5 people, which wasn't too difficult, but signs of increasing management complexity were emerging. Distributors began to worry about employee departures, but it wasn't a big problem because if a gap appeared, the distributor could step in.

When expanding to three vehicles, distributors basically detached from the market, and it's summed up in one word: "mentally exhausting." Why mentally exhausting? 1. Tired of brands. With three vehicles, there are naturally more brands, and companies have high requirements: distribution, display, inventory, terminal, plan execution... Distributors already find it hard to meet company requirements. 2. Tired of management. At this stage, distributors have basically stopped daily vehicle delivery work; specific business is handed over to salespeople. Since they no longer sell directly, the most important task is managing how to make salespeople sell more. Holding business meetings, executing and supervising promotions, recruiting and handling departures... The distributor's own upgrade is not easy.

In summary, I've analyzed many difficulties distributors face in adding vehicles, but if bosses want to grow their business and increase profits, they still need to improve service, enhance delivery and distribution capabilities. In today's business, if you don't advance, you fall behind. To add vehicles, distributors must first improve their own management, upgrade from low-cost operations to management-oriented distributors, and change both their mindset and actions for the company's development. Don't keep nostalgic for the low-cost happy times of the past or complain about current difficulties. The only constant in today's market is change. I wish all distributor friends can climb a management step, do the market well, succeed in brand operations, and earn more profits.

Dao Nong recently opened a public account specifically about how traditional enterprises can do WeChat marketing. If you're interested, you can follow it. Search for the WeChat ID above or scan the QR code below to follow.

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