Click the image for details Click the image for details Click the image for details Author | Liu Chunxiong Source | Teacher Liu's Forum (ID: liuchunxiong1964) A distributor complained to me: "Sales are really tough now. We offer credit and promotions, deliver the goods, but we can't even ask for a receipt. What should we do?" I asked him: "You're afraid of your customers, so who are your customers afraid of?" He replied: "Of course, they're afraid of their own customers." I asked again: "Are you afraid of their downstream customers?" He said: "No." I pressed: "Can you win over their downstream customers?" He said: "Yes." I said: "If you win over their customers, you'll win over your customers in turn." He said: "Got it!" 01 In 2000, I wrote an article titled "Selling Through the Channel in Reverse," inspired by a real case. A new salesperson's first task was to collect accounts receivable. What bad luck. When he arrived at the customer's place, the customer scolded: "You dare to ask for money? Take the goods back; they're not selling." Anyone else would have left, because that's how most collection attempts end. But this salesperson stayed. What did he do? He helped the customer sell the goods. Since the customer couldn't sell them, he tried to help. To his surprise, the goods sold out quickly. Then he asked the customer for payment. The customer said he could pay but wanted continued supply. In this way, the problem customer was won over. 02 Most people have dual identities. For example, in front of my mother, I am a son; in front of my daughter, I am a father. In front of my boss, I am a subordinate; in front of my subordinates, I am a leader. In front of suppliers, we are customers; in front of customers, we are suppliers. When attending school for further study, we are students; when teaching at school, we are teachers. Unless you are at the very beginning or end of a chain, you have dual identities. The key is which identity you leverage. 03 Whether in work or life, it's a game of identities. No matter the identity, problems arise. For example, being scolded by parents, you might turn around and scold your child. Similarly, when business is bad, you blame your upstream. When retail stores struggle, they blame distributors; when distributors struggle, they blame manufacturers. When you're upset elsewhere, you want to vent somewhere else. People find it hard to admit incompetence, so shifting blame is the easiest way to solve problems. 04 Distributors ask manufacturers for credit because they also extend credit to retail stores. Credit indicates weakness, but distributors won't admit it; they shift the blame to upstream manufacturers. In manufacturer-distributor negotiations, unless you have a strong position, the upstream usually accommodates the downstream. If it's a direct negotiation, one side is always weak, and that won't change in the short term. The reason for negotiation is shared interests. The greater the shared interest, the more intense the negotiation. How to change the negotiation dynamic? The best way is to leverage dual identities. 05 If a manufacturer is weak in negotiations with a distributor, the immediate question is: In front of whom is the distributor weak? If the distributor is weak in front of retail stores, then ask: Is there a direct negotiation relationship between the manufacturer and the retailer? If there is no direct conflict of interest between the manufacturer and the retailer, then what help does the retailer need? Or what weaknesses can be exploited? In short, use the negotiation chain to find the other party that can constrain the target. Because there is no direct negotiation relationship with the third party, it's easier to get along. 06 Winning over your customer's downstream customers has been my philosophy since entering marketing. When you can't win over a customer, try to win over your customer's customers. If a straight line doesn't solve the problem, use a curve. If you understand your customer's customers better than the customer does, you've won over the customer. This method is called "reverse pressure." When I hire salespeople, I usually don't assign newbies directly to distributor management; instead, they start with promotion. Salespeople deal with distributors, while promoters deal with consumers and retailers. Once you're familiar with consumers and retailers, dealing with distributors means you have the ability to solve customer problems using their downstream customers. Only with this ability can marketing truly begin. 07 In marketing, I've always had a practice of "managing to level 1.5," and I've made it a model. Level 1 is the customer, level 2 is the customer's customer, and level 1.5 is managing half of the customer's customer. If you manage half of your customer's customers, managing the customer becomes easier. First, when the customer lacks confidence, build confidence through their customers. For example, when launching a new product, supply directly to terminals; if terminals move the product, the distributor gains confidence. Second, use reverse pressure on the customer. Managing a customer is hard because you haven't found the leverage point, and because the customer thinks the resources are theirs. "Managing level 1.5" means the customer's resources become yours too. New Distribution's "7th B-end E-commerce Study Tour" is now recruiting! Activity schedule:

June 19-23, Suzhou · Shanghai · Hangzhou 19th: Check in at designated hotel in Suzhou; 20th: Visit Suzhou Medline; 21st: Visit Shanghai Hd; 22nd: Visit Hangzhou Wangcang; 23rd: Return or free time for sightseeing; Distributor friends interested in transformation are welcome to join us to learn and visit on-site: Organization format ************1. Company visits

  1. Real market case visits
  2. On-site explanations
  3. One-on-one exchanges************ Participating distributors only need to pay a registration fee of 200 yuan. Other expenses are self-covered. Long press this QR code or click "Read Original" to register. Long press the QR code to add WeChat for registration. Group photos from previous tours: 6th B-end E-commerce tour group photo, from top to bottom: Zhongke Shangruan, Shuhai Supply Chain, Yunmei Media, Yishang Logistics. 5th B-end E-commerce tour group photo, from top to bottom: Huiwangxing, Beiquan, Tongying Tianxia, Quanshihui, Zhongke Shangruan. 4th B-end E-commerce tour group photo, from top to bottom: Alibaba Retail Link, Qianmi Network. Click "Read Original" to register. -END-