Should Dealers Be "Brothers" Or "Domestic Thieves"?

For the marketing staff of a production enterprise, the management of the distributor is like a daily dress and dinner, which is a very real problem.

The pressure of performance, the hope of harvest, the understanding and cooperation, the contradiction and the obstruction are all on the dealers. After all, the specific sales work is done by the dealers. As long as the business is kept on the same day, facing dealers is inevitable.

Whether it is noisy or noisy, it is necessary to stick to its teeth, and it seems that there is no limit to the dealer management problem. Pressing the gourd has gone up, and the old problem has just been settled, and the new problem has emerged again.

Many dealers who have worked as distributors for over ten years do not dare to say that they are able to handle all distributors' problems. The experience of cooperation between manufacturers and dealers is a struggle and wrangling experience.

This is only a category considered by the grass-roots business people. As the top of the enterprise, there are more problems to consider.

After all, now is a time of supply exceeding demand, and sales of products are placed in the most important position.

Moreover, the core of the market economy is the product, the product is one, and the competition among enterprises is inevitable. Although it is ultimately competing for consumers, the premise of competing for consumers is to compete for channels. The product must go to the terminal through channels so as to meet the consumers and produce the final sales.

Channels are made up of distributors, and the so-called channel management is dealer management. The channel resources that the dealers have in hand (for example, the two batch of retailers, retail terminals, etc.) is the cost of making money by dealers. The reason why manufacturers find dealers is to see this channel.

By integrating the channel resources of distributors, we can weave a sales network covering the whole country for the manufacturers. The quality of this sales network determines the sales performance of the manufacturers.

Since the sales work is inseparable from this channel, and the channel is the distributor as the main body, as a manufacturer, how to locate and treat these dealers?

There is a saying in the marketing circle: "dealers should be respected as a thief."

The reason is also very simple. It is precisely because of distributors, manufacturers can sell goods to all parts of the country, almost every manufacturer's development, can not be separated from the contribution made by dealers, should deserve the respect of manufacturers.

And as long as cooperation is continuing, it is inseparable from the cooperation and cooperation of dealers. Naturally, dealers should be respected as distributors.

However, the dealer is working with the manufacturers for their own consideration. The cooperation between the manufacturers is purely for the sake of interests. The manufacturers and distributors are trying to maximize their own interests. The manufacturers are trying to squeeze more goods into the distributor. Dealers are also racking their brains to ask the manufacturer for more money and support.

Some dealers even have more protection and profit maximization for their own interests, at the expense of manufacturers' interests, such as falsifying market fees, exaggerating product losses, cross regional rush, destroying the price system and so on.

These behaviors sometimes have a huge negative impact on the overall market process of the manufacturer.

The current loss of local profits is a trivial matter. If it leads to problems in strategy or brand communication, losses can be immeasurable.

In recent years, "dead" in the hands of dealers in the hands of a few.

In view of this, some manufacturers are trapped in a dilemma. How should they deal with these dealers? If we put them in the channel to help dealers to build channels, although their product sales path can be guaranteed and smooth, but this may be a way to raise a tiger. After all, the channel is in the hands of dealers, not in the hands of manufacturers, and inevitably controlled by others.

If distributors are satisfied, they can share their channel resources. If competitors appear more attractive policy conditions, profit oriented distributors will inevitably have to make a fence. Then their hard cultivation and investment will be wasted.

In fact, many dealers did rely on the support of a certain manufacturer to grow and grow. After their wings hardened, they tried to kick the old club away, but instead they went on to sell the products of their old rivals.

For the sake of safety, we should deny the value of these dealers and adopt strict supervision and strict management of distributors. Even in some markets, we should simply abolish the large dealers and operate the market directly by the resident organizations directly under the manufacturers to directly grasp the local terminals.

Although the safety of this is higher, the manufacturers can directly control the market. However, this requires manufacturers to invest a lot in the market infrastructure construction in the early stage, and a large increase in the personnel costs of the factory, resulting in a sharp rise in the cost of comprehensive operation. If the control is improper, the additional cost will even exceed the profit.

This is also the reason why many manufacturers have taken the market direct operation instead of causing losses.

The reason why manufacturers are facing such a dilemma is that they have made a subjective mistake: "they think the channel and terminal can be controlled", so they will try their best to win the control over the terminal.

It is easy to solve the problem when controlling power is in our own hands. In fact, there is no so-called control at the end of channels and terminals.

This is because the channel is open and anyone can come in.

No matter how powerful the factory is, it has no way to stop the entry of other peers.

The doors of distributors and stores are open every day (unless it is a closed channel, such as group buying), and any other product and brand is also available. There will always be products that are better than you can invent or produce, and will replace your market position.

Up to now, I have not heard that a manufacturer dare to claim that his product or brand is irreplaceable and unique. This is the era of market economy.

Therefore, there is no so-called dilemma in dealing with distributors' problems. Rather, we should rationally treat the cooperation between manufacturers and distributors, and rationally look at the relationship between channels.

The manufacturer is a businessman.