Text/Catran
"You have stories and I have wine, and Mr. Zhongtao will chat with you all night."
Zhong Taojun’s slogan is pinned to the top of the message area of the WeChat official account every day. It is not just a talk. Today, we are going to tell a story about a dealer, and then compare it with the story of a local general representative. Through comparison, we will tell their sadness and joy, sourness and sweetness, laughter and tears. It is said to be a story, but in fact it is not fiction, but a telling from the terminal dealer.
Sad
In the ceramic industry, dealer channels are often defined as traditional channels, but they are actually the backbone channels for brands to establish themselves in the market. But in fact, if dealers do not have enough strength or dominance, they will become a vulnerable group in front of manufacturers. In the past, dealers had to find ways to please the manufacturers when dealing with them. For example, when factory personnel come to visit, they need to be "accompanying" (eating, drinking and playing with them); when the manufacturer is rushing to achieve results at the end of the month, even if there is a pile of inventory in the warehouse, it still has to listen to the manufacturer's sales staff and continue to purchase goods; when the manufacturer's new products are launched At that time, even if the local area was not suitable for sales, they still had to get samples. After finally opening the market for the new product, the manufacturer said that the product had been discontinued... The "oppression" incidents experienced by dealers can be described as endless and the same, and once they are no longer The result of compliance is always the same. Even if a dealer has a net worth of tens of millions or more than 100 million, no matter how much effort he put in in the early stage to create a good market, the distribution rights will still be revoked at any time.
On September 1, 2020, the author received a call from a dealer of a certain ceramic tile brand in Anhui (we will temporarily call the ceramic tile brand "Brand A", and the dealer will be called "Ms. B"). Ms. B has been representing brand A for more than 21 years. We met at a new product launch conference of another brand through designer channels in 2018. However, in the rare contact in 2019, Ms. B and the author only communicated about A. How can you check the latest brand news (such as brand A's new product development status, etc.) on China Ceramics Online.
Image and text source: Internet
During the communication, Ms. B revealed two pieces of information: ①Ms. B has a deep affection for brand A. In addition, she only represents brands through designer channels to supplement personalized product lines and meet the needs of different channels in the market. needs, but the operation and management of the new brand is taken care of by her family, and the stores are also opened in different stores. Different products and different positionings only complement each other and have no conflict with Ms. B. Even because of the 21-year relationship , Ms. B still focuses more on the maintenance of brand A and the mature channel market; ② Although she has been acting as an agent for brand A for many years, because the regional sales personnel of brand A change frequently, Ms. B often receives information about brand A. They are all lagging behind, even to the point where they are not clear or aware, and are completely passive. Even for small matters such as the brand's honor, they would rather ask an industry media person than contact the internal contact person of Brand A.
"For 21 years, my investment in it is like raising a child, and I have never thought of giving up."—— The real words still come from the "crying" call from Ms. B. To say "crying" is not an exaggeration at all. "At the end of April this year, the terminal market after the epidemic was very bleak, but I still responded to the manufacturer's demand and made an additional payment of hundreds of thousands. In May, a friend actually told me that I had discovered a store of brand A in the same area. At this time I just found out that the manufacturer had found a new local dealer. I did not complete the task last year. If it was because of this reason, I understand, but why did they not inform me in advance when they wanted to replace me, but chased after me? While I was restocking, I had already found another dealer. I couldn't bear to part with this brand and just wanted the manufacturer to give me an explanation, but it's been 4 months since May and I still haven't received any response in a few days. Go to Foshan to talk to the manufacturer..." At the end of the conversation, Ms. B choked and cried uncontrollably on the other end of the phone.
You don’t give up on it, but it gives up on you. You are still working hard to manage it, but it silently chooses someone else, and you are just the last person to know, powerless It is such a sad thing to seek refuge and keep pursuing complaints, just wanting an explanation but not getting a response. As of September 16, Ms. B reported that communication at the headquarters was fruitless because the sales director was on a business trip. How to solve it? All we can do is continue to wait.
Happy
Some people are happy, others are worried, and another completely different case is happening simultaneously.
On August 27, 2020, the 10th China Real Estate and Pan-Home Industry Cross-Border Summit and the 2020 "Architecture "Top Ten Brands of Sanitary Ceramics", the author came to Hangzhou again and visited Xu Gonghe, the Zhejiang general agent of Siwei sanitary ware brand, whom he has known for several years. Xu Gonghe has been operating Siwei Sanitary Ware since the early 1990s. From Wenzhou to Ningbo and then to Hangzhou, he not only stayed true to the brand, but also devoted himself to assisting the development of a group of local dealers in Zhejiang. In the corporate operation, he himself invests in the local advertising of the brand (picture albums, anti-aircraft guns, communities, stores, traffic radio or TV stations, etc.), and conducts brand-related marketing activities (cross-industry alliances, community activities, live broadcasts, etc.) Drainage, etc.), or even decoration (cost subsidy, free samples)...
For all this investment, he has always adhered to one principle: let distributors survive.
Image and text source: Internet
"Now the retail market is getting smaller and smaller, so if I want to develop new customers, I have to consider whether they have these conditions: the first is sufficient financial strength, and the second is engineering channels (if there is no engineering 80-90% of capable dealers will survive in the current market environment. (See the table below for rough costs), but compared to the past, the requirements will be relaxed - it is not necessary to open a specialty store, but also to establish a specialty area. Yes, because it is impossible for one brand to cover all categories. Bringing in products from other brands will help each other. Once we choose them, we must have confidence in them and give them the greatest support. . The first is to help them digest inventory and solve problems with the current new retail model, such as precise traffic flow through live broadcasts., everything is so that they can survive, only in this way will they work hard for you. Unless they voluntarily give up the brand, we should not force them for our own interests. "The honest Xu Gonghe finally reiterated: "Just leave any risks to our general agent. Even if the distributors try their best to run the stores well, Do good service. ”
How much does a specialty store cost?
It is precisely because Xu Gonghe devotes himself to supporting distributors, focusing and attentive, that his distributors are extremely loyal. There are many distributors who have followed him for decades, and there are even many distributors. The second generation successor continues to represent the Siwei sanitary ware brand.
"I would rather make less money than harm others." If manufacturers are like Xu Gonghe, no matter what they do, they will The starting point is to meet the needs of distributors; that is, to act "altruistically" from the other party's standpoint and perspective, it will ultimately benefit you.
《《《
Nowadays, dealers of ceramic brands are facing the test of channel flattening and new channel power. Under heavy pressure, they really need to passively or proactively make adjustments in their business development strategies. Therefore, when some industry seniors discussed with the author how traditional dealers make strategic adjustments, they once put forward three pointsThe most basic "prerequisites" for self-rights protection：
① Distributors should maintain regular communication and reporting with the manufacturer’s senior management, straighten out the relationship with the relevant functional departments of the manufacturer, and be aware of any actions of the brand headquarters; ② When dealers become service providers, they should Provide good after-sales service. Sometimes local reputation is more important than the influence of the brand; ③ Assist manufacturers to plan local markets, consolidate their influence in the local market, and strive to become the manufacturer's key dealer or benchmark market, and strive to obtain More support from manufacturers.
On September 23, China Ceramics Network’s upgraded version of the terminal market survey—National Tile Bathroom Market Survey—will launch its first stop in Guiyang.
Why choose Guiyang as your first stop? Relevant data released by the Guiyang Municipal Government show that in the first half of 2020, Guiyang achieved a regional GDP of 183.366 billion yuan, ranking first among cities and states in Guizhou Province; and based on comparable prices, the actual growth rate was 1.3%, 0.2 percentage points lower than the provincial average growth rate. With the country's strong support for the development of the southwest region in recent years, Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province, has developed rapidly in recent years. Therefore, its market information has great reference value for the layout terminals of major ceramic tile and sanitary ware brands. In addition, I believe there are more phenomena that can be discovered and studied.
Let us look forward to it together!
Author: Maoran
