The three most important assets for ancient rapid spending goods dealers are collection, channel, and team. The absolute flattening of channels and the absolute细分ation of collections are crucial. In reality, the means by which dealers control the network and allow channels to function normally is through their team's role. Relatively favorable treatment and broad growth prospects and platforms offered by manufacturers contrast sharply with the overly limited growth space and low compensation provided by dealers, creating a bottleneck in cultivating a talent pipeline. I have experienced many management teams from the manufacturer side to the dealer side, and ultimately, I would like to share some of my insights on team management with everyone for discussion, hoping it can benefit those facing difficulties in this area, bringing me some solace.
Modern dealer teams face significant challenges not in finding suitable people but in retaining them—team stability. To cultivate an excellent team capable of achieving great results, continuous and effective motivation of the team is essential. Sales is a tough job. In other words, if you cannot offer sufficiently attractive income in this industry, you must be good at painting a rosy picture—what is commonly known as personnel motivation.
Chapter One: Motivation
The biggest problem faced by dealer teams is excessive staff turnover and lack of stability. The main reason lies in the lack of unified and effective leadership within the team.
For salespeople who repeatedly perform simple tasks, how to make monotonous work full of passion every day and how to make almost mechanical processes creative are aspects that dealers' managers need to emphasize continuously through motivation.
I once took over a trading company mainly dealing in leisure food and cooking oil. When I arrived, due to frequent staff turnover, the boss had no choice but to promote several veteran salespeople to sales managers, each leading a team. However, since setting up these management positions was a necessity rather than a well-thought-out plan, and the promoted individuals had varying levels of ability, this led to organizational bloat and chaotic management. A company of more than forty people, lacking effective management, saw even greater staff turnover, reaching up to 60% resignation rates. Those left behind were often lacking in ambition and creativity, affecting the overall quality and combat effectiveness of the team.
After my arrival, I personally led practical training sessions and initially positioned myself as a sales manager. The original sales managers' functions were downgraded to supervisors, and all capable salespeople were encouraged. Employees showing ambition and outstanding abilities were given promotions. Three months later, not only did the previous sales managers not leave, but the infusion of fresh blood made the entire team full of passion and fighting spirit. In managing this team, the most important things were:
1. Unifying the scattered team under one leadership. Any team's ultimate management slogan should always be singular, indicating a core is necessary for true management effectiveness.
2. Leading by example and motivating the team personally during actual operations. Training employees occurs naturally during encouragement and guidance processes. Only through real-world guidance can salespeople truly become a team brimming with both morale and firepower.
3. Weakening the power of excessive management personnel subconsciously boosts competition among salespeople and reduces mismatches between capability and authority caused by hasty promotions. Although this may create conflicts among the management layer initially, it stabilizes employee confidence and is therefore relatively appropriate.
4. Promoting corporate culture to all employees to instill a sense of belonging while planning their career paths, linking individual growth with the company's growth. Encouraging employees gives most salespeople confidence in the company and enthusiasm for their work within it.
After six months, the team significantly improved in business capabilities and qualities. Since I came from a manufacturer to a dealer, many management concepts and marketing ideas originated from the manufacturer side. Thus, appropriately comparing the capabilities of the dealer's salespeople with the manufacturer's salespeople not only greatly boosted the confidence of the former but also uncovered many highly potential sales elites.
Over time, it became evident that continuous motivation alone was insufficient; the intrinsic professional qualities of salespeople needed improvement, directly impacting the effectiveness and relevance of motivation. Therefore, continuous and effective guidance and education alongside motivation are key to enhancing personnel standards.
Chapter Two: Guidance
Another growth bottleneck in dealer team management is how to continuously guide and educate salespeople to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions while enhancing their loyalty to the company, thereby stabilizing the team. Today's fast-moving consumer goods market changes rapidly. If employees cannot keep up with these changes, they will fail to have a new understanding of their roles. Facing numerous market trainings from manufacturers, dealers' salespeople often feel isolated without enough opportunities for training or upward mobility. Therefore, for long-term team planning, guidance and training are crucial elements in improving the overall quality of the team.
In terms of guidance and training, the sales manager and the owner of the dealer, along with the manufacturer of the agency brand, play particularly important roles. Especially the sales manager, who often faces manufacturers and receives new market concepts and ideas simultaneously with them. After internalizing these ideas, they can effectively guide the salespeople, especially during practical operations, achieving twice the result with half the effort. For lower-level salespeople, such guidance is crucial for their personal growth.
(Note: The text appears to cut off abruptly, so the translation reflects this.)