With the arrival of buyer's market, channels are particularly important in enterprise operation. As an intermediary between manufacturers and markets, distributors are indispensable in the process of realizing product value. Enterprises are generally ambivalent about it, which can neither raise sails for the growth of enterprises, but may also become a stumbling block. How should we treat this special group? Many enterprises are studying this problem in order to effectively manage dealers and maximize the role of channels. In the long-term market visit, the author summarizes the factors that affect dealers into five types: mode cognition, brand building, channel centripetal force and management cohesion. These five factors are closely related to the game relationship between enterprises and dealers, which has created various performances of both parties in the market. What is the position of enterprises with pattern cognition in the channel? Whether to guide the channel direction or indulge in the existing channels comes from the correct grasp of the enterprise's own strength and resources, so as to choose the brand management model that suits you. At present, the sales model of motorcycle market can be roughly divided into two types: one is brand-driven market, which is suitable for enterprises with single product, high brand concentration and great industry influence. Just like the Yangtze River in the industry, we are committed to building Haojue brand and working hard on product quality and service. Now it is invincible in the market, and no one can beat it. It just brings freshness to China motorcycles that once wandered in the cycle of low quality, and creates a brand-new marketing model. The author once visited Heyang Leiming Motorcycle Sales Co., Ltd., which manages Haojue. When the industry is generally bleak, the sales volume of Haojue brand it distributes has increased greatly compared with last year. "Since the price gap is within the psychological acceptance space of consumers, the contest of brand influence is very important. After all, motorcycles are not fast-moving consumer goods, and future use satisfaction has a lot to do with product quality and after-sales. " Lei Ming, the general manager, analyzed the influence of the brand like this. However, there are some disadvantages in the brand-driven channel model: enterprises that rely on brand-driven give dealers less space. As long as you unite under the banner of the brand and have enough asset margin, making money is a business of the enterprise, and all resources are uniformly allocated by the enterprise. But this will lead to the unhealthy development of the value ecological chain system, because the more dealers rely on enterprises, the more they feel that their independence and security are threatened, and the flexibility of market operation and the effectiveness of grasping opportunities are not sure. In this situation, dealers gradually lost themselves, limited to the business model and sales ideas of enterprises, and lost the ability to capture business opportunities. In this case, the enterprise may put its own interests above the distributor, and the distributor is affected by various reasons and has to maintain this relationship with the enterprise. Just imagine, how long will the vitality of this model last? But we can't indulge the dealers. Driven by various interests, dealers and enterprises will go further and further on the hotbed of connivance. The reasonable model should be to understand each other, support each other and get what they want in the market. The other is that the sales of products rely on the driving force of channels, expand the market network extensively, and use continuous marketing means to promote sales. This marketing method is suitable for products with insufficient brand influence, and there are many competitors at the same management level. In order to achieve good sales performance, this is also a desirable model. However, most of these enterprises can spare no effort to develop new technologies, increase the market potential of brands, and deeply cultivate the network, take root in the market and win market recognition through their own efforts. Brand building power Only strong brand influence can win more market resources, which is also the standard for dealers to choose enterprises. If enterprises want to maintain lasting influence on dealers, they must adhere to brand building for a long time and increase the premium provided by products to dealers. Only when one's own brand has a high potential energy in the market and can give dealers a satisfactory profit margin can one have an irresistible temptation to one's own channels. Therefore, enterprises are required to continuously strengthen the research and development of new products and maintain the brand image, and with the development of the market, constantly inject vitality into the brand to maintain its long-term appeal and meet the needs of target consumers. Brand is now a topic of heartache and concern for enterprises. When the market is eager for quick success and instant benefit, many enterprises neglect brand building. When the product price is getting closer to the value, many problems are exposed like icebergs in the sea, which makes many enterprises unprepared. Many dealers have adjusted their thinking, and profit is no longer their only goal. Product quality, service, business strength and sales policy are the criteria for many dealers to choose enterprises. "Originally, the profit margin of the motorcycle products I operated was good, but making motorcycles is not an important project of the enterprise. Enterprises only maintain this brand with limited output now, waiting for the lifting of the ban in the industry, so we are dragging our feet, advertising and after-sales. If the company gives up this brand, all my previous efforts in the market will be in vain, and everything will have to start from scratch. For enterprises, giving up motorcycle projects is only part of their business, but for our dealers, this is the key to their business success. Moreover, consumers' awareness of brand and service has been significantly strengthened, and flickering can no longer solve the problem. I am choosing a new brand these days. This product must have guaranteed quality, good market reputation and strong commercial strength. At the critical moment when the industry sticks to it, losing opportunities is equivalent to suicide, and I dare not be careless. "A dealer in Heyang who asked not to be named confided to the author. Channel centripetal force When the network is developed, many enterprises have such concerns. After the cultivation of some large distributors is completed, their status will be threatened. "Soldiers who don't want to be generals are not good soldiers. "The same idea, the same resources, the same market environment, what makes people help you make money? As long as there is a good business philosophy, in today's era of convenient and fast resource exchange, powerful dealers can completely occupy the position of enterprises. If it really doesn't work, to say the least, they can also run competing products in their own channels and compete with the original owners in a limited market space, leaving enterprises with endless "resentment". But enterprises rarely find reasons from themselves. Why should dealers create their own countermeasures? How much benefit did you bring to the dealer? Many enterprises worry that dealers earn more than themselves and think that this profit is their own. But it is rarely considered from the perspective of dealers. Dealers not only create wealth for themselves, but also bring rich profit returns to enterprises. In the process of cooperation between the two parties, win-win should be the main color of this system. At the meeting of Xirongfa Industrial Group, Feng Guang Company gave each dealer a wallet. I think it's interesting. When the company introduced it, it said, "I gave you the insurance policy and wallet. What, how much and how to put it in it depends on the efforts of each of you. Give full play to your talents and win your own space. "When enterprises explore channels, the deepest complaint is that dealers break their promises and have no loyalty. Pursuing profit is the characteristic of dealers, but different eyes determine their different ways. Some people have a long-term vision and operate better brands, but the profit rate is relatively low; Some people are concerned about immediate profits, and they will operate products with greater risks and greater profit margins. But how can enterprises win the loyalty of dealers? Loyalty needs the influence of the brand in the local market, the business thinking of the enterprise and the profit margin of the product, but it also has a great relationship with the operation process of the enterprise. The first is the principle of fairness. " Fairness, public trust and public win "are the greatest feelings of the author when visiting the market." Enterprises should consider the principle of fairness when formulating sales policies, which should not vary from time to time and from person to person. In this way, there will be a gap between dealers from the beginning. In the process of implementing corporate policies in the future, the following dealers will be alienated from Germany, and enterprises will have no appeal. Everyone is just a friend in interest. How can an enterprise ask its distributors to be loyal to themselves when there is a better choice? In the implementation, how can dealers devote themselves wholeheartedly? I really can't. There are other options. Secondly, the continuity and stability of market policy is also a key factor affecting dealer loyalty. Dealers are most afraid of fickle enterprises. In the morning, it is a policy, and in the evening, it is a decision, which makes dealers feel at a loss and insecure. The author believes that in the management of dealers, we should not focus on what we can get from dealers at the beginning, but should put the service to dealers in the first place. Stimulating the sales enthusiasm of dealers with mature market operation ideas will only be a natural process for enterprises to make profits. The words of Guo Hongfu, general manager of Jilin Hongjian Company, are of great inspiration to the author. In the long-term development of sales network, he summed up two points: First, he used China's traditional human touch, combined with his own life experience, and used his own spirit to influence the following dealers, and unconditionally handed over his accumulated business experience for many years to the following dealers, so that they could understand the good intentions of the enterprise and, more importantly, learned the way of company management. In practice, everyone "strives" to do an action, which reduces the communication cost between the company and the channel. Second, the company's powerful management means and various learning mechanisms ensure a reliable support for the company's humanistic culture. Management Cohesion Many enterprises' channel management troubles come from the loose combination of dealers and enterprises. As an independent sales individual, each dealer pursues profit maximization unilaterally, which leads to large internal friction and difficult management. To sum up, the root causes of derivative channel problems can be roughly divided into two types: one is that the interests of distributors in the channel are scattered and there is no unified standard for management. The members in the channel are fighting for themselves, and the enterprise does not have enough control over the channel. In addition, in the process of operation, the relationship between the manufacturing field and the retail field has changed, the brand influence of the enterprise has not been well improved, and the focus of operation has shifted to the channel. At present, many enterprises directly attract some large distributors to participate in company management in order to achieve the same interests. This will not only close the relationship with dealers, but also be closer to the market in future policy formulation. More importantly, letting some local governors directly participate can help enterprises consolidate a market and reduce the "discount" when implementing policies, killing two birds with one stone. Some enterprises choose to form strategic partners with distributors, and everyone will benefit from the same position and work together to make a living market. Equivalence is the foundation and profit is the goal. Without the protection of interests, enterprises have no right to demand the loyalty of dealers and interfere in the choice of dealers. From the vertical division, the management of dealers can also be divided into dealer management and dealer offline customer management. 1. Dealer management If you are a well-known product in the market and have a unique operating idea for market operation, you can consider raising the threshold of dealer margin, unifying the resources of dealers in a systematic business model, reducing the losses within the system and maximizing the profits generated. But the problem is that this policy should be continuous and cannot be changed overnight, which makes dealers feel uneasy and at a loss. 2. The offline customer management of dealers focuses on the offline customers of dealers, which can help enterprises find out the reasons for the small increase or decrease of enterprises and the combination of products and markets from a micro perspective. After communication with lower-level dealers is barrier-free, the network can further understand the sales policies of enterprises, and the most important thing is that dealers can take care of them when confronting enterprises. Value-added force unifies dealers with its own model and strengthens the execution and satisfaction of market policies. Due to the influence of various factors, many dealers "look" at various policies of enterprises but do not do them or do them badly, which can not achieve the expected results of enterprises. This requires enterprises to "brainwash" dealers and let them understand the implementation and requirements of a policy. 1. Strengthen training, instill advanced business concepts, and promote the cash income brought by the proliferation of intangible assets with enterprise management capabilities. The market is becoming more and more complex, and many dealers are eager to learn and innovate, absorb more nutrition and provide some enlightenment for their own operations. In this way, enterprises can provide their dealers with their advanced business philosophy and management system, which can not only influence and unite dealers at a deeper level, but also allow dealers to surround themselves. More importantly, unified management can reduce many unnecessary troubles when enterprises implement policies. 2, enterprises take out part of the funds, encourage local dealers to create business tactics according to local conditions, and then promote them in channels, which can not only enhance dealers' awareness of participating in management, satisfy their self-worth, but also create more business benefits for enterprises. It is the ultimate goal of every enterprise's channel construction to let its own sales channels advance and retreat, which is easy to control. However, having a satisfactory sales channel cannot be solved by just a few theories. It needs to be carefully combed in communication, constantly running in, so that both sides can adapt to each other, so that they can be handy in specific operations. Author: Xu Mianzhen, welcome to exchange your views and opinions with the author.