The Way Out For Middlemen: Proximity Management

The middleman mentioned in this article mainly refers to the shoe industry branch and the provincial regional agent sales.

Who is the winner of shoe branch operation and regional agency sales?

It is the best explanation to use the brand A theory to answer this question.

Because the selection of branch companies and agents is too many and too wide, it is not an angle or a few common factors that can determine the right and wrong. The author generalizes it from a theoretical height and shares the industry in a common direction.

"Brand A type theory" is the author of Zheng Jinhui's theory, which has been put forward for a long time after many years of experience in the market. The brand A theory holds that "A" (the first word in English "approach") means "approaching". "Brand A theory" is the whole business activity that enterprises integrate various resources to effectively "approach" the needs of customers. In the process, the brand is continuously promoted and enterprises continue to develop.

So that customers can enjoy the real good service from the "A" management in all aspects of the channel.

In the theory of brand A, "proximity" is a key word, which is also suitable for the operation of channel business. The shortest line between two points, and "proximity management", has a certain guiding effect on the branch and sales of the shoe industry.

The author made a sample survey on the status quo of the branch or agency business in the market in 2006: the business of men's shoes is generally declining, especially the sales of the shoes are not good. Generally speaking, the total number of customers of the regional agents is more than 50, the number of effective customers is about 15, and the number of 3 franchisees in the left and right, the 4 in the department stores, the number of counters in shopping malls and retail shoe cities are not determined.

The overall style is mainly made of formal shoes, and the proportion of all kinds of casual shoes is a certain proportion, because the market is relatively low because of the lack of shoes, but some people say that the price increases, the weather is abnormal, the supply exceeds demand, and the replacement of industries such as iconic products and other macro and objective factors lead to a decline in sales volume. Some people say that consumers are more rational in buying things, the loyalty to some brands is relatively high, the mobility of the shoes is not too high, and there is no reason for it.

Anyway, in the background of recession, no brand is particularly ahead.

Of course, the good selling of leather shoes is undoubtedly a few leading enterprises in the industry, because they operate for a long time, the support of manufacturers is large, and advertising investment is much.

The form of operation includes the operation of the branch company and the regional agency sales. No matter what form they have, they all have a common character. The main reason for the good operation of the industry is that they have many fixed outlets, many stores operate, the loyalty to the brand is relatively high, and many retail businesses are purchased according to the special stores or location counters. The main stores and shoe cities are mainly in the two or three level good market, and the shopping malls are mainly in the primary market. The sales of shoes are mainly produced in the exclusive stores or good counters.

And small and medium-sized brands, retail investors are relatively large, retail investors are basically in developed townships or county-level market, they flow large, once encountered market risk, it will change course, because now the market is not 3 goods, but goods 30, or even more, the market is very difficult to do, and so on, these factors lead to small and medium-sized brand sales instability.

According to the sample, it is known that many branches of the company are usually novice, or have a long history of operation. From emotional or entertainment marketing and marketing, we all know that the relationship between middlemen and retail managers is always very subtle. The branch is not flexible in dealing with this relationship. For example, agents operate at any time with their own money or the qualification of many years of operation of the market, and the relationship between some shoe managers can be settled at any time.

There are, of course, some middlemen of "joint-stock cooperation", that is, combining the advantages of agency operation and branch operation in operation, it is also a good form to adapt to localization operation.

To set up a branch in a provincial level, there must be many conditions. First, the strength of the enterprise is large, and the customers' network in this area is sound. At present, there are less than 10 branches in each provincial region. If you are a branch company, retailers will have to operate according to the criteria of the branch, so the cost of the branch in warehousing, customer site construction, advertising investment and team building will bring great pressure to the company headquarters.

Just imagine, if a branch company of 50 to 60 outlets open all the stores, each store will have about 40 square meters, the cost of the facade decoration will be nearly 2 million, and the expenses of goods distribution, business promotion and advertising investment will be much higher.

Regional agency management is more flexible in this respect, and the pressure on the company headquarters and the following zero dealers will not be as stressful or rigid as the operation of the branch.

In recent years, there are fewer regional managers for regional marketing because of fewer branches.

A branch office must have regional managers to develop and maintain the market, but there are not many regional managers.

This is also the biggest difference between the regional agency operation and the branch operation.

The middleman mentioned in this article mainly refers to the shoe industry branch and the provincial regional agent sales.

Who is the winner of shoe branch operation and regional agency sales?

It is the best explanation to use the brand A theory to answer this question.

Because the selection of branch companies and agents is too many and too wide, it is not an angle or a few common factors that can determine the right and wrong. The author generalizes it from a theoretical height and shares the industry in a common direction.

"Brand A type theory" is the author of Zheng Jinhui's theory, which has been put forward for a long time after many years of experience in the market. The brand A theory holds that "A" (the first word in English "approach") means "approaching", and the "brand A theory" is the whole business activity that the enterprise integrates all kinds of resources and effectively "approaches" the needs of customers. In the process, the brand is continuously promoted and the enterprise continues to develop.

So that customers can enjoy the real good service from the "A" management in all aspects of the channel.

In the theory of brand A, "proximity" is a key word, which is also suitable for the operation of channel business. The shortest line between two points, and "proximity management", has a certain guiding effect on the branch and sales of the shoe industry.

The author made a sample survey on the status quo of the branch or agency business in the market in 2006: the business of men's shoes is generally declining, especially the sales of the shoes are not good. Generally speaking, the total number of customers of the regional agents is more than 50, the number of effective customers is about 15, and the number of 3 franchisees in the left and right, the 4 in the department stores, the number of counters in shopping malls and retail shoe cities are not determined.

The overall style is mainly made of formal shoes, and the proportion of all kinds of casual shoes is a certain proportion, because the market is relatively low because of the lack of shoes, but some people say that the price increases, the weather is abnormal, the supply exceeds demand, and the replacement of industries such as iconic products and other macro and objective factors lead to a decline in sales volume. Some people say that consumers are more rational in buying things, the loyalty to some brands is relatively high, the mobility of the shoes is not too high, and there is no reason for it.

Anyway, in the background of recession, no brand is particularly ahead.

Of course, the good selling of leather shoes is undoubtedly a few leading enterprises in the industry, because they operate for a long time, the support of manufacturers is large, and advertising investment is much.

The form of operation includes the operation of the branch company and the regional agency sales. No matter what form they have, they all have a common character. The main reason for the good operation of the industry is that they have many fixed outlets, many stores operate, the loyalty to the brand is relatively high, and many retail businesses are purchased according to the special stores or location counters. The main stores and shoe cities are mainly in the two or three level good market, and the shopping malls are mainly in the primary market. The sales of shoes are mainly produced in the exclusive stores or good counters.

And small and medium-sized brands, retail investors are relatively large, retail investors are basically in developed townships or county-level market, they flow large, once encountered market risk, it will change course, because now the market is not 3 goods, but goods 30, or even more, the market is very difficult to do, and so on, these factors lead to small and medium-sized brand sales instability.

According to the sample, it is known that many branches of the company are usually novice, or have a long history of operation. From emotional or entertainment marketing and marketing, we all know that the relationship between middlemen and retail managers is always very subtle. The branch is not flexible in dealing with this relationship. For example, agents operate at any time with their own money or the qualification of many years of operation of the market, and the relationship between some shoe managers can be settled at any time.

There are, of course, some middlemen of "joint-stock cooperation", that is, combining the advantages of agency operation and branch operation in operation, it is also a good form to adapt to localization operation.

To set up a branch in a provincial level, there must be many conditions. First, the strength of the enterprise is large, and the customers' network in this area is sound. At present, there are less than 10 branches in each provincial region. If you are a branch company, retailers will have to operate according to the standards of the branch companies, so the cost of the branch in warehousing, customer site construction, advertising investment and team building will bring great pressure to the company headquarters.

Just imagine, if a branch company of 50 to 60 outlets open all the stores, each store will have about 40 square meters, the cost of the facade decoration will be nearly 2 million, and the expenses of goods distribution, business promotion and advertising investment will be much higher.

Regional agency management is more flexible in this respect, and the pressure on the company headquarters and the following zero dealers will not be as stressful or rigid as the operation of the branch.

In recent years, there are fewer regional managers for regional marketing because of fewer branches.

A branch office must have regional managers to develop and maintain the market, but there are not many regional managers.

This is also the biggest difference between the regional agency operation and the branch operation.

　　 　　针对上述抽样分析可知，不管是代理式经营还是分公司操作，在低迷的行业背景下，大牌企业操作得成功，是因为他们除了自身的优势之外，那就是实现了“接近式管理”，让自己的优势通过本土化操作融合到通路各成员当中，而中小型企业则在市场上飘乎不定，下游的客户也是忠诚度不坚定，是因为他们持观望态度，没有主动接近市场，因此，企业还是要根据企业的实际情况来选择中间商的运作形式，关键是如何实现“接近式管理”，即运行“通路A管理模式”，特别是面对 2007年的到来，我们还是回到原点思维，如何从顾客需求的角度来使自己“接近”市场，所谓接水楼台先得月，如果中间商还是与市场隔阂，信息自闭，那么，企业就会在低迷中更会一蹶不振，甚至被淘汰出局，那么如何接近市场呢？

The following two typical practices are analyzed: first, "six in place" allows the middlemen to effectively link the regional market 1, and whether the products are in place: according to the trend of the target market products, select the right and competitive products to market, and display the products in the most appropriate way.

2, price is in place, the price is a system, the setting of the price system is closely related to the market situation and the status of other brands. The price system that can create competitive differences is a measure of whether the price is in place.

3, customers and shops choose the right place: we should stabilize and develop some core customers, and my shoes will not sell well for him. He will close the door, and resolutely "cut off" those customers who cannot afford it.