The famous Battle of Menglianggu wiped out the number one trump card of the Kuomintang-the 74th Division, and the East China Field Army had the will to compete with the 74th Division for a long time. But the beginning of the battle was not the result of the strategic plan, but because the 74th Division accidentally broke away from the battle sequence, and Su Yu seized the fighter plane and annihilated it. This bold battle, which was called "unexpected" by Mao Zedong, became a watershed for the failure of the Kuomintang's key offensive in Shandong.
During World War II, the strategy of the allied forces to recover the European continent began with the Normandy landing war. The success of the Normandy campaign laid the foundation for the allied forces to deploy alternately in the European continent. We can say that if there were no Normandy campaign or landing war, the liberation time of the European continent would be delayed, the Soviet Red Army would enter the hinterland of Europe earlier, and the post-war international pattern would be different.
The key battle is the decisive factor to realize the strategic goal. Just like without sales strategy and execution, any excellent marketing idea is daydreaming!
Some people simply regard sales execution as developing new customers, developing blank markets, managing dealers, promoting distribution, planning promotional activities and providing after-sales service. In fact, being able to do the above work well can be regarded as a qualified salesperson. But for a regional manager, if he only works around these projects, then he is not only incompetent, but also unqualified!
The market is undergoing subtle changes every day, and the accumulation of these changes is either strengthening the existing competitive balance and causing the "Matthew effect"; Either change the status quo, break the competitive pattern and let the fast fish eat the slow fish.
No matter what kind of competitive position your brand is in the market, you must stand at the height of the evolution trend of the competitive pattern, evaluate the market actions of yourself and your competitors, and accurately judge the future direction of change. Therefore, for regional managers, it is not long-term, not for a while; It is not enough to seek a place without looking at the overall situation.
Use strategic thinking to guide sales, so that sales execution not only depends on marketing potential, but also has a clear strategic direction, then your sales behavior every time and every day will be "added up" until a breakthrough occurs at your scheduled time and area.
This paper discusses how to carry out a large-scale attack war in the regional market, which is applicable to both market leaders and attackers. The region mentioned here refers to a region that includes at least one province. Regardless of the size of the regional scope or even the national market, the processes and methods are universal. A large-scale battle refers to a campaign aimed at rapidly improving the coverage level, sales volume and market share of multiple regions and key channels. At the same time, this kind of promotion can change the overall competitive pattern of the regional market and improve the market position of its own brand.
Step 1: Competitive Hostility Assessment
Competitive hostile assessment is different from general market situation assessment, and its key point is to evaluate the strong and weak situation and strategic trend of major competitive brands in the planned offensive war area, so as to find out the offensive areas and channels of offensive war.
Competition evaluation mainly involves the following aspects:
Brand strength: first, there is no hint of popularity and popularity;
Advertising: media form, creative level and amount;
Main product quality: product line combination and new product listing trend;
Price: which grade occupies the main position in the category market;
Promotion: promotion channel selection, promotion mode, promotion intensity and promotion frequency;
Channel distribution: understand the distribution rate and freshness of goods at the main channel level;
Market share: sales volume and turnover speed, logistics cycle and market position;
Strategic level: response mode, innovation and response speed to competing products;
Cooperation status: the number and distribution of customer groups, the relationship with manufacturers, the degree and intensity of cooperation;
Sales staff: quantity, distribution and quality;
Consumer evaluation: consumer satisfaction.
Through the investigation and evaluation of the above links, we can make clear the strategic direction of offensive warfare. Sun Tzu said: expect the enemy to win, calculate the danger and pass away, and go to the general!
Step 2: Make a sales activity plan.
Campaign planning here refers to defining the goal, scope, time and stage of the overall sales battle.
Target: channel distribution growth rate, sales growth rate and sales volume. Putting the sales target at the end is to let the grass-roots executives involved in the activities, including salespeople, dealers and their salesmen, first understand the content of the work and the direction of their efforts, rather than focusing on sales. Because there are only two people who pay attention to sales: the event planner and the partner (dealer) who implements the event, the rest can achieve sales as planned as long as they complete the daily task objectives according to the regulations.
Scope: When choosing a region, you should pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your main competitors, and at the same time, you should choose a market with inter-regional relations. You should accurately predict how much impact you will have on your opponent's strong market or channel, thus triggering his follow-up reaction.
Time: The time range of the activity must be defined in advance. Usually, the best time for a sales activity is 45-60 days, and the longest time cannot exceed 90 days. In other words, the goal of the campaign must be achieved within two months. If it takes more than two months, the initial sales target will generally change, and the change of target means the beginning of another sales war!
Stages: When planning a campaign, we must set a "critical moment", that is, divide the whole cycle into several stages, and set an audit standard for each stage to evaluate the achievement of the stage objectives. If the goal is not achieved in two consecutive stages, then the assurance of achieving the campaign goal will be greatly reduced.
In short, in the planning stage, the regional manager must complete the overall concept of sales activities, that is, to realize what Sun Tzu called: knowing the right time, the right place and the right people can fight thousands of miles!
Step 3: Plan the layout of the war zone
Theater layout is to combine the space and time involved in the attack to achieve the effect of the campaign process: mobilize competing products, disrupt the superior layout of competing products, and create a favorable situation for the general attack.
Theater layout design is a planning process from "point" to "potential", which is related to the allocation of its own resources and the most important condition for completing the decisive battle;
Point: the channels subdivided in the market based on the administrative divisions of cities, counties and towns;
Line: compile the implementation steps of the attack point into a time series to form a clear attack line;
Face: It is not that the scope of the attack is "face", but that the face to be formed must be interrelated, that is, as Sun Tzu said, if you are prepared, you will be few, and if you are prepared, you will be few. The layout of point, line and surface has reached the situation of forming surface, which laid the foundation for the success of offensive warfare.
Situation: There must be a time when the attack will eventually make a strong breakthrough. Generally, it will break out from the most important "point" between 25 and 35 days after the start of the campaign, that is, the sales volume will increase rapidly in geometric order. The creation of this "potential" not only requires the personnel, resources and support within the enterprise to reach the level of natural development, but also makes the cooperators, interested parties and even consumers willing to accept this situation.
Sun Tzu said: being good at fighting people's potential, such as turning a boulder on a thousand miles mountain, is also a potential!
Step 4: Integrate internal resources.
War is logistics, so is sales!
In addition to resources (personnel, vehicles, promotion, advertising), non-resource factors affecting sales are equally important: strategy, system, leadership, communication, process, inter-departmental collaboration such as document preparation, production, logistics, finance, administration, human resources, etc. And the most important thing: morale!
Morale can't be built by rewards or power. Morale can only be an inner passion that everyone agrees with the value of their work! Morale is everyone's heartfelt dedication. Without it, no amount of resources can exert the greatest and most economical benefits, but only by spending 10 yuan to do what others can do in 5 yuan can we do it!
Integrating internal resources is to build a "runway" or "launch platform" for sales promotion. Strictly speaking, there are two aspects: support and encouragement. Supporting factors such as production, logistics and system are absolutely necessary conditions; Motivation factors, such as strategic wisdom, communication and leadership, are sufficient conditions for winning.
Sun Tzu said: If you want to be a soldier, you must understand the will of the enemy and kill generals thousands of miles away, which means that skills can succeed!
Step 5: Determine the tactical means.
The most effective tactics to increase sales are:
Price reduction: it can be divided into direct price reduction and indirect price reduction. Durable consumer goods usually take the form of direct price reduction, while fast-moving consumer goods take the form of indirect price reduction: buying gifts, joint promotion, purchase discounts, hurdle rebates, etc.
Consumption promotion: such as lottery, prize sales, gift sales, fringe benefits, etc. ;
Personnel: store commandos, tally clerks, shopping guides/promoters;
Advertising: multimedia, high frequency, centralized delivery;
Hot events: use event marketing to improve attention and topicality, and even occupy public discourse space.
In addition, when choosing tactical means, we must also make clear the "three points" of the attack:
Focus: Before launching a large-scale attack, it is usually necessary to rehearse or test the market's responsiveness. This is the key point, this is a tentative action to ensure the effective realization of the real attack;
Diffusion point: both markets and channels are interrelated and interactive, so it is necessary to ensure that the focus has a diffusion effect on the surrounding markets or channels, and the formation of the diffusion point means the completion of the preparation for the decisive battle;
Explosion point: Regional campaigns do not require parallel growth of sales in all regions or channels, but explosive growth in key regions and channels, thus changing the competitive situation in the theater.
Sun Tzu said: the war situation is just a strange and positive change, and it cannot overcome poverty. Strange and positive are innate. If there is no reason for recycling, who can be poor!
Step 6: strategic concealment and smog
What really needs to be hidden in the war is not the strategic goal, but the specific campaign route, method and time. For the regional market offensive war, it is very important to conceal the campaign intention, main attack area, channel and time because of the short time interval and high speed.
There are two ways to achieve strategic concealment, confidentiality and smoke.
Confidentiality: The number of people who know relevant information must be strictly controlled internally and externally. Regional attack planning and promotion methods, as small as inventory status, material preparation, document control, etc. , should be kept secret. We must be "extremely tangible, but intangible." Invisible, invisible, and impossible for the wise! "
Smoke: British strategist liddell? By studying the history of war, Hart came to the conclusion that "indirect route" is better than direct attack. In the regional tough battle, we must use the strategy of "feint attack" to divert the opponent's attention. Before the layout of the explosion point is completed, we must attract competing products to carry out promotional activities in the wrong areas and channels, at least we must not let the opponent intercept them at a speed higher than the normal promotion.
We can't make confidentiality and pumping measures too complicated and subtle. The best secret is that others don't know there is a secret!
The purpose of strategic concealment and smoke screen is nothing more than to ensure a quick attack. From a certain point of view, there is no absolute secret, but a quick decision is the key!
Sun Tzu said: Love soldiers for speed, take advantage of people unprepared, and attack them with safety!
Step 7: Implement mobilization.
Attack warfare is not running on the daily track, but a "state of war". Both employees and partners must change their daily life from the beginning. For example, the usual work and rest time is 8: 00- 18: 00, and now it must be changed to 7: 30- 19: 30. If you usually visit 10 customers, you can clinch a deal with 100 yuan. Now you must visit 15 or more before you can clinch a deal in 200 yuan. Therefore, before the change, pre-war mobilization is necessary.
Key points of implementing mobilization:
Objective: To clarify the phased promotion objectives, explain the reasons and means of increasing sales, and convince everyone;
Division of labor: define everyone's post, daily tasks and indicators;
Value: let participants realize the special value and interests;
Example: Managers must set an example, and administrative personnel must also change their schedules accordingly to form an overall atmosphere;
Reward: temporary awards such as the highest sales volume award, the highest outlet award, the best service award and the best dedication award can be set, which can be combined with the staged goal of tough battles. Attack is the pursuit of ideal state, and employees' sense of honor should be stimulated by incentives. There is no need to set up temporary punishment measures, but it is necessary to verbally announce that those who fail to implement or walk slowly will be sentenced to "capital punishment"!
The core of pre-war mobilization is to stimulate the enthusiasm of employees. In the specific operation process, it is necessary to clarify the commander's right to take advantage of the situation. In addition to the original rules and regulations, he can also "give a reward that he can't give, and the next one has no political orders", because for offensive warfare, to ensure speed and execution, he must be given decision-making power!
Sun Tzu said: the general who knows the soldiers, the general of the people, and the Lord of national security!
The tough battle of regional market is a sales assault battle with strong pertinence, clear goals and fast running. Brands that need to be launched have a certain market base, especially when the main competitive brands are confronted, offensive warfare is the most suitable, but those with weak market base or poor market operation ability are not suitable.
The purpose of telling details is to cultivate the professional habits of regional managers. At first, we should learn step by step, but we must oppose the rigid thinking of Handan toddler. So, please remember the rule of 1-2-3: plan, prepare and mobilize!
Sun Tzu said: the victorious soldiers win first and then fight, and the defeated soldiers win first and then fight!
I hope more sales managers and sales directors will fight a strategic and planned sales campaign!