Is your organization set up to capture your true potential in China? - 7 Steps to true China market focus

One country, one political system, one market, uniform tariffs and transportation system. Addressing the market with a unified product or services portfolio, value proposition, marketing messaging and single sales approach should be a no-brainer - and it reduces internal complexity.

22 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions, 2 Special Administrative Regions, 660 cities, of which 10 with populations of more than 4 million, 8 primary dialects – equally communalities and vast differences in requirements, needs and purchasing behaviors, concentrated/over-crowded markets in the coastal line, vast distances and incomplete transportation infrastructure between economic centers in Central/West China. Urbanization, burgeoning middle-class and the highest number of ultra-rich in the world. Modern financial instruments and transactions in economic hubs, still highly cash-based economies in less developed areas.

Is your organization set up to capture your true potential in China, or are you missing out by approaching the market merely as a singular form? Are you under-invested in potential markets, or actually over-invested in some areas, whereas missing potential in others?

Many companies - no matter whether they are large multinationals with close to 30 years history of doing business in China, medium-sized companies or small firms - have still not adopted an effective China market approach - offering too generic, unfitting products & services, organizing their sales according to overseas company standards rather than according to China’s reality, under-serving potential markets or cannibalizing internally, or utilizing standardized value propositions and marketing messaging – missing to make the mark with local buyers and decision-makers.

Few companies however have realized that the true potential of selling successfully in China lies in the adoption of products and services catering to real local requirements, flavors and designs, in the development of a product mix that Chinese customers really need - not what company’s headquarters wants to sell - and by effectively organizing their sales force according to the differences between regions, markets and personalities in the country.

Beginning the journey to customize product/services portfolio, value proposition and marketing & sales approach to China thereby is neither overly costly nor overly time-intensive, taking a targeted, structured approach:

• Structure China according to prevalent regions that make sense according to your product & services portfolio – e.g. geographically, economically or according to industry concentrations,
• Weigh these regions according to their potential customer concentration, products & services requirements, propensity to purchase your products or services, purchasing power, competitive landscape,
• Overlay weighting of logistical reach and cost, eliminate markets that cannot be feasibly served
• Identify focus markets and your optimal products & services offering for these markets,
• Develop value propositions and marketing messaging according to the individual focus markets and your customized products & services offering in these markets,
• Restructure and build up your sales force according to the individual focus markets, their potential customer concentration, propensity to buy and purchasing power,
• Plan and implement marketing & sales channels accordingly.

Truly capturing the full potential of the Chinese market will require you, your organization and – not the least – your overseas Headquarters to think out of the box, but the success of some companies that have already begun to lead the way – such as Volkswagen, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and others – in customizing their product & services offerings as well as marketing & sales approaches based on the regional differences in China may be motivation enough to begin the journey at your organization, as well.

Michael Adick

Managing Director, Articulate Ltd.

March 2014

Can your managers solve problems and make (the right) decisions confidently for your organization?

It may be a lingering stigma that managers in China are either – depending on your viewpoint – unable to, unwilling to or not enabled to solve problems and make (the right) decisions independently at their organizations.

Certainly there may be cultural implications to the way managers from different origins approach problems, such as negativity around (and thus the barrier for) disclosing “the bad news”, propensity or lack thereof to speak out in meetings, making or defending ones’ point, or the inclination or lack thereof to embrace responsibility for something that may not 100% match with ones’ job description.

Yet there are many organizations operating in China where managers are operating effectively, perfectly well, having learned and adopted effective approaches to solve problems and making decisions day by day.

These managers have been enabled by their organizations to:

• use methods and tools to solve problems quickly and effectively through proven problem-solving & decision making models,
• understand, practice and utilize the personal skills and attributes to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in problem-solving and decision-making,
• master pro-active approaches to appraise and solve problems through using an array of innovative thinking, systems thinking, quantification and qualification,
• employ the skills to enhance inter-disciplinary and cross-team communication and teamwork. 
• develop confidence in making and defending their points in teamwork, meetings and presentations.

You can either keep using the costly route to identify “that perfect manager” on the labor market, using expensive head hunting services and paying premium salaries – with uncertain outcomes -, or tap on your existing labor force in-house and pro-actively enable them to develop towards efficient, effective problem-solving and decision-making.

Remember: good managers are not born, they are made.

Michael Adick
Managing Director, Articulate Ltd.

March 2014

Are you getting the most out of your China Sales Force? - 8 steps to achieve improvement of your Sales Force effectiveness

Having personally lead sales teams in China since 2000, and having worked with companies across multiple B2B and B2C industries as sales & marketing consultant, trainer and coach, I know that we all share similar concerns about our Sales Force:

• Are we getting the most out of our China Sales Force?
• Are our Sales Processes guiding, supporting and not hampering our Sales Force in their efforts?
• Do our Sales People really employ a structured, targeted and result oriented sales approach?
• Do our Sales People know that customer objections often are opportunities to (up-/cross-)sell?
• Is our Sales Organization structured according to our business divisions or according to the market?
• How can we measure the effectiveness of our Sales Force without resorting to micro-management?
• How can we stabilize a volatile Sales Force over the long-run?

The continuing issues with Sales in China are not isolated to any particular industry, company origin or organizational size. 

Surely, large multinational organizations may have more resilient, and often automated processes along which their Sales Force operate – yet, ultimately sales and the act of selling boils always down to the individual Sales Person and the individual customer, where the real impact of effective selling is experienced by the customer and where money is made (or not) by the company.

Stemming from my experience as sales & marketing consultant I suggest taking these 8 steps to achieve lasting improvement of your Sales Force effectiveness:

1. Organize the Sales Force according to the market, not (only) according to – often historically grown, or Headquarters-dictated – business divisions,
2. Establish a standardized Sales Process that guides and supports the Sales Force – eliminate unnecessary steps that slow down and lead to frustration of the Sales People,
3. Provide – but don’t overburden – your Sales People with a simple set of easy-to-use tools along the Sales Process,
4. Establish a steady mix of “oldies” and “newbies” – constantly refreshing the Sales Force, in a structured, sustainable manner,
5. Provide regular education on sales approaches, tactics and soft-skills that match the outlined sales process,
6. Educate and enable your Sales People to turn customer objections into additional sales,
7. Only measure what the Sales Person really can influence – does performance rating based on margins really help achieve our goals, or are we missing out by diminishing motivation?
8. Establish a process of regular measurement, progress check and feedback – without over-burdening the Sales Force with redundant reporting tasks.

Remember: to get the most out of your China Sales Force, your Sales People need to be motivated and eager, dedicated and target-oriented, confident and compelling, educated and supported, but also in particular: structured and organized.

Michael Adick
Managing Director, Articulate Ltd.

March 2014