Opening up new markets (3) - "Red Zone" and "White Zone"

We call the "red zone" in the dominant market and the "white zone" in the weak market. Someone asked, "For the white zone, are you resigned to it?" ”

Do we still return to the history of the Chinese revolution, the red zone to establish a base area, the white terror zone? Is it like an ostrich, burying its head in the sand as if it didn't exist? The world is always one, you do not operate the white zone, the white zone will still try its best to attack the red zone, which is why there will be "encirclement and suppression" and even "three light policy". Whether from the perspective of survival or development, the white zone still needs to be operated, but the way of operation is completely different from the red zone. In 1937, Chairman Mao summed up the three magic weapons of the Chinese revolution in his speech "The Communists": the united front, armed struggle and party building, which still have good reference significance for us today. During the revolutionary years, the focus of our work in the white areas was the "united front", and the main way of work was "underground work". Speaking of which, I think someone already knows what to do. That's right, in the White Zone, our focus is on collaboration! Plant a seed, plant the "spark of the stars", and when the east wind rises, "the spark of the stars can burn the plains".

Red zone and white zone, their market development methods, therefore, there is a significant difference.

In order for the red areas to form an all-round overwhelming superiority, it is necessary to cultivate intensively and meticulously, and it is necessary to fight grain while fighting a war; although the "Hundred Regiments War" is needed, the "359th Brigade" is just as important. In the Red Zone, our team needs a variety of characters. There are combat troops, there are logistics personnel; there are brain centers, there are limb operations; there are sales personnel for today's performance, and there is also a future-oriented marketing team. In short, what the Red Zone needs is a complete team, including information-based units (to spot opportunities), land, sea and air combat forces (to seize opportunities), and logistics support and command systems (to better spot opportunities and guarantee landing). Marketing and even business operation is to do two things: to identify opportunities and seize opportunities. (By the way, I summarized marketing: the marketing process is the process by which the selling points of a product/service match the pain points of the customer; the marketing work includes two fulcrum points - major project operation and capacity building.) I'll leave it alone here. ）

And the white area, we do not seek comprehensiveness, but seek to highlight the focus! Only when the focus is prominent, can the faint flame not be extinguished. Therefore, the opportunity of the dialogue area, careful screening is very necessary. Going back to the company in the front of the 30-person area with an even distribution area, the adjustment suggestion I gave was to establish a base area, station a large number of personnel, form a local advantage, and at the same time build a small mobile part (maybe 3-5 people) to identify and seize the opportunities in the white area. Because of the different ways of operation, the personnel required to do white zone work are naturally different from those in red zones, such as diligent and down-to-earth people, who are more suitable for red zone work. The white zone, on the other hand, focuses on people with a keen sense of smell and a knack for opportunities in complex environments. In fact, this is no different from the requirements for underground workers in those years, and we cannot arrange for "Li Yunlong" and "Xu Sanduo" cadres and soldiers to work in the white areas.

The red zone and the white zone face different market environments, the nature and content of the work are different, and our playing style is also different.

Here, you may want me to give specific content suggestions. I have said many times that as a consultant, it is dangerous to get too caught up in the content level. You've been working in your own business for years or even decades, and you know your industry far better than I do, and if you still need me to give specific content operation advice, either your level is too poor, or I'm too self-righteous. I certainly don't want to be self-righteous, and I don't think you're at a bad level, so all I can give is methodology. I once joked with a CEO: "You pay me a fish, and then I give you five fish, I'm neurotic?" "The only thing we can give to our customers is "fishing." Not only can we not give fish (we don't have any fish in our hands), we don't even give the net, we give the customer the method of weaving the net, because sooner or later the net will be broken, and the weaving method is always effective.

To summarize simply, red and white areas, the methods of market development are different, and the quality of talents required is also obviously different, all of which require the exploration and judgment of managers, and courage and faith when necessary. In addition, the assessment of market personnel in the white area should also be different from that in the red area, and many problems in market development are highly related to the performance appraisal program. Many companies, the assessment plan of the white area, is exactly the same as the red area, and the result is that the white area will always be the white area. This issue is prominent and important, and we will stay behind and a separate section to unify the performance evaluation of market personnel.

(Note: The full text of this article is reproduced in the WeChat public account "Avenue to Jane", thank you Teacher Zhuang for sharing dry goods. ）