Excavate potential to meet customer selection of customer fertilizer market status and marketing strategy

Contradictions between supply and demand increase business difficulties 1, the rapid development of production, supply and demand vary. In recent years, China's fertilizer industry has made great progress, and output has grown rapidly. Many varieties are growing at a double-digit rate each year. At present, the current status of production and demand for chemical fertilizers in China is that the supply of nitrogen fertilizer is in excess of demand, and the balance of phosphate fertilizers is basically balanced. The supply of potash fertilizer is in short supply. During the "10th Five-Year Plan" period, the country will also build several large-scale fertilizer plants in areas rich in natural resources such as natural gas, phosphate rock and potash. At present, many fertilizer plants are undergoing renovation and expansion. It is expected that the fertilizer output will continue to grow rapidly in the next few years, but the development of various fertilizers is still unbalanced, and the products that are in short supply in the market are still difficult to meet demand.

2. The purchasing power of farmers declined, and the prices continued to drop. In recent years, the prices of some agricultural products in China have fallen. In 2000, the rice in Hunan and other places was only 0.3 yuan/kg, and in northern China, only 0.5 yuan/kg. The failure of agricultural products to sell at a good price has seriously affected the economic income of farmers, dampened the enthusiasm of farmers in planting and purchasing fertilizer, and caused the price of chemical fertilizers to keep falling. Taking urea as an example, in the first half of 1995, the urea price was as high as 2,300 yuan/t, and the current price is about 1,200 yuan/ton, a drop of 48%.

3, agricultural capital companies operating in poor condition. ** Increased recovery risk Although the “three stations” and fertilizer production enterprises are allowed to distribute fertilizer products, the agricultural company is still the main channel for fertilizer operations, accounting for about 70% of the total sales of chemical fertilizers. What is worrying is that due to the continued decline in fertilizer prices and the poor operating conditions of some agricultural capital companies, it has made it difficult for fertilizer companies to recover their goods and increase their bad debts.

4. The demand season is gradually shortened, and the company's inventory is increasing. Currently, the production and sales of fertilizers are basically 3 months of production, 3 months of sales, and 6 months of winter storage. Due to the difficulty of cash flow and the difficulty of grasping the future market for the agricultural material companies that used to play the leading role in the past, the enthusiasm of Dongkuo is not high, which has caused the pressure on the storage companies to increase their storage capacity. It requires not only preparing large amounts of funds for production turnover, but also Build or lease many warehouses to store fertilizers.

5. Relatively concentrated sales areas, difficulty in sales of product production areas In the past during the planned economy period, the state demarcated a fixed sales area for each chemical fertilizer plant, and over time formed the so-called "domain name card." However, this “domain name card” has obvious limitations. It is very popular in some places, and it is worse to sell in other places, not to mention sales nationwide.

Strengthen service and cooperation to effectively meet customer needs 1. Product appearance is better, packaging specifications should be more fertilizer in addition to quality to meet the requirements, but also in the appearance of particles, color, packaging and other efforts. Farmers generally pay great attention to the appearance of chemical fertilizers. The same variety of chemical fertilizers are placed there. They must have the largest particles, less dust, round, uniform size and bright color. In addition, the packaging specifications must be diversified to facilitate farmers' purchase and use. The current chemical fertilizers are basically 40-50kg/bag. They are too large and too heavy to handle and use. It is very troublesome to dispose of them once they are unwrapped after being opened. In the future, the product should be packed in a portable package of 15-25kg/bag or even 5-10kg/bag, which is convenient for farmers to choose and use.

2. The establishment of brand strategies for domestic and corporate brands is mainly reflected in two aspects: 1 It is necessary to establish a brand for domestic fertilizers and actively compete with imported fertilizers. The prices of imported fertilizers and domestic fertilizers are now quite different. Taking urea as an example, the market price of imported urea is around 1,500 yuan/tonne, and the market price of domestic urea is only around 1200 yuan/tonne. However, the quality difference between the two is not great. Some domestic goods are of better quality than imported ones. 2 To establish a corporate brand. At present, in the chemical fertilizer market, domestically produced products are also the same, and the selling price of a brand is 10-20 yuan/t higher than that of a non-branded product, and it is sold even faster, taking a fertilizer plant with an annual output of 100,000 tons as an example. The resulting annual net profit is 1 million to 2 million yuan.

3, the price changes should be in line with the market laws due to the inherent quality of fertilizer products are almost the same, coupled with the current low purchasing power of farmers, so the price reduction has a significant promotional role. Taking urea as an example, the sales price will be reduced by 100 yuan/t, which will increase the sales volume by about 50%. In the current fertilizer market, the prevailing trend of low-cost sales, especially when the company is opening up new markets, almost without exception, is to open the way for low prices. Because fertilizer prices are already very low now, most products are sold at a loss. If prices are still used to promote sales, it will only make the company worse. In this current market situation, chemical fertilizer companies must make great efforts to analyze and forecast the market. The changes in prices must conform to the laws of the market and cater to the needs of customers. They must seize the front of market changes so as to maximize the benefits of the company.

4. Carefully choose the sales channels In the past, the production enterprises could only sell the fertilizers to the agricultural companies, and the sales channels were the only ones. Now the production companies can be sold to agricultural companies, but they can also be sold to the agricultural “three stations”, and can also be sold directly. Farmers. These three channels have their own advantages and should be comprehensively utilized.

Direct sales can reduce intermediate links, lower sales prices, allow farmers to benefit, and at the same time greatly speed up the recovery of payment and ensure the circulation of funds. It should be developed in the future. Production enterprises can establish direct sales points in the surrounding areas of the company as village units. Wherever fertilizers are needed, a call can be made and the goods can be delivered immediately. This will not only greatly facilitate the farmers, but also enable the company to firmly occupy the surrounding markets. Sales to agricultural companies is also an important channel. It is necessary to focus on the selection of agricultural capital companies with strong capabilities, many business outlets, strong market development capabilities, good operating conditions, and good reputation, so that they can become the company’s total distribution and general agency in a certain area, so that it will not lose the market. It can effectively resolve business risks and increase market share. The advantage of the “three stations” in agriculture is that they have professional agricultural technicians. They often deal with peasants, guide the farmers to apply fertilizer scientifically, and farmers trust. They have a lighter burden than agricultural companies, and the economic benefits are quick. Although the current stage of agriculture, The "three stations" fertilizer sales share is not large, but there is no doubt that the future "three stations" in agriculture will play a pivotal role in fertilizer sales, companies should vigorously develop cooperation with agricultural "three stations."

5. The promotion of publicity and service awareness is affected by the traditional planned economy; many fertilizer companies believe that selling products to agricultural capital companies is a good idea, and that marketing work should be done by agricultural companies. This concept is very wrong. Fertilizer companies at this stage should do a good job in the following two aspects of promotion work:

1 Vigorously strengthen the advertising campaign, go deep into the rural areas to promote the use of farmers in the form of promotional products, promote the company, improve product awareness and reputation, enhance corporate image, close contact with consumers; 2 vigorously strengthen service awareness, provide technical advice for farmers free of charge, Reject farmers' scientific fertilization, making farmers happy to buy products produced by the factory.

6, multi-party cooperation, reduce pressure Fertilizer is a long-year production, seasonal sales of products, storage pressure is very large, if the reserves are all borne by the production companies, it is indeed overwhelmed. If the production companies, agricultural capital companies, and banks are jointly operated, it will not only reduce the pressure on storage, but also recover the funds in time. The specific methods of operation are: the production enterprise sells the product to the agricultural capital company, the agricultural capital company uses the chemical fertilizer as the mortgage to the bank, and the bank transfers the funds directly to the production enterprise. When the sales season arrives next year, the bank sends personnel to Agri-fund company sales on-site collection, to ensure that banks and interest fully recovered. This approach has greatly eased the pressure on warehousing and accelerated capital turnover for production companies. For banks, ensure that ** is recovered in a timely manner and truly risk-free**. For agricultural companies, instead of investing in cash for a penny, the business is booming, and they also get their own profits.