🔹 Sales & Market Development Issues

• Sales are stagnant or declining despite a growing market.
• Distributor is reactive — they only process orders but don’t grow the business.
• No new customer acquisition strategy or market development plan.
• Poor understanding of competitive landscape and positioning.
• Distributor is passive in lead generation or brand awareness.
• They rely on inbound demand — no outbound activity or selling effort.
• Sales staff seem poorly trained on the product or lack confidence.
• Little or no presence at relevant industry events, conferences, or exhibitions.
• Distributor is focused on easier products in their portfolio, not yours.
• Sales targets are missed consistently, without serious attempts to recover.
• They are not pushing key accounts or KOL engagement.

🔹 Marketing & Communication Failures

• No local marketing strategy — just translation of global materials.
• No digital presence or weak online visibility in Japanese.
• Collateral is outdated, off-brand, or technically incorrect.
• They don’t localize messaging — marketing doesn’t resonate with Japanese buyers.
• Lack of alignment between marketing and sales functions.
• No product launch campaigns — new offerings quietly added to catalog.
• No proactive communication with HQ marketing or sales teams.
• Weak communication cadence — months go by without updates.
• No explanation for performance variances — just excuses or silence.

🔹 Transparency & Data Sharing Issues

• Refusal to share end-customer lists or sales pipeline data.
• No CRM or visibility into sales funnel.
• Sales reports are vague, late, or manipulated.
• KPIs are agreed upon but not tracked or enforced.
• No clarity on pricing strategy, discounting, or margins.
• They don’t share information about competitor activity.
• Regulatory progress (or delays) is unclear or unverifiable.
• Limited or no visibility into inventory, returns, or backorders.
• They do not allow direct contact with key customers or users.
• Concerns that they are misrepresenting your product in the field.

🔹 Strategic Misalignment

• Distributor focuses on volume, while your product requires value selling.
• They treat your product as secondary to others in their portfolio.
• Incentive structures are misaligned with your growth goals.
• They are not willing to co-invest in marketing or sales enablement.
• Unclear or inconsistent positioning of your product in the market.
• They decline to register new indications or versions of your product.
• They block channel expansion or partnerships that could increase reach.
• No interest in evolving to a more strategic partner role.

🔹 Legal & Structural Concerns

• They own the local registration, blocking alternatives.
• They refuse to transfer or share regulatory files or market authorization.
• They claim exclusive rights but don’t deliver exclusive-level performance.
• They insist on long contract renewals with no performance safeguards.
• They resist performance clauses, audits, or visibility rights.
• Concerns they may be working with your competitor under a different brand.

🔹 Cultural & Operational Disconnects

• Avoidance of confrontation — problems are hidden until too late.
• They say “yes” to your face, but do something else later.
• Resistance to change — even small adjustments are “not possible.”
• No escalation process — decisions take too long to travel up hierarchy.
• Internal bureaucracy stifles responsiveness to customers or HQ.
• Reluctance to adopt Western systems like CRM, KPIs, or shared dashboards.
• They filter all communication — blocking or distorting messages from the field.
• Face-saving prevents them from admitting lack of knowledge or capability.

🔹 Support & Training Gaps

• Distributor staff lack technical knowledge of your product.
• No structured onboarding for new sales reps or support staff.
• They don’t offer field support during installations or launches.
• Customers complain about slow or poor post-sale support.
• No investment in technical certifications or continued learning.
• Distributor uses third parties without informing you (sub-agents, dealers, etc.)

🔹 Commercial Misalignment

• They demand deep discounts or rebates without clear ROI.
• They shift commercial risk back to you — refusing inventory or slow payers.
• Price erosion due to poor positioning or channel management.
• Focus on protecting margins instead of growing market share.
• They underprice your product to move stock — harming brand perception.

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