🔹 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- Collateral is outdated, off-brand, or technically incorrect.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.