It is the last week of the month. The number is short.
And there is always one quick fix on the table: a big order into the distributor before the month closes.
The sell-in looks fine. The target is met. Everyone relaxes.
Then next month starts with a warehouse full of your product and no reason for the distributor to order again.
In my experience, loading the trade never solves a gap. It moves it forward and makes it bigger.
So I read three numbers, not one.
- Sell-in: what we sold to the distributor.
- Sell-out: what the distributor sold to pharmacies and hospitals.
- Distributor stock: what is sitting in between.
If sell-in keeps running ahead of sell-out, the stock is not selling. It is waiting.
- What I do instead:
- Say early that the month is short, and why.
- Never cut the price to move stock.
- Use bonus goods only where pharmacies are genuinely selling through.
- Close the month with numbers the team can trust.
It is not always the popular call in the last week. It is the one that keeps the next quarter honest, and it teaches the team that the number has to be real.
“Stock you push in this month is a sale you take from next month.”
Lesson 13 of 13 in Step 2: Targets, forecasts and numbers, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.