Eleven Schemes Promised. Four Credit Notes Received.

Scheme discounts, free cases and quarterly incentives are agreed on doorsteps and settled on paperwork. The gap between the two is money most shops never collect.

Over one quarter, Anwar’s Bhiwandi shop was promised eleven scheme benefits by six different distributor representatives. Buy ten cases get one free, an extra 2% on a new launch, a display incentive, a quarterly volume slab.

He received four credit notes. When his son went through the quarter properly, the shortfall was ₹31,400 — not because anyone had refused, but because seven claims were never made, and a claim not made is indistinguishable from a claim not owed.

Why This Money Goes Missing

The structure almost guarantees it, and it is worth seeing clearly rather than treating as bad faith.

• Schemes are agreed verbally, by a representative standing in your shop, in thirty seconds
• They are settled weeks later, by an accounts department that was not there
• The benefit arrives as a credit note on a future invoice, not as a discount on this one
• Representatives change territory, and the person who promised is often not the person you can ask
• Nobody on the supplier’s side is responsible for reminding you

The credit-note delay is the mechanism. A discount on today’s invoice is checkable today. A credit note in six weeks requires you to remember, in six weeks, something said in thirty seconds.

Nobody cheated me. I just never asked, eleven times.

Write It Down at the Moment

Anwar’s son introduced one rule with no technology attached: no scheme is agreed until it is typed into a WhatsApp message back to the representative before they leave the shop.

• What was promised, in exact terms — "10+1 on 1L pouches" not "a good scheme"
• On what quantity, and by what date the qualifying purchase must be made
• How it settles — free goods with the next delivery, a credit note, or a rate reduction
• The representative’s name

The message does two things. It creates a record both sides can read, and — more usefully — it makes vague promises concrete at the moment they are made, which quietly removes the ones that were never real.

This single question separates a scheme you will receive from one you will chase. "Free goods with the next delivery" is nearly automatic. "Credit note at quarter end subject to the slab" needs a diary entry and a follow-up, and is where most unclaimed money sits.

The Quarterly Check

Twenty minutes at the end of each quarter, per major distributor, is what converts promises into money.

• List every scheme recorded that quarter and mark each received, partly received, or not received
• Check volume slabs against your actual purchases — you may have qualified for a higher tier without noticing
• Match credit notes received against claims outstanding, since partial settlement is normal and rarely explained
• Send the unreceived list to the distributor, in writing, before the next order is placed

The timing of the last point is the leverage. A claim raised while your next order is being discussed is settled considerably faster than one raised in isolation, and there is nothing improper about the sequence.

The Trap Inside the Slab

One caution. Volume slabs are designed to pull your purchases up, and they succeed more often than they should.

Anwar qualified for a 3% quarterly incentive by buying forty extra cases in the last week of a quarter. The incentive was worth about ₹5,000; the extra stock took four months to sell and included ₹3,200 he eventually wrote off. Measured properly it was a loss dressed as an achievement.

• Compare the incentive against the cost of carrying the extra stock for its actual selling period
• Check the shelf life of anything bought to reach a slab, since short-dated stock is what distributors clear this way
• Buying towards a slab you were going to reach anyway is free money; buying to reach one you were not is a purchase decision

Anwar’s following quarter recorded nine schemes and collected eight. The ninth was genuinely refused, which at least was an answer.

Mapis records agreed schemes against the supplier and the order and flags the ones with no matching credit note, so a quarter-end review is a list rather than an archaeology exercise.

Frequently asked questions

Why do distributor schemes often go unclaimed?

Because they are agreed verbally in seconds and settled in paperwork weeks later, usually as a credit note on a future invoice rather than a discount today. The representative who promised may have changed territory, and nobody on the supplier side is responsible for reminding you. A claim never made looks exactly like a claim never owed.

How should a shop record supplier schemes?

Type the exact terms into a WhatsApp message back to the representative before they leave the shop — the specific offer, the qualifying quantity and date, how it settles, and their name. This creates a shared record and forces vague promises to become concrete at the moment they are made.

When is the best time to chase an unpaid credit note?

While your next order is being discussed. A claim raised in that context settles considerably faster than one raised in isolation. Review each major distributor quarterly, list what was promised against what was received, and send the outstanding items in writing before placing the next order.

Are volume slab incentives worth chasing?

Only if you were close to the slab anyway. Buying extra stock purely to qualify frequently costs more than the incentive — one shop earned ₹5,000 on forty extra cases that took four months to sell and included ₹3,200 of eventual write-off. Check shelf life too, since short-dated stock is often cleared this way.