Jonathan has an extensive background in Internet technologies and interactive marketing and is a regular speaker and presenter at industry conferences and conventions.

Post-Pandemic Social Selling Spurs New Opportunities & Challenges

As social media has become more and more a part of our daily lives, direct sellers have applied their relationship-building skills to these channels in order to expand their customer connections and pivot towards a new e-commerce strategy: Social selling.

Although the direct sales industry has always had a stake in this consumer-centric approach, other businesses have been quick to adopt this model that became even more prolific amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With people prioritizing online interactions and purchases, companies had to escalate their digital transformation to compete by working within a more direct-to-consumer approach. As a result, online channels exploded with new content, driving more engagement between consumers and brands.

To build on this momentum and capitalize on this business culture shift, many current social platforms began expanding their offerings.  The user-created video market boomed with TikTok’s incredibly rapid growth, and social audio stepped onto the scene with Clubhouse. Tenured platforms like Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram began testing audio and video components.

Social channels also began to introduce ways to sell directly from their content spaces to shorten the sales funnel and encourage users to “impulse-buy”. Work-from-home software like video conferencing and live streaming became the norm for direct sellers. These changes prompted social channels to incorporate similar functionality to enhance and streamline the social selling experience. Now, large brands host live-streamed product events on social channels, interacting with consumers in a space where they can purchase that product with the click of a button. And these are just a few of the many features being offered and developed.

Essentially, social selling has gone mainstream. And this carries both opportunities and risks.

This poses a challenge for direct sellers, who have always found a niche market in the consumer-centric sales approach. Even so, taking advantage of these new social offerings also provides an opportunity to build better relationships in exciting ways for the direct selling industry. While the competition has increased, direct selling representatives have the know-how to better leverage these new tools that spur connection, interaction, loyalty and sales– this is their home turf.

While it’s very exciting, there are some additional challenges besides increased competition to keep in mind. These new features and offerings open direct sellers to increased compliance risks. How representatives utilize these channels can lead to violations of company policy, or worse, attention from regulators. Field social media needs to be monitored vigilantly to avoid regulatory issues. Up-to-date field education will also be needed to reduce the claims, and unauthorized sellers will have to be curtailed as they find innovative ways to move inventory at the expense of company sales, enrollment and retention.

It’s a lot to consider, but it all can be done. The benefits of social selling in the hands of direct sellers outweighs the challenges. Like everything, it’s about having a plan, tools and techniques for effectively leveraging these new platforms and features, so the field can do what it does best: build relationships.

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Starting in China and accelerated by the pandemic in 2020, LiveStream Shopping is one of the fastest growing segments of ecommerce as retailers and brands embrace the technology that is finally adding the human element to online shopping. Much like HSN and QVC pioneered the personal, televised shopping experience, LiveStream Shopping is the uncontested and natural result of the marriage of HSN/QVC, Amazon and social media. LiveStream Shopping offers the perfect stage for influencers to deliver a fun, interactive and entertaining shopping experience online.

Plain and simple, LiveStream Shopping combines livestreaming (like Facebook, Instagram or YouTube Live) with the ability to seamlessly purchase products directly from the livestream. And because it is interactive, some platforms allow participants to speak or chat with the presenter directly as they would on any video conferencing service. As with all new and emerging technologies, the race to define or standardize the “platform” has begun. China has excelled at leveraging the power of influencers; their most successful livestream shopping events often feature celebrities, though it remains to be seen if the heavy investment in celebrities translates into brand loyalty and repeat purchasing. It is also not unusual to see live shopping events gamified with things like countdown clocks or to see Livestream Shopping events with an endless stream of hearts, smiley faces and other emojis. All that personalization has made ecommerce a far more engaging experience and dramatically reduced the chasm between online and offline shopping.

The China Digital Experience

In 2019, LiveStream Shopping accounted for nearly $70 billion of China’s retail sales, and it is expected to account for close to a half a trillion dollars by 2023! The rest of the world is taking notice. Enter Amazon LIVE and Walmart-TikTok, among numerous others. And yet, in 2019, the US accounted for only $1 billion of global LiveStream Shopping sales and the rest of the world did not fare much better.

How Can LiveStream Shopping Impact My Business?

There’s no denying that in-person selling is effective. It explains why product reviews, videos and non-shoppable livestreams have become an inseparable part of the online shopping experience. However, ecommerce still accounts for less than 20% of total global retail sales, online return rates continue to outpace their offline counterparts, and high online conversion rates remain elusive.

LiveStream Shopping is a game changer. It is engaging, fun and addresses our needs for convenience and entertainment while providing us with the assurance of a trusted influencer. During a LiveStream Shopping event, customers are treated to a live testimonial or product demo. They are engaged, can ask questions and can complete their planned or impromptu purchases during the livestream. And if that livestream runs on the retailer’s existing ecommerce platform or digital properties, the friction associated with livestreaming on social media platforms or on someone else’s Livestream Shopping platform is eliminated, thus further eroding the gap between the online and an offline experience.

Who Should Consider LiveStream Shopping?

LiveStream Shopping isn’t limited to a specific industry or category. It is a perfect fit for direct selling companies because the direct selling channel excels at personalized, influencer-based selling. Similarly, all direct to consumer, online retailers can leverage their influencers, brand ambassadors or affiliates. In fact, one could argue that the two channels are converging more today than at any other time in history. However, you don’t need legions of influencers to leverage the power of Livestream Shopping. Online retailers can also use their own sales forces to offer one-to-one or one-to-many LiveStream Shopping sessions.

How Is Livestream Shopping Different Than Social Media?

While social media sites are a great tool for connecting with existing fans and obtaining new ones, it has proven to be a difficult platform on which to seamlessly convert those interactions into sales. In fact, it is not unusual to experience conversion rates in the low single digits. Not surprisingly, like Amazon LIVE and Walmart-TikTok, it is expected that social media companies will eventually extend their livestream capabilities by allowing people to shop directly on their platforms. And therein lies the challenge for online retailers. Retailers will have to accept the additional friction of having to use multiple livestreaming platforms instead of offering LiveStream Shopping directly on their own websites and ecommerce platforms.

Last Word.

Nearly 60% of consumers surveyed said that they would rather shop online. In terms of generational preferences, only baby boomers prefer to shop in-store more than they do online and by a small margin. However, only 40% of Millennials and Gen Z prefer to shop in-store. LiveStream Shopping is one of the hottest trends in ecommerce, and its power to transform digital selling cannot be denied. Ecommerce sales continue to grow as a percentage of total global retail sales, and livestream shopping will accelerate that growth by humanizing the digital experience, further eroding if not eliminating the gap between online and offline selling.

…….

Written by John Lietsch and Lo Myrick, Bloo Kanoo Inc. Bloo Kanoo is a company whose mission it is to humanize ecommerce. Bloo Kanoo enables online retailers to offer LiveStream Shopping and Shoppable Video directly on their own ecommerce platforms just like Amazon LIVE and Alibaba’s Taobao. Learn more or schedule a demo today!

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The Makings of a Modern Marketing Team for a Direct Sales Company

“Marketing”

It’s one of the most inconsistently defined words in the English language. But “marketing” for a direct sales company takes that inconsistency and dumps it on its head even more.

What should marketing look like for direct selling today? Is it a sales support role? Is it the driving force? Is it online? Is it just pretty pictures and catchy words? Is it packaging and products?

It’s an interesting question, and it’s an area of direct sales that has seen seismic shifts in recent years. It’s also forced many companies to completely rethink how they set up their marketing teams. It’s also continued to frustrate many other companies who stick to the organizational structures they always known to try to navigate these new waters.

It would be impossible for me to capture everything a marketing team needs for a direct sales company in a single article. Mostly, because the marketing needs of every company are different. I don’t believe that every direct sales company needs the exact same structure because every company defines the responsibilities and role of marketing differently.

What I will attempt to do in this article is offer the foundational pieces of a modern marketing team for today’s direct sales company. I will no doubt miss something that you think is essential. But as I’ve personally worked with well over 30 companies over the last five years, I’ve seen very common trends and gaps within the marketing departments. Companies often reach out to us at SCP asking for guidance in this area. Others reach out asking our Marketing Services team to step in and help with the load. Regardless of the circumstance, I’ve clearly seen very similar needs and oversights among all companies.

So, based on that, let’s take a look at what the modern marketing team should look like at a direct sales company:

Graphics Designer(s):

In a world where the first step toward success has much to do with “stopping the scroll” as anything else, your design team is a critical component of your company’s success. It’s critical to have designers who not only crank out great work, but can also do it for multiple platforms. Gone are the days where one designer can specialize in print, another in web graphics and even another in packaging. Today’s direct sales company needs designers who can hold their own in every area of design. From flyers to specific sizing for social media networks to web banners, and everything in between, your design team needs to be fluent in them all.

Even more importantly is the volume of design needs that today’s company must crank out. I can remember not so long ago when a flyer and a couple banners could get you through several weeks. Today, the constant need for content across so many channels make fresh graphics output an almost daily need.

Today’s graphic designer must be great, fast and versatile.

Front-End Web Development/User Experience:

A close cousin of your design team is your front-end web developer. I’m not talking about your IT team and the back-end work that they do. Today, with so many companies leveraging platforms like WordPress and Shopify to handle their “front-facing” sites, it’s imperative to have someone on site who knows how to make those platforms work. We’re talking about experience in plugin selection and installation, minor coding needs, browser testing, responsive design experience and much more.

This person often has come out of the design side, not IT (although not always the case). They are a web designer who has had to figure out how to make these things work on their own, and over time have taken a liking to it. They are developers, and they can work in code (to a certain extent), but they have much more of a design and user experience focus, making them much more of a marketing resource instead of an IT resource. Many times this person can also help with web design work.

Many companies I work with, especially smaller ones, have not found this person, or they are at the mercy of “some guy” who helps them on the side. The work of this person impacts almost every area of your marketing efforts. It’s critical to find the right resource and one who can respond quickly.

Content Development and Copywriting:

Copywriting has been a pillar of any marketing team for decades, and that will continue. However, the new twist on “writing” today is that it expands much broader into what I would loosely term “content development.” Your writers cannot just focus on the message; they now must also account for the medium where that message will appear. Subject lines in an email have a dramatic impact on the consumption of that email. Headers and sub-heads (H1, H2, H3, etc.) are critically important on a landing page.

In addition, we all work in a heavily regulated environment, and your content development team must also internalize those boundaries to streamline the review process and obviously reduce risk. This is a steep learning curve for any team. Be it product claims or income claims, it’s quite the learned skill.

Your content development team will also influence, at a minimum, your social media strategy, and may even oversee it in some instances.

Simply put, because the internet runs on content, you now must find content creators who understand what and how the internet wants to receive that content. The beautiful thing about the web is that it gives us instant feedback on what we’re producing (in the form of analytics and open feedback). Your content team has an opportunity to learn with every single item they push out. Are they taking advantage of this?

Video Production and Video Marketing:

Video is certainly a part of content development, but the skills and thinking it requires is at a whole other level. The good news is that video has become so accessible and commoditized for any company, no matter your size. The bad news is that finding high quality video production and know-how on how to leverage those videos gets lost in the clutter a bit too easily.

The biggest change over the last five years in video production is that the volume of videos need has increased dramatically. If the Internet runs on content, then video is its super-fuel. Think about it: as you scroll through Facebook and Instagram, how many videos do you see? It’s a lot.

Yes, we can all capture and create videos from our phones, and there is definitely a place for that in your video strategy. But we must make sure we are also cranking out well-produced, professionally created video work, as well. These videos are often your sales force’s most used sales tool, so we can’t get too lazy on the video front.

Let me first make this point: If you have only one person producing videos, then you’re not producing enough video. Video production and editing takes time, and to meet the needs of today’s marketplace, one single video editor won’t cut it. So start looking for ways to complement your current team to economically crank out more.

On top of it all, you also have to account for video marketing. Put another way, once you’ve made that great video, what do you do to get people to watch. Yes, your Distributors can certainly help with this, but it takes a lot more than that in today’s world.

I won’t go into all the details here, but video marketing needs to account for things like incorporating video into your organic social strategy,  your paid social strategy, YouTube optimization, search engine optimization, email marketing, sales funnels and much more. My experience is that the person who produces the video is rarely the person who knows best how to market the video. So how does this work at your company?

Social Media Management:

These days, “social media” has become synonymous with “marketing,” for better or for worse. And yet there are so many aspects to social media that the direct sales company must account for. Depending on the size of your company, it can seem very difficult to find the right people to manage it all.

Step one is finding that person who oversees what is actually posted on your social media channels. They are creating the content calendar and driving whatever necessary work needs to be done to make it happen. You can find all kinds of opinions and case studies on how often you should be posting as a company. For me, if you’re not posting at least once a day on at least Facebook and Instagram, you’re falling short as a direct sales company.

Then there’s community management. Who is engaging with the audience that’s engaging with you? Who is replying to comments? Who is answering questions? Who is escalating customer service issues? Who is monitoring what’s going on? It’s great if the person producing the social media content is also this same person, but as you can see, it’s an entirely different skill set. It’s hard to find someone who handles both of these areas well. Especially for a direct sales company, the person (or people) responsible for community management need to be very well informed about what’s going on with the company (or they at least need to be really good at getting answers quickly). This is because they’ll see questions about products, incentives, contests, the comp plan… and so much more. So they at least need to have some decent familiarity with how everything works in the company, so they at least have the proper context for whatever questions they may receive. On top of it all, they need to do all of this with a tone and approach that represents the company, because so much of what they’ll do will be public.

And even still… we aren’t include paid social strategies here, which I include later in the article.

Oh, and who is training and equipping your field with social media training and resources? Because that’s a very different skill set, too.

Suffice it to say, most companies are transitioning to social media teams, vs. just a social media person.

Communications Planning:

My opinion is that successful marketing at a direct sales company hinges on communication planning. I also believe that consistently creating impactful communications plans for a direct sales company is one of the hardest things you can do. This is because we must account for so many audiences and messages at once. Is this an email for customers, or Distributors? U.S. or Canada? English or Spanish? And how many emails have they already received this week?

And that’s just email ;-).

Some companies can afford to have a dedicated Communications Director, where their primary purpose is to handle this planning. This is obviously great, and yet I have met many a Communication Director who struggles with figuring out how to properly plan and account for everything happening at the company.

In smaller companies, the communication planning function falls on someone with a different title. It may be a Marketing Manager, or even Marketing VP. It may even be your main writer, or possibly someone on the field development side of the aisle. Regardless this function is absolutely critical to your entire team’s success. Time and time again, I have found that, once a company can get a grip on its communication planning, it starts to see progress in all of its marketing efforts.

Digital Marketing Specialists:

“Digital marketing” covers a lot of ground, so it’s almost unfair to lump this into one category. But for the sake of brevity, I’m going to do just that here.

There are many rabbits you can chase when it comes to digital marketing. On top of that, many of these digital tactics appear to be within reach of anyone on your team, who may have other responsibilities within your department other than digital marketing. These two facts is what can make digital marketing dangerous. If you don’t have a) someone leading the way in terms of what your company will and will not focus on, from a strategic standpoint, and b) true expertise in each specific channel, you can end up wasting a lot of time and money suffering through your learning curve.

So, what’s a direct selling company to do? Here’s a baseline recommendation, that by no means includes everything you could be doing on the digital front, but rather covers the areas that I believe is both within reach of and would have a significant impact on every direct sales company, regardless of size or shape:

Hire a Digital Marketing Leader.
You need someone to provide the digital roadmap that makes sense for your company. I’m not necessarily talking about IT strategy (though it’s closely related), but rather a marketing strategist that knows the digital space well and knows what is realistic for your specific company to pull off, given whatever circumstances and constraints you find yourself in. That last part is really important. I’ve seen many company that hire a digital marketing expert who comes in recommending that the company does “everything” right away, only to find out the infrastructure, platforms, backend software, budgets… whatever can’t pull it off (at least in the recommended timeframe). So all the work that gets done often creates confusion and even more problems that it can solve.

If you can hire a full-time person for this position, I definitely recommend doing that. They can then either hire more team members who specialize in certain areas, if there’s budget for it, or contract work out. If you can’t hire this person full-time, I would consider finding a digital marketing consultant who can become rather involved in your business and play this role.

Optimize and Leverage Your Analytics.
There are all kinds of analytics packages, but most companies use Google Analytics, so I’m going to speak in those terms. Here’s a fact: Most companies do not have their Google Analytics set up correctly. When they do, they typically aren’t leveraging all that Google Analytics can provide. And from that group, rarely does that data make its way to the executives and help inform decisions. We have so many capabilities to track and analyze the work we’re doing, but most of us are completely missing the boat here. Have someone take a look under the hood and get your web presence humming on all cylinders. This begins with optimizing your analytics.

Incorporate a Paid Social Strategy.
Social media is now largely a pay-to-play. You probably already know that. The real question is: How are you using this capability? Most direct sales companies go straight to acquisition: how can we crank out some Facebook ads to get new customers or distributors? While this is possible, I don’t think it’s where I would start with paid social campaigns.

If you’re not incorporating retargeting, custom audiences and a true funnel strategy (top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel) into your paid campaigns, you are, again, wasting a lot of money and time, and missing out on what could be some very promising results over time.

You need a resource that knows this space for at least Facebook and Instagram and can commit a decent amount of time to it each week to optimize your results. And … you need to make sure all the necessary tracking components (pixels, etc.) are in place so you can actually tie sales and ad spend (see Analytics above).

Pay More Attention to Your Email Strategy.
One thing all direct sales companies seem to have in common is how much we continue to rely on email. We send out a ton of emails. Half the time, that’s because we don’t adequately plan our communications (see above). But I digress… I’m a big fan of email, so don’t take my criticism as a reason to forget it altogether. However, as long as we’re going to rely so much on it as a marketing and communication channel, let’s invest some time and even money in making it work better.

Do you know your company’s open rate on all emails? For Distributors? Customers? How about clicks? How often are you testing components of your emails, like subject lines, graphics and offers? Do you segment your email campaigns? Every email campaign is an opportunity to learn something and to improve. Are you doing this? And who is leading it?

Automate as Much as You Can.
Marketing automation is here, and it’s a beautiful thing. I think it’s especially important for direct sales companies. As so many distributors introduce new people to your brand via website visits, social media, and so much more, how are you taking the ball and running with it from there Marketing automation can cover so much, so rather than get into those weeds, let me simplify it to this: what is your automation roadmap for 2021? If you don’t know, you’re not doing this at the level you should.

Now, as I mentioned, digital marketing can include so much more. Ecommerce analysis, user experience improvements, apps and third-party tools, Google Adwords… there’s a lot I could make a really strong case for. But at a minimum, make sure you are addressing the areas of digital marketing I’ve mentioned above.

Product Marketing & Management:

With so many different platforms and channels to use for our marketing, it’s easy to lose sight of the most important component of your marketing, and that’s the product you offer. Nothing accelerates a marketing strategy like a great product that meets the needs and desires of a clear and targeted audience. And yet, so many companies tend to look to R&D to just crank out something to go sell, or the founder’s whims drive whatever we’re launching at conference next. Who is laser-focused on your team on the success of any given product that is made available? Who is thinking about that product day and night? Who is dreaming of campaigns?

Don’t let all the fancy bells and whistles of marketing overshadow the most important part of it: your product. Invest in expertise in this area.

SEO and Online Reputation Management:

You may be thinking that SEO and online reputation management isn’t a “must-have” component of today’s marketing world. I couldn’t disagree more. Let’s consider online reputation alone: you can hit the ball out of the park in every other part of your marketing, but if the Google results associated with your company are negative, you’ll find it very difficult for a prospect to get past it. This is tough on any business, but especially a direct sales business. Think about it: Your Distributor is working their tail off, sharing the message of your company with a prospect, only to watch it crash and burn when they inevitably Google your company name. Not only do you lose the prospect, but you will eventually lose the Distributor, too. Why would they work so hard time and time again only to see the same results over and over?

Many factors influence your online reputation, but only the corporate office can really do anything about it. The best time to handle issues like this are before the negative results even appear. It must be a constant focus of any direct selling company.

Whew… there’s a lot to marketing in the direct selling world these days, and that only covered what I see as the “must-have” areas. I know it can be overwhelming. That’s why it makes sense so often to reach out to third-party teams (like the SCP Marketing Services team that I lead) to jump in and fill whatever gaps you may see in your current marketing strategy.

I’d love to hear where you feel like you struggle the most, or maybe areas you think I overlooked. Please drop a comment below.

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In 2007, Daryl transitioned to the supplier side as the Director of Technology for ByDesign. His strategic contributions led to his appointment as President in 2015 and CEO in 2018.

How to Succeed at Social Selling

Social selling has become a hot topic in our industry over the past few years. The pandemic is driving an acceleration of companies adopting different technologies and tools to empower their field. Before COVID-19, fifty-five percent of consumers had made purchases via social media, and we know the pandemic significantly increased consumer acceptance of this trend. As social selling continues to evolve, Direct Selling companies must keep their finger on the pulse of the latest innovations and best practices to provide the right solutions for their field.

The Evolution of Social Selling for Direct Selling Companies 

In the early days of social selling, everyone was trying to figure out how to best leverage social media and online selling. Many early adopters flooded their warm market contacts with social media posts and banners. As companies have evolved the meaning of social selling, we’ve seen a wide variety of approaches; from companies doing Live Sales where they’re selling on-hand inventory, unboxing products, or other ways to engage an audience — through more simplified events, where content is automatically posted. The focus is to engage with the guests and drive traffic to their replicated website.

How can you ensure your company and Consultants are maximizing social selling? I’ve put together five tips based on what we’re seeing at companies experiencing social selling success.

Tip #1: Make it Easy for Customers to Participate, Engage, and Shop.

Today’s customers have high expectations for online shopping, and any hurdle can cause them to walk away. Your exact business model and selling approach will drive the “right” solution to enable simple shopping from your field. We have seen two fundamental approaches to “social selling” depending on if the Consultants sell from their inventory or have the product drop shipped from Corporate.

Selling Drop Ship Inventory

This is the most common scenario we see, where the focus of social selling is to drive customers to a replicated website & shopping cart to complete their purchases. In this case, it’s essential to ensure a customer-focused experience. Customers will expect your e-commerce site to include features like ratings and reviews from other customers, the option to make and save wish lists, the ability to search products by categories, and suggestions for “you might also like” products based on what they browse and buy.

Selling On-Hand Inventory

In this scenario, the Sales Consultant will be selling her inventory directly to the customer, collecting the payment for the purchase, and shipping the product. This area has evolved a lot over the past few years, with the initial focus on using a mix of tools and technologies; and, more recently, having turn-key solutions that make this a simpler process. For companies that focus on this model, the key is to consider the full user experience throughout the buying process:

1. How is awareness created for the social event? We see many companies focusing on using Facebook Live to drive awareness and an audience for an event, but this is predicated on Facebook and their evolving algorithms. When implementing outside Live Selling tools, consideration must be given to how this flows from the existing audiences (e.g., Facebook/Instagram/etc.) and how Consultants can drive an audience to the event.
2. How is an item “claimed/sold” through the live event? When a Consultant is on a Live Selling event, there must be an easy way for customers to purchase an item through the show. When companies are leveraging Facebook Live for events, we typically see them leveraging a “Comment Selling” approach – where comments are used to claim items and allow the Consultant to know who to send an invoice. With fully integrated solutions, this can be built into the actual Live Selling interface – where customers can “claim” an item in real-time without any Consultant involvement.
3. How is an item “paid for”? This is another area that we’ve seen several solutions, from using stand-alone payment solutions (e.g., Square/Stripe/etc.) to get started, to fully integrated solutions. When using a stand-alone payment solution, the Consultant typically handles the entire process — manually generating invoices based on the items claimed in an event.
4. How do the items get shipped to the end customer? When a Consultant sells from their inventory, how do these products get shipped to the purchasing customers? We’ve seen a mix of manual processes, through to fully automated in an integrated solution.
5. How does corporate maintain visibility on these sales? As on-hand sales evolve and grow, it becomes more critical to precisely see where the wholesale inventory goes and the end customers purchasing the product. This has been a big focus in our industry over the past several years and is an area that is more difficult to track without an integrated solution.

Regardless of the exact approach, the overall Customer Experience must be assessed by corporate to provide the most optimal experience for your customers. One of the best ways to gauge how your social selling and shopping experiences measure up is to experience them yourself. Sign on to a live event as a customer, participate, and shop. Doing this regularly will uncover opportunities to enhance the experience for your customers.

Tip #2: Integrate Social Selling with Back-Office Tools Available to Your Field.

Depending on the approach (drop-shipped vs. Consultant-fulfilled), there will be different tools and technologies that your Consultants will need to leverage to be successful. As you identify these tools and work to implement them, it’s crucial to make it easy for your Consultants to access these tools regardless of how tech-savvy they are.

If you are at an early stage where you’re leveraging a mix of tools (e.g., Facebook, Square, etc.), it’s essential to make it as easy as possible for your field to know the tools to use and the selling process to follow. Consider creating “Quick Links” in their Back Office to relevant tools and publishing training content on your best practices.

Tip #3: Ensure Social Promotion Marketing Content is Readily Available and Easy-to-Use.

We’ve seen a significant increase in companies focusing on and implementing easy-to-use ways for the field to share consistent and compliant social content and resources. When getting started, many software providers include simple ways to share/promote content directly from the Consultant’s Back Office — tying to their replicated site & shopping cart. As companies evolve, we see the desire to implement a stand-alone app that simplifies sharing content even further.

Providing a technology solution is predicated on having an initial set of content that you want your field to leverage and share. Collaboration between your field and marketing/sales teams is crucial here. The only way to get sustained adoption and growth is to have a solution that integrates both GREAT CONTENT with LOW FRICTION technology.

Tip #4: Talk to Your Field Before, During, and After Launching Social Selling Tools.

Social selling success doesn’t happen from the top down. As you map out social selling strategies and evaluate social selling tools, tap into your field Consultants to understand their needs, concerns, and customer insights.

Follow these four stages of adoption when launching new field tools.

1. Discovery: Engage the field to help you identify the tools needed, what Consultants are seeing in the field or are already using on their own, and what capabilities and features are on their wish lists.
2. Pre-Launch: As you select and integrate solutions, involve a few influential Consultants in the beta testing phase. In addition to helping you identify and fix issues, these Consultants will be effective ambassadors in driving the new tools’ utilization.
3. Launch: Create comprehensive training documentation with your Field Advisory Board’s input and hold training webinars to showcase the tools and how to use them. A mix of corporate staff, vendor experts, and Consultants involved in the discovery and pre-launch phases should lead the training.
4. Post-Launch: Continue to encourage use by providing ongoing user tips and success stories. Most importantly, establish a process for Consultants to share continuous feedback.

Tip #5: Understand the Financial and Resource Investments Required for Launching Social Selling Tools.

When you evaluate the solutions to empower your field, it’s essential to look at the overall costs from a corporate perspective and what your field needs to purchase. What tools are needed by the field? What are they paying monthly to run their business? Can these be consolidated into a more unified solution?

Beyond the cost components, there must be an aligned focus from corporate on implementation, from your internal technology group, customer service training, compliance, and many other parts of your business. We’ve seen the most significant impacts of social selling tools from companies that truly get behind implementing the tools they select with a big focus on training and adoption from the field. There’s no point in investing significant capital in a solution if the field isn’t going to adopt it.

Your software provider can be a valuable resource for insights and best practices to help you enhance your social selling and e-commerce capabilities. Engage them as a partner as you assess your company’s needs and evaluate options.

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3 Reasons Social Media Should Become the Lifeblood of Your Company in 2021

Many direct selling companies have mixed feelings toward social media. On the corporate side, it’s a popular channel for staying connected with distributors and their teams. But when it comes to teams performing social media marketing as brand representatives, the corporate office usually has a lot of concerns, as this is where great exposure comes and automatically puts brand consistency, compliance, and reputation at risk.

Meanwhile, the opportunities social media opens, if used wisely, significantly outweigh these risks. Here are three reasons why getting representatives involved in social media marketing is a must for direct selling companies who want to get compelling sales results.

1. This is where your end users are.

Direct selling companies have always been known for proactively reaching out to people who need them. This approach worked with family circles, at parks, and at public events. Today these places are not the most promising in terms of finding new clients, as people prefer to minimize their risks due to the pandemic and stay home. There’s a place where they have migrated, though — to the online world, and to social media in particular. And this brings us to the number one reason it’s time for your direct selling company to become active on social.

40% of respondents of the Deloitte Digital Tools in Crisis and Recovery Report confirmed they are using social media and online messaging to find information about products they need and to interact with businesses.

According to GlobalWebIndex, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millenials use mostly Facebook (55%, 63%, and 67% correspondingly), while Gen Z is more into Instagram (67%). These two social media platforms are the most promising in terms of covering wide audiences of different age groups.

Moreover, 62% of Facebook users and 40% of Instagram users confess they spend time on social media looking for social interaction and meaningful connections.

SmartInsights predicts social media marketers will invest in “building relationships with employees, customers, and influencers to ensure our key brand messages are backed up by the voices our customers value the most” in 2021.

There’s no one better than representatives at building such connections and relationships. Marketing leaders just need to empower them with the right skill- and toolsets to start building their networks on social media.

2. It’s the way to provide a great brand experience.

When representatives start actively posting to their pages on their own, there are also risks. First, they might not be tech- and marketing-savvy enough to stick to the proper quality level of content and messaging. Second, reps who passionately believe in their products may start overpromising about their effects and this may cause legal issues.

But consistently onboarding reps on company values and messaging, educating them on social media marketing, and giving them effective tools are great ways to mitigate these risks. Activating distributors to engage in social media marketing can become the best decision in a company’s history. Not only can distributors spread their brand message to a wider audience, but they can also build a positive brand reputation through their own personal experiences.

People tend to trust other people much more than they trust brands. That’s why reps sharing their lifestyles featuring how they use your products in their daily routines is better than any paid advertising. Luckily, social media offers a wide range of tools and formats for creating such personalized content: Stories, Live Streams, IGTV—all of these are in high demand among today’s online users. Lives are even reported to be among the top trends for 2021.

In this case, it’s important that distributors remain authentic in their communication, as this is their main strength.

3. Selling on social media actually brings results.

Almost half the respondents of the Deloitte Digital Tools in Crisis and Recovery Report say their online spending has increased since the COVID-19 outbreak. According to SmartInsights, social commerce will be one of the key trends of 2021.

This is totally natural behavior as in today’s world online is the safest way to shop. Especially when you can get the look and feel of products, speak to a consultant, and make a purchase all in one place. Direct selling representatives should turn their social media pages into such places.

To achieve such growth, marketing leaders should develop a social-first habit in distributors. That means advocating the importance of social media marketing at the corporate level and educating representatives via various webinars, courses, and workshops. Also, picking the right tools to simplify social media marketing workflow is a good idea. With such support from the corporate level, representatives will catch on and become more marketing savvy and customer-centric themselves.

Marketing specialists predict the year 2021 will be the year of “people-first social media marketing”. Direct selling companies should be at the forefront of this trend, as giving personalized experiences is their strong suit.

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Max Pecherskyi
Help Distributors Focus on Relationships, Automate the Rest

No matter how much time direct selling HQs spend on building brand strategy, the actual brand experience depends first and foremost on distributors. They are the face of your business. So the more inspired but also consistent they are, the more positive the image people get of your company.

That’s why it’s definitely worth creating a supportive environment for them. This includes leadership, education, training, and — what matters a lot — providing easy-to-use technology that helps your distributors in their day-to-day communication with clients. Especially when it comes to social media communication. Social media has become the main conversation channel since the lockdown started. Research by the New York Times shows that Facebook usage has grown 27% during the pandemic. People have gotten used to chatting in messengers or Zoom rooms instead of going to parties and surfing the net instead of going to malls. This has changed customer behavior for good.

Your distributors have had to change their way of doing things as well. Before the pandemic they could give a party, showcase products personally, and exchange contacts. But now that offline communication has become a risk, they have had to find other ways of sharing their lifestyle and connecting with clients. Social media is definitely the most obvious solution, but it presents a challenge. Not all distributors are tech-savvy.

Building success on social media seems like a full-time job, from creating outstanding content to engaging followers with interactive formats. Thus, complicated posting can well be discouraging, making distributors lose interest in selling via social networks. As a result, they miss opportunities to find new people, build relationships, and create new clients.

To implement a win-win strategy, where distributors invest their time and effort in social media marketing, you need to create fertile ground for them. First of all, prove the value of building relationships. Second, guarantee your support and collaboration. Then provide educational resources to help your distributors master social media marketing. Once you join forces and start working as a team, you’ll achieve beneficial results for both parties.

Here’s what you can do:

Make daily social media posting a sure thing

To become successful on social, distributors need to show up there on a daily basis. That’s how social media platforms’ algorithms work: if distributors post once a week, their posts go unnoticed as their audience is not necessarily online when the post appears. However, regular posting increases the chances that posts will be seen. Such consistency is the only way to grow the reach of their posts, keep subscribers engaged, and get their attention.

You at the corporate office can ensure their posting is regular by pre-scheduling posts yourselves to your distributors’ social media calendars. Then all they have to do is to approve them. This becomes even more important during promotional campaigns. As they are limited offerings, on-time posting is a must. Your vendors who enable a one-click, on-the-go posting will help you be sure the campaign flow is consistent across your network.

Help distributors create content that stands out

No one can be full of ideas 24/7. Sometimes your distributors need to take a break and focus on other things besides coming up with brilliant ideas for their social media posts. But their social media audience still needs its portion of content.

“Our Wellness Advocates have great potential as authentic social sellers; they just needed better tools to market themselves online — tools that enable on-the-go posting and give them an opportunity to add a personal and authentic touch to their content and communication”, says John Dye, Senior Director of Marketing at dōTERRA in North America.

You can provide your distributors on-brand content by giving them access to an asset manager with branded templates so that they will always have fresh ideas at their fingertips. But the templates need to be aligned with each distributor’s unique style. By providing them with customization tools, you’ll make it possible for reps to retain their authenticity.

Finding their voice and approach and building a personal brand is what’s most valuable when it comes to distributors’ marketing themselves online. Telling a genuine story of success, showcasing products, and sharing lifestyle images is what attracts attention in the first place, as everyone wants to see a real human being behind the brand. It’s the way to connect with like-minded people and turn them into loyal clients.

Automation of social media content creation and posting is how HQ can help distributors fill their pages with a combination of lifestyle and branded content. Once they’re freed from the rote work, they’ll have time for sharing brand values and building relationships that convert to sales.

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Vince Han
21st Century Customer Expectations – Can Direct Selling Companies Deliver? 

Can you remember life before Google? 

It’s amazing how entrenched Google (and search in general) is in our day-to-day lives. The ability to ask the Internet any question and get an immediate response is something we can easily take for granted, but it’s the kind of thing that was pure science fiction not too long ago. 

In the United States, approximately 25% of the population was born after Google was founded. These Americans haven’t known a life without instant access to answers via the Internet. And these digital natives are the key audience for any business looking to thrive in today’s economy.



The direct selling industry finds itself at a crossroad – it is an industry founded in the middle of the last century and has proven itself as a vehicle for millions of entrepreneurs, but after multiple consecutive years of declining growth coupled with increasing regulatory pressures, it is in need of major upgrades if not a complete rebirth. 

And there is no better way to reshape the direct selling industry than meeting the expectations of the 21st-century customer. Direct sellers must focus on attracting and keeping distributors as their primary customer as well as on pleasing the end consumers of their products and services. 

So what does a 21st-century distributor expect? 

Immediacy

Yes, Google has trained us to expect immediacy in all aspects of life. We can cringe all we want at this culture of instant gratification, but the expectation is not going away anytime soon. And what do we want immediately? 

• Answers to our questions 
• Problems solved 
• Products shipped 
• To get paid 

 
Seamless Interconnectivity

I recently ordered Apple’s new credit card, the Apple Card. I applied for and obtained the card using the native Wallet app on my iPhone. Moments later, I purchased a new Apple product from my laptop, and immediately the Apple Card appeared as the default preferred payment method. 

Once you experience this type of seamless interconnectivity from one device to another or from one website to a different app, you expect it everywhere you go digitally. 

Basic interconnectivity started with federated identification (e.g. using your Facebook login for Spotify, newsletter subscriptions, Etsy profile, etc.) while more integrated systems rely on advanced APIs (e.g. I can track the delivery status of my Amazon order on the UPS website). 

But there are still major limitations that frustrate users. For example, if I don’t know how to use an app on my iPhone, I should be able to ask Siri for help; but, Siri can’t tell what I’m looking at because the app is managed by a non-Apple company. So, while there is still work to be done to streamline our digital experiences, today’s users expect a high level of integration.

Access to Social Media Audiences

Social media has democratized access to the world—I can create content and have people from all around the planet view it. Social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram give creators access to a seemingly limitless audience. That ease of publishing has been the catalyst of literally billions of hours invested in content creation.

What isn’t democratized, however, is content creation talent. Take a look at most large public high schools in the United States. Instagram and TikTok adoption is ubiquitous but only a small percentage of content creators find broad success. Some are just more naturally talented in creating compelling content—and it is these individuals that are a ripe new market for direct selling companies. 

These influencers would love nothing more than to be paid to continue creating content that their audience craves. Direct selling companies that figure out how to leverage influencer talent and audience are going to be steps ahead. 



Privacy and Online Security

If immediacy plus interconnectivity is the ying for the 21st-century customer, privacy plus online security is the yang. The technological trade-off with an open digital experience is more exposure and risk to personal privacy and security. The more services and servers that know about and host my data, the more at risk I am of being the victim of hacks, security breaches, and identity theft.

While IT executives might complain of trying to service the double standard of openness and security, it remains the expectation from today’s customer. Yes, you must help me have a seamless, integrated experience and keep my data private and secure. 

For direct selling companies looking to thrive in today’s fast-changing environment, they will have to make an honest assessment of where they stack up against these 21st-century expectations. Questions they should be asking themselves:

• Who on our executive team is equipped to help transform our UX (user experience)?
• How do our vendor partners stack up against these expectations? Do we believe that our partners have the people and vision to deliver the user experiences we need?
• How ready and willing are our existing top field leaders to go through the changes needed to attract and keep a new generation of sellers and customers?
• Do we have the organizational discipline to plan for, budget for, and execute the changes we need to make?

 
And if any direct selling company does not sense the urgency to transform themselves, they may sadly find themselves like retail companies (e.g. Toys R Us, Blockbuster, Radio Shack to name a few)  that also underestimated the need to cater to online audiences. And those that make today’s digital consumer a real priority can look forward to being a part of the next generation of direct selling companies.

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Don has helped numerous direct selling companies improve their online branding efforts. He is an associate with Strategic Choice Partners.

Don Sorensen
Why Reputation Management Must Be in Your 2020 Budget

Direct selling companies by their very nature are all about marketing. Beyond the internal marketing department there are thousands of associates each trying to market the business in their own unique way. And each one of these efforts builds “the reputation” of the business. But there are a number of factors that can easily erode a company’s good reputation. Here are issues to watch out for this year and what you should be doing to insure your company retains its good name.

FTC Investigations

The recent FTC investigations into direct selling companies are a great reason to closely manage your company’s reputation. Not only are formal compensation plans being looked at, but even simple social media posts are reviewed for accuracy and compliance. Too much internal compensation talk on a forum or even within Facebook comments can easily cause a problem.

If your business deals with health and wellness you may see changes in the Google results due to changes in their algorithm. Google’s John Mueller recently said that the new algorithms are trained to find health-related sites that lack authority. He went on to say, “Perhaps over the last ten years or so, you had a really good run, so that’s another area where I’d say maybe from an algorithmic point of view, you might see bigger changes.”

Social Media Mobs

According to Statista, in 2019 global web users spent 2 hours and 23 minutes on social media per day. That can be great time for people to learn about your brand, but also poses some risk. If your communications team makes a misstep, watch out for the social media mob. Sad to say there’s an audience just waiting for inaccurate news, executive gaffes, product recalls or anything else to complain about. And worse, information that is untrue spreads much faster than true information.

Now that you know what to worry about, here’s what you can be doing to bolster a positive online reputation.

Proactively monitor both social media and the web. You can use a readily available tool like Google Alerts, which is a free platform for monitoring the web. But the only issue with Google Alerts is that it only monitors mentions on the web, overlooking social media, where most of the talk is happening. There are plenty of other tools that help you both monitor social media and even can help gain sales prospects. Here are some you should check out:

• Social Mention is a Google Alerts substitute. This is a free service which, unlike Google Alerts, tracks social media.
• Awario gathers mentions of your brand, industry, and can even bring you new influencers and sales prospects.
• Social Sprout can see the performance of your topic in terms of engagement, impressions, and sentiment and check out the demographics for your keywords.
• Agorapulse is actually two platforms — one that does social listening and the other for social media scheduling.
• Brandwatch is a service with 3 separate products: Analytics for online conversations analysis, Vizia for data visualization, and Audiences for better understanding your audience.

Embrace External Publicity

Sometimes it feels like the direct selling industry is its own echo chamber. There’s a lot of internal press about who’s working where, who’s expanding to what country, and who’s launching new products, but not very much external public relations happening, even with the larger public companies. There’s a much larger audience to speak to, especially with so much interest in supplementing a families income in simple ways. Why not create a series of human-interest pieces? Tell the world how your company is helping families pay off debt, or pay for a child’s education. There are lots of stories to share.

And the great thing about stories that get picked up in publications is that you’ve just created another story that can help with your Google results — and it’s a third-party endorsement which is generally a much better reference of your company.

Get Organized

Reputation management requires organization. You’ll need to evaluate each area of your business to determine what else can be done to improve your brand. Here are a few ideas to get you moving in the right direction:

• Google your company and product names on a regular basis.
• If there are negative sites in the Google results work with a professional to clean them up.
• Look for publicity opportunities to attract a larger audience for your brand.
• Develop a simple crisis management plan.
• At each conference gather testimonials on video.
• Develop an active social media plan.
• Create an online reputation management session for your company conferences.

When you develop your reputation management strategy, define what you want the outcome to be and set goals to reach it. Then stick to your plan. Remember what the Cheshire Cat said to Alice: If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. With so much at stake, make this the year you create an effective reputation management strategy.

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Note: Don Sorensen is giving a free webinar about improving a company’s online branding and reputation. You can register here for this webinar that will take place on February 5, 2020 at 12:00 noon MST.

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Guest Post by Roseann “Ro” Shales
Could ‘Facebook Live’ Change The Game?

If you work corporately in a direct sales company today you may wonder, “Where have all the parties gone?” “Where is all the sales activity?” Do you sometimes feel like you have tried everything and nothing works like it used to?

The constant changes we face today makes our jobs as corporate executives harder. We have to be more nimble and view our sales force with “fresh eyes,” without filters or bias from the good old days. We are pioneering a new pathway, utilizing more technology, and working through changes for our current base and future generations of direct sellers.

Success for you and your sales force is STILL about creating relationships, now more than ever. Our people have unlimited opportunities to join other companies at their fingertips 24/7. Today’s sellers and team builders are more demanding, less forgiving, and work fewer hours each week than in the past. Some want to sell at live parties and events, however many others want to work from home in their pajamas. Everyone wants business to be simple and they want to make more money on their own terms. People’s lives are busier and they want faster results with less time commitment – full-time (<25 hours/week), part-time (10 hours/week) and even spare-time (< 5 hours/week).

JIC Nation started with an online presence 3-years ago by giving away free e-Commerce stores before launch. When Christmas 2013 hit, they backordered 35,000 orders, 85,000 products. It took four months to fill them and they survived. Today we provide weekly product graphics for the sales force, in part to prevent reps from taking time away from selling, booking and sharing, to create their own materials.

Many of our reps fall into the make money from home in their pajamas category, and I suspect many of you feel the same about your people. To support all reps, we actively manage Facebook groups and chats for both our sales force and our customer base. We provide weekly corporate training, plus we spotlight tips from our key leaders online daily and in our 5-day a week rep newsletter.

We train on best practices for both in-home and online parties. In-home parties take 3-4 hours for booking, host coaching, presentation, closing and ordering host rewards and average $500-750 in sales. Online parties take longer, 30 minutes a day, over 5-7 days, plus set-up time, with lower sales averages. Over the summer, we observed the advent of Facebook Live for product sales, parties and training. If you are not familiar with this fresh, new way to get visibility for your company offers, click here and here.

Here are general Facebook Live party tips: 

1. Schedule a party time and alert people on your personal and/or business pages 1-3 days before to build initial interest and engagement.

2. Prepare everything you want or need to share and have it within arms reach.

3. Be aware of the view through your camera lens. You don’t want attendees to see things online that could embarrass you or someone else. Limit external distractions.

4. Start on time. As guests arrive, interact immediately as they begin watching. It’s important to ask guests to share the party with their Facebook friends on their own page. This will create a larger viewing audience. Get comfortable talking about products and welcoming people at the same time as they must be acknowledged and encouraged to share the party.

5. Be engaging, interesting and make it fun. Just like a traditional party, keep your presentation to 15-20 minutes.

6. Follow the general flow of an in home party. Welcome everyone, share the benefits of your products, the host opportunity, and the business opportunity. Explain how to order, book, and join.

7. Be sure to answer questions that come up in the comments.

8. End the party making sure everyone knows how to contact you. Thank them for their participation.

We started holding our own Facebook Live parties a few months ago. Our leaders took them one step further and began to combine in-home and Facebook Live parties. This allows hosts to invite their local and non-local connections. During a combined party, reps ask the host to stay close to the computer screen to relay questions from online guests. Reps get to maximize their time and sales opportunities for the best of both worlds. Guests can “attend” a party anywhere from their mobile device. They don’t need to set aside dedicated time to support the host. This is important in today’s busy world. Streaming a Live Party breaks down barriers and transcends traditional sales strategies. It can facilitate new relationships across the country that may have never happened otherwise. It can enhance sales, recruiting and team building. It allows leaders to train their teams easily and efficiently in a live setting by inviting their team members to observe from home.

I think Facebook Live is a game changer! If you and your sales force embrace it, activity and sales can increase quickly. We need to be flexible in the ways we create and enhance our relationships to grow business for the long term. When we seek and implement new ideas, train and communicate effectively, and encourage our sales force to try new things, we are re-creating the “good old days,” in brand new ways. E-Commerce is here to stay and by taking advantage of it, we can engage a new generation of young, eager direct sellers with dreams of their own. We need to fully embrace it, because our future depends on it!

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Today, he’s a consultant to more than a hundred direct selling companies, from start-ups to major powers. An expert in compensation plans, startup strategies and sales management programs, Alan sits on the boards of numerous direct sales companies. His many honors include induction into the U.S. Direct Selling Association Hall of Fame and the Direct Selling Education Foundation’s Circle of Honor.

Guest Post by Alan Luce
Three Forces Driving Change for Direct Selling

“Change” is something that all business managers supposedly recognize and embrace. In truth, change often passes unnoticed. It happens while we’re busy dealing with the world as it was yesterday not realizing it’s already tomorrow.

Success in and of itself is too often the enemy of change. A long run of success breeds a conscious or unconscious belief that the way to ensure further success is not to mess with the formula that brought success in the first place. Too often when a successful company begins to slide we hear this from top executives: “Everything will be all right if we just get back to basics!”

No longer. Unfortunately, going back to basics is often exactly the wrong thing to do in today’s direct sales world.

Direct selling is in an era of profound change. And this change is:

• Redefining what direct selling means
• Expanding the forums in which its sales people sell
• Re-shaping what customers expect from direct sellers and what those sellers expect from their companies.

Three major forces are driving this change at an ever accelerating pace:

• Technology
• Customer/Recruit expectations
• Social media

And as you might expect, all of these forces are related and intertwined with each other. Let’s examine each.

Technology

This is a two-edged sword. While technology empowers the field, it also requires more and better communication between a company and its sales force.

Yes, I know everyone talks about the impact of technology on our daily lives. I want to focus more on the technologies that are most strongly driving the change in direct selling. In order of importance they are:

1. Online order processing and genealogy and compensation plan management.
2. The Internet as the new “downtown.”
3. The growth of cell phones as visual as well as audio communication devices, and more and more, as transaction platforms.

Online order processing and other back office capabilities have revolutionized the ability of top field leaders to manage their businesses. Instantly available data helps leaders motivate, communicate with and track the progress of their sales organizations. Depending on the age and features of a company’s system, a field sales leader can manage her personal and downline business, and do it as well or better than home office executives.

This ability has forever changed the equation of power between corporate sales management and the independent field leaders. No longer are the field leaders totally dependent on the company to dole out whatever analysis and information it chooses to share. Field leaders can now easily analyze the impact of promotions, incentive programs, training and other headquarters driven initiatives.

Many companies fail to realize this shift in information access changes the boundaries of the home office/field relationship. Armed with information, today’s knowledgeable field leaders are becoming more savvy, demanding and independent. That means companies must be more respectful and collaborative in order to have successful working relationships. In other words, they need to persuade rather than direct. The days of the field blindly following everything that the home office tells them to do are long over. But many companies that seek our services have yet to realize that.

Combine this field access to data with the ability to communicate with both downlines and customers on the Internet “downtown.” The company-driven social aspect of direct selling has been turned topsy-turvy. Folks used to go to sales meetings and events to experience the social benefits of being a direct seller. They received training, recognition and an understanding of the company and its culture. And they created friendships and bonds through personal interaction with one another.

But today, social media outlets deliver many of those same elements, and do it in real time. Interactive forums like Skype and Go to Meeting have significantly reduced the appeal of and willingness to attend local sales meetings. That’s why we see attendance at sales meetings and conventions dropping year after year. It’s not just the cost of attending that’s driving these declines. It’s simply the fact that the sales force is getting many the benefits of attending live meetings via their online forums. That’s why it’s critical that companies contribute significantly to this positive online experience.

To cope, companies must focus local, regional and national meetings on what personal interactions deliver best: recognition, new product training, motivation and inspiration. New recruit training, leadership development and general product training must now be delivered where the sales force expects to find it — online. This change requires a whole new thinking about the purposes that regional and national conferences and meetings serve. Consider:

– Are your events for new sellers? Or are they primarily for new and established leaders for whom the expense may be more justified?
– What deliverables will make the attendees feel that the time and expense was worth it?
– What performance metrics of the company will the meeting positively impact? And will the impact be worth the time, effort and cost of the event?
– Can company meetings & events be combined with incentive trips to make them more cost effective?
– How do your digital marketing, communication and training strategies complement your live events?

Customer/Recruit Expectations

The explosive growth of e-commerce has forever changed the meaning of access, service, and convenience for the customer experience. The gold standard for all three of these terms is now set by companies such as Amazon Prime, Zappos and other top tier online marketers. They’re always available, easy to shop and have fantastic and accurate delivery. Plus, they offer hassle free customer service for returns.

Surveys show that the access, service and convenience offered by these online merchants is becoming what customers expect from every merchant. That goes for brick and mortar stores, online retailers or direct selling companies. Here’s what that means for you: direct selling companies must enable their sales force to meet these new customer expectations and standards. Those who don’t are going to find they can’t attract and keep customers or sales force members. In fact, it may be safe to say that these customer expectations are rapidly morphing into customer demands.

So what does this mean in practical terms for direct sellers?

Well for one thing, if people don’t have their service expectations met as customers, they’re unlikely to consider joining your company as sellers. Direct selling has always been about converting customers into sellers and business builders. The adage “if they won’t buy from you they won’t sell for you!” has never been more applicable than it is now.

So what’s the best way to meet these changing customer expectations for access, service and convenience? Well, the fastest growing companies are supporting their sales force with technology tools that enable each seller to approximate the best online service levels, while still providing the personal selling touches that have always been the hallmark of direct selling.

These companies understand successful sales people must be able to provide easy 7/24/365 access to online purchasing. That’s in addition to the ability to sell one-to-one and one-to-many using smart phones and mobile devices.

The new direct selling rule for success is: Meet and service your customers where they want to interact, online or in person. And allow your customers to shop when they want and how they want!

The good news is direct sellers are beginning to recognize this change and are adapting to this new reality. We now have companies that conduct all of their field business online, with little or no face time. My newer party plan clients who provide their sales force with the technology tools to sell one-to-one or one-to-many online are finding 50% or more of their “party” sales are taking place online.

And more and more, companies with products that lend themselves to regular reorders are discovering the benefits of customer clubs that offer discounts, special offers, product education and useful content information. Customer clubs are an efficient and easy way for customers to reorder consumable products, shop new items and respond to special offers.

Most clubs provide members with direct online user access to the catalog and shopping carts. Of course, the field sales person who enrolled that retail customer as a customer club member gets full credit for the sale. The result – retail customers are more likely to go online to make purchases using direct access rather than to go their sales person’s replicated website.

From the customers’ perspective, gaining online access to a company’s products via customer clubs rivals the best online buying experiences. Direct sellers who thus enable their sales force to meet their customers’ expectations get the best of two worlds. One is the direct selling tradition of building through enthusiastic product and service evangelists. The other is the customer loyalty benefits resulting from outstanding access, service and convenience through online tools. If you look under the hood of the industry’s fastest growing companies some version of that combination is what you’ll find.

Social Media

One of the most profound changes confronting direct selling companies is the impact of social media. This is a critical “must address” element of building and sustaining a profitable direct selling business. Unlike the past, the most important factor in recruiting new folks as customers or as sales people is a positive presence and image on social media.

When customers hear about your products online or at a party, the first thing they do is look up your company and products on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. They want to learn what other customers think about your products and your company. Do they like the products? Was the service acceptable? Are there any unchallenged negative comments or reviews about the company, its products or service? The way customers talk about your products and company on line will have a major influence on whether that person will buy from your seller or attend your product party.

And if social media have that kind of impact on buying decisions, imagine what kind of influence social media have on your recruiting efforts. In a word, EVERYTHING!

No longer is recruiting solely a function of the sales person armed with company prepared materials. In fact, today a prospective recruit’s most influential source of information is your company’s social media reputation. Your company can have thousands of happy sales people, but if the only information on social media is complaints and negative comments from a few unhappy sales people it will negatively impact your recruiting numbers.

To be successful today, attention to your social media presence must be every bit as great, if not greater than your attention to your corporate website. People expect your website to be full of positive upbeat information about your company. That’s where you’re trying to sell folks on your products and opportunity, right? More and more, people distrust what we say about ourselves and our products. They put much more faith in what customers and participants in your business opportunity tell them. You better have positive comments from them on the social media sites.

The need to build a positive and informative social media presence is now essential to a new company’s success. So much so that we routinely suggest to startup clients that they begin implementing their social media strategy well before they start to sell and recruit. Building your social media image is a foundational element of your overall digital marketing strategy. Companies must first build a positive image and story on social media. And then they need to protect their online image and reputation with the fierceness of a junkyard dog!

The first step is to recognize what’s happening and why, and then find ways to adjust. For direct sellers it’s all about finding new ways to adapt the core “people strengths” of direct selling: opportunity, aspiration, inspiration, recognition and self-development. Do this in ways that meet and exceed the expectations of our customers and recruit prospects. When companies do that well they’ll prosper. Fail to address the changes and you will not.

Change. You can’t ignore it, run from it or hide. You can only work to recognize what’s going on, work to address what’s happening and then embrace the change. It’s a never-ending process.

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