Hello Carmen,
As you can tell from some of the comments received there are many companies looking at implementing it right now…some of who I am working with to help them understand how to layer this on top of their current plan. One company I would look at would be
http://www.livecrescendo.com. They have done an excellent job of repositioning themselves with several marketing innovations that includes paying your customers.

Hi Andi, hopefully, the FTC would have a kinder view of our industry if we can focus on customer rewards instead of only distributor dreams. but I agree it will be a dramatic shift in how the regulatory people look at us…and whether or not we approach this with authenticity and transparency on the expectations we create. Look forward to working with someone like yourself on finding the best way to go forward.

I think you are exactly right…we were originally the cost-effective alternative distribution model but got lost in thinking that our salespeople were the only ones that can drive the enthusiasm for our companies, when in fact customers in many cases are the true evangelists.
Maybe now our vertical will be able to reach a new potential

Hi Mike, great summary of where we are but more importantly where we need to go! Everyone will design their own way to get there but do an excellent job of outlining the fundamentals that need to be a part of the solution. It is time to move past the criticism of where we are and offer concrete solutions on how to get where we need to go! Mike, you have a great perspective and will be one of those people that move solutions forward

Hi Mike, great summary of where we are but more importantly where we need to go! Everyone will design their own way to get there but do an excellent job of outlining the fundamentals that need to be a part of the solution. It is time to move past the criticism of where we are and offer concrete solutions on how to get where we need to go! Mike, you have a great perspective and will be one of those people that move solutions forward

I think you are right on point…some of the few bright spots in direct sales is coming from the more traditional wholesale/retail-driven comp plans. MaryKay for instance still has a 50% retail margin and recently had tremendous success with a trip promotion that was based on significant sales accomplishments. Comp plans drive behavior they are not merely the scorecards of behavior after the fact. If we don’t change the sales psychology created by current comp plans we won’t change the future of the industry

Hey Kris,

You know how to make my day!..Thanks for the validation. Established companies can not alter their current back-end programs to match the philosophy of this new type of front end…but new companies can have a more cohesive complan from front to back.
If I can help…please reach out and let me know steve@working.social…and we can discuss!

Andi, yes…you never know how the FTC views things but the good news here is there is a distinction between who is the customer and who is the distributor in this model. and the rewards are not tied to a false expectation of income which is what usually triggers an inquiry. Costco spends more of their advertising dollars on their cashback reward program than their discounted pricing without blurring the confusion that this is a customer rewards program. In addition, I would have the customers earn only product cash until they reach $25.00 before they can convert it to real cash. This puts the program in a rewards category from the outset.