Today’s direct seller has more access to data and numbers than any generation of direct seller ever had before. Backoffices are packed with beautiful reports, dashboards are dotted with wonderful widgets and notifications, and promotions and programs are launched every day to accelerate sales and income. And yet, my experience tells me that Distributors don’t always appreciate all this stuff like I think they should. Some of the obvious perks of a new promotion often get overlooked. The … [Read more...]
4 Fundamentals of Reversing a Sales Decline in Direct Sales
Here’s a familiar story: Your business has entered a period of decline in sales and recruiting. After a period of years of solid growth in sales and sales force numbers, the momentum has not only stopped but appears to be working in reverse. The management team pulls out all the stops using various promotions and incentives that have worked in the past to stimulate sales and/or recruiting. These tried and true “get back to basics” promotional techniques mean that the company is spending more … [Read more...]
Our Story Is Better Than Their Story. Are You Telling It?
From company announcements to proclamations from the investing world to regulatory agency decisions to even a TV series, there is no shortage of hot opinions and big news in the world of direct selling. As the old saying goes, “any news is good news.” But is that really true here? It seems the only news we’re getting falls in the “bad news” category. Further, the only opinions those of us in the industry are giving are just opinions and pontifications on that bad news. Maybe the reason it … [Read more...]
AdvoCare, Neora, an Ever More Aggressive FTC! What Now?
In recent weeks, the direct selling industry has been shocked by one revelation after another involving the Federal Trade Commission’s actions against direct selling companies. The stunning transformation of AdvoCare from a marketer with an MLM compensation plan to a single level plan due to an FTC enforcement action was still being absorbed when, BANG!, along comes the FTC action against Neora (formerly “Nerium”) and Jeff Olson and the counter civil suit by Olson and Neora challenging the FTC’s … [Read more...]
7 Clear Signals That Today’s Direct Sales Company Must Embrace
Since 2015, three prominent direct sales companies have publicly faced regulatory scrutiny in the United States. While there were similarities in the issues addressed—such as multi-level compensation systems—each company faced a different journey and a different outcome. Yet, there is a commonality that we are wise to acknowledge and embrace now: Change is here; it’s our challenge and our opportunity to understand it, respond to it and embrace it. So, what do we do? What merits attention … [Read more...]
Outsourcing Fulfillment: Bigger Isn’t Always Better Starting Out
Whether you are an entrepreneur, growing business or mature company, the goal in today’s business world is to be bigger and better than our closest competitor. We want to be seen as the ‘leader’ of our industry. One of the primary ways we achieve this goal is through our sales and customer satisfaction … by having top-notch processes. Those ‘processes’ manifest themselves in our ordering, fulfillment and shipping life cycle. Today, you may be fulfilling your orders out of your garage, but … [Read more...]
9 Graphic Design Tips That Will Drive Home Your Company’s Legitimacy
When someone is deciding whether a company is worth engaging with, a first impression is priceless. That first impression many times comes from the design associated with your company. You can see this in any industry and on any platform: website, social media, print materials, etc. Design Communicates Legitimacy If you are looking to donate to a nonprofit, many times you visit the organization’s website. If the first few things you notice are poorly designed graphics, difficult … [Read more...]
SCP Adds Events & Travel Incentive Planning with Karen Peterson
We are excited to announce a new member to the Stratgeic Choice Partners team, Karen Peterson! Karen is a Certified Meeting Professional with more than 30 years of experience working with direct selling companies. She has a proven ability to meet clients’ meeting objectives while managing the essential details of an event. Karen specializes in vendor relations, contract negotiations, meeting specifications, budget analysis, air and ground transportation, off-site entertainment and food & … [Read more...]
In 2019, Does Video Make That Big of a Difference?
Anyone reading this blog knows that video is an integral part of any marketing or brand strategy. This has been true over the past five, even ten, years. How Big is Video in 2019? But how big a deal is video in 2019? Clark Diemer and our associates over at Left Hook Videos played a little game called "Guess That Video Stat" to answer this exact question. On their gameshow, the team guesses 14 of the most popular video stats. For Example … Question: Mobile video consumption rises … [Read more...]
Sweat the Details: 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Working with a Back Office Provider
If you’re reading this article and you’re in the process of launching a company in the direct selling space, it’s fairly safe to assume at least two things: One, you’re not planning to be a “nonprofit” organization, and two, you’ll be working with a back office provider. Suffice it to say, how you establish things upfront with the latter will greatly impact how well you avoid being the former. As a company that sells a product, being able to actually sell products and scale well are the two … [Read more...]
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