I go to a church that is built on a simple but profound principle: help people take their next step in their spiritual journey. When you hear it explained, it’s a pretty powerful concept. The idea is that everyone, no matter where on their journey they are, has a next step to take. Everyone can progress. Everyone can still become more. In many ways, I feel like this is the underlying promise that every direct sales company offers. As an industry that celebrates personal development, what we … [Read more...]
What is a Personal Leadership Philosophy?
This is the first article of an ongoing series by Rick Loy, titled “Your Personal Leadership Philosophy Anchors You and Your Team.” Ever found yourself looking for a new, different, exciting idea to re-ignite your team’s best creative energy and efforts? Virtually everyone in leadership has been right there; you’re in good company! Nothing wrong with it at all; maximizing all the ideas you can create and all you can “borrow” is part of the role, it definitely has its place. Yet, … [Read more...]
It’s 2020 … Who’s in Your Office?
No matter which way we turn, “disruption is in play” … including in the traditional “gold watch” business workplace. Human resources knows it. Bosses stress over it, and employees feel it! Early in direct selling history, the new direct selling company (armed with its product/service) opportunity opened its doors with a handful of passionate people supplying all of the internal “labor” and support—the founder(s), maybe a family member or two plus an outside influencer, also known as 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...]
5 Must-Have Traits for Today’s Successful Direct Selling Executive
Perhaps the most common question I get asked by young, ambitious direct selling company executives is this: What do I have to do to build or lead a great direct selling company?” That question may be the most difficult there is to answer, at least for me, and I do not think I have ever answered it the same way twice. The problem is that “leadership,” no matter what the environment, is very hard to define. What is Leadership? Thousands of words, hundreds of books and dozens of … [Read more...]
2019: The Year Direct Selling As We Know It Changed Forever
I know. It has quite an ominous sound. And then, it also seems a tad presumptuous and oddly grandiose. Of course, it could also just be another click-baity, news-jacky headline whipped up by a consultant trying to drum up business ;-). I guess all of the above is possible. But none of it can dismiss the point that 2019 may indeed be the year we look back and realize it all changed. Direct selling as we’ve known it will never be the same. And I think I’m OK with that. There’s a quote … [Read more...]
Common Pitfalls that Prevent Profitability in Direct Selling Start Ups
I would like to share a number of common pitfalls that prevent profitability in direct selling start ups. This comes from years of experience working with companies that have contacted me many times after making mistakes like these and then asking me to help them correct these issues. 1. Lack of Direct Selling Expertise Many founders have started their ventures with only cursory experience in the industry. They have seen or heard of successes in this industry of companies … [Read more...]
The 7 Most Common Recommendations for Today’s Direct Selling Company
Every direct selling company thinks of itself as extremely unique. You probably feel that way about your company, too. Your product is one-of-a-kind. Your compensation plan has unique perks. Your founder offers both special privileges and special challenges. Your culture is special and unprecedented and unlike anything you’ve ever seen. And I bet that’s all true. I just bet it’s not as true as you think it is. My experience has shown me that direct selling companies have a lot more in common … [Read more...]
Momentum: Success Starts With You
Just because it is the middle of the year, doesn’t mean we can’t start fresh as if it’s New Year’s Day, the infamous goal-setting holiday. Bring on the new goals, new growth and new people. Anything is possible. And how does that happen? By starting NOW and getting the momentum going! Lead by Example! Bookings are easier when people are chatting and laughing in the company of friends. Recruiting is easier when people watch how much fun you’re having (and notice how much you’re … [Read more...]
Flexibility is the New Must-Have for Direct Selling Companies
Today’s successful direct selling company understands that what their customers and potential sales people want is “choices.” The 3 Best Choices to Offer As customers, they want and increasingly demand to be able to choose when, where and how they interact with a business to buy everything from cotton swabs to automobiles. That demand to choose when, where and how they interact with a business or a product is why you can now buy everything online, including cars and … [Read more...]
4 Tips to Adjust to a Changing Direct Selling Environment
Direct sellers across the globe are facing one of the most rapidly changing selling and recruiting environments in the last hundred years. We see evidence of it everywhere. Tried and true recruiting promotions no longer produce the expected results. Compensation plans and money prizes do not seem to drive the business as well as they used to. Few, if any, have a handle on exactly what is going on. The changes do not seem to flow from product innovations, new laws and regulations, or … [Read more...]