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Perhaps like no other generation before it, Gen Y presents direct sellers with new opportunities—and challenges—in retention, retailing and recruiting. For two industry leaders, The Southwestern Company and CUTCO, Generation Y makes up the majority of their field. Dan Moore, President, The Southwestern Company, and Sarah Baker Andrus, Director of Academic Programs, CUTCO, shared with Direct Selling News their successes in reaching this unique demographic.
The Southwestern Company is America’s oldest direct selling company, with direct selling operations starting in 1868. For 140 years, college students have sold Southwestern books (and more recently, software) door-to-door. Today, students from approximately 350 colleges and universities participate in this entrepreneurial program and learn principles of salesmanship, business management and the invaluable character traits of integrity, perseverance and service to others.
The entire sales leadership team, from the company’s CEO and its president to its sales directors and field sales managers, started on “the book field” as college students. Senior leaders are from a different generation than today’s new student dealers; in fact, children of both the CEO and president have sold books in recent summers. The powerful and shared experience of building a Southwestern business unites the participants in the program and transcends generational differences, yet keeping the changing preferences and styles of today’s college students always in the forefront is a constant priority.
Like most direct selling companies, Southwestern has two customers. The most important one is the college student, who buys our products at wholesale and then sells them at retail to consumers. Listening carefully to the feedback of students at the end of each summer is essential to improving the products, the training and every other important aspect of the company. While management may believe something is a good idea, it won’t go forward unless the students also think it is. Similarly, ideas for the most important new initiatives generally come directly from dealer input.
Perhaps more than any earlier generation, the ongoing parental influence for today’s 18- to 25-year-olds is powerful and pervasive. Most in this age group were escorted and guided by their parents to more activities and events than we can track; they cannot really recall not having a mobile phone with multiple parental contacts each day; and, in general, were raised with higher levels of affluence than previous generations. Southwestern recognizes and embraces the pervasive and important role parents play in their children’s lives, even into their 20s and beyond, by specifically targeting parental concerns with a “parents” section of our Web site and a toll-free parents’ hotline to the company.
Members of today’s Generation Y are energetic, quick-thinking and sometimes mercurial. Quick to question established practices, they crave understanding about why things are as they are (which gave rise to generational expert Eric Chester’s term, “Generation WHY”). Recognizing and honoring this desire helps form Southwestern’s style of attracting, retaining and helping them excel.
In attracting today’s young people, Southwestern believes key principles include keeping things personal and tailored to each individual. Mass communications are not nearly as effective as one-to-one conversations and responses to questions or problems. Part of this is using other students as examples; this recognition helps the recipient and the observer strive to improve.
Making things fun while emphasizing that the rewards of direct selling come only through consistent hard work is an essential balance that can sometimes be challenging to achieve. Generation Y wants to know “the real deal”—glossing over the challenges and difficulties in building a successful direct selling business doesn’t work.
In retaining young people for the long haul, Southwestern believes strongly in relating what a dealer is achieving in their business with the goals they have in the other areas of their lives. Being a complete and multifaceted person with social awareness and responsibility is a common goal for today’s young people. Leaders of the company modeling those same traits give dealers and field leaders examples they can believe in.
Finally, in helping them excel, nothing is more powerful than personal, specific, meaningful recognition. Generic compliments don’t cut it—something about that person as a unique individual is what counts. Young people delight in meeting a difficult challenge (and sometimes do so in offbeat ways!), particularly when it relates to helping them become more of the kind of person they want to become.
CUTCO Cutlery was founded in 1949, and since its inception the products have been sold in the same way: by an independent sales representative presenting the product through a one-on-one demonstration in the customer’s home. We have always been a direct selling company. But over those 60 years, a very dramatic change has occurred in the nature of our salesforce.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, our typical salesperson was male. He might be in his 20s or 30s and supporting a family. His customers were typically homemakers, and he visited them during the day, traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood making his calls.
What changed? In CUTCO’s case, a business issue collided with a
demographic trend. Women started entering the workforce in large
numbers, leaving very few at home. Simultaneously, several independent
distributors noticed that sales were significantly lower during the
summer months, and it made good business sense to “even out” the
seasons so sales were more consistent year round. Since recruiting
always drives sales, the question became: Who is available for work in
the summer?
The answer? College students. Today, Cutco’s sales
arm, Vector Marketing Corporation, has a salesforce comprised of 85
percent college students. Some of our success with this demographic is
tied into our corporate culture, and some of it is a result of offering
what young people are looking for in work. According to BusinessWeek (Sept. 28, 2001), today’s young people:
At Vector, we have been conducting surveys of prospective recruits and new reps to determine what attracts them to the opportunity and what influences retention. The results of that research are in line with some commonly understood traits that characterize Gen Y. For example, 68 percent of last summer’s applicants said they responded to a recruiting message because we offer an attractive base pay per demo to get them started. But it was the flexibility of a direct selling position that was most important (74 percent) for those who ultimately signed up for the opportunity.
Another key factor for recruits was the chance to gain some relevant business experience, and specifically entrepreneurial experience. In Recruit or Die (Resto, Ybarr & Sethi), the authors assert that today’s recruits want to hear, “You want to be a leader, mover and shaker? We’re the place to start.”
Since they graduated from high school and earlier, today’s 18- to 22-year-olds have been making strategic decisions about what classes to take, what sports to play, clubs to join, etc. in an effort to craft journeys that will propel them to success. They are serious about it and very selective about the choices they make. At the same time, they are heavily influenced by their peers and their parents. So when it comes to retention, personal recruiting—something we teach so well in the direct selling industry—can serve an important role. Put more bluntly, if their friends aren’t doing it or if they are not making new friends in the process of selling, you will lose them.
While tapping into their connection to their peer group is a good retention strategy, there is a challenge in preparing relatively young and inexperienced people to present the opportunity to others. It can help to explain the meaning behind their efforts, such as assisting their parents with college expenses, providing work for others and clearly defining the professional value of the experience.
Motivating Gen Y to excel in our business is a bit more complex than with those 30 or older. For the younger generation, it’s important to provide a clear career path and articulate the steps to advancement. This group wants to be appreciated and engaged, so it can be very motivating to ask for their input—but be certain to put their suggestions to good use or you may be perceived as insincere and fake. To some degree, you’ll need to work with your more senior field people to encourage an open-mindedness that allows for self-expression, whether it comes in the form of body art or sharing their opinions before being asked.
Ultimately, this is an enormously talented and hardworking generation with a tremendous amount to offer the workplace. They are entrepreneurial, independent and very goal-driven—all of which is very positive for their future and their engagement in direct selling. DSN
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Dan Moore is President of The Southwestern Company. |
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Sarah Baker Andrus is Director of Academic Programs for CUTCO/Vector Marketing Corporation. |
