Working Smart

July 2009

When Party Plan and Social Media Collide

by Jennifer Fong and Alan Luce

For years, party plan companies have approached the Internet very cautiously. “Oh, it’s great for online order processing!” and “Yes, it is useful in many training and communications situations,” they say. There is almost always an emphatic but, though, followed by something like: You have to tightly control how your name is used on the Web and prohibit your salesforce from selling on the Web. Conventional party plan company doctrine has been that allowing our sales folks unrestricted use of the various Internet social media opportunities is fraught with peril and will undermine the face-to-face ethos of party plan selling.

Over the years, most companies have adopted a variety of policies designed to heavily regulate, if not prohibit outright, any mention of company names, logos and products by the salesforce on the Web. This conservative stance has produced two predictable results: First, many members of the salesforce, especially the younger ones, simply ignore the prohibitions and get into social media marketing on the Web anyway. And second, some of the newer and more liberal companies that have embraced the use of these online methods are experiencing strong growth as a result. So maybe it is time for all direct selling companies to look at this booming phenomenon again. How does that old adage go? “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!”

Jennifer Fong, a former direct sales company CEO and now a Direct Sales and Media Associate at Luce & Associates, embraces the idea of not only allowing a salesforce to use social media to enhance their party plan businesses, but actively working with them to find ways to make these networking methods the most effective and profitable as possible for both the salesforce and the company. When she trained her own salesforce to use Facebook, for example, it quickly became one of the top five referrers to her company Web site, and the visit lengths were on average three-to-five times longer than visits from any other source.

Jennifer recently sat down with Luce & Associates President Alan Luce to answer the most common questions direct selling executives have about social media.

AL: Jennifer, just what is social media?

JF: Social media is simply a collection of online tools that enable networking with others. It is a place to have a conversation with others, using the medium of the Internet. This two-way conversation online is also referred to as Web 2.0. Web 1.0 was businesses pushing their information out to the public, mainly through corporate Web sites, and hoping the copy was compelling enough to reach the right audience and encourage desired behaviors. Web 2.0 enables people to talk back and tell us what they think of our messages.

This is exciting for us as an industry, because it enables us to get a really clear idea of what our prospects are looking for, refine our messages, and respond quickly to the needs of our prospects and customers. It also enables us to reach a lot more people, because the geographic boundaries are removed.

The searching capability of these tools allows us to highly target the people we interact with. Rather than broadcasting to the world and hoping that we reach the right people, we can now specifically target people in our niche markets, allowing our message to have a much greater impact.

Consider this: The fastest-growing demographic on social media tools right now is the 25-plus age group. Since this is the demographic most direct sales companies want to reach to build their salesforces, it makes sense to meet them where they are. And they are on social networking tools, meeting people, building relationships, playing games, watching videos, having fun. In February 2009 alone, 6 million hours were spent on Facebook. Imagine if even a small fraction of that time were spent on your company, and your message. What could that potentially do for your business?

Tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and blogs are all part of the social media explosion, and they offer an incredible way to put the power of social media to work for
your company.

AL: Won’t all this online activity simply distract salespeople from doing the basics of booking parties, host-coaching and recruiting party guests?

JF: Nothing replaces the core business activities of book, sell, recruit. This is one of things I always emphasize to consultants when I train them on using social media to build their businesses. And this is one of the big reasons that direct sales companies need to get into the conversation now. Company salesforces are promoting the company and their businesses out there and are already using these tools, but without any training and guidance. They need to understand how these tools enhance rather than detract from the business, and how to use them to represent the company well.

Parties are what bring immediate income to a consultant, and they will always be where consultants can make the most money. However, social media marketing can help consultants book additional parties, make additional sales, and find recruits who are turning to the Internet, specifically looking for opportunities like yours. It can also help with reorders when consultants build communities for their current customers and can improve customer service. When consultants are trained on how to use this online medium properly, over time, this can become a valuable source of additional business and a strong business-building tool, resulting in additional profits for your company.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the newer generation of potential consultants expects to be able to use social media to grow their businesses. Using these tools is already a natural part of their day-to-day experience, as commonplace as talking on the phone or having a face-to-face conversation. If a prospect is considering your company’s opportunity, and learns that she will be cut off from a source of business she is already familiar with and counts on, she will very likely choose a different company that allows social media marketing.

AL: How does a company find a balance between the traditional face-to-face practices of selling, booking, host-coaching and recruiting with all of this online stuff?

JF: The balance comes from training our consultants as to where this all fits, rather than relying on them to figure it out themselves. I recommend that consultants schedule time in their day for their social media marketing. Once they’ve put the tasks they need to do for their face-to-face business into their planners, they can also pencil in the time for their online work.

The fact of the matter is that online marketing by itself will not produce immediate income. By teaching your salesforce that this is part of an overall picture that includes both face-to-face activities and online marketing, you set the tone for success. Consultants join direct sales companies because they want to earn money right now. By making it clear that you earn money immediately through parties, and build long-term business through a variety of activities, including social media marketing, a company can help its salesforce keep each business-building activity in its proper perspective.

For example, some consultants I’ve trained have booked parties simply by mentioning on Facebook that they are participating in a contest to book a certain number of parties by a certain date. Others have found additional customers through a newsletter sign-up on their blogs. Some consultants have found business-building recruits by building relationships in business-oriented forums such as LinkedIn and traditional e-mail.

All of these social media tools, when used appropriately to build relationships before pitching anything, have been proven repeatedly to grow direct sales businesses.

AL: Once a salesforce is allowed to get into social media marketing, how does a company protect its registered trademarks and reputation?

JF: Obviously, one of the biggest concerns that direct sales companies have is the fear of losing control of their registered trademarks and reputation. While there are certainly ways to influence how your company is perceived, social media marketing does imply a certain release of control. The very nature of Web 2.0 empowers the consumer and the consultant to say things about you, and you can’t always control what that is. But you need to understand that this conversation is already happening, whether you decide to engage or not. And not engaging is often riskier than having a voice in the conversation.

This is where your company’s online strategy comes into play. Many corporations in other industries, and a few pioneers in direct selling, are experiencing enormous respect and growth in the social media arena. How are they doing it? They monitor conversations about the company using search tools, and when dissatisfaction is expressed, they immediately address the concerns in public. A recent example: One day on Twitter, I observed that someone complained about a product he had purchased.

Immediately, a representative from that company responded, asking how he could help. Long story short, the situation was resolved, the customer was satisfied, and everyone who observed the interaction walked away with the impression that this was a company that cared. The initial negative turned into a big positive for the company.

Successful companies also provide value and build communities using social media. By providing positive experiences for its consumers, these companies become respected members of the online community and build social capital, which is the cornerstone of social media success.

When allowing your salesforce to use social media marketing, strong policies and procedures need to be in place that guide how you want your consultants to behave online. For example, they must identify themselves as independent representatives, must refrain from posting photos that do not reflect well on the company, must not use the company logo… that sort of thing.

Then, the company itself needs a presence on online tools, with a dedicated person who monitors these tools and builds relationships in social media arenas for the company. By providing an “official” presence, which is manned by a real person and not a logo on each tool, you become a model for your salesforce while also building stronger relationships with your consultants using social media tools themselves.

AL: Is there a simple, basic way to get started on this path?

JF: Companies must begin by developing a social media strategy, based on very specific goals. These goals can be to build brand recognition, provide superior customer service, increase sales, find recruits…. There are many things that social media can do for your company. Your company must choose the one or two goals that are most important now, so that you can focus on meeting those goals well. Then, develop a profile of the targeted niche market that you want to reach based on your goals, learn about the social media tools available that will best help you meet your goals, set up your company’s online profiles and build relationships!

AL: What are the three most important things for a company to do?

JF: A good company social media strategy has many important elements, but the first three, in priority, are:

Define your company’s social media goals. You need a road map before your company does anything else in social media. Creating an effective social media networking strategy requires a commitment of resources and the patience to get through the learning curve. Experience with these media helps immensely.
Establish a corporate presence on social media tools, with one dedicated person serving as the company’s “face” in the social media world. (People build relationships with people, not logos. In the social media arena, it’s all about relationships.)
Train the salesforce. Have a say in the social media presence of your consultants! There are so many consultants who desperately want to know how to put these tools to work for their businesses. Make sure they learn how to use them the right way, so they represent your company in the way you want to be represented.

AL: What are the three most important mistakes to avoid?

JF: While social media can bring great benefits to a direct sales company, including greater brand recognition, better customer service, more sales and increased recruiting, there are some mistakes you want to avoid. Here are some of the big ones:

Avoiding the issue. The social media conversation about your company may be happening right now. If you’re not paying attention, you don’t get a say in it, and that could have long-term consequences. Not to mention, a salesforce that isn’t trained in how the company wants them to behave in social media can breach a lot of rules of social etiquette and cause damage to a company’s reputation. Many consultants are seeking information about how to use social media right now. Are they going to learn from you, or from the outside? Which source will give them the information about how you want them to use social media?
Leading with a logo. It is tempting to throw up your corporate logo online and expect people to engage with you on that level. And some will. But companies that truly understand social media acknowledge the fact that social media is, first, social. People want to build relationships with other people on tools like Facebook and Twitter. If you truly want to build a following that sticks long term, it’s important to have a real person’s face and name as your corporate identity.
Too tightly controlling the message. Social media is such a powerful tool because it enables people to say what they think. Many consumers base their buying decisions these days on sources such as blogs, which they feel provide a less biased opinion than corporate sites do. If you too tightly try to control the message about your company, not only do you stifle creativity and the good things your salesforce may want to say about your company, but you will also lose control very quickly. Let me be clear: The conversation is happening anyway. By providing guidelines for that conversation, responding appropriately when necessary, and then letting it evolve naturally, you gain a reputation for authenticity that gives your company status in the online world. And status can translate into increased sales and recruiting.

AL: Jennifer, it seems that the rapid growth of social media, especially among our industry’s key demographic and age groups, leaves little choice in the matter: Every company is going to have to develop a strategy to incorporate the impact of social media on their business.

JF: That’s right, Alan. The situation has gone way beyond the question of whether to embrace this social phenomenon. How to make social media marketing a positive tool for your company and salesforce is the biggest question before us today.

The exciting part of all this is that social media provides tremendous opportunity. Instead of trying to convince potential customers and recruits to try our product or join our company, we are instead providing information at the prospect’s point of need, when they’re already searching for what we have to offer. That kind of positive social media marketing actually improves a company’s reputation, and helps us to build long-term relationships, which are critical to success.

Jennifer Fong is Direct Sales and Social Media Associate at Luce & Associates. Alan Luce is President of Luce & Associates.

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