Building my direct selling team in the early 2000s meant tracking my organization on five huge whiteboards. The technology we had back then felt like an afterthought. Today, having spent years building software for direct selling companies, I see things differently. My mission is to help companies get the right technology so they can focus on what matters most: their products and their people.
Many companies get caught up chasing every new trend. They believe a new gimmick or a shiny app is the key to success. But the most successful direct selling companies I see double down on the fundamentals. They know sustainable growth comes from improving what you already have, not by adding complexity.
The real difference between winning companies and those that are struggling comes down to a few core principles.
Prioritizing the Distributor and Customer Experience
Your software decisions must start and end with one question: how does this support our people? Technology should empower authentic interactions, not get in the way of them.
The companies that win are committed to making things better for the customer. When you prioritize the customer experience, everything else falls into place. Earnings go up. Retention improves. Teams grow. You can’t achieve long-term results with one-off promotions. Real momentum comes from an unwavering commitment to making things better for everyone involved.
This means you need a proven system that can scale, no matter how fast you grow. Don’t risk starting with an unproven platform, only to lose momentum because you need to switch. The money you save by choosing a solid platform can be used to innovate products, hire more people or improve the overall brand experience through events, promotions and personal development. Your technology is the foundation, and without a solid foundation, you can’t build.
Avoiding In-House Commission Engines
Few things erode trust faster than mistakes with people’s money. Inaccurate commission management is a serious pain point. When a compensation plan is complex and the software can’t process it with 100 percent accuracy, distributors lose faith. The effort they put into building their business feels wasted when their payout is wrong, or when they believe it is wrong due to a lack of visibility.
Large companies once had to build their own commission engines out of necessity, but those days are gone. Today, it’s more efficient and cost-effective to use a direct selling software provider. You avoid being held hostage by your legacy code and can process commissions faster, more accurately, and with fewer resources than any in-house solution.
Focusing on Metrics and Data
Winning companies are obsessed with specific metrics. They focus on customer revenue growth, customer lifetime value and retention. They understand that long-term growth is about keeping customers and increasing their value over time, not just getting new ones.
They also know that word-of-mouth is the heart of direct selling. The field, not corporate, should drive most new customer enrollments. Companies that grow have a wide base of enrollers—it’s not just a few top leaders recruiting. It’s a broad group of people who consistently bring in new customers and new reps. That’s how you build scalable duplication across the entire field.
Your corporate team must have access to all relevant data points, visualized in a way that makes it easy to see trends and make excellent decisions. With access to industry benchmarks, you can compare yourselves to real data and focus on finding new ways to improve the distributor and customer experience. The power of data is in using it to connect people more deeply with your brand.
The Power of Human Connection
Technology has its place, but it can never replace the human element. The lasting value of in-person connection is a fundamental part of our industry. It’s what differentiates us from a standard affiliate or influencer model. Many people are looking for more authentic human interactions, and our industry can provide that.
In-person gatherings—even small ones—build belief, inspire action and create momentum. Real magic often happens after the official meeting when people mingle and connect. These moments are authentic. They build trust and are where relationships are built. We must remain committed to this as an industry.
We must give our field leaders tools that protect and enable this feature of our model. We can use AI to help distributors create personalized content for sharing, but we also must impress upon them how important personaltouch and relationship-building are.
Recommendations
Here is what you can do to act today:
- Audit your current processes
Look at your existing systems for customer and field support. Are they making it easier for people to focus on selling and sponsoring? Or are they a source of distraction? - Focus on the basics
Spend time and resources on improving the fundamental parts of your business. How can you make your products better? How can you make the field-to-corporate relationship stronger? - Empower your field
Give your reps simple, clear tools that help them build relationships and get customers. Technology should support—not replace—the human connection.
Your technology should be a source of strength, not a source of stress. The right platform gives you the power to run your business efficiently, know your business deeply and grow your teams and markets quickly. It’s the foundation that allows your people to build the future.
RODGER SMITH is Head of Business Development at Exigo. Since 2002, he has brought his entrepreneurial mindset and no-nonsense, sincere leadership style to the direct and social selling industry. Rodger has built large direct selling teams himself as an independent distributor. At Exigo he continues to work on his ultimate goal: to disrupt and heal the industry from historically bad software experiences by providing best-of-breed, intuitive solutions. Rodger has advised both corporate executive and top distributors at many of the channel’s top companies.
