Cover Story
RENEWAL: Leading Direct Selling Turnarounds
Executive, consultant and author Brett Blake presents the variables every company needs in its turnaround plan. Countless events can contribute to success or failure, but I believe that failure is certain if a company’s leadership doesn’t understand and address key variables during a downturn,” says strategy consultant, speaker and author Brett Blake. Having served as…
Read MoreTime for a Remodel
How and why you need to put your customers ahead of your opportunity. Do you want fries with that?” The classic upsell line. It works at McDonald’s because customers are already buying food, so the odds that they’ll want a little bit more food are good. But when direct selling customers hear “Would you like…
Read MoreEmpowering the Leaders of Tomorrow
A celebration of the powerful female founders who inspire, support and create accessible entrepreneurial paths. Ready or not, the direct selling industry is changing. Pushy sales tactics, promotions and sales pitches are out. What customers want and expect from brands is an organic feel to all of their interactions and an Instagram-worthy customer experience. Word-of-mouth…
Read More5 Events That Impacted Direct Selling In 2019
In 2019 Direct Selling Faced Some Strong Headwinds Throughout this year the editors at Direct Selling News have had no shortage of topics to talk about. Never before have we seen such a year that has so dramatically impacted the future of direct selling. We began 2019 with troubling news out of China and ended…
Read MoreTool School
Developing A Flexible, Supportive Tool System Successful direct selling companies understand that tools don’t close sales. They are the key to a distributor’s exponential growth—magnifying the efforts they wouldn’t be able to do themselves. Few industries welcome rookie salespeople with open arms like direct selling does. We love to help people develop their potential as…
Read MoreThink Like A Retailer
In today’s world the best way to get more distributors is to get more customers. Control, Alt, Delete We’re all familiar with this term–it’s the keys on the keyboard you press to reboot one’s computer. I think it’s time for us in the direct selling industry to do a little bit of a hard reset…
Read MoreRaising The Bar
Our channel needs to update its recruiting message and practices and concentrate on the real motivations and needs to attract future prospects. Amazon, gig economy competitors and other market forces have taken some wind out of direct selling’s sales. After years of significant growth, our industry’s U.S. revenue was down 1.6 percent in 2016 and…
Read MoreBillion Dollar Markets
It was another record year for the direct selling industry, which garnered $192.9 billion (constant U.S. dollars) in estimated retail sales globally in 2018—a 1.2 percent increase over 2017—and produced 24 Billion Dollar Markets, according to research by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), its partner DSAs and direct selling companies around the…
Read MoreMake Your Mark
How to build a distinct, emotionally connected brand strategy. You’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts and watched the presentations. You’ve gotten the message: A good brand is great, but a great brand is gold. Often, though, messages about branding stop short of laying out strategies. They talk about the what and the why…
Read MoreA Lifetime Of Change In One Decade
Changes in the global environment for direct selling companies are happening rapidly on all fronts. Shifting consumer expectations, tighter regulations, increasing digital demands and new competitors are forcing us to examine ourselves inside and out—question who we are, what we’re about and how we want to move forward. We can shrink from these challenges, or…
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