Cover Story
PREPARE FOR A TRANSFORMATION
How top industry executives predict the channel will transform in the new year and why the industry will never be the same. Seeing 2020 in the rearview mirror will be a relief for many. The year of the pandemic has been a lot of things. From stay-at-home orders to record-setting hurricanes and wildfires, the year…
Read MoreINNOVATION AHEAD OF ITS TIME
HOW TWO INDUSTRY VISIONARIES FROM LE-VEL FORECASTED THE NEED FOR AN ALL-VIRTUAL WORKPLACE. HAVE YOU EVER watched children play? Notice how their imaginations transform ordinary objects and places into whatever their minds conjure in the moment. Cardboard boxes become spaceships. A towel becomes a superhero cape. The backyard becomes a jungle. Kids don’t let what…
Read MoreTHE RE-EMERGENCE OF CUSTOMER-CENTRIC
Standing up to Customer Expectations, Regulatory Scrutiny and Sustainability Goals History circles back on itself. The commonplace gets modified over time with newer methodologies, but transformation—even in the world of direct selling—meanders through trial and error and sometimes re-emerges closer to the beginning than we expected. Door-to-door sellers of the late 1800s introduced innovative, useful…
Read MoreBillion Dollar Markets
WFDSA dissects global sales data for a clearer picture. 2019 was a year like no other in the direct selling industry. The trajectory seemed set for China to ultimately out-sell the United States and come into its own at the number one spot on the DSN Billion Dollar Markets list. But newly released data from…
Read MoreThe Rise of Virtual Events
Like most people, direct selling executives are crossing out travel and large in-person gatherings from their calendars. For an industry known for its relational appeal, eliminating the face-to-face factor should be crushing. But instead, many executives are reporting that they feel more connected to their teams than ever before and are experiencing record engagement. “I’ve…
Read MoreThe Way Forward: This is a Time for Leadership
We are at a unique moment in time, one that will undoubtedly change the way we live and the way we do business in the future. Our way of life had hit a brick wall. In the span of a few days, hotels and retailers shuttered, airplanes were grounded, offices fell silent. Leaders scrambled to…
Read MoreFour Direct Selling Companies Leading the Innovation Charge
If necessity is the mother of all invention, we can expect a mother lode. The direct selling industry has never faced the likes of a crisis that we are all going through with COVID-19. Still, companies are rising to the occasion—sending employees home to work virtually, conducting meetings through video conferencing, holding distance events and…
Read MoreBest Places to Work in Direct Selling 2020
This year’s 11 finalists share their thoughts about winning organizations. When you walk into a great place to work, you know it. There’s a buzz around the office—an energy that comes from employees who know where their organization is going, what it stands for, and how they fit into that picture. They’re given the freedom…
Read MoreRENEWAL: 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…
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