As always, it was a great pleasure to attend the USDSA Annual Conference in Miami, meeting old friends and learning of all the exciting new initiatives that are happening in the United States.

Here in the UK great things are also happening as we have been undertaking major changes within the DSA over the last few months, with the emphasis on adding value to membership for all our companies.

Upon the retirement of Richard Berry I took over the position of Director General of the UKDSA in October of last year, and since then the following actions have been taken to continue the great work of Richard over the years and ensure we maintain building the profile of our industry amongst all the opinion formers, continue lobbying against any legislation that adversely affects us and continue improving the level of communication, help and protection for all our member companies.

Our first action was the decision to relocate our head office from London to Northampton in the centre of the country in order to be closer to many of our member companies. This in itself created financial benefits that have allowed us to invest in other new initiatives.

Next we created a whole new head office support team with an Administration Manager, Membership Services Manager, Support Services Manager and Treasurer—all with vast direct sales experience to ensure the highest level of understanding and support for members.

We have completely changed our website, which will be ongoing over the coming months, making it more appealing to both internal and external users. This includes more up-to-date information and user-friendly applications and linkages.

A complete change of the DSA logo transferred to all communications and used on updated literature and marketing materials sends a strong message of change, modernity and revitalised image.

We have now commenced our first Education Programme, linking in to universities and the graduates preparing to leave, in order to highlight the opportunities that exist in direct sales.

Internally, our new Sales Academy project is designed to provide training to direct sellers, which leads to a nationally approved Sales Qualification Certificate.

Also, we have worked on forging partnerships with like-minded organisations such as Job Centres Plus, Working Mums, Working from Home and Supermum TV, which will all enhance the recruitment opportunities for our members.

Another major initiative has been a significant investment in contracting a professional PR company to help us become the recognised voice of our industry among the national media and magazines, and to ensure we input our quotes into any relevant articles.

Finally, our annual conference this year was revamped from the normal format and used to signal change and exciting times ahead. The new format was well received by all the attendees, and we shall add to this during the coming year with a series of seminars with topics based on the requests and needs of our members.

I am delighted to report that all the above changes and new initiatives have received positive approval of members and already our membership is growing.

We believe we have made a good start, but there is still much to do in the battle to improve the image of direct selling. The times ahead, however, fill me with confidence and excitement for the long-term future of our industry, and if any of our friends across the water are contemplating entering the European arena, I would say the time has never been better—and, of course, I and my great team here will do everything in our power to help make that entry as smooth as possible for you.

Please feel free to contact me at paul@dsa.org.uk at any time.

From all your friends in the UK, have a fun and successful summer.

Paul Southworth is Director General of the UK Direct Selling Association.

Michael Fallquist has always understood the responsibility of leaving the planet better than he found it. And his understanding has developed into the passion that birthed Viridian Energy in 2009. Though the new kid on the block, Viridian has already experienced stellar growth and is well poised to continue its climb.

The deregulation of the energy industry resulted in several companies rising to acquire a piece of the electricity pie. Competition emerged where there had been none as consumers were given options when purchasing their electricity. To some, understanding the energy industry has been daunting. Other consumers have jumped in with both feet to analyze the intricacies of deregulation and how it may benefit them. Questions have arisen as to the differences in companies and the products they offer, but most of the time the decision boils down to cost. After all, electricity is electricity. That is until Viridian came along.

Prior to starting Viridian Energy, Fallquist, the company’s Founder and CEO, worked in consulting, banking and commodities. He went to work at Macquarie Bank, an investment bank in Sydney, Australia, where he was part of a strategy group in the Energy Markets Division that was consulting a natural gas wholesaler the bank had acquired, Cook Inlet Energy Supply. Fallquist assisted them in expanding their business in the energy value chain. “Energy starts as oil or gas in the ground or a windmill on the ground, and ends up as many different products, including electricity,” Fallquist explains. “There are numerous stops along the way, and it was rewarding to help a company add to the parts it could contribute to the chain.”

Fallquist was later invited to become COO at Commerce Energy Inc., a large, publicly listed, deregulated, retail energy marketing company where he successfully assisted in the restructuring of the company. It was later sold and became Universal Energy Group in 2008. Fallquist was ready to start a new chapter in his life.

Green Energy

While exploring his options, Fallquist was naturally attracted to the industry with which he was most familiar. He felt the energy industry provided prime opportunity to offer consumers savings as well as having ample room for growth potential. The most compelling aspect of Fallquist’s decision was that the company he envisioned, Viridian, was able to slide into a market niche as a provider of affordable green energy—the opposite of what is termed brown energy.

The difference between brown and green energy is simply how it originates. “Brown energy requires fossil fuel generation, whereas green energy is generated from wind, solar, or other clean, renewable sources,” explains Fallquist. “Viridian primarily uses wind for our renewable sources, harnessing the power of the natural environment.”

When a customer plugs into an outlet, he has no way of knowing if that specific electricity is brown or green because both sources are merged by the energy providers prior to being distributed to consumers.

Viridian has developed products whereby environmentally conscious individuals can be confident that a part or all of their electricity consumption is supporting green energy sources.

A Perfect Fit

In the process of developing Viridian’s components, Fallquist was convinced that the sales model offered by the direct sales industry would mesh perfectly with the product he would make available. “Green energy holds a unique product positioning in the market, which I felt would prove beneficial to independent associates,” Fallquist says. “At the same time, Viridian stays consistent with my core belief, which is the promotion of green products.”

Viridian Executive Directors take center stage at the company’s annual Momentum convention, held this spring in Atlantic City, N.J.

In August 2009, Viridian was launched in the state of Connecticut. “On Sept. 19, 2009, we held our first opportunity meeting in Connecticut with 30 people in attendance, and all 30 signed up as independent associates,” Fallquist says. The good news is that 20 of them are still active associates, even through the growing pains. Fallquist attributes the loyalty of the original associates to the green value offered by Viridian.

“As most startup companies do, Viridian had a bit of a learning curve to challenge its survivability in the very early days,” Fallquist says. “Most of the issues we faced were related to the compensation plan design.”

While his first job out of college was as an actuary—one who assesses risk involved in an industry or specific company—Fallquist is naturally averse to risk, so creating a compensation plan was not without minefields. “We have learned that an effective plan is one that rewards associates for their time and successful result and ultimately drives their business success,” Fallquist explains. So the original plan morphed over time based on a better understanding of the behavior of the company’s associates and their feedback. “We work very closely with the field, and if there is something we need to fix, we fix it,” he says.

The Explosion of Power

By February 2010, Viridian was launched in Pennsylvania, and New Jersey was added shortly thereafter. “Those two markets exploded the company to the next level,” Fallquist says. At the end of 2009, Viridian serviced approximately 17,500 customers and today boasts 160,000 customers. “2010 was an exciting year for us,” Fallquist says. Since then, the total number of states offering Viridian’s products is six—Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York and the newest member, Illinois.

Before the arrival of Viridian, the energy industry competed on two levels: cost and being 100 percent green or renewable. While studying the focus group data offered by the industry, Fallquist discovered that 98 percent of the people questioned desired green energy but only 2 percent were willing to pay for it. The opportunity standing in front of him was to offer customers a chance to support green energy while saving money on their utility bills.

“That is the void we have filled with Viridian,” Fallquist says. Their most popular product is the Everyday Green rate, which is electricity just like that of other energy companies, but the origin of the electricity is approximately 20 percent green. While it is not 100 percent renewable, which is cost-prohibitive to most consumers, the 20 percent keeps the price on par with the competition while allowing customers to support a cause that is important to them. The second product offered by Viridian is the Green-e certified Pure Green rate. It offers 100 percent pure renewable energy content at a competitive rate.

The Life of a REC

Renewable Energy Certificates, known as RECs, are how suppliers like Viridian meet renewable energy standards. Each REC represents proof that one megawatt hour of energy was generated from a renewable source. “We purchase our RECs according to strict standards outlined by an organization called Green-e that we are proud to be associated with,” Fallquist said.  “Once we sell the associated power to our customers, the RECs are retired or taken out of circulation.”

Green-e is the nation’s leading independent consumer protection program for the sale of renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions in the retail market. Green-e also offers certification and verification of products in other areas. Viridian’s 100 percent renewable Pure Green plans are certified by Green-e Energy. Each megawatt of sustainable power is accounted for through an annual audit that is submitted to the organization for review and verification.

CEO Michael Fallquist addresses associates at Viridian’s first ever national convention, PowerUP, held last October 2010 in Atlantic City, N.J.

“Most people who purchase green power prefer it to be from a local source,” Fallquist explains. “While we cannot know exactly which windmill produced which megawatt, we can know that it came from the customer’s local region.” Viridian is sensitive to the fact that a customer who is conscientious enough to purchase renewable energy will most likely want to know the details of their power source. “Most of the time, someone from New York is not interested in purchasing energy from a source in Texas,” Fallquist says.

Green-e makes extra efforts to offer assurance to consumers in three specific areas. First, the renewable sources are offered from an up-to-date source. Second, there has been no double selling. The customer is the only one who can claim the environmental benefits of the renewable energy that was purchased. And third, the purchase of the renewable energy goes beyond what is required by law or claimed against a mandate, and is helping expand the production of green energy in the United States and Canada.

Being born and raised in the Seattle area, Fallquist has green in his DNA. “It’s who I am,” he says. So when his business experience was met with a prime opportunity to offer others a chance to give back in a way that was tangible, it was a no-brainer. “The independent associates with Viridian feel good about what they are doing, and that loyalty to the cause has been critical to the success of the company,” Fallquist says.

Reward with a Twist

While working for a cause might offer something unique to its associates, those who have earned high sales ranking have found another key difference. Staying true to their cause, Viridian’s management team has implemented—among other more traditional incentive trips—a sustainability incentive program tagged 7 Continents in 7 Years.

In March, the 30 recipients of the first-ever sustainability incentive trip were given prime opportunity to demonstrate the depth of their passion for the cause of renewable energy and sustaining the planet. The country upon which they left their mark was Brazil. After a flight into the country, the group of Viridian independent associates traveled deep into the Amazon to a deforested area where they planted trees. “A lot of sweat and tears went into the reforesting project we worked on, and the overnight accommodations were interesting,” Fallquist says. “Finding a 4-inch-in-diameter spider in the shower one day and a frog the next certainly qualifies as interesting!” The Viridian group also spent one night camping in the Amazon jungle. “We didn’t really get much sleep that night,” Fallquist says. But he reports that the adventure was unforgettable.

With the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done, the associates were treated to the more traditional kind of reward when they were taken to the coast of Brazil and wined and dined for the second half of the trip. The next continent the group will visit on its mission is Africa, where the participants will join a different sustainability project aimed at helping the people of Africa. One of the options Viridian is considering is installing solar panels for families living in areas where electricity is unavailable. “We want to be able to help in practical ways such as providing for children to have light in order to work on their homework in the evenings,” Fallquist says.

Also in keeping with the mission, the month of April receives special recognition at Viridian. That is when Earth Day is celebrated and many sustainability projects are spearheaded by the leadership of Viridian’s corporate headquarters. This year those projects included a beach cleaning in Connecticut, a tree planting in New Jersey, a neighborhood cleaning in Pennsylvania, and another tree planting in Brooklyn, N.Y. Also, corporate employees were offered rebates for using public transportation for the month. For customers, Viridian offered the Pure Green option at the Everyday Green rate. “The month of April will always be celebrated at Viridian,” Fallquist says.

Another aspect of giving back offered by Viridian is through the Viridian Foundation. Its aim is to encourage research and innovation in the arena of sustainable living and development. “The key to our foundation is the promotion of mainstream green&mdmdash;creating an awareness of how to incorporate renewable value into the contemporary things that we do every day,” Fallquist says. As a practical implementation of its core beliefs, the foundation has purchased 500 deforested acres in Brazil with a plan to reforest that land over the next 10 years.

The Formula for the Future

As a newcomer to the direct sales industry, Fallquist quickly learned the formula for success within its walls.

Through Viridian, he is proud to offer a unique product that provides customers a better energy option and associates a viable direct sales business opportunity. He understands the value of residual income as he offers an opportunity to Viridian associates, which requires that they only sell the product to a consumer once, and then they get paid monthly. In addition, the product offered is not affected by a failing economy.

Uniqueness + Residual Income + Economy Proof = Success.

Direct seller Arbonne has given itself a healthy, high-speed makeover that mirrors what the premium botanical ingredients in its product lines do for the company’s consultants and clients.

In just five weeks last year, Arbonne’s parent company, Natural Products Group, successfully implemented a debt restructuring plan from start to finish. It emerged with 80 percent less debt. Its healthier balance sheet gives it financial flexibility to invest in growth and to continue developing new business tools and innovative products. Arbonne’s new Chief Executive Officer Kay Napier led the company through the process. She showed just how competitive she and Arbonne are when she learned that the company’s 37-day turnaround tied for the world’s record with CIT Group Inc., one of the biggest lenders to small and midsize companies that pulled itself out of bankruptcy. If she had known they were that close, she said, she’d have pushed even harder so Arbonne could have captured the record.

“The biggest challenge for me was making it happen quickly so there would be minimal damage to our consultant base, but also getting the consultant base to believe it was a good thing for the company,” she says. “I was brand-new, so why should they trust me? And trust is everything. I had to spend quite a bit of time understanding what was happening and then transferring that information to them.”

Napier must have done an outstanding communications job. Almost every top field leader stayed. One of the stalwarts told her, “I hate to say this, but I think I’m excited about going into bankruptcy.”

Arbonne celebrated its makeover with a high-energy national training conference. Executives wanted to make it the company’s best ever, and attendees said they succeeded. The conference also commemorated the company’s 30th anniversary in the United States.

Fresh Start

Arbonne was founded in Switzerland in 1975 by Petter Mørck, who brought the company to America five years later with 19 original products that reflected Swiss quality and an integrative approach to beauty, health and wellness. The company did well for years, but during the recent tough economy began a decline. The restructuring created the turnaround that put it back on course.

To maintain that course correction and keep the company on a growth trajectory, Napier established five synergistic strategies: Provide the field with state-of-the-art sales tools; build brand awareness; improve infrastructure; expand internationally and grow the Hispanic market; and strengthen the product portfolio to support business building.

The first strategy is also her first priority, providing consultants with strong, useful tools to assist them in “achieving greatness.” She has recruited the help of top leaders to advise her team as they create top-notch tools.

Second on the priority list is strengthening the Arbonne brand.

“We still have only 1 percent brand awareness where we’ve measured it in the United States,” Napier notes candidly. “That provides us with a tremendous upside. But I don’t think the answer is to buy millions of dollars of TV advertising. Instead, that money should be spent rewarding the business model.”

And she says that is where social media comes in, providing one method that will model how unique Arbonne consultants are.

“Most of what Petter created was an environment where the people who wanted to join were special people,” Napier observes. “They’re smart people with one important thing in common: They’re positive leaders. Even CEOs in other direct selling companies have told me how special our consultants are.”

She says that public relations efforts supporting the company’s unique products are paying off. Those products get support from IT and product supply infrastructure that make sure they reach consultants and clients in a timely manner. Technology, including Web-based systems, is a big part of the process.

While Arbonne now operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, Napier notes that once the strategies create growth and systems stability, she is eager to get into additional countries.

Finally, she wants to optimize the product portfolio.

“We want to ensure that Arbonne products are the best in the market through testing and product development so that we make sure we maintain the product heritage that Petter created,” she says. “We’ve been botanically based forever. We were way ahead of our time.”

Coming Home

Stian Mørck

Although he died in 2008, about two years before she joined the company, Napier talks about Arbonne’s founder as though he is an admired and respected friend. Maybe that’s because she knows his son Stian Mørck, who recently returned to Arbonne as Managing Director after a three-year absence. Both employees and consultants welcomed him home enthusiastically.

“All the three years I was gone, Arbonne was always there in my heart,” Mørck says.

He and Napier met when he and his mother joined company employees and consultants to celebrate Arbonne’s 30-year anniversary. When they met again earlier this year to discuss how he might become part of the company’s revitalization, they found that their mutual love of Arbonne created a strong connection. She knew that Mørck could bring a sense of culture, continuity and corporate history that no one else could. It would be priceless as new executives figured out how to maintain Arbonne’s magic even as they beautified the brand.

“I knew he would connect with the field because they’ve been asking for him,” Napier says. “And employees were very excited. They cheered when we announced his return. I and many of my reports are new, and culturally, we needed that perspective.”

Mørck is the newest member of a mostly new management team, even though he virtually grew up at Arbonne. He says he is impressed with the executive staff.

“We’ve always had great people at Arbonne, but the caliber of people we have now—I’ve never worked with anyone so smart, committed and passionate,” he says. “The great company I left is in some ways even better now. And we have many of the same people in the field, as well as new people who are wonderful. If we can stay focused on who we are at our core, we’ll make it even better.”

Superstar Team

Napier says she is proud of her management team. They have a synergistic combination of experience in network marketing as well as in consumer products, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Napier’s own professional heritage includes such high-profile companies as Procter & Gamble and McDonald’s. Her executive team comes from some of direct selling’s largest, most respected companies, as well as non-industry companies ranging from Office Depot to eBay.

“We keep each other honest and on the straight and narrow path,” she says. “There’s no hesitation to say what you think, but there’s mutual respect. I’ve been told that I have one of the most diverse teams anywhere. I set out to hire the best and the brightest, and as it turned out, we have a mixture of women and men, Latino and Asian, but all super-smart people who are willing to roll their sleeves up. We’ve cleared some high hurdles over the last 20 months.”

That team is responsible for leading the five strategic initiatives that are restoring and re-energizing Arbonne, with responsibility for the top focus on selling tools falling to the marketing and sales staff. Vice President of Sales Gina Murphy says it’s an area near and dear to her heart. Her first plan of attack: Develop a core training curriculum for every level of the consultant career track.

“We’re dedicated to developing core curriculum materials to train new consultants so they can grow a thriving business, learn the basics and then duplicate it with others. Then, when they decide to sponsor new people, they have the recipe for success,” Murphy says.

She says training at every level offers a roadmap for success that guides consultants along the way. Interactive Web-based tools and apps are being developed that will enhance and replace the current print-based materials. If a consultant wants to learn how to make a presentation to a group, the training is there. Need to brush up on selling one-on-one? That’s there, too. Of course, product knowledge is key, and Murphy’s team is also developing online modules on product features and benefits.

“We’ve been a little late to the party in supplying training pieces that all fit together,” she admits. “But now we’re laser-focused. Every month we try to connect the dots. Sales promotions, consumer offers and training are all tied together so consultants understand how to leverage those and make them work in their business.”

Sales and marketing also seek opportunities to raise awareness of the Arbonne brand through sponsorships at high-profile events such as the Oscars and to gain publicity in print magazines and social media. Arbonne’s Facebook page already has close to 90,000 fans. So publicity efforts seem to be paying off. The company just won a “Best Masque” award for its new RE⁹ Advanced Cellular Renewal Masque.

Botanical Beauty

But all the PR, great presentations and sales tools will only take any company so far. It must have great, appealing products, too. Arbonne’s premium botanically based skin-care products, color cosmetics and wellness products fill the bill beautifully. Arbonne has always been an innovator in its field, producing botanically based products long before they were the trend.

Dr. Peter Matravers

“We enhance our cutting-edge science with know-how from both the East and West, combining various healing methods from around the world,” says Dr. Peter Matravers, Arbonne’s Senior Vice President of Product Development. “For the last 30 years, we’ve wanted our products to have the highest purity and safety, as well as to provide maximum benefits. That’s one of Arbonne’s unique commitments.”

Arbonne combines its knowledge from Western science with the traditions of Eastern healing, then adds the heritage of plants from the Amazon that are only now being discovered to create unique skin-care, cosmetics and wellness products.

To show off beautiful skin to its maximum advantage, Arbonne has a full line of color cosmetics for face, eyes and lips. The company’s website carries a series of mini-movies featuring professional makeup artists who rave about their results and how easy Arbonne cosmetics are to apply.

In January, the company launched a new line of nutritional supplements called Arbonne Essentials. True to its heritage, the line uses botanicals to create beautiful skin from the inside out. Arbonne Essentials are formulated for maximum absorption.

Napier’s synergistic strategies seem to be hitting on all cylinders. All of the changes—new products, improved balance sheet and improved sales tools—are paying off. Even in today’s slow economy, Arbonne produced annual sales growth. Napier notes that a different, more subtle growth may be just as important.

“We’re growing from a psychological standpoint and through how people are feeling about the business,” she says. “Our consultants are growing in momentum. That’s what has driven overall revenues for the last 12 months. More important, we’re seeing growth in some key consultant metrics. True business builders—people dedicated to the Arbonne opportunity—have been the focus since I’ve been here. If you can get people with longevity to be productive, and if they develop people below them to be productive, the rest takes care of itself.”

The Direct Selling Difference

When executives from outside the industry join a direct selling company, they’re often startled by the key differences between direct selling and a company based on a more traditional business model. Whether or not they can shift their paradigms concerning the salesforce often determines their level of success in leading, particularly through stressful situations for the field.

Luckily for Arbonne, Napier is a quick learner and understood the differences right away. She believes that what she learned can guide any company through bad times or good.

“I learned two key things,” she says. “First, I joined Arbonne thinking I was joining a company with a premium botanically based product line that happened to be sold by consultants. I found out that I was joining a company with an opportunity that was improving the lives of people who happened to be selling great products. It was a major shift. When I realized that and understood how you drive growth, it allowed me to shift my attention in that direction.”

Her second epiphany was an outgrowth of the first.

“You have to listen to your consultant base,” she says. “They hold the secret to your success. In my other companies, I had to come up with good ideas. Here, our consultants have them. Great ideas tend to come from the field.”

So now, when consultants talk, Arbonne listens. But executives don’t wait. They form task forces and make a point of regularly talking with Arbonne’s field leaders about everything from the tools they need to which products open doors, to whether or not sales campaigns are working.

Napier gets it: Consultants are the heart of the business.

Neil Offen has been a fixture at the Direct Selling Association for 40 years. He has surmounted legislative hurdles, educated the public on direct selling and improved the industry’s reputation. He retires at the end of June, but his legacy will endure.

Neil Offen came to DSA straight from Washington, D.C., on “the Hill,” where he served as a congressional assistant. He began his career at DSA, working to build and improve government relations. From there, he became president and CEO of the association in 1978. He has worked with all of the industry greats, including Mary Kay Ash of her namesake cosmetics firm, Richard DeVos and Jay Van Andel of Amway, Doris Christopher of The Pampered Chef, J. Stanley Fredrick of Cameo Coutures and now Mannatech, and many more.

Throughout his tenure, Offen has been credited with treating everyone equally—whether they were cultivating an idea for a startup or had set the standard for years. He also managed to unite companies and competitors for the sake of the industry. These unique talents have led to many accomplishments over the years—the biggest of which was official, legislative protection of independent representative status.

“Some people say I’ve made a career out of the independent contractor issue,” Offen said. “This had been an issue when I started in the ’70s, in the ’80s, in the 2000s, and it still continues today.”

During the 1980s, direct selling was under serious threat from the U.S. government’s efforts to minimize the status and protection of direct sellers as independent business owners. Through near herculean efforts and courteous stubbornness, Offen was able to avert the crisis. He and fellow leaders had language added to the bill that legally recognized direct sellers (and real estate agents, who are similarly classified) as independent business owners. This saved the direct selling industry from onerous laws that would have threatened to shut down many companies and discouraged millions of individuals from coming into the business. The ultimate result was Internal Revenue Code Section 3508, which gave legal standing to direct sellers as independent salespeople rather than as corporate employees. It was one of Offen’s most significant industry achievements and made him a shoo-in for the DSA Hall of Fame in 1983.

Nathan Moore, Chief Legal Officer for Mary Kay Inc., has worked with Offen for many years. He said, “The passage of section 3508 TEFRA (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982) settled a decade-long dispute with the IRS as to the status of distributors in the industry. Through Offen’s leadership we were able to get language in the Internal Revenue code that says they are independent contractors for federal tax purposes. That unto itself was a significant victory, but then we’ve been able to take that same language and place it in state statutes around the country and in some of the workers’ comp statutes. They do this internationally, too. Through that one crowning moment, an even greater victory has been built.”

Governments looking for increased withholding revenue, however, repeatedly bring up the issue. The California state legislature is again focusing on the tax classification of direct sellers, and Offen has led the DSA’s efforts to point out the fallacy of trying to withhold tax from direct sellers’ income. With the work that Offen and the DSA have already done, there are precedents and standards that can be followed.

Offen noted that he is proud that, while the DSA has a very small political action fund, its success is on par with organizations that have much deeper pockets. “The amount of money we spend is miniscule,” he explained. Offen is also quick to dispel the notion that he is successful as a lobbyist. Instead, he gives all the credit to the DSA and salesforce members. “The Realtors’ Political Action Committee is a million bucks a year. Ours is $35,000, but our strength is always in the grassroots power that we have. We have an average of 40,000 salespeople in every congressional district.”

On Main Street

Beyond the success with taxation, however, industry leaders agree that Offen’s lasting contribution is providing legitimacy to the industry. He has consistently pushed for rules, ethics agreements and codes of conduct that benefit the public. Offen also has worked to provide education for the general public, business leaders and government leaders on the true value of the industry. “He has elevated the industry to a position of respect and authority,” said The Pampered Chef CEO Doris Christopher.

Surveys completed in the 1970s showed that people generally had a negative view of the direct selling industry, but very positive individual experiences with specific companies or salesforce members. Offen said that this disparity between reputation and reality still exists today. His work, however, has made an impact on changing that.

Through the Direct Selling Education Foundation and Direct Selling 411, the DSA is being proactive about the industry’s strengths and celebrating its successes. “Three years ago, we adopted a public perception campaign,” Offen said. “There are 75 million people around the world in direct selling. You’re going to have some saints, some bad guys, and mostly just good, hard-working, plain folks. We need to give attention to the good ones. The perceptions aren’t going to change overnight, but we owe it to the field to show the overwhelmingly positive stories.”

The source of Offen’s loyalty to direct selling comes from the fact that he believes fervently in the opportunity. “What I’ve always loved about the direct selling business model is the opportunity it gives people to earn supplemental income and to pursue a career track as a micro-entrepreneur,” he said. “It helps empower people and train them in business skills and increase their self-esteem.”

Through the Years

There have been understandably many changes to the industry in the last 40 years. Offen emphasized that the fundamentals are exactly the same: having a strong product set, training and empowering individuals, and rewarding efforts. What has changed, however, is the way that these basics are executed.

“The makeup of the companies in the industry has changed in terms of their products and their style,” explained Offen. “The biggest change is the switch from one-to-one, door-to-door selling to party or group selling; and the switch from a single-level compensation plan to multi-level compensation plans.”

He noted that when he started, approximately 20 percent of members were using multi-level compensation plans. Today it’s around 95–98 percent. The product set, too, was different. It was dominated by high-ticket, durable items like vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias. Those days are gone. The highest-selling products in the channel today are cosmetics, health and wellness products, skin care items, household products and other consumables.

In the Direct Selling Community

Offen is credited with aligning industry players with each other to the betterment of all. He addressed everyone equally, with respect and attentiveness. J. Stanley Fredrick, who has built several successful direct selling companies over decades and currently serves as Chairman of Mannatech, first met Offen in 1974. “The thing that really impressed me about Neil is that, all the way through those years, whether I had been representing a small startup company or a big company, no matter where I was, he always treated me with grace and respect and charm.”

This ability to engage people at all levels has made both Offen and the DSA successful. He has always found the right people for the right situations and given them the best possible atmosphere in which to work. Christopher points to this as one of the reasons that the DSA is small but mighty. “Most other associations find our spirit of cooperation, even among competitors, hard to believe,” she said. “It doesn’t exist in most places, but it does exist in DSA.”

The mutual support among members is remarkable, even to Offen. He points to a sad time—the death of the second in command at DSA—as a testimonial to the care and compassion that is so common in the industry. Jay Hescock was only 49 years old, and he left behind a widow, two sons and a disabled daughter. DSA provided a $1 million life insurance policy, but the industry was not content to leave it at that. Through corporate gifts as well as nondeductible personal donations from the field and company executives, the family was given the equivalent of 18 months of Hescock’s pay. They also purchased a van with a lift to assist in moving the family’s daughter—since that duty had previously belonged to Jay. It didn’t stop there. The industry poured forth with sympathy in the form of meals, cards, payment for funeral expenses, three years of financial support for the daughter, and a fund that had enough to pay for both sons to go through college. “It totaled more than $400,000,” Offen said. “It was amazing. That said to me, ‘I have made the right decision for the past 20 years.’ I knew it, but that spelled it out in spades.”

Even this story is typical Offen: putting the spotlight on others and marveling at the good that comes out of their combined efforts. Yet, as the head of the organization, he has taken no credit. That is Offen, all the way through his career, and even during his final days at the DSA.

Neil Offen’s influence and legacy will be felt for years to come. However, he has worked with the incoming president and CEO, Joe Mariano, for decades. The transition has been in place and under way for many months, and executives said they are looking forward to the Mariano years.

“Neil is a great teacher and mentor,” said Michael Lunceford, Senior Vice President of Government Relations at Mary Kay Inc. “He left things in place, and Joe Mariano is well prepared to take on the mantle of leadership.”

On April 27, VideoPlus continued its long tradition of equipping direct selling industry leaders with ideas, strategies and tools to promote growth and prosperity. With a record increase of 87 percent in turnout, the two-day event was entirely free to attendees and was emceed by SUCCESS Publisher and Editorial Director Darren Hardy. VideoPlus University led the way on Day One, and the first-ever SUCCESS University rounded out the program on Day Two. In between, the industry celebrated the Direct Selling News Global 100 with an awards banquet.

“Some really good things happen when leaders gather together in a free-sharing environment,” said Paul Adams, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing at VideoPlus. “They are able to talk about best practices and strategies that will really help them grow their business, and the networking is invaluable.”

Day One focused on issues surrounding technology, with attendees hearing directly from successful company leaders about implementing new strategies and tools in support of field communication, retention and performance. Social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk was also on hand to remind the audience that social media represents a permanent shift in the way people communicate and “that it’s not going away.” Additional take-aways included a stress on focus, authenticity and simplicity from the top office on down.

In the evening, Direct Selling News hosted its second annual banquet and awards ceremony honoring the Global 100, the top 100 revenue-generating direct selling companies in the world. Emceed by Brian Connolly, former President of Avon North America and Executive Vice President of Avon Products Inc., the event celebrated the magnitude of the industry’s contribution across all continents.

DSN Publisher and Editor in Chief John Fleming handed out the awards, which included Bravo Awards for outstanding achievement. ViSalus Sciences took home the Bravo Turnaround Award, Stella & Dot received the Bravo Growth Award and the ACN leadership team was honored with the Bravo Leadership Award.

SUCCESS University provided encouraging and stimulating conversations about the critical importance personal development has on a company’s long-term success. In addition to emceeing the event, Hardy presented a keynote emphasizing that “the lever that must be pulled in order to create sustainable growth is a company’s investment in the personal development of its people.”

John Addison, Co-CEO of Primerica, encouraged the audience to never stop working on themselves and to maintain their humility. “A lot of people born on third base thought they hit a triple,” he warned with his characteristic charm. “You must continue to develop and grow in order to help others achieve their dreams.”

SUCCESS University brought in Harvard researcher and CEO of Good Think Inc. Shawn Achor to share his findings on the links in brain research between happiness and high performance. Utilizing his 10 years of research at Harvard and thousands of case studies, Achor explained how reprogramming the brain for optimism actually provides a significant edge over the competition. Leadership legend John C. Maxwell closed the event, energizing everyone to return home with actionable ways to be more efficient, more productive and even happier in their efforts.

Paul Adams emphasized that the “usable” content from the two-day event is the best part of the VideoPlus/SUCCESS University experience. “Leaders can take this information home and implement something right away,” he said. “It’s not just notes.”

VideoPlus has been conducting its VideoPlus University for nine years. Company leaders are able to share their knowledge and best practices, and VideoPlus executives add updates regarding the latest on technology support, tools and strategies.

SUCCESS University—held for the first time—focused on the importance of personal growth principles and their value to company training and development programs as well as sustainable advancement.