If there’s one thing the entire direct selling industry can agree on, it’s the need to look for competitive advantage wherever it takes us: new markets, new products and new ways to become more efficient and profitable.

Traditionally, distributors relied heavily on intuition, trends and past performance when making strategic decisions. But now, with access to data at an unimagined level, this approach is no longer sufficient. Competition is fierce; customer expectations are evolving; and market trends are shifting rapidly.

Use an Industry Compass

Data and analytics provide a compass, guiding direct sales companies towards success by uncovering previously hidden valuable insights—insights that shine a light on hard-to-find costs and difficult-to-imagine revenue streams.

By leveraging advanced analytics tools, we can gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, preferences and needs from data we already own and have access to but have not yet mined to the degree that is necessary in this current competitive climate.

This knowledge can be leveraged to identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities as well as develop targeted marketing campaigns and personalized customer experiences. Through data analysis, companies can tap into new revenue streams and optimize existing ones, ultimately driving business growth.

Historically, direct sales companies that have utilized data analysis have done so internally. “A lot of our clients have built data and insights packages, whether it be Domo or Tableau, but they’re often comparing themselves to themselves…which is not exactly an objective way to utilize actionable intelligence,” shared Jack Farris, Chief Sales Officer at Exigo. “We help customers not only compare their data to their previous activations but—more importantly—compare themselves to the industry at large.”

Optimizing Your Data

Another key area where data and analytics enable direct sales companies is optimizing their operations and improving efficiency. By analyzing sales data, companies can identify bottlenecks in their sales processes; understand the factors that contribute to successful sales; and uncover areas for improvement. This can lead to streamlined workflows, enhanced productivity and reduced costs.

For example, data-driven insights can help identify the most effective sales channels, allocate resources efficiently and optimize inventory management. By using data to drive operational decisions, companies can achieve significant cost savings and boost their bottom line.

In addition to improving revenue and operational efficiency, data helps companies stay ahead of the competition by identifying emerging trends and consumer preferences. By analyzing market data and customer behavior patterns, direct selling companies can gain a competitive edge by adapting their product offerings, sales strategies and marketing campaigns to meet changing market demands.

For instance, data may reveal that a particular demographic is showing a preference for a specific product feature or that a new distribution channel is gaining traction. Armed with these insights, companies can pivot strategies; capitalize on market trends; and outperform competitors.

Jim Marks, Senior Vice President of Sales at Exigo warns this can cost a pretty penny. “There’s a significant cost associated not only with developing your own data and analytics package but also maintaining it over time. The value proposition is clear with our Exigo Insights suite. We listened to the feedback and needs of hundreds of customers, and now it’s time to move the needle on your business at a fraction of the cost of doing it yourself.”

Some notable enhancements to Exigo Insights since its launch include:

• Industry Comparison Data: real-time data from across the industry. Compare your performance with the industry averages and see where you stand, helping you to create a data-informed strategy.
• Retention Data: identify trends; understand what factors contribute to customer loyalty; and implement strategies to increase retention rates.
• Commissions Data: comprehensive insights into your payout structure, helping you to optimize your compensation plans and make them more appealing and effective.
• Distributor Analysis: detailed distributor analysis, providing visibility into the behavior patterns of different groups over time, helping you to tailor your strategies and maximize customer lifetime value.

Not Just Data but Actionable Insights

However, it’s important to note that the real value of data lies not in its mere existence but in how it’s transformed into actionable insights. Tools like Exigo Insights allow companies to generate valuable reports; conduct predictive analysis; and develop data-driven strategies. Moreover, they enable companies to make data accessible to all stakeholders, empowering teams throughout the organization to make informed decisions based on evidence rather than guesswork.

Still, many direct sales companies struggle to fully embrace this transformative approach. Common barriers include a lack of data literacy, inadequate technology infrastructure and cultural resistance to change. Overcoming these obstacles requires a shift in mindset and a commitment to fostering a data-driven culture.

“We always tell our customers who are reluctant to embrace this next level of operational analysis that your data tells a story. Whether you like the story or not, the data reveals the good, the bad and the ugly of your business. Who are your heavy lifters? How can we or how should we focus on them? What’s working and not working in your operation? What’s working across the industry?” said Marks.

Leadership must champion the adoption of data-driven decision making and create an environment that values data as a strategic asset to run the business more efficiently first then grow it further. “To me it’s simple,” shared Farris, “as a leader you must do whatever you can with your data to drive actions and drive revenue. This is now totally available to anyone in direct sales.”

Remember, the dollars are in the data. It’s up to you to find them.

In an industry that demands adaptability, Exigo delivers unrivaled access to the data that drives your business, from CRM to transactions to commissions. With Exigo’s proven, powerful performance, the possibilities are unlimited. Does your tech stack have you feeling lost? Find your way back to real growth, unmatched accuracy and security, and lightning speed with Exigo. Contact us with questions or to schedule a demo.

The post Finding the Dollars in Your Data first appeared on Direct Selling News.

The hyper-focus that many leading brands have on both gaining and maintaining a customer is astounding. They know what the cost is to gain, retain and lose a customer. They know how to convert their audiences into lifelong shoppers or distributors, scrutinizing and optimizing shopper experiences for long-term success.

Here are some key learning points on the customer purchase journey.

1 / Frictionless Payments

Why not go check-out free? In EMEA, linking up with a large retail technology partner has enabled just that. After tapping in with a credit card, sensors detect what you put in your cart—and what you put back—and then you simply walk out when you are done. No lines, no checkout, no time wasted.

In both the online and offline environment, anything that causes friction during that all-important payment journey can increase cart abandonment. Innovative companies may benefit from viewing their payment processor as a revenue generating partner versus a cost center. What if you could decrease cart abandonment and increase sales? What is a 10-15 percent increase in sales worth to your company?

Digital wallets and innovative payment solutions focused on speed and convenience—such as the modern checkout Skipify—are disrupting what shoppers typically expect the checkout process to be. Paying with one click, wherever you are and whatever you’re purchasing, plus having your information stored for accelerated checkout in the future, may soon be the norm.

Whilst new payment technologies speed up the purchasing journey, they also help keep shoppers and companies safe. Biometric checkout (fingerprint and facial recognition) decreases fraud, increases acceptance rates and simplifies the customer checkout experience. You simply look at or touch your device, and you’ve paid.

The modern shopper increasingly expects a simple payments experience, where losing your card and needing to update it across services when it expires is a thing of the past.

2 / Declined Customer Transactions

Declined customer transactions are lost customers and distributors. Do you know what your lost customer and distributor cost is?

More than $443 billion worth of orders are falsely declined every year due to fear of fraud, yet only one percent of orders are actually fraud.

Each card issuing bank has certain rules to dictate which transactions they accept or decline. Issuing banks are much stricter on eCom transactions versus card-present transactions. Knowing how to present key information, the appropriate networks, exception rules and track record are all key to improving acceptance rates.

Some payment providers have specific authorization maximization products that only charge for the service when they successfully improve acceptance rates. I have seen direct selling companies increase their acceptance rate by seven percent just by using the right payment partner. What would a seven percent increase in your payment acceptance do for your business?

Of course, it is still important to identify fraudulent transactions when they do arise by enabling the right fraud prevention tools and measures. Merchants pay on average $3.36 per lost fraud dollar. Credit card fraud occurrences are up 161 percent since 2015. Online fraud is set to exceed $200 billion between 2020 and 2024.

3 / Localization

When customers are not able to use their preferred currency or payment types, they may not complete the transaction and could take their business elsewhere. Payment habits continue to shift away from cash and credit cards towards digital wallets and other alternative payment methods like buy now, pay later.

Digital wallets comprised 48.6 percent of eCommerce transaction value globally in 2021, or just over US $2.6 trillion. Wallets are projected to rise to 52.5 percent of transaction value by 2025. Some shoppers are dissuaded from purchasing cross-border because of hidden fees and customs charges, so transparency and up-front costs can improve confidence. Even better, make the international shopping experience feel domestic and ensure costs are kept down, shipping is fast, and returns are just as easy.

For markets where you have a high volume of established sales with a local entity, you may want to set up a local merchant account with local processing to minimize foreign exchange expense and increase your payment acceptance rates. Find out which markets your payment partner has local licenses for to set up a merchant account for you. This can eliminate additional contracting entities and costly technical integrations that must be constantly maintained.

Driving Growth and Retention

In my short time at Worldpay from FIS, I’ve learned the future of retail success lies in a balancing act between key priorities. Many leading brands are great at making it easy to buy their product or service, and through select partnerships and integrations achieve speed, security and convenience for the customer, whilst also optimizing their revenue and limiting risk.

The very definition of a ‘seamless’ service is that the shopper doesn’t know which components were brought together to enable them to sit back and relax, knowing their item is on its way without a hitch. 

Michael McClellan has been in the direct selling industry for 20+ years and oversees the direct selling vertical market for Worldpay from FIS. Worldpay is the largest payment processor in the world.

From the November 2022 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post 3 Lessons for Direct Sellers from Top Global Brands first appeared on Direct Selling News.

There is a war on talent out there, so it’s imperative that companies create an environment where people want to work from Day One.

There are two key questions that every direct selling company should be asking right now: How do we bring new people into the industry? And how do we keep the talent we already have?

The past two years have been called the Great Resignation, but I think we should reframe that as the Great Realignment. People have experienced a traumatic, generation-defining pandemic. Most aren’t quitting because they don’t want a job, they’re just switching away from jobs that are no longer the right fit for them.

This group career shift means we are seeing the most competitive hiring landscape ever, and one that our data shows requires a different approach than it did before. Young professional applicants don’t just want to get paid well, they also want more scheduling freedom; the space to be creative; better integration of technology; and more emphasis on social causes that matter. What worked for one generation may not be what the next one is looking for. This is a season of values clarification for workers, and it can be an enormous opportunity for us to recruit and invest in the right team members—but only if we’re willing to smartly adapt.

Sell the Sizzle and Find Fit Fast

We rigorously tested job descriptions and found that younger generations often don’t read to the bottom of the job description, they often skim the first paragraph to see if it catches their attention and, if not, move on to the next job opening. Capturing attention and interest has to happen in the first paragraph of the job description. Sell the sizzle upfront by placing scheduling flexibility, salary, benefits and social causes in the very first paragraph.

When posting that job description, find out where your ideal candidates are and then meet them there. That might mean advertising on Indeed or Ladders; promoting the job opening via professional or college alumni associations; or recognizing that the right hire may not be from within the industry or even very knowledgeable about the industry.

Once you find a potential hire, speed is essential. Video interviews are now often viewed as the norm, so don’t get mired in scheduling conflicts while you wait for an in-person meeting. The sooner you can have a conversation, the sooner you can talk with the candidate and determine whether you are the right fit for going further into the recruiting process.

Winning the War on Talent

Something new and pervasive that we’ve found to be true at every level of employment, including leadership positions, is the problem of ghosting. This means that someone is hired for a job, accepts the job, but then they don’t report for their first day of work. We’ve seen this happen from leadership roles to frontline team members. No industry or position seems immune.

Ghosting puts tremendous strain on an organization because they’ve gone through the process of preparing for the candidate and adding their talent to the team, yet they no-show or cancel at the last minute. All of this is hard on the team and company doing the hiring.

The best solution that we’ve found to combat this problem is text message onboarding. Yes, text message onboarding. Texting the new hire all the way through to their first day, our insights show, drives an increase in the number of people who actually show up for the job. There are a variety of services, like Enboarder, that can automate this for companies at scale; measure the results; and continually provide the insights that leaders need—all by text.

This approach can also be wielded to provide a highly personalized welcome that drives engagement on Day One. By automated text, leaders can discover a new employee’s personal preferences and then create a custom welcome experience, like having their favorite snack waiting on their desk when they arrive, or inviting them to lunch with the executive team at the local eatery they said they loved. It might also be sending them a personalized Welcome Package if they’re starting virtually that still makes them feel like part of the team.

It’s these sort of “wow” experiences that we want to try to create, particularly as we recruit different generations of executives. These added layers of interaction aren’t something companies have had to focus on before but are now well worth the effort and minimal cost. There is a war on talent out there, so it’s imperative that companies create an environment where people want to work from Day One.

Empower and Equip

Hiring the right person is not the finish line. In fact, it’s a real risk to companies to not develop people once they are under your company umbrella. We’re big advocates for giving talent their own professional development budget—even if it’s only $100 per year—and empowering them to decide what online courses, training, learning experiences or books they’d like to use to advance their skills, talent and mindset.

Beyond that, establishing an actual talent development program is essential. This can be as informal as a quarterly sit-down in a small group with a senior executive that allows young professionals the space to have engaged and constructive conversations or as formal as regular projects that pair junior executives with senior executives to solve a challenge. This cross-generational format provides a great opportunity for senior staff to identify and engage their next level of talent, while infusing initiatives with the innovation and values that more diversity in age, generation and life stage can provide.

The next generation has a different relationship with technology; a different approach to problem solving; and a different set of social causes and missions that our research has shown is also relevant to other generations. Adding younger generations of talent to executive meetings and including their voices is the key way to harness that unique viewpoint.

Succession Planning Is Key

If a company’s entire executive team is within a generation of the CEO, when that person retires, much of the talent around them might be poised to leave, too. Stability is found in making sure the next generation of leaders are not only ready to go but excited to grow the organization. Promoting and preparing younger professional voices is one of the most important ways a company can future-proof itself. Succession planning may not be a hot topic at a leadership or strategy meeting, but it’s absolutely essential for long-term organizational stability, innovation and growth.

Ask yourself, when your key leadership retires, will there be an enthusiastic and equipped group of younger executives ready to lead? 

4 Tips To Keep Younger Executives Engaged

1 / Communication is critical. The younger a person, the more frequently they may want to connect with bosses and colleagues. This doesn’t mean an overwhelming amount of information but rather short messages that drive tangible engagement, such as a group text or a thread on Slack. This is even more relevant for hybrid or remote workers.

2 / Assign projects, not just responsibility. Younger people are project- and outcome-driven. Give them the opportunity to show you what they can do.

3 / Create more multigenerational teams. Working with new and different generations keeps people interested and adds valuable diversity of thought.

4 / Highlight progress when you can’t deliver promotions. Younger generations have a higher expectation for frequency of promotions, yet many companies can’t promote quickly. In fact, our research shows that younger adults might even think that if they’re not getting promoted, they’re not moving forward. If you can’t deliver promotions, instead take the time to highlight how that young professional is learning and growing in different, valuable ways between their annual review or raise.

How to Future-Proof Your Business

Through our research at the Center for Generational Kinetics, we’ve proven that generational insights—especially when considered within geographical context—are powerful and predictive clues to faster connect, build trust and drive influence. Understanding generations provides a tremendous head start for leaders in understanding as well as creating empathy for and appreciation of seeing the world through a segment of the population’s eyes.

All of us want to feel loved, included, valued and to believe that our work matters, but how we go about pursuing those outcomes can be different, particularly when it comes to different generations and communication, learning, incentives, events and training. Understanding these cross-generational strengths, differences and opportunities can help us future-proof our businesses. And if we don’t adapt to younger generations, someone else will—full stop.

3 Hard Truths about Attracting Millennials & Gen Z:

1 / “Mobile first” is no longer good enough, you have to be mobile only. If distributors have to leave their smartphone to complete any task that is part of their business—run an e-commerce store, enroll someone—you’ve just lost a huge number of people.

2 / One-size-fits-all doesn’t work with younger generations; and, frankly, older generations don’t like it either. Creating deeper personalization that is predictive and knows what customers and distributors need, when they need it, is key. No one should have to go to a big arena rally to learn how to be successful. Great training should be on-demand.

3 / Younger generations expect to be able to earn things faster. Gen Z and Millennials need to feel like they’re moving forward and don’t automatically connect building loyalty with a willingness to wait a long time for rewards. To them, loyalty should be rewarded even if it’s only their first purchase!

Jason Dorsey has become the world’s foremost expert on generational research. He has appeared on 200+ television shows and has headlined events worldwide, sharing his global view of generational differences and helping separate generation myth from truth through data. For more insights from Jason Dorsey, listen to his full interview on The Direct Approach podcast.

From the March 2022 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post How to Hire, Build & Retain the Next Generation of Direct Selling Executives first appeared on Direct Selling News.

1 / INVEST IN professional development 

According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, 94 percent of employees surveyed said they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their professional development. The global skills shortage report by “SHRM: Better Workplaces. Better World.” revealed that 75 percent of employers say it’s challenging to find candidates with the skills they need. Providing or supporting opportunities to learn new skills can help increase camaraderie and show employees you want to invest in their development. This can be done inside the company or by paying for employees to attend outside conferences and training programs. Increasing the skills of existing workers also helps avoid the need to recruit outside consultants.

2 / Create unique opportunities for career advancement and experiences 

A Harvard Business Review article noted that, “employees who remain in the same role for an extended period are more likely to leave an organization.” Career advancement doesn’t always mean promotions. It can also include new roles or opportunities to advance and taking on new challenges. Many employees don’t desire nor possess the skills to take on manager roles. They may, however, be willing to teach or mentor junior members. Such roles can take pressure off existing managers. A lateral move that allows them to flex different muscles or grow new skillsets can be motivating. Attending distributor events also helps corporate employees understand the culture, challenges and mindset of the field they are tasked with supporting.

3 / Foster stronger relationships between managers and employees 

Do your employees like their managers? Not liking or trusting their managers is one of the main reasons employees leave a company. They like to be treated as individual people with unique goals and skills. Instead of doing only yearly reviews, try implementing quarterly or even monthly catch-up meetings to discuss achievements, areas of improvements and how managers can support employees. Make sure employees feel like their concerns are being heard and that they feel they have a voice in the mission of the company. Great field leaders build lasting relationships with their teams on an ongoing, individual basis, so it’s important for corporate managers to reflect that same rhythm and structure.

4 / Improve the onboarding process 

Searching for and hiring the right employee is just the beginning. Making sure they are properly onboarded is critical to making them feel welcome and equipped with the tools and support to do their job. Create excitement and reduce challenges to help limit quick turnover. An SHRM survey of 350 human resources leaders found that 76 percent of organizations are not effectively onboarding their new hires. Some companies have implemented forms of gamification to create a fun and personalized onboarding experience that new hires complete at their own pace.

94% of employees surveyed said they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their professional development.

5 / Appreciate and recognize employees on a regular basis 

This is a core principle in the direct selling industry when it comes to field recognition, but it’s crucial for corporate employees as well, especially when they see the amount of effort that goes into distributor appreciation. A Gallup poll showed that 65 percent of people feel unappreciated at their job. This can make employees feel withdrawn and unenthusiastic. Simply showing gratitude or complimenting a specific task or project goes a long way. Public recognition and awards, celebrating work anniversaries or providing space for relaxation should be focused on helping drive desired behaviors and actions. Also keep in mind that not everyone desires public recognition at a big event or gathering—tailor the reward and recognition to the person whenever possible.

6 / Provide flexible working environments 

Most businesses over the past year and a half have had to create flexible working opportunities for employees. Working remotely, flexible hours, video conferencing, leveraging new technologies—many companies even discovered more beneficial work environments when exploring these ideas. An employee’s ability to work remotely has become a valued asset for some businesses, even helping to reduce the need for office space, equipment and other overhead costs. Cutting down on commute time can also increase employee retention. Robert Half, a human resource consulting firm, found that 23 percent of workers have quit a job because of a bad commute. Allowing more flexibility shows employees you care about their livelihoods, mental health and family obligations.

7 / Avoid feelings of being overworked and overwhelmed 

Working more hours doesn’t always result in better production or quality. An Economist.com report found that productivity drops for every additional hour of work. Putting in some extra work hours is sometimes necessary, but managers should pay close attention to the frequency. Keep an open dialogue to understand how much individual employees can handle. Encouraging workers to take some time off when needed shows you care for their wellbeing.

From the December 2021 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post 7 Employee Retention Strategies for Direct Selling Companies first appeared on Direct Selling News.

The risks involved with not closing the gap

When direct sellers are left asking the question “What’s next,” three clear challenges present themselves. These challenges don’t just kill sales, but they directly contribute to attrition in organizations’ salesforces—attrition caused primarily by the lack of success.

50% of NEW DISTRIBUTORS QUIT if they don’t sell any products within the first two weeks.

Our data compiled from customer metrics shows that 50 percent of new distributors quit if they don’t sell any products within the first two weeks. That’s right, if you don’t enable your new distributors to make a sale to their first customer within two weeks, it’s a flip of the coin on whether they’ll stay on board.

Here are the three key issues we found when salespeople found themselves asking the question “What’s next?”

Sellers get stuck in their own heads (aka, “the spin”)

Also known as “analysis paralysis” — Challenge #1 directly contributes to Challenges #2 and #3. Uncertainty and lack of knowledge results in ongoing analysis and review of the options in front of them. Due to inexperience, new distributors will weigh the pros and cons of all the sales tactics they could take while ending up taking no action at all.

Desire outpaces ability

All the desire, enthusiasm and motivation in the world can quickly dissipate when ability and enablement don’t keep pace. However, possibly just as bad to your organization, a green salesperson’s high enthusiasm paired with inappropriate/improper next steps, can bring a negative tarnish on your product — no matter how professional the salesperson otherwise is.

Left in the dust

Of course, all this can mean the salesperson is left in the dust as the prospect moves on to another option that can answer the prospect’s needs more quickly and effectively. Unlike getting stuck in their heads or desire outpacing ability, there’s no coming back from being left in the dust. The sale is lost because the need is filled elsewhere.

4 Tips For Avoiding “What’s Next?” In The Sales Cycle

There are four clear tips we’ve uncovered in our machine learning and sales teams optimization that present a path to break out of the norm — a norm of 80% of new distributors quitting. While the following four tips are all enhanced by machine learning and algorithmic optimization through sales platforms, you can still take advantage of the learnings using old‑fashioned techniques, too.

1. The right collateral at your fingertips

New and old salespeople alike rightly have their focus on understanding the prospect’s needs. Don’t distract that attention by having to search for the right materials to send as a follow-up. Ideally, smart platforms and machine learning will recommend the right collateral for the right scenario.

But even just identifying a few go-to pieces of collateral — your “if I have no idea what to do next, just send this” items — can break salespeople out of analysis paralysis and avoid them being left in the dust.

2. Turn to the data for answers

Sometimes we seem to think that if we stare at a prospect’s contact card long enough, that some magical divination will happen to give us answers like a crystal ball. But, we need to set aside the crystal ball and pull out a calculator or spreadsheet instead. Even if you don’t have automation on your side, some key data points that can ensure desire doesn’t outpace ability.

Pick up your print copy of the September 2018 issue in which this article appeared.

Have a prospect that you’ve been talking to for a while, but you don’t know how hard to push? Take a look at your past communications: did the prospect follow a consistent interval between their communications or was the prospect always spurred to communicate by an outreach from you? If a consistent interval, don’t ping the prospect too early. Wait until the interval period — you’ll not only optimize your time, but you’ll also connect more deeply with the prospect. If the prospect has shown they need outreach from you, then don’t be afraid to reach out sooner rather than later.

Thousands of such data points that can be analyzed with the help of systems and machine learning. However, even without that help, you can look for a few key patterns like the above to rely less on gut and more on real-life.

Just like playing poker or blackjack… If you rely on gut, your bankroll is going to disappear fast. But if you understand the odds and what cards are in the deck, your chances of winning jump exponentially.

3. Get personal

The social graphs of prospects are a treasure trove of information. Social graphs help sales teams optimize communications, cadence, and frequency. By looking across a sales organization, like prospects can be identified and content personalized based on previous successes.

Asking yourself “What’s next?” You can get personal, too.

While you can’t necessarily draw parallels between prospects without the help of machine learning, you can still utilize social connects to spur creativity and new ideas for communication. See that someone is a baseball fan? Use a baseball analogy in your next outreach. Notice you have a contact in common? Reach out to ask how long they’ve known each other.

Don’t go all super-stalker on your prospects, but go ahead and get personal.

4. Maybe now’s not the time

One of the best things you can figure out is knowing when you don’t have to do anything. Silence isn’t always uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s golden.

Best of all, when salespeople realize when they don’t have to connect with someone, that frees them up to spend strategic energy on points one through three above. Because even if the answer to “What’s next?” is silence there’s always a never-ending stream of data to analyze next.

Yak Gertmenian is VP of Client Success at Gig Economy Group, focusing on empowering large sales organizations with machine learning-powered systems to minimize attrition and maximize sales across the entire sales group from the top performers to the greenest rookies. Helping to ensure everyone always has the answer to “What’s next?”

The post Mind The Gap first appeared on Direct Selling News.