Direct Selling: Yes Or No?

July 2, 2021 By admin 1 Comment

Are you looking at network marketing or party plan selling as a possible sales channel for your company? This is direct selling.

Direct selling is the umbrella term often used to describe a business with independent representatives who can earn money on their personal sales as well as on the sales of others in their downline organization.

You have choices on how you will build and grow your business. As you evaluate your options, the most important questions to keep in front of you are:

“How will you find your customers?”
“What is the cost of customer acquisition?”
“What is the fastest way to grow the number of customers?”
“Which business model will help you to keep your customers as long as possible?”
“Which approach lends itself best to selling existing customers additional services in the future?”

Direct Selling

The direct selling business model answers these questions very effectively.

Independent representatives (most of whom are customers themselves) will sell to customers and recruit other independent reps who will do the same. Unlike other marketing plans where the cost of customer acquisition is unknown, the cost of customer acquisition will be determined in advance and will be paid through a multilevel compensation plan.

The fastest way to grow a customer base is doing so using customers themselves. Most direct selling representatives are customers. The personal relationships that were built when a customer was acquired can be used again later to sell the customer additional products or services.

Having worked with hundreds of new and established network marketing and party plan companies, I am a fan of this business model.

If you like it, too, what do you like best about it?

Jay Leisner, the President of Sylvina Consulting, is a top compensation plan and direct selling expert, a trusted adviser to new and established network marketing and party plan companies. For more than 30 years, Jay has enjoyed assessing and improving network marketing, party plan and referral marketing companies across the globe.

Jay Leisner and Victoria Dohr authored the top-rated book for new and young network marketing, referral marketing, and party plan companies, "Start Here: The Guide to Building and Growing Your Direct Selling Company".

Available in English and Spanish. This startup guide contains 250 pages of wisdom that will guide you through the right steps to start and continue on your journey to build a successful direct selling company.

You will save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of your time using the information you will read in our book.

In 1986, Jay began his career in direct selling by working for a major direct selling software provider. First as a software developer and later as a project leader and a business analyst, Jay worked closely with new and established network marketing and party direct selling companies to provide them with software solutions to meet their unique requirements.

Jay contributed in many ways to the success of large implementation projects for many companies. Jay also worked with dozens of smaller companies to assist each of them in various capacities to provide them with the systems they needed to help their businesses to grow faster.

Along the way while working with them, he learned the secrets of successful direct selling companies and the challenges faced by them. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Jay’s decision in 1999 to start Sylvina Consulting as a direct selling consulting company was driven by what he saw was a need for answers, advice, and solutions.

In 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018, Jay gave presentations on compensation plans, recognition, and field leadership development at conferences held by the US Direct Selling Association.

He traveled to South Africa in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to conduct workshops on compensation plan design and recognition programs for member companies of the South African Direct Selling Association.

In 2017, Jay spoke at the Canadian Direct Sellers Association Meeting on the importance of recognition.

More than just a compensation plan expert, Jay is exceptionally skilled at advising new and established companies on business strategies. Before offering advice or solutions, he asks important questions to understand each client’s specific concerns and goals.

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