Companies that integrate technology into every aspect of their business will be the winners competing for the new generation of direct sellers.

Looking around, you see that most of the successful Direct Selling Companies are savvy when it comes to using technology and social media to grow the business.

What’s happening to the companies that aren’t embracing tech?

It’s crazy to think that 88% of the Fortune 500 firms that existed in 1955 are gone.

These companies have either gone bankrupt, merged or still exist but have fallen from the top Fortune 500 companies.

Most of the companies on the list in 1955 are unrecognizable, forgotten companies today. As the life expectancies of companies continue to shrink, organizations must be more vigilant than ever in remaining innovative and future-proofing their businesses.

They’re gradually losing ground and becoming irrelevant to the emerging generation of direct selling distributors.

Until very recently, the direct selling industry was a face-to-face business where distributors met to share an opportunity over coffee or hosted parties at homes to demonstrate their products. This model has been proven for years but now the Social Media shook everything up, making everything even more scalable.

Fast forward to today, these discussions are happening on social media, through virtual meetings, and online. The scaling of the message moves faster and cheaper once its tuned properly.

Three keys to master to stay relevant for direct selling companies

Here are a few questions to ask to see if you are on track to win with the upcoming generations of direct selling companies.

1. Every Big Direct Selling Company Should Do This

When technology started making its way into the direct selling industry, companies started by automating the commission calculations and dashboarding capabilities.

It took many years, but we eventually saw distributor dashboards that allowed individuals to pull information that tells them how many orders they had, what rank of the compensation plan they reached, and what volume they needed to promote.

Pushing relevant information to individuals in a proactive manner is becoming a BIG priority of every winning company.

Now, they can get a push notification or text message letting them know how close they are to ranking up and that they only need to make one more sale, then, giving them an email campaign they can leverage to make another sale.

Companies that are pushing the relevant data and tasks to their distributors, versus requiring them to search for the information are winning.

2. Positive Mobile App Experience

Having a mobile app is no longer a “nice to have” for direct selling companies. It has become table stakes in the fight for credibility, and as a required toolset for the field to group their businesses. Many companies make the mistake of giving a broken mobile experience causing the field to murmur and wonder why you are behind the times.

Must have to think about in your mobile app include the ability to push relevant data, shopping, communication, prospecting and a gamified onboarding process.

It sounds overwhelming but it’s made possible by prioritizing your requirements and making sure you aren’t over-engineering any single core function of your mobile app, at the expense of the whole.

3. Social Media Sophistication

The top emerging Direct Selling companies are encouraging more blogging, social influencing and mentoring that is tangential to their actual products.

They are focusing on building value-added relationships between their brand, and their retail customers.

In the digital age, the rise of influencers, or key opinion leaders (KOL) as they are called in China, has been dramatic. Influencers gain popularity on social media, which they monetize by advertising and selling products.

Then they magnify the positive effect of this investment by doubling down with an aggressive digital marketing strategy that leverages all the key elements of SEO, blogging, influencing, targeting, and retargeting.

Finally, they will revisit their digital strategy every month because they know that just because it works today, doesn’t mean it will work tomorrow.

Conclusions:

• Direct selling companies are facing challenges in the digital age; not only are consumers increasingly shifting their purchases online, but technology has enabled brands and retailers to offer more personalized services, a key competitive advantage previously owned by direct sellers.
• Despite these challenges, some direct selling companies have enjoyed unparalleled growth in recent years, leveraging digital tools to increase operational efficiency as well as to broaden their reach to potential customers.
• The digital age has brought with its technology that enables brands and retailers to provide personalized services and product recommendations. More sophisticated loyalty programs that help track customer behavior, including usage of products and services, are one-way retailers are offering a higher degree of personalization.