Actually, she said “Millennial’s hate to pay for shipping!
This statement was made, by one of the best millennial entrepreneurs that I know.
I have to admit, it made me laugh a little because of the irony that it was totally ridiculous and accurate at the same time.
As the CEO of a Direct Sales company selling millions of dollars of products every month, I was always pushed by my team to offer free shipping incentives.
I always said no.
My reasoning was that instead of giving free shipping that costs the company $5, I could give $20 in free product which only cost the company $3.
I was wrong.
By focusing on the cost to the company, and how I personally would analyze the benefit of free shipping versus free product, I completely missed the psychology that would move the market in a way that could significantly impact my business.
This is a common trap we must avoid as leaders in the Direct Selling and MLM industry.
What will truly move our distributors, hostesses and customers? What are the macro cultural changes that change how our actions will be perceived?
Opening up the additional demographics for our businesses is critically important. Getting at the elusive millennial market has cofounded many great leaders in direct selling.
However, it’s been proven that how the business is structured, all the way down to whether or not you have free shipping, impacts your ability to generate consistent interest from the millennial demographic. Of course, our approach to shipping is but one ingredient or brush stroke.
How we approach marketing, training, communication, technology and product innovation are critically important as well.
The “free shipping” lesson is simply that we must better understand the psychology of these new markets and what moves them (or angers them) and adjust our business models.
Sure, providing free product has made more financial sense and has worked in the past. But, it doesn’t mean it will work in the future. Not meeting this expectation of the 28-year-old distributor or customer has a compounding effect on their perception of our brand.
Is your company outdated or cutting edge?
There are intangible costs and rewards to thinking differently and competing for this new generations dollars.
Don’t be fooled.
It’s not just millennial’s who hate to pay for shipping now, this expectation is now creeping up to all other demographics in the same way Facebook started on collect campuses and eventually end up with grandma as a power user.
I hate to admit it, but we must give free shipping!
What other core expectations do we have to meet to stay competitive?
Brian Palmer
Krato CEO
http://krato.com
