Do you know the New Currency for Direct Sellers?
At the DSA Australia’s Annual Conference, ByDesign Technologies CEO, Daryl Wurzbacher, presented actionable insights on “Harnessing the Power of Data to Drive your Direct Selling Business.” In case you didn’t make it to Australia, we have included a summary of the presentation in this blog post.
A primary “key” to growing your business is embracing the reality that Data is the currency of the future. The companies who collect and use it well with thrive rather than survive. Regardless of the business model, you are using — Direct Selling, MLM, Party Plan, Social Selling, or Affiliate — you need a strategy for using your data.
“Without data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the Web like deer on a freeway.”
In this post, we will discuss data as it relates to two critical aspects of your business: Salesforce Growth, and the Customer Experience.
Learning from your Data does not require an Analyst to collect, manipulate, and analyze what you’re seeing in your business. It does, however, require having key performance indicators or KPIs, that can quickly give you the essential information you need to drive your business. If you have not been using KPIs in the past, now is the perfect time to start. There are a few standard Salesforce Growth KPI’s for Direct Selling that all MLM and Party Plan companies should be tracking:
- Recruiting – # of New Reps
- Lifetime Value (LTV) – Average $ for each Rep
- Canceled Reps – # of Reps who canceled or became inactive
- Retention – # of New Reps minus Cancelled Reps
Do your Leaders know their performance?
They need to know their teams’ revenue, volumes, retention, & ordering rates to effectively run and grow their business.
Once you’ve established visibility into salesforce performance – it’s essential to recognize the Leaders that are reaching their goals based on your KPIs. Other than convention recognition, there are many different ways to bring focus to the people doing the right things. Experiment with recognition on social media, written recognition, personal phone calls, significant milestone recognition, and recognition on calls.
Consider Leader Boards in the Representative Back Office for the Big Three: Retention, Recruiting, & Retail Sales
Focus on Customer Experience!
Consumers expectations have been raised dramatically in recent years – from the rise of Amazon/Uber/InstaCart and others.
The growing disconnect between increasing customer expectations and current service offerings presents an opportunity for direct sellers to deliver an elevated experience that fits the lifestyle of today’s consumers. Companies must focus on ensuring their brand experience is simple, intuitive, and thoughtful designed to be frictionless.
As the 2018 Retailer of the Year, Sephora is innovating new paths as a leader in the Customer experience. Their sustained performance over the past decade, is a testament to the superior differentiated experience Sephora offers its clients.
“We constantly challenge ourselves to discover new and better ways to make the customer experience even more inspiring.” -Christopher de Lapuente, CEO of Sephora
Today, many direct sellers are competing for the same customers. There’s no longer any excuse that consumers will accept to justify a bad brand experience. Consumers do not segment their expectations between the way they experience Sephora and the way they experience a direct selling company. There is only one set of expectations, and this is a pass/fail exam. There are a lot of great reasons to focus on improving in this area, including a potential leap in profitability. To get started, there are several tools & tips that you can leverage, including
- Google Analytics – Measure your advertising ROI
- Heatmaps – Visualize Website Engagement
- Sign up as a customer on your site – Rate your experience
- Sign up as a customer on your competitor’s site – Rate your experience
The first part of improving the Customer Experience is being able to quantify what you’re seeing – where are you now? To determine your current state, start with the standard Customer Growth KPI’s for Direct Selling below that all MLM and Party Plan companies should be tracking:
- # New Customers – New Customer Signups
- # of Ordering Customer – Customers who are ordering.
- % of Orders from New vs. Existing Customers – Repeat Customer Orders vs. New Customer Orders
- Re-order rates – Average # of Repeat Orders for Customers
- Lifetime Value (LTV) – Average $ from each Customer
People who have purchased from you are untapped gold — 80 percent of your future profits will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 percent. So the question is, What are you doing with your current Customers?
- Are you communicating & offering product promotions based on purchase history?
- Are you providing reminders & easy ordering of refills?
- Are you triggering abandoned cart notifications to increase conversion rates?
- Marketing to them during the holidays?
You now have the Key Performance Indicators to determine where your company is at today. As you continue to track and measure these KPIs, you will be prepared to make data-based decisions on things like changes to the compensation plan, recognition, and enhancing your customers’ experience. Taking the time to monitor and measure your company’s performance will empower you to drive your business with data!
Learn more at ByDesign.com or contact us to schedule a demo.
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