Introduction

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the 2021 Direct Sales Benchmark Survey it’s that change is not just coming, change is here. The repercussions from the pandemic have been the greatest catalysts for the direct sales industry since the widespread use of social media. It’s widened the divide between companies that had started the digital transformation journey and those that were hesitating to begin.

Corporate teams were challenged to deliver fast improvements across multiple business objectives as traditional staples of direct sales operations (in person meetings, parties, events, in-person coaching, customer meetings, etc.) had to turn digital overnight. What was a roadmap of multi-year digital transformation was compressed and delivered to the field within weeks, not years.

In the survey we asked about some of the greatest challenges direct sales corporate and leadership teams are facing in 2021, in this report we distill them to the core trends and then discuss them in light of the opportunities they present for the industry as a whole.