11 Trends and Predictions for the Direct Sales Industry in 2021

Stacking Side Income Opportunities and Growth Hacking through Social Ecommerce

Stacking side income opportunities

Covid-19 has completely reshaped the way we think about traditional jobs, singular employment and income sustainability.

The majority of workers are now demanding remote and flexible work, creating opportunities for stackable income options like direct selling with gig economy jobs and even full-time remote work.

Opportunistic Direct Selling companies will look to build stackable income strategies around segmenting seller profiles with complementary work demands, synergistic pull marketing and technology convenience tools (like the Penny App!) that simplify the customer tracking process, ultimately increasing productivity time and income diversity.

Growth hacking through Social Ecommerce

At 10x the size compared to the USA, social e-commerce is massive in China, doing $190B in 2019. Initially slow to catch up, USA Direct Selling companies should take notice, especially with so many in-person retail options shuttering their doors for good.

Direct Selling companies have the advantage here, as already experts in the “social” aspect, their model can be delivered via social e-commerce with the right tools.

Fortunately, dominant social media platforms, like Instagram, are already adding the necessary shopping tools, creating the right options at the right time to build a competitive social e-commerce model for brands and independent direct sellers alike.

Leveraging traditional retail channels to connect with new customers

Savvy direct selling companies will really tune into opportunities that are driving traditional retail and sales channels like Amazon, Alibaba, Shopify etc. 

The business is still about personal connection but finding alternative ways to connect and deliver products and services is what will continue to truly transform the industry. 

Two day shipping, exemplary customer service, tech driven recommendations of what the customer might like and even a sales presence on these channels as an additional exposure point for the brand will all help to ensure that direct sales companies are not only going where the customers are, but are meeting and exceeding the expectations of customers today.

Shifting new consultant mindset from employee to entrepreneur

The long term impact of the virus on the economy is driving more and more workers to network marketing. These workers bring work ethic, desire, professionalism, commitment, but they also bring an employee mindset when what they need is an entrepreneurial mindset.

Becoming your own boss requires strategically managing your time 24/7 not just 8hrs a day; all while increasing your risk tolerance and willingness to fail and learn and try again.

These professionals relied on feedback from others to indicate success now they must rely on their own accountability and results. They relied on employers to provide solutions and technology, set standards and goals—now they are responsible for all of this and more. 

To prepare this new type of direct sales consultant the industry needs to equip them to earn fast with turnkey systems that include: Tools to make the entrepreneurial mindset shift, gamification technology to build rewards into their daily tasks and on-going mentoring.

Time to step up our technology! Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, IoT Devices...

With more people working from home the industry needs to rethink Cybersecurity plans, prioritizing the detection of threats and protecting our users working online. The threat is there, it’s a matter of when not if, it will come knocking on our door. We need to tighten up security now to prepare for a larger surge of threats to our online environment and ultimately prevent cyberattacks from affecting our business. 

Artificial Intelligence will play a key in more than just external tools but also internal, as we try to drive more efficiencies in our industry with chatbots, and services that enable self-service culture, faster payment processing, etc.

With more and more teams working from home, IoT Devices are becoming more necessary. The focus will be on automating functions so people can work, play or learn with greater ease. With more connected devices on our network, this ties back to cybersecurity, as our connections will be more susceptible to external threats.

Tighter governance and additional enforcement from regulators

Following 2020’s crackdown on covid-related promotion by the FTC, the regulatory environment shows no sign of easing in the coming year. 

With a new democratic administration moving in, direct sellers can expect to see even tighter oversight and additional enforcement actions from regulators. Given this scenario, companies should continue to train their field on how to follow their policies, as well as monitor for improper claims online.

It’s the end of the (direct sales) world as we know it

What’s changing? Classic USPs are expiring as regular e-commerce businesses become the primary competition. This means there will be a higher benchmark of registered retail/end user customers that buy products for retail purposes. So customer experience needs to be more thought out than simply an initial marketing plan.

In the wake of covid19, e-commerce in general and expectations from customers have taken huge leaps and bounds. I see this manifesting in 2021 as we:

• Adapt processes and pursue simplicity and convenience to reduce the number of steps for customers while providing a superior distributor and customer experience. 
• Combat fierce competition by providing reasons to return to the company.

• Keep track of and incentivize customers. For regulatory reasons and to prove a healthy business model. This tracking and careful use of data will create a superior shopping experience where personalized incentives for your customers will give companies a competitive edge.

“When what the customer wants the most is what the company does best, the rising tide effect kicks in, and everybody benefits.”

Reconnect with the field through a consistent digital presence

“Digital transformation” has been accelerated by the COVID pandemic and will consume the focus of many companies for most of 2021. With the disappearance of classic belly-to-belly selling and the onboarding of new reps, many companies are further removed from the realities of what the field is actually doing than ever before. 

As a result, companies will see a higher rate of churn in their field. The winners in this industry will be those companies that provide their field with a consistent user interface that insulates them from these “backend” projects and lets the field focus on what they’re supposed to be doing—selling.

Companies that put in place tools that take a new rep from initial onboarding to sales success by instilling daily habits and best practices around selling, customer care, and recruiting will outperform their industry peers and significantly reduce that churn.

Combat information overload with simple messaging and perfect timing

The direct sales landscape is changing. With more noise, more competition and more tools than ever to connect with customers it’s easy for both the field and customers to become overwhelmed. For 2021, a new, simple plan is a must that makes customers the ‘Hero’ and positions the field as their guide to show the ‘Hero’ how their products can alleviate their problems. 

Working around the new environment of “at home learning” to “zoom overload” we must utilize these simple systems so the field can share information with their customers at exactly the right time. This will not only improve the customer experience but help the field focus their efforts. Developing a new, simple formula will also help fight “field fatigue” as these systems will help them service to the customer needs overall.

Make the switch from customer focused to customer OBSESSED

It’s not enough to be “focused on the customer”, we have to become OBSESSED with the customer. I’ve watched too many companies rightfully shift their focus to get more customers but they have not yet stopped the exodus once they attract them. 

We have to acquire them and, more importantly, keep them. 

Treat them like gold. Use data to understand them better and provide an experience they cannot get anywhere else. In our channel, we begin with a personal touch—one person sharing with another. As a result, we have a chance to personalize the relationship between the company and consumer.

We need to enhance the personal feeling and treat customers more like a part of our family instead of just another potential review on a website.

Embracing the power of micro and nano influencers

2020 saw immense growth in eCommerce as the pandemic accelerated adoption of online shopping. To remain relevant as the world reopens in 2021, brands need to embrace the power of social commerce both on and offline. 

Person to person conversations started by micro and nano influencers, when empowered with tools to champion the brand in exchange for commissions and rewards, will mark the difference between thriving and stagnation. 

Brand loyalty can only survive in a technology-first world when it’s augmented by a consumer’s most influential source of truth: relationships with people they know.

In a world where Zoom is the norm how do we make virtual events interesting

2021 will bring a greater reliance on virtual meetups, meetings and presentations. Gone are the days that prospects were unfamiliar with getting on Zoom, that barrier has been busted down.

Creating interesting opportunities for virtual events will be key to attracting consultants. Virtual Experiences that are memorable & have a community component will be most successful. 

People are looking for ways to find connections and network marketers will rise to that occasion on social media. Those with consistent authentic story telling about their lives with their network marketing company interwoven into the story, will see great success. This includes less reliance on company professional photos and more personal images with product placement. 

Simplicity is also key! The simpler the process is to buy from or join, or be successful in a network marketing company, the better.