As a compensation plan expert, I’ve written extensively about the 12 key behaviors all compensation plans should motivate and reward. The 12th behavior is staying active and engaged in the business. This is retention. At the two Compensation Plan Schools I recently conducted in South Africa for direct selling companies, one of the attendees asked me…
Ask Victoria: What Is The Most Dangerous Thought?
In business, the most dangerous thought is “My problems will go away by themselves.” Unfortunately, wishing problems away rarely works. Fortunately, there is a better way to make your problems go away. We Understand Thinking that the problems will go away by themselves is a topic that we discuss with many of our clients. The…
Why Do People Design Simple Compensation Plans?
Simple compensation plans have only one virtue and that is, that they are easy to explain. Everything else about them isn’t good. Have you ever wondered, then, why do people design simple compensation plans? The reasons might surprise you. Complexity Is A Villain Some people design simple compensation plans because they believe that independent…
An Assessment of Stair-Step Compensation
The business rules of all multilevel compensation plans are built using components. These components include titles, title requirements, and eligible compensation types. For many years, Stair-Step compensation was commonly used in compensation plans, but times have changed. In this post, I will define and assess the relevance today of Stair-Step compensation. What Is Stair-Step Compensation? Stair-Step Compensation…
Ask Victoria: What Should I Do About Leaders Who Stop Leading?
Leaders are so important to the success of all direct selling companies. They sell more, recruit more, and stay active in the business longer than the average representative. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, eventually, all leaders stop acting like leaders. Why? There are many reasons and there is a lot you…
What Will I Learn At Direct Selling Edge?
The Direct Selling Edge Conference has become the best and most informative two-day school for new and young network marketing and party plan companies. MLM lawyer Kevin Thompson of ThompsonBurton and MLM compensation plan consultant Jay Leisner of Sylvina Consulting invite owners and employees of network marketing and party plan companies to attend their two-day direct…
Should You Have A Group Volume Requirement?
Many multilevel compensation plans include a group sales volume requirement. Do you know why group volume is important? In this post, I will define it, explain how companies use it, and why it matters. Then, you can decide if your compensation plan is measuring it the right way for your company.
Ask Victoria: Can You Grow With Easy Requirements?
Some people who start companies believe that they need to be really nice to their representatives. Their MLM startup or new party plan company is not going to be like the others. Their philosophy is to offer an opportunity that is easy on performance requirements and expectations. The thought is that if we don’t ask…
When You Should Pay Your Representatives In Product
Wouldn’t it be great if you could pay your independent representatives in product instead of money? The good news is that there are times when product is the right form of compensation. In this post, I’ll share with you some of the wisdom I’ve learned in my 30 years of improving direct selling companies. Principles First…
Ask Victoria: What Is The #1 Quality You See In Successful Direct Sales Companies?
At the end of April, we held our 11th Direct Selling Edge Conference which is our two-day school for owners, executives, and employees of network marketing and party plan direct selling companies. We co-sponsor this educational event two times each year. Our panel of direct selling experts was asked, “What is the number one quality…
Compensation Plans: How Much To Reveal
One of the decisions you will need to make for your direct selling company is how much of your multilevel compensation plan you will reveal to the general public on your website. Interestingly, the decisions companies make are made for different reasons. In this post, we’ll examine the choices available to network marketing and party plan companies and why…
Ask Victoria: Who Do I Hire First?
When you are starting a new direct selling company, you know you are going to need to hire employees. What types of people should you be hiring? Who should you hire first? Interestingly, the skills you will need in your first employees are the skills you don’t have or the skills you don’t want to…