Retail Customers Anyone?

May 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Party plan companies have always generated a large percentage of their sales from purchases by retail customers. Retail customers, by definition, are non-participants in the income opportunity.

Network marketing companies, on the other hand, traditionally have sold their products mostly to distributors. In fact, some network marketing companies don’t even have retail customer prices. Others publish retail prices or mention retail sales, but do little to promote, require or enforce them.

While for many years I have stressed the importance to network marketing companies of having retail customers — not just for risk aversion from the FTC and State Attorneys General, but more importantly to strengthen the business model for independent representatives and the companies they represent, many have pointed to the successes of network marketing companies without retail customers as evidence of “no worries here.”

Like a smoldering fire that burns something only every now and then, the regulatory flames have been kept to a minimum. Only a few companies, like Burn Lounge, have been shut down for selling high-priced products to representatives that customers rarely purchased.

During the recent Republican administrations, the focus was on removing or not enforcing regulations. There are indications that the regulatory environment may be about to change.

In the last week, I have had three conversations regarding the importance of having retail customers purchase products sold by multilevel marketing companies.

For many network marketing companies, moving in this direction would be quite a shift. If you are operating (or about to operate) a network marketing company, I suggest that you include sales to non-participants in your business model. For further information on how to do this, contact us.

Jay Leisner, the President of Sylvina Consulting, is a top compensation plan and direct selling expert, a trusted adviser to new and established network marketing and party plan companies. For more than 30 years, Jay has enjoyed assessing and improving party plan and network marketing companies across the globe.

Jay Leisner and Victoria Dohr authored the top-rated book for new and young network marketing and party plan companies, "Start Here: The Guide to Building and Growing Your Direct Selling Company".

Available in English and Spanish. This startup guide contains 250 pages of wisdom that will guide you through the right steps to start and continue on your journey to build a successful direct selling company.

You will save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of your time using the information you will read in our book.

Sylvina Consulting and Thompson Burton sponsor the pure education "Direct Selling Edge Conference Webinar" for new and young direct selling companies. The wisest direct selling executives never stop being students. They seek out opportunities to learn more. They understand that the long-term success of their companies depends on how much they know, so they make efforts to keep learning.

Broadcast live and with recordings included for later viewing, this powerful webinar will give you buckets of wisdom and guidance to help you on your journey.

In 1986, Jay began his career in direct selling by working for a major direct selling software provider. First as a software developer and later as a project leader and a business analyst, Jay worked closely with new and established network marketing and party direct selling companies to provide them with software solutions to meet their unique requirements.

Jay contributed in many ways to the success of large implementation projects for many companies. Jay also worked with dozens of smaller companies to assist each of them in various capacities to provide them with the systems they needed to help their businesses to grow faster.

Along the way while working with them, he learned the secrets of successful direct selling companies and the challenges faced by them. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Jay’s decision in 1999 to start Sylvina Consulting as a direct selling consulting company was driven by what he saw was a need for answers, advice, and solutions.

In 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018, Jay gave presentations on compensation plans, recognition, and field leadership development at conferences held by the US Direct Selling Association.

He traveled to South Africa in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to conduct workshops on compensation plan design and recognition programs for member companies of the South African Direct Selling Association.

In 2017, Jay spoke at the Canadian Direct Sellers Association Meeting on the importance of recognition.

More than just a compensation plan expert, Jay is exceptionally skilled at advising new and established companies on business strategies. Before offering advice or solutions, he asks important questions to understand each client’s specific concerns and goals.

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