Anyone knowledgeable on Direct Selling?

4 replies
I know this is an internet sales forum, but I think a lot of people here also know a thing or two about direct sales.

There are some aspect of direct sales that I don't fully understand.

Most companies that do direct sales through independent reps have requirements such as no selling on ebay, no prospecting on facebook, on direct mail to gain prospects. To me, this makes no sense at all. I'm not talking about just MLM's. Even companies that just pay a commission on product sales have these same requirements.

Can anyone explain this?
#direct #knowledgeable #selling
  • Profile picture of the author LMorgan
    Originally Posted by Pandawdy View Post

    I know this is an internet sales forum, but I think a lot of people here also know a thing or two about direct sales.

    There are some aspect of direct sales that I don't fully understand.

    Most companies that do direct sales through independent reps have requirements such as no selling on ebay, no prospecting on facebook, on direct mail to gain prospects. To me, this makes no sense at all. I'm not talking about just MLM's. Even companies that just pay a commission on product sales have these same requirements.

    Can anyone explain this?
    I can't speak for all direct sales companies, but Mary Kay prohibits online sales because they feel it dilutes the brand.

    Some MK detractors say the company is really trying to hide how much product is purchased by consultants and then sold for pennies on the dollar, but I'll let you come to your own conclusion on that.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      It's mainly an issue of control. As was mentioned, brand dilution is a very real concern.

      If the model is selling product via reps, and the products are available on auction sites or discounted in FB groups, it undermines the brand.

      There's also a matter of perception. Some reps get carried away, and use questionable copy and claims. Some spam. The abuse reflects on the whole company.

      I once had a rep come into the shop I was working for and sat through her presentation. Good product, good presentation. I probably would have recommended a buy except for one thing. I knew I could buy the exact same product through an ad in the classifieds for a fraction of the price she quoted me (the Internet was still a few years away).

      She tried to convince me it wasn't the same exact product, but she didn't have much to say when I showed her the two cases we had in the storeroom.

      In a more modern example, my wife won a selection of fancy hair products in one of her online sweeps. She picked out a couple of items she wanted to try, and asked me put the rest on eBay. I set up the auctions to run for seven days.

      On day two, I got an email from a company official telling me that these products are only sold through salons, and that I had to stop selling them on eBay. I told him how we'd come by the products, and that it was a one time thing. The auctions would end in four days. He replied that he couldn't allow the products to be sold at eBay, and that I had seven days to end the auction. I agreed to his terms.

      Even though I got a wink and a nod on my one-time sale, had I been a rep trying to find a back alley channel to sell product, I would have been squashed and likely lost my seller account at eBay had I continued.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve L
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        It's mainly an issue of control. As was mentioned, brand dilution is a very real concern.

        If the model is selling product via reps, and the products are available on auction sites or discounted in FB groups, it undermines the brand.

        There's also a matter of perception. Some reps get carried away, and use questionable copy and claims. Some spam. The abuse reflects on the whole company.
        This is essentially the same reason why I've chosen NOT to run an affiliate program.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
    This is typical and there's really only one way around it. It's to use advertising media to lead generate by offering your own information, targeted to whatever prospect you're looking to acquire for your direct sales business. So you can't advertise the product directly, it's against the TOS. But there's nothing stopping you from advertising a free report on a highly-related area of interest, or selling your own low-ticket information package upfront to generate leads who you already know are willing to spend and therefore are more valuable. You leave all company branding OUT. Free or paid, it's really about whether you want a lot of leads many of which may be less qualified, or very targeted, qualified leads but less of them - because once you have their contact information, you can call and send mail and email and now you got your own source of leads for your direct sales business that you otherwise could only drum up by networking or cold calling. You give yourself an unfair advantage. Now I'm not saying it's easy but what is. This is essentially no different than selling an ebook, and then later on promoting someone else's ebook a couple weeks later as an affiliate. What you deliver is just different.
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