The Easiest Thing to Sell

Written by Brett Duncan. Brett specializes in helping direct selling companies evolve into modern social selling models while still maintaining the culture and essence of who they are and what makes them different. He is co-founder and managing partner of Strategic Choice Partners, a business development firm that helps direct selling companies take their next steps. From marketing services to compensation plan design to operations and distribution support, Strategic Choice Partners is a frequently sought-out partner within direct selling.

The Easiest Thing to Sell

The easiest thing to sell is something someone already wants to buy. Prolific, huh?

If we can find people who are already prone to want what our product solves, and then offer that product to them, good things should happen most of the time.

But how often do we think of sales as more of an act of convincing, and not so much of offering? “He could sell ice to an eskimo.” We celebrate people who can do that. But at the heart of that statement, what we’re really saying is “He can get people to do something they really don’t want to do.”

Here’s the zinger, direct seller: How often are we asking our salesforce to do the same thing? To convince someone to do something they don’t want to do? And after a while, how many of them decide it’s not for them, because enough people aren’t buying what they’re selling?

What’s Your Core Compelling Offer?

If I asked you what the “core compelling offer” of your company is, what would you tell me? Would you be able to answer right away? Or would it take some time to think through? Would it be a short, succinct response, or would you meander through all kinds of thoughts?

You may stumble over just the understanding of what a core compelling offer is, so let’s define it (at least how I define it):

Core: It’s the offer at the center of your operation, the heart. It’s the offer that typically leads the way. It’s what the majority of Distributors share first (and maybe at all). It doesn’t cover everything, but it does cover the main thing. It captures the essence behind your brand.

Compelling: It’s something a certain group of people wants. That group may be huge, or it may be small, but for your target audience, they feel compelled to accept the offer. Because they deal with whatever the problem solves. Not only is the product compelling, but so is the offer itself. It’s hard to resist.

Offer: A solution is presented to an audience with a problem. Or maybe it’s not a problem, but a hope or a dream. Regardless, the offer is clearly presented, and it typically includes receiving money in exchange.

So, what’s the core compelling offer at your company?

At the rate of change in direct selling, it can feel overwhelming to keep up with it all. Compensation plan updates. Digital transformation. Affiliate programs. Customer reward programs. Social media. Promotions and incentives. These are all important and worthy of our attention. They need to be addressed.

However, if your core compelling offer isn’t adequately in place, what does it matter? It doesn’t’ matter how much your compensation plan pays out if no one buys your product. It doesn’t matter how well your website is built for conversion if the offer itself doesn’t convert. Your stories and reels and posts will fall flat. Your customer rewards program won’t work without customers.

In my experience, at the heart of every direct selling success story is a core compelling offer (CCO) that makes sense, and that works. Also, in my experience, most direct selling companies aren’t focused enough on their CCO. Either they’ve never really had one, or they had one before, but it’s fizzled out. We fully recognize the evolution of our channel, and business overall. That evolution can impact our CCO as much as our comp plan or our digital presence.

The Best Sales Tool You Can Give Your Distributor

Your core compelling offer is obviously important for customer acquisition.

But it’s also vital for Distributor success.

I’ll go so far as to say this: The best sales tool you can give a Distributor is an effective core compelling offer. Like I said, the easiest thing to sell is something someone already wants. If you can give that to a Distributor, not only will they experience success, but they’ll also grow in their confidence, and they’ll share more.

So let me challenge you to rethink and refine your core compelling offer. Some of you are likely reading this, and feel very confident that your CCO is in place and ready to rock. That’s great to hear. But for the rest of you, there may be no greater exercise you can go through that reframing the CCO for your company in 2023 and beyond.

Here are some thought-starters to get the conversation rolling:

• Why are you here? Is it time to revisit your mission, your reason for being? I once heard someone describe a mission statement as “what’s wrong with our world, and how we intend to fix it,” and a vision statement is “what the world looks like when we accomplish our mission.” It doesn’t cover everything, but it sure is practical, huh? How would you answer those questions?
• What do you solve for people? With a clear mission in place, make sure your brand messaging and positioning aligns. And make sure it’s crystal clear. We use a twist on the Storybrand methodology with our clients. It’s something you can walk through on your own (read the book). It is the most practical approach to clarifying your brand messaging that I’ve ever used.
• What are you actually offering? This may be a hero product, or maybe a special bundle of products. Maybe it’s a membership, or a subscription. Maybe it’s an introductory offer or welcome kit of some kind. Whatever it is, force yourself to think about it on a deeper level, and make sure this offer aligns with your mission and messaging!
• Simplify it. Now that you think you know your core offer, simplify it even more. How can you streamline your offer as much as possible. Remove every pinch of friction, and see where you end up.
• Clarify value. We’re not talking about price (yet); we’re talking about the value this offer brings to your audience. How can you clearly state the problem and issues you know will resonate with them? And what are the simple statements that address all of that to say about your product?
• Rethink your offer. Now we can talk about price. I’ll assume you have a fair retail price for your offer. But what should that core compelling offer be priced at? If your product is something that first needs to be experience before it’s fully valued, don’t let price be what keeps your audience from saying “Yes”. A lot of marketers would disagree with me on this, and say you need to let your product stand on its own, and establish value. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do. But I’ve seen too many companies move mountains to get someone to the point of checkout, only to lose them over the price. Rethink that introductory offer, and give your customers a chance to experience your product. If it’s valuable to them, they’ll come back for it, and they’ll pay full price. If they don’t come back, they were only going to buy from you once anyway.
• Rethink your offer like a Distributor. Now that you’ve rethought your offer overall, think about how a Distributor will go about sharing it. Does that change anything? Should it?
• Build your company around your CCO. Ready to get really crazy? Once you have a clear CCO, look at how the rest of your company works, and dream about what it would look like to build everything around this CCO. Need to tweak the comp plan for it? Then take a look at that. Need some sales funnel pages, or lead capture? Go for it. Rest of your product line feel too cluttered? Make some hard decisions and cut some of them. If your offer truly is compelling, and has the power to push your company forward, then why wouldn’t you build everything else around it.

So, what’s your company’s core compelling offer? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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