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.
It’s Time to Do a New Thing
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write about this month. Not that I didn’t have ideas. I have lots of ideas. Tons of ‘em. Too many, in fact.
I mean, when you mix the “resolution-centric, hope-springs-eternal, goal-setting” spirit of the New Year with the “What-the-$#@&-is-going-on-around-here?!!” mindset of most direct selling execs these days, the stakes for picking the right article topic seem high.
I struggled with going uber-specific and tactical vs. staying philosophical and strategic.
Should I stick with sure-thing topics, like recruiting, technology or compensation plans? Or dip into more futuristic discussions around AI, data and ecommerce?
Some thoughts that got lost on the cutting room floor include…
- What happened with recruiting?!?
- How is AI-generated content going to change EVERYTHING?
- What are the real opportunities for software development in direct selling now?
- What’s still valid (and what’s not) about a party plan model?
- My predictions for direct selling in 2025.
I’m sure we’ll get around to most of these topics at some point.
The right topic for right now came from the sermon at my church. This is in no way a spiritual article; it’s rather practical. Regardless of your own faith and beliefs, I’m hoping you can benefit from the principle of the message, as I’m intending here.
The gist of the message was this: There’s always a new thing in the works.
And one of the main passages comes from the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Is. 43:18-19)
Now, it would be a stretch to think that Isaiah was prophesying about the direct selling channel thousands of years ago ;-). Suffice it to say there were larger things at play here.
At the same time, I think the principle of this message works in pretty much all walks of life, today as much as it did those thousands of years ago. Once I took a little while to process its meaning for my life, I couldn’t help but also feel that it’s a message the resonates for all of us in direct selling today.
And THAT’s what I want my article to be about today.
Forget the Former Things; Do Not Dwell on the Past
Disruption… Evolution… Paradigm Shift… Adaptation… Transformation…
We’ve been using lots of words over the past several years to capture the real crux of what’s happening: “Change.” I’ve personally talked, written and pontificated about the changes in direct selling quite a bit. Every conference is filled with like-minded speakers, too.
We’re all convinced that things are changing. We’re sold on doing things differently. We recognize that things will never be the same again. We chant “What got you here won’t get you there!”
But guess what we aren’t doing? We’re refusing to actually forget the former things.
We struggle forgetting the former things, because most of us really enjoyed the former things (me included!). The stuff we all grew up on in this industry. The things that motivated us, worked well for us were tried and true. Surely, if something was tried and true 10 years ago, it must still be tried and true today, right?
Tell that to the fax machine…
I work with a lot of companies of all shapes and sizes. I’ve worked with several established (10+ years old) companies recently, and they all seem to be going through the same pain and challenges. They want to change, but they’re still trying to make the changes on their terms. They’re still trying to protect the main way they’ve done business, and apply some changes around that. Or they’re trying to get the “disruption” to change how it’s disrupting, so it suits the way they want to do business.
It’s hard to transform something that’s so big and tenured.
They do things like…
- Squeeze in an affiliate program without updating their core compensation plan.
- Add customer acquisition as a qualification without requiring it of their top leaders.
- Talking about the importance of customer acquisition while all the effort continues to go toward Distributor acquisition.
- “Fixing” their host rewards program without addressing the fundamental issues with traditional host reward programs.
- Updating the online experience without prioritizing the customer experience above all else.
I could keep going. The spirit behind all of this work is almost exactly what it should be. We are all fascinated with doing something new; we just don’t actually do anything new. Instead we apply new tweaks to the same ol’ thing.
Which isn’t doing anything new at all, right? Would a better fax machine actually be better?
And then we wonder why it doesn’t work out.
In defense of established companies, I’m not sure I could do it, either. When you have a multimillion-dollar business that continues to roll along (albeit a little bit less than last year, which was a little bit less than the year before…), it takes a ton of courage to slam the brakes on a dwindling sure thing to fully evolve into the possible new thing. And even if you have the courage, you probably don’t have the board approval!
We also cannot dwell on the past. The marketplace has most definitely moved on. To be a relevant and valuable business to that marketplace, don’t we also have to move along with it?
Do a New Thing!
The future of our channel belongs to the companies who are willing to do a truly new thing.
Not a new promotion.
Not a new compensation plan.
Not a new enrollment pack.
Not a new product.
Not a new online tool.
A… Completely… New… Thing.
Anything less than that will simply wither away. Because that’s what happens. While completely new things pop up all around us, less and less of the marketplace is willing to tolerate the poster children of what once was. So, they gradually move on while we die on the vine.
Much of the transformation our channel will need to see will come from brand new companies. They will have the freedom to be founded on the new thing. They won’t have the baggage of maintaining the status quo (at least not yet).
If you’re an existing company, doing a truly new thing isn’t impossible. It’s just highly unlikely. The odds are stacked against you. More specifically, the odds are stacked against human nature. So, you have to make an overly conscious effort to forego protecting what you have to pursue what is to be. The short-term risk of doing so could quite likely mean a dip in sales. The long-term risk of not doing so could mean a permanent reduction in sales.
My favorite book on leading through a time of transformation is “Canoeing the Mountains” by Tod Bolsinger. I’ve never highlighted a book as much as I highlighted this one. It’s the most practical guide on leading in the midst of true transformational times that I’ve ever come across. One of the main points of the book for transformational leaders is summed up in this quote: “We keep on course with the same goal, but change absolutely everything required to make it through this uncharted territory.”
“Uncharted territory.” That’s exactly where we are as direct sellers today. The future is truly unknown. And what will define success or failure for the amazing companies in our amazing channel will come down to their ability (or lack of) to truly adapt, to accept the challenge to change anything and everything outside of the core mission. In some cases, even that may need to change.
Now It Springs Up; Do You Not Perceive It?
I think we all sense what I’m talking about. In fact, we’ve probably all talked about it ad nauseum for the past five years.
But can you actually perceive that it’s springing up right now? Is there a sense of urgency, a spirit of adventure, a commitment to pioneering in your organization? Or have you tweaked the same ol’ thing so many times that it feels like you’re all tweaked out?
Stop tweaking. Revolutionize. If it feels comfortable, or familiar, you’re doing it wrong.
Our future demands a bold spirit of adventure. Heaven forbid we look back and think, “Yep, it sprung up, and I didn’t fully perceive it.” Put another way, “I saw it happening, but I didn’t do enough about it.”
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Your insights are marvelous in this article. Thank you!