Why Do Distributors Quit?
And How You Can Keep Them From Leaving.
by Kelley Foote
I've heard so many horror stories about how distributors have mysteriously vanished in my 20 years in this industry it sometimes sounds like something out of the X Files. One day a company has a healthy thriving business, the next day entire downlines and their leaders have completely disappeared. And to make matters worse, many times these once loyal people don’t just quit, they reappear in a prominent position with a direct competitor which further weakens the company’s sales, momentum and moral.
Let’s face it, it’s hard to prospect and recruit new leaders and distributors. And if you don’t know why they quit, it can be even harder to keep them from leaving. But imagine what it would it do to your bottom line if you did know the causes and answers, and you could dramatically increase your retention of distributors (and keep them out of the clutches of the competitors) over a two-year period? Your sales would go through the roof and you could finally sleep at night without all those nasty nightmares about alien downline abduction.
They say the first step in solving any problem is to recognize it, so let’s start by examining the reasons why distributors vanish. In a study conducted by the Direct Sales Association (DSA) on an exit strategy from Mary Kay, the consultants were asked why they quit. Here were the top three reasons: 1. Lack of Communication 2. Lack of Training. 3. Lack of Support Tools for Marketing. Needless to say, those responses surprised a lot of corporate leaders. They just naturally assumed that lack of income, lack of time freedom, and lack of recognition would be at the top of the list three because they were the things most frequently promoted in the initial presentations of their company to new prospects.
Develop The Knack For Fixing The "Lacks”.
Knowing that lack of Communication, Training and Support Tools are the reasons for distributor attrition gives corporate leaders a tremendous advantage. You can begin addressing these issues right away and emphasize what you are doing to meet these needs in the very first presentation to new prospects. If you share why your company is committed to these three things, and how it will help them achieve whatever measure of success they are looking for, your distributors will be much happier. And happy distributors stay where they feel most at home.
1. Increase Your Communication. What can your company do to improve communication? You can use auto-email systems to communicate updates, company news and training tips, weekly conference calls, voicemail, newsletters, message boards, chat room or web cast support calls, just to name a few methods. We live in an age of communication, but oftentimes we overlook the fact that we have to take a proactive approach to reach out to communicate with everyone. And if you don’t think it’s worth the extra time, money and effort it takes, here’s an example of how just one of these efforts paid off. While working as the COO of a large MLM company, I initiated a Welcome Call Program to every new distributor within 24 hours of their joining the company. I factored in the cost of doing this in every distributor Kit and the return in retention was a measured 34% increase during the first 90 days.
2. Improve Your Training. Training is the most often overlooked of all three of the reasons distributors quit. I believe this is a carry over from the early years of our industry, where strong field leadership developed their own training methods and systems. These were separate from the company, so company owners never felt they had to provide it. However, if you take a hard look at retention and the overall success of the average distributor, it proved to be a failure. That’s why so many new successful companies have shown the value of sponsored training programs that are company driven.
Training has been my personal love and focus for 18 years. During that time I have discovered several truths about what works and want does not work. One of the most important (and most often overlooked) facts is that you have about 72 hours from the time a new distributor joins your company to motivate them to take action on prospecting and presenting your company’s opportunity and products to others. If they don’t take action during this time when their excitement is at its all time high, very few will ever do anything.
We feel so strongly about corporate leaders offering company sponsored training program to brand new distributors, we created on online training system called My Online Mentor (MOM). This customized training program provides a full Power Point presentation and script for delivering an Online Webcast Training a few times a week to new distributors. The training is conducted in an Interactive Chat environment affording new distributors privacy and anonymity. They type in their questions instead of speaking aloud, so they are far more likely to participate and learn. This “silent approach” to training has lead to over 80% interactivity in over 11 years of training with hundreds of thousands of distributors. MOM is just one of many affordable and effective training techniques available to corporate leaders today that can significantly impact distributor success. And when distributors are making money, they will think long and hard before going anywhere else.
3. Use Support Tools. In recent years, the development of the Support Tools has lead to great systems for recruiting and selling products. A popular example of Support Tools would be the auto-recruiting systems of websites with video presentations and auto-email follow up systems. These systems allow people to use emails and direct methods to drive people to their website to view their video and plug into the auto-recruiting system. The key to Support Tools is to give people the systems they can use to reach out and present the opportunity to everyone they know quickly. The challenge is to find the one the will deliver the results it promises and fit with your corporate culture. When you find that perfect mix, your people will thank you by staying right where they belong — with your company.
About the Author
Kelley Foote became one of the top distributors with his first company at the age of 23. He was then hired as Sr. VP of Marketing at age 24 for a start-up company where he earned ownership as he grew the company to over $300 Million in sales in five years with over 300,000 reps recruited. During his five years with his company he ran four divisions of over 320 employees. In the last eleven years he as served as a consultant for many companies on marketing plan development, operations, communication, marketing and training.
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