Direct
Sales and MLM Strategies
Elect A Prime Minister
The
Awesome Power of the MLM Concept
by
MLM Consultant Michael L. Sheffield
MLM and Direct Sales Expert
As
direct selling professionals we sometimes view our channel of marketing as
mainstream. Corporate executives can easily fall into the trap of believing
the hype of their own marketing departments. We live in a biosphere where
we see every consumer product and service as a potential candidate for MLM
distribution. In fact, the prophesy of many old-time MLMers that the majority
of consumer products will be sold through MLM making the retail store obsolete
is beginning to look more like reality than fantasy. In fact, we can find
nearly every type of consumer product and service offered by aggressive MLM
and direct selling companies around the world.
Will MLM distribution replace retail stores? Probably not in our lifetime,
if ever. If there is any challenge to true mainstream merchandising through
retail outlets, it is the Internet combined with a "dumbed down"
version of MLM called affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing combines the
customer appreciation award programs concepts used so successfully by the
airlines with referral incentives through compensation using an MLM-style
format. It is sometimes called "MLM Lite." While the jury is still
out on the public's acceptance of online shopping, it is obvious that even
major corporations are rethinking their future marketing strategies in an
effort to get closer to their customers and prospects using tactics that are
very familiar to all of us in Multi-Level Marketing. While MLM strategy has
been primarily to drive sales of a product or service through a geometrically
growing distributor network, could the concept be used to recruit and motivate
volunteer advocates for a political candidate giving an "unfair advantage"
to win an election?
MLM Concept
Used In Creative Ways. My
travels in support of my clients have taken me around the world where the
MLM concept is being used in uniquely creative ways. One of the most interesting
applications I have seen was during a trip to Thailand in early 2001 for an
industry convention, along with MLM industry attorney Jeffrey Babener. During this trip I was honored to meet with
the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. An interesting situation had taken
place where the MLM method hatched in America had been used to elect the country's
new Prime Minister. It seems the local media had given credit to Multi-Level
Marketing for the success of the election of their new prime minister, Thanskin
Shinawatra of the Thai Rak Thai party. The Thai Rak Thai party set the stage
for this historic election triumph using unprecedented methods for recruiting
rural political canvassers. Their election strategy proved formidable.
To ensure victory at the polls, the Thai Rak Thai Party successfully applied
new business strategies, recruiting new members in rural areas using a "Multi-Level
Marketing Blueprint." According to party insiders, along with massive
publicity and other tactics, one of the party's top priorities was to ensure
that local candidates recruited at least 45,000 to 50,000 new members in each
constituency. The party's research team concluded that anyone who obtained
20,000 to 30,000 votes would win. Therefore if the party's members in each
locality reached the target level, the party's victory was 100 percent guaranteed.
After candidates were agreed upon, the second stage called for the formation
of a volunteer corps. Candidates coordinated with the party's strategists
to identify important issues on which volunteers should focus.
Party leaders were dispatched to make orientation speeches about the party's
platform and give briefings on political conditions. The orientations lasted
only one day. After the functions, each volunteer received a certificate of
merit for attending. According to General Thamrak Isarangkul, one of the party's
strategists, after these sessions the volunteers served as party representatives.
Once this initial step was firmly established, each potential candidate appointed
a canvasser in each region. In rural areas, canvassers were normally drawn
from among former village heads, teachers or bureaucrats.
Canvassers
Were Like MLM Recruiters. Like
an MLM recruiter, each region canvasser then went out to look for canvassers
at the village level. The number of canvassers was proportional to the number
of potential voters. In a village with 1,000 people, representing at least
700 potential voters, there would be around 70 canvassers.
The canvassers were trained by party strategists, who offered advice on specific
issues affecting village life. The most important part of the job was to give
the canvassers a sense that they were doing something important that would
change Thailand for the better. If this is sounding familiar, just look at
how the best of breed of today's MLM companies position their mission, philosophies,
and philanthropic causes for the betterment of their fellow man.
Any person at the region or village level who fulfilled their recruitment
target was singled out for recognition. A canvasser who could sponsor 10 party
members would be praised and their names sent to the party's headquarters
in Bangkok. All new members were issued a party membership card.
This new system of membership registration allowed for greater control of
voter turnout. The old system was very loose and lacked systematic assessment.
The use of marketing techniques broadened Thai Rak Thai's base in the rural
areas. Anyone unable to fulfill the target set by election campaigners was
immediately withdrawn.
Awesome Power
of The MLM Concept. One
canvasser said the Thai Rak Thai party had a clear policy that could be easily
explained to villagers. "Sometimes it was hard for them to understand.
So we had to explain it again," he said. After they understood the policies
he asked for their support. If they agreed, he would invite them to be members
or go campaigning with the other canvassers. If not, he would forget about
them.
Other canvassers who helped win the election echoed the sentiment that the
Thai Rak Thai party had policies they could identify with and which, in their
view, could improve their lives.
As the details of their election strategy unfolded, I was once again reminded
of the awesome power of the MLM concept. Duplication through sponsoring others
who adopt similar goals and beliefs who sponsor and indoctrinate others creating
geometric growth can be used as a powerful tool to promote a product or a
cause. For the most part this is used for good. But our recent history has
proven it can be used for evil as well.
As an MLM corporate executive, you have the knowledge to change the buying
habits of everyone your company touches. You have the ability to spread your
own positive philosophies supporting the message of free enterprise and entrepreneurship
that many Americans take for granted. This is a power we all can use to create
tremendous good to help thousands of people to a better way of life. If a
new political party in a foreign country can use MLM tactics to elect a prime
minister, what could your company accomplish by creating an aggressive sponsoring
blueprint for your own growth?
Michael L. Sheffield is the CEO of Sheffield Resource Network, a full-service direct sales and multi level marketing (MLM) consulting firm. He is a Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Multi Level Marketing International Association and in 2001 he was inducted into the MLMIA Hall of Fame. As an MLM Consultant, he and the Sheffield team have assisted in hundreds of national and international MLM corporate start-ups as well as offered a full line of services for established direct sales companies. As the most noted expert on compensation plans, he has been a guest lecturer on the subject for the DSA, University of Illinois, University of Texas, Berkeley and Harvard Alumni Association. Long considered the industry's top MLM Consultant , Michael Sheffield has helped launch over 500 new companies and 200 new products marketed by direct selling companies around the globe. He can be contacted at 480-968-6199, Sheffield Resource Network, 2239 N. Hayden Road, Suite 103, Scottsdale, AZ. 85257, website address: www.sheffieldnet.com.
