| Introduction |
 |
| Chief Executives, Senior Managers and their professional advisors will have the opportunity to learn, first hand, from industry leaders, how best to handle today's key issues facing every direct selling business - worldwide. Twelve workshops will cover practical advice on : How to use the direct sales channel to create new consumer markets; the most effective use of advertising in direct sales; making the most of the booming markets in Russia, China, India and Eastern Europe; preserving the independent contractor status of direct sellers and their rights to do business in private homes; recruitment and retention strategies; harnessing e-commerce technology to direct sales; enhancing the image of how we do business and how and when to embark on multinational operations. |
| |
| You will be able to register for Workshops on arrival at the Congress. |
| |
| 1. |
The future of self employment in direct sales - worldwide |
| |
The success of the direct selling channel is largely based on self-employment. Yet, in every major market,
the status of independent direct sellers is under threat. Governments wish to encourage enterprise but
need to extract tax and social security contributions from all workers. The defi nitions of what constitutes
genuine self-employment are being challenged around the world. In this workshop, legal experts
review current tax and social security regimes and suggest the most effective elements of true
self-employment contracts. |
| |
| 2. |
Multi-channel distribution: common
sense or corporate suicide? |
| |
From the beginnings
of direct selling as an established marketing channel,
the conventional wisdom has
been that a DSO’s (Direct Selling Organisation)
brand should be reserved exclusively for direct sellers
and that distribution through other channels, such as
retail stores undermines a direct seller’s business
and morale – particularly if product prices are
discounted. Recently, some DSOs have managed to
develop other channels in a way that has produced added
sales volume & profi ts and, at the same time,
has brought benefi ts to their direct sellers. In this
workshop, three major DSOs will explain their strategies. |
| |
| 3. |
Harnessing the power of the internet
in direct sales operations |
| |
In recent years, DSOs around
the world have proved that, far from being a threat to
the direct selling
channel, a combination of direct sales and e-commerce
is a formidably powerful way of generating
business. In this workshop, industry experts will describe
leading edge developments in the use of the
internet to support direct sellers, obtain direct orders
from retail customers and generate extra sales. |
| |
| 4. |
Multi-national operations –
how and when to go international |
| |
Is it necessary to establish
a sales offi ce in each market? Distributorship or corporate
owned subsidiary:
which is best? Cross border sponsoring: what are the challenges?
International order fulfi lment: is it
practical? Local market legislation: how can DSOs best
get right advice? How to establish their fi rst
international operation is a challenge for all DSOs. In
this workshop, a panel of senior executives will
share their experiences around the world and offer practical
advice. |
| |
| 5. |
Direct sales of nutritional supplements
and health products |
| |
Around the world, the marketing
of nutritional supplements and other health related products
is now
subject to a growing volume of national legislation. In
2004, the WFDSA formed an international core
group of DSOs with an interest in this product sector.
This business session will be the fi rst opportunity for
core group members to meet, exchange information and obtain
guidance on how best to operate their
businesses in this new legislative environment. |
| |
| 6. |
Media advertising – should
this be considered in direct sales strategies? |
| |
Brand value is now a substantial
asset in the balance sheets of businesses marketing consumer
goods
through conventional retail outlets. For such businesses,
media advertising is a substantial operating cost
By contrast, the direct sales channel is based on creating
demand through personal face-to-face contact
with consumers. The conventional vie is that, in direct
selling, media advertising is not only unnecessary
but can create demand that is diffi cult to fulfi l. However,
in a growing number of international markets,
many DSOs are now committing a part of their promotional
budget to media advertising. In this
workshop, three leading DSOs will explain how and why
they are doing so. |
| |
| 7. |
Privacy – how to live with
growing legislation protecting the privacy of consumers |
| |
In every major market, there
is legislation designed to protect consumers in their
homes from unsolicited
phone, fax and e-mails. There are even threats to the
rights of direct sellers to make unsolicited personal
visits to potential customers. In this workshop, legal
and industry experts will review current worldwide
legislation. They will explain that whilst ‘Don’t
call me registers’ and other ‘opt-in’
and ‘opt-out’ legislation
is now proving a major challenge for tele-marketers, it
need not hamper the growth of DSOs. |
| |
| 8. |
Creating new consumer markets through
direct sales – three case studies |
| |
For a wide range of now familiar
consumer goods, from vacuum cleaners to plastic kitchen
storage
containers, direct selling has proved to be a uniquely
powerful way of creating demand for completely
new and innovative products. For such products, the opportunity
to explain and demonstrate in a
home environment, has proved to be more effective than
any amount of advertising. This is still true today.
In this workshop four industry pioneers will describe
how they have achieved success in creating
substantial businesses based on consumer products that
would not have succeeded through conventional
retail distribution. |
| |
| 9. |
Look East – does this offer
the best growth opportunities for multinational direct
selling businesses in the 21st Century? |
| |
In this workshop, CEOs will discuss
the opportunities and challenges of doing business in
the world’s
fastest growing direct sales markets – Russia, Eastern
Europe, China and India. Despite restrictive
legislation, many of the major multinational DSOs are
already established in these markets but this
workshop will show that there are also good opportunities
for smaller businesses. |
| |
| 10. |
Customer prospecting – how
today’s direct sellers can best gain new customers
and
generate sales leads |
| |
The direct selling channel originated
with direct sellers making unsolicited, face-to-face cold
calls on
consumers in private homes. Today, this can still work
well, but DSOs are also building substantial sales in
a variety of other ways including catalogue distribution,
using referrals and approaching consumers at
their place of work. In this workshop, four major DSOs
will explain their strategies. |
| |
| 11. |
Multilevel – is this structure
responsive to conventional management disciplines? |
| |
The concept of encouraging direct
sellers, from the day they start, to both make sales and
recruit others,
is now recognised as a means to meeting growing expectations
of potential recruits and has now been
adopted by a majority of DSOs around the world. However,
delegating fi eld sales management
responsibilities to independent sales leaders presents
corporate challenges in monitoring, compliance,
performance, identifying the causes of sales setbacks
and ensuring the adoption of growth strategies.
In this workshop, industry experts will explain a new,
pioneering approach illustrated by some recent
success stories from DSOs around the world. |
| |
| 12. |
‘Stopping the Revolving Door’
– how to improve sales force retention |
| |
The need for ongoing recruitment
is a fact of life for all DSOs, but training new direct
sellers is a cost
burden for DSOs and independent sales leaders alike. Worldwide,
each year, DSOs currently provide
earnings opportunities to over 48 million direct sellers,
but many give up after a short time. In this
workshop, industry leaders present the case for devoting
management time and training resources to the
retention of both full-time and part-time direct sellers
as an alternative to relying solely on recruitment
numbers – and explain just how they do it. |
| |
| 13. |
Europe – the future prospects
for DSOs in an EU single market of 25 Member States |
| |
With a combined population now
exceeding that of the US, the widespread adoption of a
common
currency and with the political objective of creating
an effective single trading market, industry experts
will examine the opportunities for pan-European DSOs and
cross border trade. The workshop will
examine the progress towards harmonised legislation and
the extent to which DSOs can now operate
from a single operational hub, as distinct from having
business headquarters in each Member State. |
| |
| The above details are subject to change. |
| |
| |