Direct Selling CIOs Can Increase Distributor Sales

Chief information officers (CIOs) play a unique role in driving revenue growth for direct selling organizations. Tasked with driving innovation, enhancing customer experiences, ensuring operational efficiency, and more, these leaders must thread the needle across critical business functions while keeping costs as low as possible. The complexity of this role can’t be overstated, but the job often boils down to a fairly simple question: How to increase distributor sales? 

A number of factors make 2023 an interesting year for direct selling organizations — generational shifts in the labor market and shopping patterns, economic headwinds, the ongoing effects of the distributed work revolution — these considerations all play a part in answering the question of how to increase distributor sales. 

While we can’t see into the future, some historical data is useful in evaluating the opportunities and challenges direct selling CIOs face today. Direct selling companies that prioritize digital transformation have experienced revenue growth rates of 10% or more, as reported by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations.

But “digital transformation” has become so overused in the last several years. What exactly does it mean for CIOs of direct selling organizations specifically? What revenue-generating functions does digital transformation actually solve for this very particular industry? Let’s dive in.

Building Analytics and Reporting to Increase Distributor Sales

Gone are the days when CIOs were solely responsible for IT infrastructure and support. Modern direct selling CIOs are now strategic partners tasked with unlocking new revenue streams and maximize existing ones using technology. 

To align technology initiatives with revenue objectives, analytics are crucial. An organization can’t make any strategic decisions about how to increase distributor sales, after all, without visibility into their business. 

That means to survive in today’s market, direct selling CIOs must collaborate closely with leaders across the organization to develop the most comprehensive analytics and reporting possible, integrating data from multiple sources to generate real-time insights into sales performance, customer behavior, and market trends. 

This kind of robust reporting and analytics helps drive revenue across every level of the organization, from C-suite decision-making to individual distributor choices. 

How Analytics Drive Revenue for Decision Makers

On the decision-making side, reporting and analytics highlight key revenue metrics, sales performance indicators, and customer behavior trends. Access to this information enables stakeholders to take appropriate actions to drive revenue growth. Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) in this process empowers sales teams to:

• Identify underperforming regions
• Target high-potential customer segments
• Optimize sales strategies for maximum revenue generation

How Analytics Increase Distributor Sales

On the distributor side, reporting and analytics help drive the most effective sales behaviors. Distributors can keep track of how they’re doing and what they need to do to meet their goals. In cutting edge direct selling organizations, predictive analytics can even tell the distributor exactly what to do to make more sales.

Centralizing Distributor Technology to Drive Customer Satisfaction

Face-to-face interactions and personal relationships are at the core of direct selling. Direct selling companies rely heavily on building trust, creating lasting connections, and delivering exceptional experiences to their customers. That means customer experience is pivotal in driving revenue growth.

When customers trust the products, services, and distributors of a direct selling company, they are more likely to become loyal brand advocates, making repeat purchases and recommending the company to others. This loyalty not only drives revenue through repeat sales but also expands the customer base through referrals.

Where do CIOs come in? CIOs play a crucial role in enabling businesses to provide customized service experiences that cater to individual customer preferences. How? By centralizing technology to optimize the personalization and seamlessness, driving customer satisfaction and distributor retention. 

Consolidating all the resources distributors need in one place enables distributors to build the trust that drives long-term growth for direct selling companies. Rather than searching for product information and making guesses about customers, distributors can access a holistic view of each customer’s preferences, past interactions, and purchase history, allowing them to provide personalized recommendations, timely follow-ups, and exceptional customer support. 

Ensuring technology captures and utilizes customer data effectively for revenue growth is imperative for direct selling CIOs today. A centralized distributor experience is necessary to foster deeper customer engagement, leading to increased conversion rates and higher revenue per customer.

Meeting the Mobile-First Expectations of Younger Distributors

Generation Z, born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, is known for their mobile-centric lifestyle. They rely heavily on smartphones and other mobile devices for communication, information access, and online interactions. To effectively engage with younger distributors, direct selling companies must meet them where they are, or risk losing them to other flexible work environments that meet their technology expectations. 

Flexibility is central to recruiting and retaining the next generation of distributors. But not just flexibility in the way it’s always been used in this industry, in the managerial sense — make your own hours, build your own business. Gen Z distributors expect technology to facilitate flexibility. CIOs can enable this flexibility by developing mobile applications and tools that provide access to product information, sales resources, and customer data, enabling young distributors to efficiently manage their businesses and make sales from anywhere. 

Recruitment is revenue priority #1 for many direct selling organizations these days. A mobile experience enables younger distributors to connect with each other, exchange best practices, and access training materials or resources. They feel part of a genuine community they want to invite others to join. 

This generation values, after all, values. They don’t want to work for an anonymous mega-corporation. They want to collaborate with one another, feel respected, and contribute to a larger mission. Mobile isn’t the future, it’s the present. It’s what this generation expects, and it’s what direct selling CIOs need to deliver if they’re serious about answering the ultimate question: how to increase distributor sales. 

Sign up for a demo of Rallyware to learn how we partner with CIOs to deliver an average 24x ROI on performance enablement.