The commission processes for MLM and Party Plan Companies are the main attraction for everyone.  Thousands of hours of effort culminate this event, bringing fervor and expectancy from both field organization and company alike.  The validity of the compensation plan and its business processes are uncovered for all to see.  When the experience is successful and as expected, confidence peaks.  When it’s not, the clock begins a fast countdown to disappointment and suspicion.

When home office staff views themselves as a team and when accountability is expected from department heads, problems are taken care of.  When everybody realizes that they play a role in assuring accurate commissions, management magic happens.  Once the main event arrives and obstacles are handled upstream, the burden of the system administrator’s job is lightened.  We preach cooperation and unity, with the successful commission experience as your target.  It’s the main installment in Happy Distributors.

To set the stage for commission processing and checklists, we first make the case for consistency in processes.  The commission process begins the moment a new account is entered, or an order is entered, or credit card information is entered, or adjustments are made, and so forth.  And, the accuracy of a commission run is placed into jeopardy whenever anybody places an order on hold, makes adjustments without understanding all of the implications (and thus, the importance of selecting and training the right people, and then trusting them and holding them accountable), and dozens of touches in the critical path of an account and an order as it navigates through the system.

Accurate commissions truly are the responsibility of every employee.  In the grander scheme, the company has three promises to keep, and all employees are engaged in this quest:

• Product promise (quality product delivered on time)
• Commission promise (accurate commissions paid on time)
• Service promise (caring, competent, consistent service whenever needed)

We can promise you that once you have business processes in place, and your company is consistent in adhering to policies that support these processes, you will obtain consistent results.  Be sensitive to the risks associated with replacing these principles with your own rules that may go outside the framework we have presented in the Business Process Guide. There is much to be learned from those who have gone before you.

Importantly, never, never, never allow policies to dictate.  Encourage innovation, and provide clear channels for improving processes in ways that respond to the recommendations and requests from front-line employees who will always be your best and greatest hope for identifying the gremlins and small nits that often result in great variances away from intended trajectories.  It’s universal that small defects in your processes in the early days of your business will only appear as the company grows.

Instead of looking for people upon whom to heap blame and shame, accept that change will be constant and that great leaders understand and embrace the growth (personal and professional) that comes to all who work together to build a great organization.

Extraordinary customer service in MLM and Party Plan Companies requires extraordinary people and processes, and it will yield extraordinary results.

Customer service is arguably at the core of all you do.  Like all people, reps want to be healthy, wealthy, successful, and happy.  By being attentive to your relationship with each rep and creating emotional connections, you contribute to the rep’s success and happiness.  While it may be true that a rep will not burst into tears of joy over a smooth customer service experience (although it’s genuinely happened to me more than once—not my tears of joy but the rep’s), we maintain that customer service is the new competitive battleground.  Good service is the gateway for a rep to discover your company’s culture.

Today’s reps are more sophisticated than ever before, and they have some amazing options.  So it’s not unusual for them to take their business and loyalties elsewhere if they do not receive exceptional support.  This includes proactive support (not just when they call you for help).

We observe how commission plans are imitated.  We see a parade of products that are valuable and useful.  We associate with visionary, passionate, and effective corporate leaders.  These are no longer the great differentiators.  The differentiator is the rep experience—the relationship foundation, the emotional connections, and the loyalty they give back.  But this can only occur on a foundation of solid processes and consistent and (where possible) extraordinary responses and responsiveness from your distributor service team.

Distributor service philosophies and practices permeate our training systems.  We harp on the elements that comprise successful service experiences supported by the business processes.  You can (and should) actually engineer certain processes to create extraordinary and consistent experiences, and these can be found in your business processes.  Since our firm is totally and completely immersed in Happy Distributors, much exists and more will be forthcoming through our training and best practices coaching.  However, we attempt in the Business Process Guide to at least present the real-world aspects of interaction processes to the degree that they depend on the software and associated policies and practices.

The objective in staffing your MLM startup is to support your reps and help them to be highly successful by creating the high standard of service and responsiveness in the Support Center.  Key variables in your staffing plan will include the level of technology you use, the cross-training and skill sets of staff, your attitude toward constant improvement and root-cause analysis, product mix, home party (retail) versus network marketing (consumption), and other variables that work together to create the dynamics of who calls and how often.

After considering the variables and environment you will be creating, here is a general outline of what the staffing variables might look like for your new company:

Launch Staff

• Distributor Service Manager – hire as early as possible, must learn how the company works by helping to set it up (compensation design, fulfillment, software selection, etc.)

• Distributor Service Rep – Hire 6 weeks prior, select for maturity and skill sets, multi-tasking abilities, over-hire and expect fast advancement

• General Manager / CEO – Provides the vision and leadership, servant leader – marketing (product development, etc.)

• Tech-head – Hire early, involve in compensation plan design, site selection, technology specifications, hardware, network, office applications, phone system, etc.

• Executive Assistant – supports GM and DSManager as an executive assistant; able to perform all executive support functions, basic bookkeeping functions, can even take a distributor service call; highly organized and driven toward creating order out of the chaos that will surround startup

• Fulfillment Team – access to fulfillment team, with emphasis on Fulfillment Manager who works well with the core management team.

• Sales Executive – field development