Building success and a sense of community with nontraditional solutions
Bio: Charla Gervers brings over two decades of experience to her role as senior vice president of sales for J.Hilburn, a leading custom-made menswear brand in the direct sales industry. With a proven track record of success as a senior leader in the sales, marketing and personal development arenas, she has led success across numerous product categories, including nutrition, skin care/beauty, energy, travel services, and girls’ and women’s apparel. Her most recent prior roles include serving as chief sales officer at Matilda Jane/Good Hart and vice president of field development at Scout & Cellar. Gervers’ passion is inspiring leaders around the world to live full out and go get the life of their dreams.
SSN: You have a reputation for creating nontraditional solutions in terms of finding new ways to profit, to approach training, etc. Why is the strategy of thinking differently important, and how does it give companies an edge?
CG: It’s always important for us to come at things from a new perspective because the world’s always changing around us. Today more than ever we’re leading volunteer armies, so we’ve got to do things that are innovative to make people want to engage with us, to make people want to open an email or a text. It goes to everything that we do. If we’re not constantly rethinking things, then we’re probably going to be stale and out of date.
It’s known everywhere that humans have an attention span less than that of a goldfish, or less than 8 seconds! That means we’ve got 3 seconds to capture their attention with whatever it is that needs to be captured. So how can we do that in a fresh and exciting way? I think that’s the question.
SSN: A few years back you stepped into a situation to lead where there were some challenges from losses in the executive suite that were emotionally taxing, which impacted the field. Can you share a little about that?
CG: The founder, who had sold the company but still was very involved, passed away, and then within the next two years two additional executives passed away. Three strong, powerful women whom the sales organization admired were suddenly not with them cheering them on each day. Our field was comprised mainly of young 20-something moms of small kids. So, they looked to these individuals as mentors, personally as well as professionally, and that was a very difficult thing for them to absorb and move forward. Leading the field after these losses meant we had to care on a different level. The field could have lost their dream in this time, but instead chose to truly honor the founder’s legacy by how they lived and grew their businesses day in and day out.
SSN: Making your field feel like family seems key. What enabled that bonding to move forward and help everyone to stay positive?
CG: We’ve all heard for years that people follow people they know, like and trust. Because of the deep relationships that were the foundation of the company with these three executives, it wasn’t something that could be glossed over. We needed to acknowledge what was going on. Otherwise, it’s the elephant in the living room, and the new management team won’t be well-received. On the corporate side, we’re “doing life with people” too. I’ve been privileged to go to a lot of the weddings, but at the same time, a lot of the funerals that have happened through the course of 20-plus years. We’re either a community or we’re not, and I believe we do it the best when we come around those who need us in times like this.
SSN: Let’s talk about the cross-pollination that you’ve been involved in with training. Instead of looking at other direct selling companies as competitors, you’ve been involved in utilizing their strengths. It seems like that could be a shift in the channel psyche. What are the keys to making it work?
CG: An opportunity presented itself when I was with Scout & Cellar. We were preparing for a leader event to take place in January and decided it would be very beneficial to our field and internal team to participate in some personal development related to mindset and shifts in mindset as we entered the new year together.
The internal team had a very full plate, and we recognized that the personal development part of this event needed to be a “10” in order to start the year where we wanted to.
Sarah Shadonix, founder of Scout & Cellar, shared this amazing event that Michelle Gay and her team at Limelife by Alcone had recently done. I watched the entire thing, and at the end of it I was so inspired! And we felt compelled to bring a similar experience to the Scout & Cellar field. Yes, we could have reinvented the wheel by doing it ourselves, or we could lean into an abundance mindset and ask them to partner with us to write history together. I’d never seen this done before, so of course that excited me the most. Good people attract good people, and good people hire and empower good people, and that’s what happened across both companies. Sarah and Michelle had a conversation about Michelle’s team helping us at our event, and within hours, they were booked on flights to lead an entire day session with our most important leaders. This is a true abundance mindset in action because both Sarah and Michelle looked at this as an opportunity to be better together. All the industry talks about it, but Sarah and Michelle demonstrated what an abundance mindset looks like. They demonstrated to all of us the impact we can make far beyond the walls of our own company by using our talents and gifts to make the entire industry better, and in turn (as clichéd as it sounds) make the world a better place. It was a weekend I will never forget!
SSN: J.Hilburn is operating a hybrid system with Stylists in a more traditional associate role, but also using brick-and-mortar Stylist-owned locations. How did that come about, and what’s the key to making it happen?
CG: The company had studio locations in Dallas and New York City, and our Stylists saw this as an opportunity to create a deeper experience for their clients by opening Stylist-owned Studios. In 2022, J.Hilburn named a new CEO, industry veteran Stein Ove Fenne, and he saw this quickly because he had created a similar hybrid model in another company with amazing success. Great leaders see a good thing happening and come in and make it even better! That’s exactly what he has done.
A J.Hilburn Studio creates an experience and gives new Stylists and mentors an exciting place to work through their first client appointments. Given we’re selling custom menswear that is made to measure for each of our clients, there is some learning involved in getting the fit right. We know that the speed of duplication determines the speed of growth, and the Studio experience accelerates growth many times faster. That’s exciting!
Yes, we’ve had Independent Stylists meeting at a client’s office or home for over 15 years, and we will always support this method because the mobile business creates a convenience that simply can’t be beaten for many clients. I know it sounds counter-intuitive when you hear of traditional retail store locations shutting down. However, we are not a retail space. Stylists take a client’s measurements and input them into our proprietary system that creates fit profiles specific to that client. He can look at the fabric swatches online or in person and can add his personal touch (pick the button, stitching, cuff, collars, and hundreds of custom options) to make each item his own. The Studio program creates an inviting atmosphere and unique experience where clients relax and unwind while designing their personal wardrobes. There is truly nothing quite like a J.Hilburn Studio, and we are pretty proud of that!
J.Hilburn’s business of the future is not an either/or. It’s definitely an “and”, and we are committed to ensuring that the Stylist-owned Studio experience will continue to be a catalyst for growth. We’re excited about the future and there is more to come around this concept in the coming years so stay tuned!
SSN: We’ve seen news headlines about some direct sellers leaving the channel for retail. What do direct selling companies need to be paying attention to? And what lessons will we have to learn from some of these companies?
CG: I think what’s happening is fascinating, but I also think there are life cycles in the channel. The business ebbs and flows, and there are things that need to shift as a business matures. Companies have been leaving direct selling for retail since I’ve been in the channel, and companies have been doing radical things to try and strengthen their business as well. Each company has a unique assessment to make at any given point in time to ask “Can we count on what we are doing today to move us to the next place?” And if the answer is no, then it is time to identify options that can and will move the company forward, but without alienating or compromising the current business.
Traditionally, that would be evaluating the selling system, compensation, promotions, incentives, and geographies in order to reach new consultants. Now I see many companies say, “Let’s
develop this other channel in retail that will give us another stream of income” and reach new clients directly to help counterbalance these plateaus that are inevitable. I get that, and the question is, how do you navigate both channels and not breach the trust of the field? Decisions must be made about time and money invested, resources, priorities, etc. Yes, it is exciting to do new things, but it can also dilute the focus needed to execute well. I would be remiss to not mention the trust of the field and that whatever happens, it needs to be done with the field included in the conversation. Maintaining field trust is vital to the support of all alternative strategies, and they’ll see through anything disingenuous.
SSN: Recruitment is the lifeblood of direct selling but it also has to be done correctly, and lots of folks have their eyes on it, including regulators. How is this facet of direct selling evolving? And what do you think the bigger picture for recruiting strategies will be moving into the future?
CG: We must stay relevant in this generation in order to capture the attention of the future entrepreneur. We must do things differently to engage effectively in today’s world. We have what people need and want, but how we articulate that must be compliant and not overreach. Personally, I need to study more about the gig world and look at what they (freelance work, Uber, etc.) offer and what we can do better. I can’t speak to this authoritatively, but is there a community like we have? If I’m just taking this writing gig, or this design job, and I’m doing it and then I’m paid, will someone be there for me when times get hard, like we spoke about in the beginning? Do I have a mentor, or am I left to figure it out on my own? We have an opportunity to amplify the differences that make direct selling great and attract a new generation of thought leaders.
It is incumbent upon us to find those things that are unique to the direct selling channel and bring it to life in fresh new ways—find those things that are going to connect with people today. That’s the difference in direct sales, and what we have an opportunity to amplify is the people part of it.
SSN: How do you perceive the impact of strategy adjustments when targeting diverse demographics?
CG: I would say the question is, What demographic are you trying to attract and where are they? Where are they showing up? Jason Dorsey fascinates me; because I feel like I have so much more to learn about the different generations and what attracts one and what offends another. It’s difficult to try to be everything to everyone because you end up being nothing to anyone. So, if your client base is in a certain demographic but you’re trying to attract another one, then how do you do that in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re two different companies? And that’s a challenge.
We have to educate the field on the do’s and don’ts and help them learn how to communicate with people different from them. We’ve been doing that with DISC personality tests and so many personal development tools for decades. So, from a company standpoint, it put us in the difficult position of communicating with our Millennials via text, our Boomers via email, our Gen Xers on Facebook groups, and our international audience on WhatsApp. Which means we’re communicating with everyone everywhere out of necessity. Do you communicate the same or change the voice of the communication to fit the audience? I have more questions than answers here. I would love to find a way we can reach everyone with one form of communication, and I’ll hold onto the hope that maybe someday soon we can.
I do believe that if we can remain students and give ourselves permission to test and learn, we’ll find new answers for these new times that will improve upon the current state.
To succeed in this generation, we have to challenge our paradigms and what we’ve taken as universal truths, and realize they might not be anymore. We will learn if we listen and are open to adapting and being open to those transitional things that might be there. Because it may be that there is a “new normal” like we’ve been saying, or it may be that we’re in transition from whatever was to what will be, and we won’t know till we’re on the other side of it. As with every generation as they have greater/lesser influence, we need to listen, stay adaptable, and we will win!
Charla Gervers was interviewed by David Bland on behalf of Social Selling News.
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