Meeting the challenges of 2022 by strategizing and innovating together
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that each of you had a safe and wonderful holiday and were able to relax, reflect, and recharge after wrapping up a year of ups and downs that kept everyone on their toes.
As we look ahead to 2022, what excites me the most about the state of direct selling is the energy and enthusiasm that exists at all levels of this business channel. I am not referring to a blindly optimistic outlook, but rather an eagerness to confront the challenges ahead in a deliberate and constructive manner. It is an attitude of running to meet a problem head-on rather than waiting for it to arrive at your doorstep.
There is indeed no shortage of challenges facing direct sellers. The new year brings yet another coronavirus variant that is threatening to stall our full return to in-person social selling, meetings and events. Channel advocates and legal representatives are gearing up to confront regulators over their renewed efforts to target the direct selling business model. And C-Suite executives in several industry-leading companies are working to reverse a slowdown in sales after the record-breaking success of 2020.
However, the thought leaders and executives that I have spoken to recently are as optimistic as ever that the future of direct selling is as bright—but consistently speak about the importance of being open to innovation, technology and sometimes even previously discarded ideas.
One great example of the channel’s eagerness to strategize solutions to the challenges in front of it is the upcoming Direct Selling Legal and Compliance Summit. Social Selling News is very proud to be the media sponsor for this event, taking place in Austin, Texas, Feb. 16-18, 2022.
Direct selling CEOs and executives will join corporate attorneys and compliance experts for a three-day series of talks, demonstrations, and panel discussions to address the legal and regulatory threats to the channel so that direct sellers can work together to transcend these risks and take social selling to the next level.
I encourage your entire executive team to consider attending this dynamic event, not just your legal and compliance officers. As readers of SSN know, opponents of social selling in the regulatory, political, and media realms are organizing and collaborating to disparage and weaken network marketing by branding the many with the actions of the few.
By gathering together to address the best way forward through legal strategy and compliance knowledge and implementation, we too can harness the power of organization and collaboration as we strive to improve not just compliance, but every aspect of global social selling.
I thank you for reading, and I look forward to getting your feedback in person next month in Austin! Please visit dslcsummit.org to register.