Direct selling continues to be a popular business model for Philippine-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. The business model’s flexibility, low barrier to entry, and high income potential all make it an attractive option for business owners at all points of their entrepreneurial journey.
That isn’t to say direct selling doesn’t come with its challenges. Selecting the right agents and keeping them motivated is a difficult but essential requisite for driving sales and building a strong customer base. Let’s look at a few strategies that could help you hire and retain good sales agents:
Give Meaningful Recognition and Rewards
The most important thing you can do to keep your agents happy is to implement a rewards system that truly acknowledges their hard work and achievements. Recognize their sales milestones, exceptional performance, and consistency with substantial rewards that don’t just give lip service to their performances. Solid incentives can include such things as cash bonuses and higher commission rates. If you want to offer a non-monetary reward, offer something worthwhile like an overseas trip, gift cards, or useful merchandise.
Maya Disbursements is best known as a leading SME payroll system solution, but it can also be used for things other than salary disbursement and small business payroll administration. It can also be used as a key part of your reward and allowance management system. Through Maya Disbursements, you can even issue a multi-functional ID card that can be used for compensation and benefits management as well as for workplace entry and attendance checking.
Offer Flexible Compensation Plans
A lot of Philippine-based direct sellers offer commission-only compensation or fixed salaries to their sales agents. While there are pros and cons to either approach, a better compensation system should have enough flexibility to better attract and retain a wider range of talents.
For flexible payroll processing for small businesses, Maya Disbursements is, again, the payroll system Philippines’ top direct selling companies use. Apart from basic payroll management system functionalities, it also offers hassle-free allowance management and bulk loan disbursement capabilities. These features allow you to effectively provide a range of alternative compensation to motivate and retain good sales agents.
Always Compensate Your Agents On Time
The laws and standard procedures covering the Philippine payroll system can be difficult to navigate, especially for smaller operations where managers need to wear multiple hats. This can lead to late payments that erode your employees’ trust, raising attrition rates.
To keep your agents motivated, you need to make sure they are paid and compensated on time. Maya Disbursements offers effortless payroll automation for small businesses based in the Philippines. Use Maya Disbursements for always-on-time disbursement of salary, allowance, and incentive payments to your top performers.
Provide Clear Communication and Training
Inadequate training can leave your agents feeling that they’ve been set up to fail, leading to their attrition. To avoid this, offer comprehensive training programs to equip your agents with the knowledge and skills they need to sell your products effectively. Regularly update them on product enhancements, marketing campaigns, and any changes in company policies. This will boost their confidence and make them feel better connected to your organization.
Invest in Their Professional Development
Investing in the personal and professional development of your agents tells them that they are valued members of your organization. Offer workshops, seminars, and online courses to help them enhance their selling skills, time management, and leadership abilities. Encourage continuous learning and growth within your organization.
Provide Marketing Support
Your marketing department needs to provide your sales agents with adequate support so that they go into their sales calls with full confidence. Agents should be regularly equipped with customer-facing materials such as brochures, catalogs, samples, and digital content so that they better understand your customers’ perspectives and feel supported in their efforts to drum up sales for your business.
Give Regular Feedback and Coaching
The lack of a feedback loop with your direct selling agents can leave them feeling disconnected from your organization. To keep them aligned and fully part of your team, regularly provide constructive feedback and coaching to help them improve their sales techniques. Make this relationship a two-way street by creating a supportive environment where they can ask questions, seek guidance, and, if necessary, effect change within your organization.
Attract and Motivate Your Best Agents with Maya Disbursements
Maya Disbursements does more than handle your payroll and the disbursement of loan payments to your creditors. It can also be a key ingredient in your direct selling business’s success. Create your Maya Business Manager account today to build your best agent retention program yet.
Creating a Maya Business Manager account gives you immediate access to the Maya 1-2-3 Grow package. Maya 1-2-3 Grow is an exclusive bundle that lets you enjoy an MDR discount of 1% on all QR Ph payments for 3 months upon onboarding. This translates to PHP 14,600 in savings for every PHP 1 million worth of QR Ph sales. As part of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle, you can also take advantage of the benefits of using Maya Business Deposit as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Signing up also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, which will empower your business to offer more types of compensation to top-performing team members. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and
