To Direct Selling Company Executives: We would like to thank the clients, direct sellers and app providers who contributed content to this effort, including information about their mobile apps, their decision making process and plans for the future. At Momentum Factor we strive to be a progressive, independent voice for this industry and consistently seek to alert its key players to technology and marketing trends important to their businesses.. Our goal in creating this report is to educate the industry on solutions in mobile technology, the tools and vendors that have become essential for companies to instantly share news, training, and reporting, while at the same time streamlining purchasing and marketing tasks. All of this can help scale direct selling companies far faster than imagined just a decade ago. This report provides direct selling CEO’s, Directors and executives in direct selling companies that are planning their mobile technology launches with information to create a starting point for getting quotes from top vendors. This document was created from responses to our survey, industry contacts, vendors, companies, consultants and our own in-depth research. Special thanks to Tina, Carrie and Paul who helped put together a great document! Yours, Jonathan Gilliam Founder, Momentum Factor [email protected] We invite you to connect with us at www.MomoFactor.com © 2015 Momentum Factor Facebook.com/MomentumFactor Twitter.com/MomoFactor [email protected] THOUGHT LEADERSHIP REPORT® ​ Momentum Factor LLC 4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Suite 201 Austin, Texas 78759 +1 512.994.GOGO! (4646) www.MomoFactor.com [email protected] ABOUT MOMENTUM FACTOR ​ We are exclusive to the Direct Selling industry. Our mission is to provide ​ best-in-class marketing & management services to the world’s finest direct selling companies and field leaders. Our firm works to maximize performance for clients by increasing revenue, protecting brands, engaging field & customers, and multiplying Momentum. Most of all, our aim is to become high-value, indispensable partners with our clients for the long term. Call us if we can help you. © 2015 Momentum Factor MOBILE TAKES CENTER STAGE THE 2015 DIRECT SELLING MOBILE APP REVIEW By Jonathan Gilliam and the Momentum Factor Team © 2015 Momentum Factor MOBILE TAKES CENTER STAGE If your company is more than a few years old you may have already ventured into a mobile solution development project. With app usage now actually exceeding web usage, the demand for mobile 1 accessibility and instant information gratification is on the rise. Consider this: Tim is in the waiting room at his doctor. His phone buzzes telling him that Kate, who's in his downline, is one sign-up away from a fabulous cruise. Do you think Joe might hit the “Call Kate” button to encourage her if it’s right there in front of him? Most likely, he will. Mobile allows him to occupy time doing something meaningful and productive that would otherwise be wasted. If a significant number of distributors do the same, it doesn’t take long to realize what just a few actions a day could mean for the bottom line of your company. Now let’s take a look at this interaction from the perspective of the support staff at the corporate office. You may notice a decrease in phone support after your team has trained the field on using the app to get the information they need. Use analytics to evaluate the usefulness of various features within your app. This scenario is only one small example of how mobile can be used to directly affect a company's volume and growth. Increasingly, there are entire suites of mobile value that could be accessed by your distributors — tools to make their efforts easier and more profitable for everyone. 1 Pew Research Center, US Smartphone Adoption & Usage Survey, March 2012. ​ ​ © 2015 Momentum Factor CONTENTS Mobile Takes Center Stage Contents Introduction Telling the Story Re-Vitalize Retention Communication Channels Training: The New “Mobile University” Selecting Your Developer SURVEYING THE DIRECT SELLING APP LANDSCAPE Infotrax Systems Leapfactor Pointburst International Direct Selling Technology Corp. FragMob Exigo Red Mat Media Smart Mobile Direct Buying and Building Start-up Apps For Start Ups Integration Concerns Conclusion About Momentum Factor Core Values © 2015 Momentum Factor INTRODUCTION OUR THESIS: In this report we will cover some important tasks required to develop an effective mobile application that can improve the ability of distributors to manage and grow their businesses with the help of mobile devices. The main required features should satisfy the need of “actionable information”, tools to increase retention, production, revenue, and profit. Mobile Has Evolved. In our previous publication, Action-Packed Apps (2012) we looked at ways companies ​ can harness the massive potential of mobile technologies without fundamentally altering a business model that has stood the test of time. In 2015, we see far more adoption of mobile from direct selling and network marketing companies, who are using apps to build better sales tools, increase e-commerce ordering, reduce support and call center costs, and improve usability for the direct sales professional or multi-level marketer. Direct selling companies wishing to create robust growth in the shortest amount of time are now leveraging their data into custom mobile applications to create optimal experiences for the field. Top technology vendors now provide data that can be calculated with speed to increase user adoption and utility for mobile devices. A new generation of solutions deliver marketing, training, customer service, sales support features directly to targeted distributor and loyal customer segmentations. Companies can use app and mobile technologies to target their messages to geographic, demographic and psychographics of the modern networker. Additionally, mobile commerce is now ubiquitous, and can be a determining factor for new direct sellers choosing to join a business opportunity. One company tracking 2 mobile commerce recently showed in their 2015 analysis that mobile amounts to 29% of ecommerce transactions in the US; globally mobile ecommerce is tracked at 34%. They also state that by the end of 2015 globally mobile commerce is will be 40% of all transactions. 2 Criteo.com,. (2015). State of Mobile Commerce Q1 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015 ​ ​ © 2015 Momentum Factor You may be wondering what the value of this updated research will provide. The proliferation of mobile technologies offers opportunities and constraints, new dynamics and difficult thresholds. This report will: 1. Demonstrate the necessity of developing mobile technologies 2. Survey the prospects and limitations of apps currently available for direct selling companies 3. Provide information on providers whose apps are production-ready 4. Analyze the potential benefits in terms of costs, culture, and catalyzing action. Over the past several months we’ve spent a significant amount of time looking at mobile apps for direct selling companies, as well as mobile statistics and trends. In this time, we’ve tested and reviewed many distributor-focused mobile apps. We've looked for utility, design and effectiveness. We found several viable solutions from providers with deep enough expertise in both direct selling and mobile app development that any direct seller can feel confident their needs can be met, without waiting for technology to catch up. METHODOLOGY: In May 2015 our research team sent questionnaires about the availability of mobile apps for direct selling companies via direct selling software providers. Some were eliminated due to a lack of working, app availability, or a lack of response. The companies represented herein have an app available today and have capacity to serve the direct selling companies as of this writing. Much of the written content here is revised from our 2012 edition. Our goal was to provide an independent review of available apps and mobile data delivery services to direct sellers so that company executives may make informed decisions about how to move forward with their own mobile efforts. Companies who were not included or not ready for this edition of the Direct Selling Mobile App Report are invited to contact us about participating in the next edition. Please email: [email protected] © 2015 Momentum Factor TOP COMPELLING ARGUMENTS FOR DIRECT SELLING MOBILE. 1. Increase Production Through Workflow If your active distributors were able to easily increase their daily activity through two additional actions — a call, a quick encouraging text — what would that do for your revenue and recruitment? A well-designed mobile app can help distributors take effective action quickly. An app can tell them what to do now, in the moment. Hot leads ​ ​ or chance meetings can be acted on more quickly when there are simple in-app presentations and immediate in-app sign-ups. Additionally, with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) built into apps, chances are that your field will follow up much more effectively than they did before. 2. Increase Retention The holy grail. A good app can prevent new representatives from slipping through the cracks by alerting and reminding busy upline leaders to reach out to them at just the right times. It can also encourage new recruits to stick around longer by giving them simple tools to keep them focused and “in the show”. The new daily method of operation will become enjoyable and consistent because they can now carry their business with them. Most of all, an app can make the often intimidating “sales” process of identifying and contacting prospects as an easy, systemized experience. 3. Improve Onboarding ​ The ability to ramp up new recruits can be streamlined with the smart application of video and training systems to the small screen. This can sharply reduce the learning curve as well. Convenience is the key here — videos, podcasts, and presentations can be sent directly to the user’s screens wherever they are; no need for the users to sit at a desk, find a computer or constantly seek an internet connection.