Making Their Dreams a Reality: Targeting Twenty-Somethings Your salesforce is slowly growing older. The folks who helped make your product a household name are not going to be able to help take your brand to the next generation of consumers. How does your company plan to target these working professionals, whose needs and desires are different from those of their parents? Our presenter will share with you ways they’ve tapped into this demographic, using younger product lines and a “culture of fun,” while still being able to appeal to their base in the same ways they always have.      Vicki Banchak, Executive Director, Field Sales, Avon Products, Inc. Making Their Dreams a Reality: Diversity in Direct Selling According to the most recent census, more than 30 percent of the country’s population belongs to a minority group. The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2100, non-Hispanic whites will constitute only 40 percent of the U.S. population. What can your company do to effectively market to this growing constituency? Learn from this engaging presenter, who will not only discuss how to encourage your current minority salesforce to expand your company’s ethnic base, but how your company can also target marketing and advertising to appeal to ethnic minorities and shift corporate strategy to engage this growing demographic.      Linnette Reindel, Vice President, Sales, Celebrations by Lillian Vernon A Touch of Stardust: Motivating Your Salesforce A salesforce stupor. Every company deals with it sooner or later – and probably faces reoccurrences once in a while. Perhaps your distributors aren’t energized about the company, or they don’t feel encouraged to recruit, or maybe feel they don’t have anything new and different to sell. There are any number of reasons why your salesforce seems to be asleep at the wheel. The more important question is what will wake them up. Learn from four company presidents and one distributor coach how to tackle motivating the salesforce and regaining their passion for your company.      Robert M. Henry, Chairman & CEO, Arbonne International, Inc.      Pat Pearson, Author/Speaker, Pearson Presentations      Jerry Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Silpada Designs      Scott Schwerdt, President, Americas & Europe, NuSkin Enterprises Tomorrow's Technology: Reaching the Next Generation Just as your company is continually on the look-out for innovative products to motivate your sales organization with latest in recruiting strategies, so should it also be looking for new technology to attract the next generation of business-builders. Discover how to use technologies, such as Systems Management Server to span the chasm of language, culture and attract the future generation of technology enthusiasts to the dynamic channel of direct selling!      Scott Smith, Vice President of Operations, Celebrations by Lillian Vernon      Cindy Tysinger, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Mannatech, Inc. Bonus Session: Tom Peters has a passion for making a difference to those he addresses. After his keynote presentation, he will conduct a leadership session exclusively for direct selling company CEOs. With Peters as the catalyst, participants will be able to pose their questions and give voice to their challenges. Discover new strategies for leadership success in this interactive, informal “no-need-to-prepare” forum. Space is limited and separate registration is required to attend this session. RSVP for this session Making Their Dreams a Reality: Targeting Twenty-Somethings Your salesforce is slowly growing older. The folks who helped make your product a household name are not going to be able to help take your brand to the next generation of consumers. How does your company plan to target these working professionals, whose needs and desires are different from those of their parents? Our presenter will share with you ways they’ve tapped into this demographic, using younger product lines and a “culture of fun,” while still being able to appeal to their base in the same ways they always have.      Vicki Banchak, Executive Director, Field Sales, Avon Products, Inc. In Your Dreams: Technology Needs for Growing Companies Has your company outgrown its current IT infrastructure? Do the applications that have brought you this far just not fulfill your needs any longer? Your company isn’t going to shrink, so it’s time to invest in technology that will grow with you, carrying you through your current spurt and beyond. Our speakers will walk you through the important details about system upgrades, evaluation procedures and questions you should ask to determine what your next system will look like, and how to get it – without breaking the bank.      Sebastian Leonardi, Sr. Vice President, Integrated Management Services, Inc.      Kevin Raulston, Chief Operating Officer, FreeLife International A Dream Come True: Turning Great Customers into Great Distributors Your company’s greatest advocates are its customers – people who know and love the product lines enough to buy them over and over again. How do you put that passion to use for your company, recruiting repeat buyers onto your salesforce? This session will tackle this challenge from both sides, showing you not only how to track the most loyal of customers and target them for recruitment, but also how to energize your product lines with items that will keep these valuable players as your best customers, long after they join your team.      Rhonda Shasteen, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Mary Kay Inc. Delivering Dream–Like Customer Service: Developing a New Generation of Customer Service Reps The new generation of field representatives require new approaches for meeting their customer service needs. Companies that focus on developing a new generation of customer service representatives will be better prepared to quickly adapt to the needs of a more diverse and global salesforce. This entertaining and informative presentation combines an overview of the demands of a new generation of field reps with the skills needed for the customer service agents to effectively serve them; real-life scenarios from the front-lines; and vignette models of the best scripts and elements for handling crucial customer service conversations. Attend this session to learn new techniques for training your customer service reps and take home an interactive training lesson DVD to share with them.      Lisa Adams, Training Manager, Creative Memories      Terrel Transtrum, President & Founder, ServiceQuest Dream Job: Taking Advantage of the Trend Toward Entrepreneurship Who doesn’t want to be his or her own boss? College graduates and experienced professionals alike are more and more turning away from corporate America and heading toward creating their own businesses. Now is the time for our industry to take advantage of this trend and gain some top performers in the process. This session will show you how to tap into this new offshoot of young professionals and reshape your company’s message to better advertise its opportunity as a viable, long-term business strategy for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. Session Sponsored by XanGo, LLC      Sarah Baker Andrus, Dir., Academic Programs, CUTCO/Vector Marketing Corp.      Joan Gillman, Exec. Dir., US Assoc. for Small Business Entrepreneurship Reinventing the Home Party Featuring party plan companies showcasing party and sales techniques Presented by: Creative Memories If you are planning to attend this session, please bring at least two photos. Making the Right Connections Featuring person to person companies showcasing sales techniques Presented by: National Companies, Inc. Selling Non-Consumables Featuring big ticket companies showcasing sales techniques Presented by: Saladmaster Opening Doors Featuring door-to-door companies showcasing sales techniques Presented by: The Kirby Company Saving the Dream: Protection From Identity Theft The Federal Trade Commission estimates that in 2003 there were 10 million identity theft victims in the US. Because of the amount of information exchanged between customers and employees, the direct selling industry is particularly susceptible to this epidemic. This session will include the basic rules to help you design an anti-identify theft program to protect your customers and employees. Resources and programs currently available will also be discussed.      Eunice Dudley, CFO, Dudley Products      Susan Grant, Vice President for Public Policy, The National Consumers League Direct Selling Basics: Bringing the Dream to Life Calling all beginners! Do you need to brush up on some direct selling basics? Maybe you need a crash-course in jump-starting your start-up. No matter your level of knowledge before this session, when it’s over, you’ll be set to take your company from just a concept to a successful enterprise. Our panel of speakers have been in your shoes as recently as just a few years ago, and not only have survived to tell you about it, but have successful companies to show for it. If you’re still trying to get a grip on all you don’t know, this session is for you!      Robert Barnes, Chief Executive Officer, Sensaria Natural Bodycare, Inc.      Janis M. Gilmore, Business Consultant, Jan Gilmore Unlimited      Sue Rusch, Vice President & General Manager, Big Yellow Box By Crayola Seems Like a Dream: Recruiting Techniques that Work Is your company struggling to recruit new distributors? Are the tried-and-true methods losing their appeal? Once recruited, are new team members quick to quit because the opportunity isn’t all they dreamed it would be? There are always new methods by which your salesforce can approach people about joining your team – and then help them stay motivated to stick with it. This panel of experts will introduce you to new methods of both recruitment and training, and give you tools to better convey the great ways new team members can bring the dream to life. Learn how to brand your business opportunity so that your salesforce is able to present it with more confidence and train them to identify potential recruits through an innovative system of profiling.      Mary Christensen, Principal, Christensen & Christensen      Bradford Richardson, VP, Int'l Development, USANA Health Sciences, Inc. Dream On: A Fresh Look at Training How do you keep your training program exciting and motivational to field leaders and new recruits alike? Making the training experience timely and fresh is a good way to properly portray your products and services to consumers and excite your salesforce at the same time. These presenters will share how they’ve brought new energy to training their distributors and how you can develop a training program to push your company forward.      Janet Cronstedt, Executive Director of Sales, Cookie Lee, Inc.      Bob Hipple, President, Eaglecap Consulting Chasing the Dream: Direct Selling’s Role in America’s Quest for the Perfect Shopping Experience Many factors influence consumer opinions, attitudes and actions. In order to market your products and company successfully, you need to know what makes the average American consumer tick. Through more than 30 years of consumer trend research, Yankelovich, one of the most respected consumer research and consulting firms, understands exactly what shapes and drives consumer behavior – the “whys behind the buys.” Learn the latest trends that drive consumers and how you can put this firm’s research to work for your company. Also in this session, highlights from DSA’s consumer and seller focus groups conducted last summer in St. Louis, Atlanta and Seattle, as part of DSA’s Image Enhancement Program, will be discussed. Hear an overview of what we learned and discover what these results could mean for your company.      Ann Clurman, Senior Partner, Yankelovich RSVP for a roundtable session. Salesforce Development Topic leaders will spearhead discussions that correlate to the various salesforce development issues your company tackles on an on-going basis. Share and learn in this discussion focusing on training programs – from development to launch to evaluation; communications tools such as online tools, audio, video, Web casting and live events; training kits; and trends in incentive and meeting planning. CEO Panel* CEOs face unique challenges that range from managing day-to-day operations to tackling complicated strategic issues. This roundtable discussion is designed exclusively for direct selling’s top executives to engage in meaningful dialogue with peers, share ideas around challenging leadership issues and explore creative solutions. The CEO session is limited to the first 30 registrants, and is open only to direct selling top executives. Operations Benchmark your organization’s operations as you discuss important issues such as: fulfillment/distribution systems, inventory management, order entry methods and customer service virtual systems Communications Communicating effectively with a variety of audiences is critical for the long-term stability and success of our business and our industry. Discussion leaders will focus on topics including: corporate branding, co-marketing, product launches, communications tools and working with the media. Legal and Regulatory Many direct selling companies face major challenges throughout their business’ lifecycles. One of the most important challenges can be dealing with layers of laws and regulations, especially when you realize it’s what you don’t know that can be most dangerous. As a direct selling executive, your knowledge and compliance with the laws affecting direct selling will help you protect your company’s credibility now and in the future. But if you don’t have the legal savvy it takes to shelter your company, how will you know when there is a problem before it’s too late? Explore the legal realm with other non-lawyer, direct selling executives in this highly interactive session.