In contrast to traditional direct sales, where sales representatives are employed by a company, the multi-level marketing model uses freelance distributors who work full- or part-time. Most of these recruits are satisfied customers themselves, who are offered bonuses, favorable purchase conditions, and high commissions. The idea behind multi-level marketing is to use the distributors’ personal networks for targeted referral marketing, according to the principle: “You’re more likely to believe a friend than an advertising agency.”
Independent distributors are often better brand ambassadors than celebrities are. Like micro-influencers in online marketing, distributors in MLM influence their friends. Word of mouth is as important as it is in influencer marketing or viral marketing.
The term multi-level marketing refers to the different levels within the pyramid-like organizational structure. The company’s sales manager has a small team of salaried employees who recruit freelance distributors, who in turn recruit new partners.
When a distributor makes a sale, they receive a commission. The person who recruited the distributor also receives a partial commission, and their sponsor also gets a percentage of the sale. This principle continues all the way up to the top of the pyramid. Even the CEO should receive a portion of the commission in addition to the actual value of the goods. As a result, distributors at higher levels often generate more income from the commissions on the sales their recruits make than they do from their own sales.
Unlike the hierarchies in a traditional company, the levels in a multi-level marketing model only govern how commissions are shared. Distributors at higher levels have no managerial authority over participants at lower levels. Many distributors are very happy with this flat hierarchy because they feel they have more direct contact with senior management. However, distributors in a multi-level marketing company face much higher entrepreneurial risks than salespeople in traditional direct sales jobs, as commissions are usually their sole source of income.
Most distributors in MLM organizations are highly motivated, even though they often have no formal business training and only receive product and sales training through the company. In most cases, companies use two standard models for rewarding strong performance: Participants who are successful in recruiting new distributors will generate significant passive income through commissions. Successful sellers can also work their way up the ladder and earn higher commissions.