Use this as a pre-demo checklist when comparing commission / back-office platforms for a party-plan or direct selling brand.
Ask for
- Genealogy and rank/volume rules that match how you actually pay
- Hostess, show, kit, and booking flows (not only DTC checkout)
- Consultant-facing commerce and mobile field UX
- Reporting your home office will trust weekly
- Migration path, data export, and cutover risk
- Compliance posture on earnings claims tooling and disclosures
Write scorecards before you sit through demos. Prefer primary docs over vendor slides.
Questions to bring to each demo
- Show a real show from booking to close: host credit, half-price items, booking bonus, and the order totals that feed commissions.
- Run one of your current pay periods through the system with your own sample data, and compare the result to what you paid.
- Change a comp plan rule live. How long does it take, who can do it, and is it versioned?
- Export the full genealogy and order history. What format, and does it cost extra?
- How do returns and cancels claw back commissions and host rewards?
- What does the consultant see on a phone, and what can a host see?
Compliance features worth checking The FTC's guidance on multi-level marketing says compensation should be driven by real sales to customers, and earnings claims must reflect typical results. Ask whether the platform can separate customer sales from consultant self-purchases in reporting, and whether it can produce the numbers you need for an income disclosure statement. If you are a member of the Direct Selling Association, check the platform against the inventory and buyback terms in the DSA Code of Ethics.
Before you sign
- Get the full fee schedule: setup, per-consultant or per-transaction fees, payout fees, and change requests.
- Ask for two references that run a party-plan comp plan with shows and host rewards.
- Agree on who owns the data and how you get it back if you leave.
Related reading: anatomy of a comp plan, hostess rewards 101, and the margin after commissions calculator. Back to the directory.