The Silent Killer of Momentum in Network Marketing (And Why Most Companies Won’t Talk About It)

OPINION | By Todd Falcone, The Fearless Networker®

Let me get right to it.  

People aren’t leaving your company because of the product.  They aren’t bailing because the product is no good or too expensive.  

They’re not leaving because the comp plan pays a few bucks less than the one next door.  Most comp plans pay within relatively similar percentages points of each other.  

And most of them aren’t even leaving because they “don’t want it bad enough.”  They signed up because they WANTED to win.  They DO want it.  

They’re leaving because of one thing no one really wants to talk about:
Corporate misalignment with the field.

I’ve been in this profession for over 35 years. I’ve built big teams. Sold tens of millions in product. Trained top earners. Worked with company owners. Watched the inside of boardrooms and the grind of the field.  I’m not going to say I’ve seen it all…but I’ve seen and experienced most.  

And the thing I’ve seen time and time again:
Momentum dies when corporate stops listening.

The Disconnect That’s Costing You Millions

Distributors are in the trenches every day.

They’re the ones doing the Zooms, answering late-night texts, running events, closing deals, onboarding people, keeping the morale and enthusiasm high.  

When they give feedback and it gets ignored… when simple requests take months… when decisions get made in vacuum-packed boardrooms by people who haven’t recruited a soul in 15 years… they check out.

I’m not talking about owners or C-Suite people listening to literally every little complaint or issue someone has.  But…when owners don’t hear what their most active people are saying, it’s a major miss.  

The end result?  

They lose belief—not in network marketing, but in you.

And belief is the only real currency we have in this profession.  The moment someone has any doubt, they’re done.  I think both field leaders and corporate leaders ought to let that sink in deeply.  You cannot have people lose faith in you or you will lose them completely.  

Why Leaders Actually Leave

You might think your leaders are leaving because they got poached or someone waved a shiny new comp plan in front of them.  

Nope. That’s just the final straw.

What pushed them there was a slow erosion of trust:

• Promises made, but never fulfilled.
• Product issues swept under the rug.
• Broken onboarding systems.
• Leadership that’s reactive, not proactive.
• A culture that says, “We’ve got this,” while the field screams, “No, you don’t.”

And let’s not forget the ultimate killer:
Silence.

Silence when questions are asked.
Silence when issues arise.
Silence when people need leadership the most.

To the Corporate Side: Here’s What You Need to Hear

I’m saying this bluntly because someone needs to.

If you want to keep your top people…

• Close the gap. Make it a priority to be in constant communication with the field. Not once a month. Not through layers of bureaucracy. Directly.
• Get out of your bubble. If you haven’t prospected or enrolled someone this year, get on the phones. Do a few follow-ups. Feel what the field is dealing with before you make another decision.  Wear their shoes for a couple of days and you’ll likely change your tune.  
• Speed matters. In the field, a one-week delay feels like a quarter. In network marketing, time is either a multiplier or a destroyer. Slow action kills belief…and belief is all you’ve got.  
• Be transparent. Even if you don’t have the answer, say so. You’ll earn more trust admitting you’re working on it than pretending it’s all fine while the ship is leaking.

To the Field: Don’t Ignore the Signs

If you’re in the field and you feel the disconnect, don’t gaslight yourself into staying quiet “out of loyalty.”

Pay attention:

• Has the company stopped evolving?
• Are they dismissing or avoiding tough conversations?
• Are key people leaving and no one’s talking about it?
• Do you feel like you’re fighting them instead of fighting for your goals?

Your loyalty should be to your team, your family, your vision.

If you have to fight your own company to grow, it might be time to make a different kind of decision.

We Need a New Standard in This Profession

Network marketing has evolved.  The fundamentals have never changed, but the environment most certainly has. 

Leaders are smarter. The field moves faster. Technology shifts everything by the month.

What worked five years ago doesn’t work now.
What worked six months ago might already be broken.

We don’t need hype.
We don’t need “rah-rah.”
We need alignment.

The best companies will win because they stay close to the field and move with them.
The rest? They’ll keep wondering why they can’t keep leaders around for more than a season.

This profession is too damn good to be run poorly.
Let’s raise the bar—on both sides.

⭐ PRO TIP ⭐ Highly recommend you attend the Association of Network Marketing Professionals ANMP 2025 Convention in Dallas this month. It’s the one generic industry conference where you’ll see both field and corporate leaders together—learning from 50 top network marketing leaders, trainers and experts who are raising the bar in the profession this year. It’s where leaders level up.

About the Author:

Todd Falcone is a 35-year veteran of the network marketing profession. He’s built massive teams, spoken on stages around the world, and trained hundreds of thousands of distributors and leaders on how to succeed at the highest level. Known for his no-fluff, real-world approach, Todd is the founder of The Fearless Networker® and author of multiple best-selling training programs. Learn more at ToddFalcone.com.