About General Incorporated Association National Association for Direct Selling and Distribution
Direct selling becomes possible only when inseparable two “product quality” and “humanity” get together.
Direct selling (person-to-person selling with explanatory information) deals with various products including health food, cosmetics, health-care equipment, bedding, water activator/purifier, air filtration system, negative ion emitter, beauty instrument, teaching materials, controlling under garment, solar power system, all-electric house, housing improvement etc. Oral explanation is effective to make consumers understood the quality of products and services that companies have created with their whole heart.
In so doing, customers will not buy the product unless the elucidator does not have enough information on the product. However, the customer minds do not move only by the information. It is normal that a sales contract won’t be concluded unless the customer does not feel humanity behind the talk.
Direct selling is a process where both good quality of product or service and humanity of the sales person are required. We support the progress of direct selling business and improvement of customer’s health, beauty, and happiness through selling activity with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction.
Message from the President
We focus on customer consultation services and legal instruction.
Types of direct selling include multilevel marketing, sales made through advertising seminars, telemarketing, door-to-door sales etc. Commonality among these types of direct selling is that they deal with new products or services related to health, beauty, environment or housing education and that customer facing is made through face-to-face so that the customers can sign the sales contract with full understanding and satisfaction. In order to increase consumer satisfaction, it is important to achieve an early resolution of the customer complaint. We plan two measures to reduce the development of consumer affairs.
One is so called “downstream measures” that are operated through customer service representative. We have established a customer service representative with staffs experienced in consumer correspondence. We are providing consultations 7 days a week reaching 2000～3000 consultations a year. By moving at an early stage, we are trying to solve the problem that is hard to call customer service representative of the company’s main office for the sensitive matter reluctant to consult with the sellers or their group leaders. In addition, we also offer a data system that allows accumulating the content of the consultation and analyzing them by the individual company.
The other is so called “upstream measures” that are achieved by legal instructions. We assist to improve the skills of leaders and staffs by teaching them the point of related laws and regulations such as Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as well as the social meaning of the existence of direct selling and the importance of the growth of personality in order to increase customer’s satisfaction level. We support your company’s continuation of sound development through these services.
Profile of the association
| Company Name | General Incorporated Association National Association for Direct Selling and Distribution |
| Address | Aroma. Bldg. 4F, 5-2, Nihonbashi Kayabacho 3-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0025 Japan |
| Representative | Ichiro Kameoka, Chairman |
| Founded | February 1981 |
| Services Contents | Planning and hosting of training course, various seminars on direct selling for vendors, business managers and sales staffs. Developing manuals of education and training as well as planning, instruction and implementation of educational courses for executives and employees. |
History of the association
| 1981 February | Established under the name of “Association for Research of Distribution about Minor Enterprises”. We began to accept MLM companies soon after established. |
| 1985 May | Renamed as “National Association for Direct Selling and Distribution” |
| 1999 April | Office moved to Kayabacho. |
| 1999 June | Total membership reached 50. |
| 2000 December | Network business committee was established. |
| 2006 August | Total membership reached 100. |
| 2006 October | Consumer consultation office opened. |
| 2010 July | Newsletter magazine “Direct selling association magazine” launched. |
| 2011 August | The society was incorporated as “General Incorporated Association”. |
| 2011 October | Office moved. Seminar by each department started. |
| 2012 March | Logo was established. |
| 2014 February | Regular membership has reached 135 companies (60 are MLM companies) |
| 2022 November | Regular membership has reached 145 companies (78 are MLM companies) |
Education of Direct Selling
Direct selling education
We aim to support sales staff and sales person by encouraging them to reinforce a sense of compliance and also to have pride in their work. This will be achieved by understanding the point of related laws and regulations such as Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as well as the social meaning of the existence of direct selling.
Certificate of direct selling education
We have been conducting direct selling education since 1982. We conduct it by company. We issue a certificate for the students who finished the course (business card size). It is renewed every three years.
Use of the certificate
When a member provide explanation to a newly induced member about the company and merchandise, the elucidator can present the certificate to clarify the name of the company, the name of the merchandise, the selling purpose. Article 33 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
Content of a course
| Course fee | ¥8,000 per person (including fees for textbook and certificate) |
| Course hour | 4 hours |
| Textbook | “Guide book for Act on Specified Commercial Transactions” “Pharmaceutical Affairs Act for sales person” “Q&A for Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act” “What is network business (MLM)?” |
- Conditions for holding a course: Over 40 new participants are necessary to hold a course.
Instructor’s transportation and accommodation fee will be incurred by the association. In case the number of participants is less than 40, all of these costs will be charged to the hosting company. ) - Schedule：Either weekdays or weekends.
- Target of the course: Both company staffs and selling person/business leaders.
- Eligibility for participation: Participants must be a member of the association.
Membership application guide
■Full Member Services & Benefits
We provide following services to full-membership companies of National Association for Direct Selling and Distribution.
- You can have your legal documents, product literature, homepage checked if they have any violations against the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions, Act on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.
- We hold seminars, study sessions, and consultative meetings for different business categories as needed. We support upskilling of company staff by providing timely industry information.
- You can use our own consumer consultation service. ※To be described later
- You can take lectures for the acquisition of master’s qualification which is required to be a qualified leader of a mentoring program of direct selling education (legal instruction for salesperson) and compliance. ※To be described later
- You can receive consultation for individual issue that the company has a trouble to decide such as an aggravated consumer trouble and offer effective solutions. We can introduce experts as needed such as lawyers who specialize in the area of the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions or Act on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices to support reaching an amicable solution.
■Entry requirements & the Fee
It requires following conditions and board approval.
◎Membership fee: \30,000 (tax-free) for enrollment. \36,000 (tax-free) per month, billed trimonthly.
◎Major entry requirements:
- A member company needs to be a business operator defined in the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and in compliance with the provisions of the law.
- You must have an appropriate legal document or a legal document in preparation directed to the business commencement.
- Company’s lines of business must be for home use and not professional use or investment products for speculative purpose.
- You must have board approval on your application.
■About our consumer service helpdesk.
We have set up our own customer service helpdesk staffed by certified professional consumer counselors. We receive consumer’s consultation and complaint such as “hard to say to my superior or company, but feeling unhappy” or “cooling-off period is over, but want to have something done” or “I have used the product, but want to return it” and lead to a swift resolution in collaboration with the company’s person in charge. When a consumer complaint emerged, it is crucial to solve the problem swiftly in the early stages.
◎Service hours
Mon. through Fri.: 10:00～12:00／13:00～21:00
Sat. and Sun.: 10:00～12:00／13:00～16:00 ※No service on holidays
◎How to use our service
We provide your company with “guidance leaflet for the use of our helpdesk”. Handing out the leaflet to the sales persons of your company or to the purchaser at around the time of signing contract will help them to find the way of using our helpdesk for the inquiry and complaints. We have guidance leaflets separately for different business categories. We can accept inquiries through the form of e-mail.
◎Number of staff: 9(As of January, 2024)
◎The fee structure
The following fee will be charged separately from the monthly fee. The fee depends on the condition as follows. It is billed trimonthly as with the membership fee.
| Annual sales scale | Charge for use of the service | Number of leaflets for distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 3 hundred million yen | ¥19,800 (including tax) per month | Up to 800 per month |
| 3～7 hundred million yen | ¥47,300 (including tax) per month | Up to 2,400 per month |
| Over 7 hundred million yen | ¥69,300 (including tax) per month | Up to 4,000 per month |
Fee for the database-mediated environment settings: 22,000 yen (Only for first use). All prices include tax.
This setting fee will not be charged if you apply for the consultation services at the time of joining.
■Direct selling education
We aim to support sales staff and sales person by encouraging them to reinforce a sense of compliance and also to have pride in their work. This will be achieved by understanding the point of related laws and regulations such as Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as well as the social meaning of the existence of direct selling.
◎Certificate of direct selling education
We have been conducting direct selling education since 1982. We conduct it by company. We issue a certificate for the students who finished the course (business card size). It is renewed every three years.
◎Use of the certificate
When a member provide explanation to a newly induced member about the company and merchandise, the elucidator can present the certificate to clarify the name of the company, the name of the merchandise, the selling purpose. Article 33 of Act on Specified Commercial Transactions
◎Content of a course
| Course fee | ¥8,000 per person (including fees for textbook and certificate) |
| Course hour | 4 hours |
| Textbook | “Guide book for Act on Specified Commercial Transactions” “Pharmaceutical Affairs Act for sales person” “Q&A for Act on Specified Commercial Transactions and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act” “What is network business (MLM)?” |
- Conditions for holding a course: Over 40 new participants are necessary to hold a course.
Instructor’s transportation and accommodation fee will be incurred by the association. In case the number of participants is less than 40, all of these costs will be charged to the hosting company. - Schedule：Either weekdays or weekends.
- Target of the course: Both company staffs and selling person/business leaders.
- Eligibility for participation: Participants must be a member of the association.