Five Concepts to Improve Your Salesmanship

Among all your various responsibilities as a direct seller, don’t forget that the life blood of your business comes down to sales. A product or service has to be sold in order for you to make money. Improving your salesmanship can take your business to the next level, whether you just signed on the dotted line yesterday, or have been doing this for years while creating a large downline. The list below will help strengthen your salesmanship.

1. Imagine yourself as the customer. By putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, you can avoid doing anything that might cause a rejection. You’ll also be able to tap into what a potential customer truly needs from you. If you were the customer, what would you need to know before making a purchase? What problem do you have that can be solved? How can you be sure the product is of high quality and value? Considering a different perspective of a sale will allow you to address concerns and emphasize relevant information.

2. Don’t shy away from talking about money. Most people, understandably so, feel uncomfortable talking about money in any specific way. Avoid giving the impression that you are one of them. Discuss any financial talk in a straightforward, matter-of-fact way, and answer any questions honestly, thoroughly, and without hesitation. Potential customers are always wary of being taken advantage of, so demonstrate that you have nothing to hide and truly want to provide a valuable product or service to them. Talking about money is a necessary step toward closing a sale.

3. Take your time and be overly prepared. Do some research ahead of time to prepare for a sale. Who is the potential customer? Find out some background information to incorporate into your presentation. For example, your hostess has told you that most of her guests are her colleagues, mostly teachers and teachers’ aides. Ask some questions about the school, what subjects/ grade levels the guests teach, and what they might be looking for at that night’s party. Your customers will appreciate your attentiveness and interest in their lives and will be in tune to your desire to fulfill a need. Think of the time spent preparing as an investment in your business.

4. Be truly curious about your customer. If you aren’t genuine about helping others, it won’t take long for the customer to figure that out. Accept that truly caring about what a customer wants or needs is the key to earning trust and respect. Ask questions, listen carefully, and respond appropriately to the individual. No one is interested in a generic pitch, so adopt a curiosity that will benefit both you and the customer.

5. Always follow up promptly and thoroughly. Whether the sale is made or not, follow up with the customer in a timely manner. If the sale was made, find out if the person is satisfied with the purchase and what you can do if there is a complaint. If the sale wasn’t made, contact the person anyway to thank him or her for taking the time to speak with you. Following up consistently is a skill that will serve you well both personally and professionally.

It’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable playing the “salesperson” role, but adopting the concepts mentioned above will greatly improve your selling ability. What would you add to our list? Please share your ideas below.

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Three Quick Tips to Improve Your Team

Once you’ve invested a great deal of time and effort into building your team, the next step is to invite success by helping them improve as individuals and as a whole. By doing so, everyone wins. Each member of your team will find individual business success and will be able to pass that on to his/her downline as well. When this happens, the financial benefits increase. In today’s post, we’ve selected three steps you can take right away to improve your team and subsequently grow your business.

Help each person focus on his/her goal and future. Chances are that each person on your team has a different goal. Sally might just want to work a few nights a month and make enough to pay for her daughter’s dance lessons, while Jill, who recently lost her job due to downsizing, is determined to make her direct sales business a full-time job with a full-time income. Sally and Jill’s goals couldn’t be more different, so make sure that as a leader, you help them focus on the individual goal. Doing so will make it more real, and they will have sincere motivation because it comes from something they truly desire. Help each person visualize achieving the goal and define what needs to be done to get there.
Provide mini workshops so they can learn new skills. As with most industries, direct sales is always changing and adjusting to meet the needs of its customers. Stay on top of industry trends, changes from the corporate office, and even newly created techniques for closing a sale or signing a recruit. Teach a mini-workshop or hold a training call if possible once a month to teach your team new skills. Professional development not only helps the individual improve a business, but it also refreshes people’s ambition and determination to succeed. Choose a different topic each time, make a brief presentation, do a Q & A, and then provide a call to action for your downline to put the information to use. As an added incentive, follow up at the next workshop with invitations for your team to share their successes and perhaps earn a small reward.
Rally around a cause to bring your team together. It is easy to get caught up in one’s own needs and responsibilities when working in direct sales, so find a cause that requires your team to work together. Cooperation and collaboration fosters an environment of camaraderie and creates a culture of support among colleagues. For example, a local family is raising money to pay for the medical bills of a sick child. Aside from donating a basket of goodies to be raffled off at the fundraiser, a direct sales team leader called on each of her members in the area to attend the event with a guest from outside the industry. For those not in the area or simply unable to go to the fundraiser, she called on them to find another way to contribute. She created a competition of sorts among other direct sales team leaders she knew. Her team was motivated not only for the cause of the fundraiser, but also to win out over the other direct sales teams participating. They were able to work together and contribute generously to a worthy cause; furthermore, they got a chance to know each other better, which guaranteed support for each other going forward.

It is said that a leader is only as good as his or her team. There are so many reasons to invest the time into making your team the best it can be, so don’t let this responsibility fall by the wayside. You will not only be helping your own business, but you will be making a difference in the lives of others by contributing to their successes.

What quick tips do you have for improving your team? Please share below!

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Four Quick Steps to Overcoming Mistakes

“You make mistakes. Mistakes don’t make you.” This quote by surgeon and author Maxwell Maltz speaks volumes about how to overcome your mistakes. We all make them in every aspect of our lives, but when you are self-employed, they can be especially devastating. Rather than dwelling on the mistake or pretending as if it never happened, here are four steps you can take right away to overcome your mistakes and keep moving forward.

1. Recognize that your ultimate goal is to improve and that mistakes are part of the learning process. No one is immune to making mistakes, and as someone who is always striving to better himself, embrace your mistake so you can learn from it. For example, a consultant new to her direct sales business, was asked by a customer if a particular pair of earrings was hypoallergenic. The consultant, instead of checking to be 100% certain, gave her best guess on the spot. She turned out to be wrong, causing the customer to complain about the product and return it for a full refund. The consultant was worried that she had made a bad impression on this customer and her friends from the party, but instead of letting it get the best of her, she realized that she is capable of overcoming this setback. It was surely a rookie mistake, and in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn’t make or break her business.

2. Find a way to rectify your mistake. The sooner you can do this, the better. Our jewelry consultant from the example above fixed her mistake by calling the customer to apologize for giving the wrong information, and also sent her a handwritten note with a $20 credit to use on a future order. She wanted the customer to know that she wasn’t a careless person, but that she was an honest businesswoman who made a beginner’s mistake. It was important for the customer to know that she truly wanted to rectify the situation. If at all possible, fix your mistake so that you can begin anew without the worry of a previous error.

3. Forgive yourself. People in direct sales businesses are naturally ambitious and motivated to succeed. Because of this, we can sometimes be our own worst critics. Although it is good to hold yourself to a high standard, cut yourself some slack when you make a mistake. If you spend too much time beating yourself up about it, you won’t be able to get past it and possibly won’t be able to enjoy what you do. Forgive yourself so you can rebuild your confidence and move forward.

4. Give yourself an opportunity to vent your frustrations and express your emotions. It is unhealthy for you to keep your emotions bottled up. Confiding in a close friend or relative about how you are feeling or writing in a journal can be quite therapeutic. You’ll likely feel much better after venting and you can then continue to move ahead.

Mistakes are inevitable in any endeavor, so rather than letting them define you, embrace them by learning, improving, forgiving yourself, and moving on. You will be more successful in the long run if you do.

How do you overcome your mistakes? Please share your comments below!

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Six Telltale Signs You Found a Leader

Surrounding yourself with successful people plays a large role in your business success. An effective leader can mentor, motivate, and inspire you to do great things. You can likely look back on your years in school and identify a teacher or two who did any or all of those things for you. What did you achieve during your time with that teacher? The same goes for the real world of entrepreneurship. When looking for leaders to add to your circle and your business, here are some qualities to look for

The person gets things done. Not only can she be relied upon to keep her word, but she finds the most efficient way to meet her responsibilities. You can learn from people who maximize their time in such a way, as it allows them to accomplish more and to do it faster.
He/she has good social skills and is likeable. Most leaders have a natural way of relating to others and possess a certain amount of charisma. Others enjoy being around them, and they make for good company in both their professional and personal social lives. This likeable quality helps them earn respect and trust from their colleagues. Someone who can understand and relate to others can more easily lead those folks to achieve success.
A leader wants to achieve more. A leader never stops raising the bar. This person seeks continual improvement, and in turn leads others to do the same. In business, this benefits everyone. If each person in your upline is motivated to achieve more and passes that inspiration and knowledge on to you, you will achieve and continue it on to your downline. It is almost instinctual for a leader to frequently assess his or her set of goals to achieve long-term success.
The person learns quickly. This requires a great amount of focus, good listening skills, and a willingness to try new things right away. The ability to learn quickly allows a leader to acquire and master a large amount of skills, providing versatility that will serve him/her well in all aspects of the business.
He/she is organized. Organization is crucial to maximize efficiency and make time for income-producing activities. For example, since tax time can be stressful, many people have adopted a system that they keep updated throughout the entire year. When April arrives, filing taxes is easy and can be done quickly and accurately. One direct seller recommends his system of keeping his receipts in order by type of purchase instead of by month, so reporting his deductions the right way is much easier. If organization is not your strong suit, look to these people for guidance.
A leader understands the power of working as a team. No one finds success without the help of others in some way. Every man for himself does not work in direct sales. Working as a team has the power to bring success to everyone involved, and a leader not only understands this concept, but knows how to facilitate collaboration to make this happen.

Consider these characteristics when deciding with whom to surround yourself and who to emulate. If you have a good leader in your midst, take his or her advice to heart and use that person as a role model for how to achieve your goals.

What are some qualities of the leaders in your life? Please share your comments below!

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What The Olympics Can Teach You About Business

With the Winter Olympic Games having recently come to an end, it brings to mind how much these athletes have truly achieved. How do you think they got to the Olympics? The gold medal figure skater and all of her competitors surely couldn’t perform even the simplest jump the first time they got on the ice, just as those skiers couldn’t attempt more than a bunny slope the first time they put on skis. Each one of them completed a series of small achievements that eventually led them to the Olympics. As a salesperson, you should be setting benchmarks for yourself as well, small achievements that lead to great results. Here are our top three picks that will help you achieve your business goals.

Find mentors to emulate. Who do you aspire to be like? Potential mentors could be people in your upline, or even in a completely different industry whose road to success is worthy of imitation. Identify your mentors’ work ethic, habits, education, or whatever it is that deems them worthy of your aspirations. If possible, talk with them about how you can achieve your goals by following in their footsteps. For example, if you are looking to transition from working your business “on the side” to making it your full-time job with a full-time income, an appropriate mentor would be someone who has done exactly that. Use the resources available to you in order to achieve your goals.
Make adjustments to your business and its direction as quickly as possible based on facts and results. When things aren’t going well or as you had planned, take a step back and analyze why this may be happening. As soon as you realize that you need to make a change, consult with mentors and use the information you have to adjust. For example, if you find that you are not booking enough future hostesses at each party, identify what it is about your presentation that may be lacking. Test out a new approach, review the results, and adjust if necessary. There is no sense in repeating an action that fails to deliver your desired outcome.
Build a strong foundation for your business by avoiding shortcuts. Your business must be built on ethical business practices, knowledge of your product and company, a desire to improve via professional development, and a commitment to representing your company and serving customers to the best of your ability. If you take shortcuts in any way, your business will suffer. When your upline conducts regional workshops once a month, asking a colleague for a brief summary instead of attending yourself is a shortcut. Make it a priority to attend, listen to what is being taught, incorporate relevant matters into your business, and always strive for improvement. You cannot expect success without hard work. The positive side is that by putting in the work and avoiding such shortcuts, you are more likely to rise above the fray and meet your goals more quickly.

With each benchmark that you meet, you are one step closer to realizing your dreams. Furthermore, such benchmarks help you stay focused, which is critical when your goals are long-term. What do you think about our benchmarks? What would you add to our list? Please share your ideas below!

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How to Get Out of a Slump

The natural ebb and flow of a career in direct sales will include the occasional slump. This rut of sorts could occur in any aspect of your business and for any number of reasons, but the important thing to remember is that as long as you have a strategy in place to get out of it, it is only temporary. Take a look at our ideas for getting out of a slump and moving forward with your business.

Start with a basic goal and revise often. The first step is to create a goal that is simple, does not take too long to complete, and is realistically attainable. For instance, if you find yourself in a sales slump, it may simply be because you’ve been going through the motions of the same sales presentation for too long. A simple and basic goal would be to implement one new element into your sales presentation and present it at least three times. This is a basic goal that is concrete and easily achieved. However, don’t stop there. Revising often is the key to making this strategy work. If, for example, after your three presentations you see no improvement, revise your goal. That could mean implementing something new into a different part of your presentation, or perhaps taking more initiative to ask for the sale. Revising your goal frequently will help renew your motivation to find a way out of your slump.
Create goals with predictable outcomes. There are many aspects of a career in direct sales that we cannot control, so when creating goals, try to choose those that have little room for guesswork. Even though you can’t predict the outcome of your next home party, you can predict the outcome of attending your company’s monthly training sessions. You know that you will always learn something new about your product line, a game to add to your presentation, or even an innovative approach to recruitment. Focus on what is guaranteed, and choose goals that will set you up for success.
Reward success and penalize failure. Self-discipline is a staple of being your own boss, so be strict about how you react to success and failure. This really works when you choose reinforcement tactics that will truly motivate you to get out of your slump. Figure out what you enjoy and how it can be used for reinforcement. If you’re a person who loves movies, focus your rewards and penalties around them. Did you exceed your goal for number of hostesses who committed to parties in one night? Time for a trip to the movies! Did you let go of a sale without asking all the right questions? Put down the remote tonight. Hold yourself accountable in meaningful ways, and be consistent to pull yourself out of your slump.

Getting out of a slump has as much to do with your mindset as it does with your actions. Commit to making real change by implementing these strategies until you are back on track. Only you can determine your success, so take control and keep moving forward on the path to achieving your goals.

Have you ever experienced a slump? What has worked for you to get out of it? Please share your ideas below!

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Ten Tips for Leaders

Ten Tips for Leaders

Whether you are a seasoned direct sales leader in your company with a large downline or are just starting out as a consultant, it helps to adopt the qualities of an effective leader. For existing leaders, possessing these characteristics can help you maintain a profitable business. For direct sales novices, strengthening your leadership skills will improve your customer service as well as prepare you for any future aspirations you have for a leadership position within your company. Here are our top ten tips for being a good leader.

Put people first. It isn’t always about the money. Putting people first is not only the right thing to do, but in the long run, it will contribute to your developing a good reputation as a reliable, trustworthy business person. For example, a consultant doing a home party booked several future parties with the incentive for those potential hostesses to have their own parties within the next three months. In doing so, the present hostess was able to receive a bonus in her rewards. When one of the potential hostesses had to back out due to a conflict, the consultant had to choose between rescinding the bonus for the original hostess or work to re-book the lost party. She decided it would be better for her business in the long run if she thought about her customers first; she kept her word, rewarded the bonus, and gained a loyal customer.
Work cooperatively with others. In any sales career, you will likely interact with all different kinds of people. It is important to find common ground and cooperate to maximize your productivity. This goes for customers and colleagues alike, and it sets a good example for those in your downline.
Maintain high positive energy. It’s normal to feel stressed or burned out once in awhile, but maintaining a high level of energy and positivity will work wonders for your own morale. Remind yourself why you started your business, what you love about it, and why you want to continue. Be your own best cheerleader; it will go far in helping to motivate others looking to you for guidance.
Set clear goals. Any goals dealing with your business should be clear, specific, and challenging but realistic. Setting a goal “to make enough money to quit my full time job” is well-intended, but it could set you up to fail. It makes no mention of just how much money that would require or the timeframe involved to complete it. Decide exactly what you want and how you will go about achieving your goal to set yourself up for success.
If you can’t measure it, don’t do it. Trying to accomplish a goal with no concrete way of measuring its completion will only bring you a lot of frustration. Part of what keeps us motivated is the knowledge that we are heading in the direction of accomplishment, but if you don’t know exactly what that looks like, then how will you know when you get there?
Share your power with your people. Have you ever seen a movie you enjoyed so much that you can’t wait for your friends to see it too? That feeling of wanting others to share in your enthusiasm should play a big role in your business. You’ve mastered a certain set of skills that are bringing you great success; share how you do it with others. People under your leadership want to learn.
Lead with action more than words. If you tell people one thing, but do another, you will lose your credibility. Words mean nothing when accompanied by actions that don’t match. Do what you say to earn and keep others’ trust in you.
Use common sense. This is especially important when faced with a difficult decision. In the example of the consultant mentioned above, she was well within her rights to rescind her original hostess’s bonus. However, common sense told her that this would be unfair to the hostess who would likely express her frustration to her friends who were at the party. By following common sense, she avoided a tense situation and gained a loyal customer.
Keep it simple, and don’t sweat the small stuff. When things get complicated, break them down into simple terms. There will always be obstacles, but be sure to pick your battles and don’t get bogged down with trivial things.
It’s business, but make it fun! The wonderful thing about a career in direct sales is the flexibility it brings in allowing you to make the business your own. Add your own personal flair to your sales pitch, your professional development workshops, and your opportunity presentations. Find what makes you happy and integrate the fun stuff into your business. Your enjoyment will rub off on those around you.

Taking on a leadership role may or may not come naturally to you, but adopting certain qualities will definitely improve your effectiveness. What do you think of our list? Would you add anything else? Please share your ideas below!

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How to Create an Effective Quick Sales Pitch

How to Create an Effective Quick Sales Pitch

As a direct seller, you will likely come across the opportunity to talk about your product or service outside the normal home party environment. Perhaps a friend or relative asks you about it, or an acquaintance making small talk asks what you do for a living. In situations such as these, it is a great idea to have a quick sales pitch prepared in your head that you can use when needed. This should be a very brief version of your normal pitch, one which touches on the major highlights of your product or service. When creating this quick sales pitch, focus on the following topics.

How can your product/service help solve a problem? Some products make answering this question easy, such as fashionable organization systems sold by companies such as Thirty-One Gifts or Initials, Inc. These products solve the problem most people have of needing to organize and store their possessions in their homes, offices, and cars. Other products might not have such an obvious answer, but it surely is there. Look to your upline and corporate leaders for guidance about how to best convey what problem your product line solves for its customers.
How and why is it better than the rest? Your product undoubtedly has quite a bit of competition not only from other direct sales companies, but also from its retail counterparts. What makes your product stand out? In the case of Thirty-One’s fashionable storage solutions, their consultants emphasize unique features such as the option to personalize their products, coordinating patterns across product types, and the company’s commitment to giving back. Put together just a sentence or two to be included in your pitch that clearly explains why your product is best.

How is it a great value for the price? Value can be determined in a variety of ways, but consider level of quality, product versatility, and company-backed guarantee. It helps to also be prepared with knowledge of your competitor’s determination of value, so as to educate a potential customer. When inquiring about hosting a Mary Kay makeover party, a young bride-to-be mentioned that she was also considering taking her bridesmaids to an appointment at a department store makeup counter. The Mary Kay consultant was quickly able to give her some reasons why choosing a department store limits her options for variety, pricing, personalization, and convenience. Being prepared with this knowledge beforehand allows you to talk up your product and your company to anyone at any time.

After putting the finishing touches on your quick pitch, practice it often so it comes across naturally, like a casual conversation. Recruit some friends or family members to rehearse with, perhaps role-playing different scenarios in which your quick sales pitch is just what you need. As a direct seller, you should be ready and willing to discuss your product and opportunity in a moment’s notice. The effective quick sales pitch is a great way to do this.

Have you ever been in a situation where a quick sales pitch would come in handy? Were you able to use one effectively? Please share your comments below!

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How to Determine Your Success

How to Determine Your Success

When you think about your goals in your professional life, does the word “success” come to mind? If so, what exactly does it mean to you? Success can be defined in countless ways, so it is important for you to determine just how you measure your own success. In doing so, you are creating a true motivational tool for yourself, a super-objective for your business, and the foundation of a plan to achieve that goal. Today’s post will focus on two ways for you to determine your own success; those are perseverance and passion.

Perseverance – Your commitment to staying the course no matter how difficult things become or what obstacles pop up along the way is a good indicator of perseverance. To really assess your level of perseverance, ask yourself this question and answer honestly: at what point will you give up? For many, the answer to that is “never,” others may have a definite breaking point, and still others fall somewhere in between. It is up to you to decide where you fall on that spectrum, what your goal is, and what you are willing to do to reach it. For example, a recently retired small business owner tells his story of how he decided to leave a very secure job as plant manager of a very large photo processing lab to open his own small lab and retail store. He sat down with his wife every night for weeks after the kids were in bed formulating a business plan and crunching the numbers. It became clear that if the business didn’t take off, they would lose their house and have to move to an apartment. Keeping this possibility in mind always helped him make smart decisions and persevere. Not only did he not lose his house, but he was able to buy a much bigger one in which to raise his family, send them all to college without loans, and kept a successful business for nearly thirty years. Without perseverance, none of that would have been possible.

Passion – Without passion and a love for what you are doing, there is no way you will be able to persevere and find long term success. Your passion will be what constantly drives you to make your business the best it can be. Ask yourself how strong your belief is in what you desire. Dig deep to find the answer to this very important question. The retiree from the example above recounts how passion played a large role in his successful small business career. He knew that he was the best in his field and had areas of expertise that could edge out competition. Seeing flaws in how others did things and knowing he could do them better always motivated him to seek improvement and resist shortcuts. His passion for his field of work and his desire to be the best were major contributors to his success.

Taking an honest assessment of your level of perseverance and passion is a critical step in determining your personal definition of success. These two elements go hand in hand, so don’t underestimate their importance.

What roles do perseverance and passion play in your professional life? Do you consider them crucial to success? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

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Find Your Purpose

Find Your Purpose

What is the main purpose of your business? Your answer should not be “to make money.” Of course, turning a profit and supporting yourself should rank pretty high up there, but it shouldn’t be the most important one. Small business expert Susan Solovic writes in her blog for Constant Contact that we should consider the purpose of companies like Apple and Zappos. They have an almost cult-like following because of what they are trying to accomplish with their products other than selling as many as possible. If you are having trouble finding your deeper purpose, take a look at our list of suggestions on where to begin.

Listen to your inner voice and hold off on asking others what they think. Before you start seeking opinions on what your purpose should be, tune into your inner voice for inspiration. You will no doubt be influenced at least partially by what others think, so define your purpose for yourself before asking around. Brainstorm some ideas, read up on the origins of other successful companies, and listen carefully to that inner voice we all have that helps us make decisions and think clearly. Once you have a definitive idea, then it’s time to gather opinions from others.

Follow what is exciting, not what is easy. In business, just as in life, the easy choice may not always be the best one. If you’ve ever read about the history of Apple Inc., you would see that Steve Jobs, on more than one occasion, did just that. He and his team continually spent a great deal of time and resources creating products that excited him. Many times, his investors didn’t believe in the idea or didn’t think it was worthy of pursuing. Keep in mind that because of Jobs’ tenacity and commitment to follow his passion for the exciting, Apple created more instant millionaires when it went public than any other company in history, and helped make Apple the brand it is today.

Tap into your instincts and emotions rather than logic. You obviously don’t want to ignore logic completely, but when finding the purpose for your business, your instincts should take over. Instincts and emotions are powerful enough to guide us to do great things. When faced with a difficult question or decision, listen carefully to your initial gut reaction. This does not mean to act impulsively, but rather to let that gut feeling lead the way on your journey. Keep listening to it as you conduct research, bounce ideas off others, and take any other logical steps toward making the final call. For many hard-working and ambitious people, this is not always the easiest thing to do, but it certainly is important if you want to find your true purpose that drives you toward success.

When finding your purpose, you don’t have to set out to change the world. You only have to do what makes you passionate, what motivates you, and what excites you. This is one time in business where your emotions should dominate.

What have you done to find your purpose? Would you add to our list? Please share your ideas in the comments section below!