Direct Selling For Dummies. Ellsworth Belinda

Chapter 3 for a rundown on the three different direct sales models), gaining mastery and building your business so that it provides a steady, reliable income take time. In Network Marketing, people often give up too soon, because their small initial checks make them feel unsuccessful. In Party Plan and Hybrid, a lack of patience often leads to frustration because achieving a rhythm of parties booked and getting better at consistently running them will take time, as well. People do get better at the activities of their businesses, but there is no substitute for practice – and practice takes time.

      Patience is also helpful in your interactions with customers and prospects. Statistically speaking, it takes seven exposures before someone makes a buying decision. Learning to feel calm during this process can be a great help.

      

The yes you’re looking for can feel like it takes a long, long time. The more you practice some detachment to the outcome and just stay the course and maintain patience, the more enjoyable your business will be.

Interpersonal skills

      You should have a desire to build relationships with others, including your new contacts, party guests, hosts, team members, and recruit leads. The better you are at working with others and building relationships, the farther you’ll go in any business, and the better results you’ll experience.

      

When you put relationships first, business follows naturally – sometimes directly, and sometimes through referrals.

Presentation skills

      In Party Plan and Hybrid, you’ll do not only product presentations, but also presentations designed to encourage others to become party hosts and team members.

      

The key to great presentations is to be brief. The primary reason people attend an in-person home party is to socialize with their friends – shopping while they do it is an added bonus.

      You can review a standard party plan presentation in Chapter 9. Practice is key when it comes to presentation skills.

      And though it is true that the Network Marketing model relies on tools to make these presentations, as you build a team you’ll be called on more to present to groups. You’ll also present over the phone to your team member’s prospects. Developing solid presentation skills is valuable in that model, too.

Ability to recognize buying cues

      To succeed, it helps greatly if you’re able to recognize small, tell-tale signs that someone is interested in exploring opportunities to purchase, join your team, or host a party. Often, people won’t directly ask for more information on hosting or joining the business. Instead, they may simply lean in to listen intently as you mention a benefit. Or they may ask you about how much time you spend on your business or how much money can be earned. Sometimes, the clue is as subtle as offering to help you collect your demonstration products and put them in your car, connect with you on social media, or even just sit next to you at a luncheon.

      

In general, when someone gives you a conversation opener, they are exhibiting interest. And, as tempting as it is to let all your enthusiasm show, you’ll find that your best results occur when you give small pieces of information in an upbeat manner and avoid overwhelming them.

Customer care

      More of a scheduled habit than a skill, this is crucial, nonetheless. Each month, or at least every other month, you should contact your customers and ask how you can serve them. What you’re also doing is reading their temperature. Start these conversations by asking how they’re enjoying the products they purchased. In following months, offer them products they may be interested in for themselves or for upcoming holidays. At least twice a year, offer them the opportunity to earn free or discounted products by hosting a fun party for their friends.

      

These periodic conversations keep you connected to your customers and provide them the opportunity to share their product testimonials with you, express interest in your income opportunity, or provide you referrals.

      Chapter 13 talks in detail about providing excellent customer care.

Technological aptitude

      You don’t need to be a computer geek, but companies are turning to technological solutions more and more. Currently that means e-commerce, mobile phone apps, and leveraging social media at the corporate level – and encouraging their independent representatives to do the same. They’re using apps, running webinars, and conducting online conferences. Some companies (most often in Hybrid and Network Marketing) even boast that you can “work your business from your phone.” To keep up, you’re going to need to plug in and connect online. See Chapter 11 for more on how to run a successful online business.

Commitment to personal development

      Efforts to build your vision, become a better communicator, and develop a more patient personality all fall under personal development. An essential part of your job in direct sales is to improve your attitude, resilience, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills.

      

You’ve got to realize that, although the time spent developing these skills may not appear to have an immediate or direct impact on your business, it makes a significant difference in your experience and your results. Reading books, listening to motivational audio, and seeking out additional training will all help with your personal development.

      I always laugh at the idea of a child walking into a stable filled with manure and gleefully shouting, “I know there’s a pony in here somewhere!” I laugh because life usually trains that optimism out of us. Personal development is a simple way to put it back in. Whether it’s a magazine article on how someone overcame the odds to achieve a dream or a podcast that helps bring to mind principles you already know, personal development material really does remind you that good things happen when you don’t give up.

      Surrounding yourself with people you want to be like and observing them will improve your skills. Each day is new, regardless of what you did or didn’t do yesterday, and you get to start fresh.

      

Be persistent, be patient, help others, keep an open mind, develop a positive attitude, and you will go far!

      Different Ways to Work Your Business

      One of the most exciting aspects of direct selling is the flexibility and variety of options that are available. In fact, you should use several different methods of touching your business and generating new contacts. (By touching, I mean interacting with.) The more different things you try, the more you’ll create a broad base of profit that will sustain you – and the more you’ll appeal to a broader number of prospective team members. Conduct business in multiple ways, and you’ll be presenting options that appeal to the desires of prospects who may not be exactly like you.

      I urge you to choose a few favorite methods from the options given in this section and try them. Keep the others in the back of your mind. Then if a day comes when new leads are decreasing, or you need more bookings, you can revisit the options for ideas of other ways you can expand your business.

Live presentations and home parties

      When people get to attend a party and interact with other guests, they experience that great energy that comes from people having a good time together. The right balance of fun, the excitement of seeing friends make similar purchases, the information provided in the brief presentation, and the added bonus of your expert advice all combine to create the social proof mentioned earlier in the chapter. Social proof can create stronger sales, result in more bookings, and even make recruiting new team members easier. In my experience, holding parties regularly results in higher sales and recruiting numbers.

Trade shows and vendor events

      Trade