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Team Building

Who Cares How Many?

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I was recently apart of a conversation where a potential new direct sales consultant wanted to know some good questions she should be asking before she joins to represent a company.

I admire anyone who does research ahead of time and chooses a company and a sponsor wisely. It sets the foundation to a strong business. I’ve offered a number of questions to ask in this article: Selecting a Direct Sales Sponsor and also in More on Selecting a Direct Sales Company and Sponsor.

scentsy is not saturatedOne of the participants in the discussion responded that she would definitely ask “How may consultants there are in the area, as you’ll want to check for saturation.”

This is not the first time I’ve heard others voice that this should be an important question to get answered. However, my response to this is:

Who cares how many consultants there are in an area?

That number means nothing and tells you nothing about the current situation. In many cases saturation is a myth.

Back to the irrelevance of how many consultants there are in the area. What will that tell you? I know what it won’t tell you:

  • It won’t tell you how many of those consultants are kit collectors and aren’t selling anything.
  • It won’t tell you how many signed up for personal use.
  • It won’t tell you how many sell now and then to a few friends but aren’t actively doing anything to get new customers, hosts or recruits. [Read more…] about Who Cares How Many?

That’s it – I quit! Dealing with Direct Sales Frustrations

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fed up with direct salesFrustrated with your direct sales business or parent company? Then this post is for you.

You’ve probably heard all the cliches about the grass being greener on the other side and watering your own grass. There’s a popular quote, “Don’t let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.” This can also be reworded to “Don’t let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad business (or that you’re with the wrong direct sales company).”

The honest truth is that no one person, business or company is perfect. There’s no perfect spouse, no perfect house and certainly no perfect direct sales company.   It is also true that if you do due diligence you can find a pretty awesome spouse, house and direct sales company.

If you leave at the first sign of trouble then you weren’t really committed from the start. If you’ve had more than a few hiccups and you leave, then you may have unrealistic expectations. Note:  I am not referring to glaring and repeated failures or moral discord that you simply may not be able to ignore.

I’m specifically talking about some of the things you don’t like about your company. You can get frustrated and fed up and declare, “That’s it; I quit!” And you certainly can do that. But then you’ll just have to start over somewhere else.   And if you don’t see any warts in the beginning, you’ll eventually see them. Then how long will it be before you make the same declaration again and decide that you’ve had enough and quit? [Read more…] about That’s it – I quit! Dealing with Direct Sales Frustrations

Direct Sales Lessons Learned from MSU

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The staffers at Michigan State University can teach us a few things about direct sales.

Huh?   If you think I’m really stretching to find a correlation here, read on.

The MSU Spartans for eight years in a row have held the title of the Top Public University when it comes to Study Abroad involvement.   One quarter of their entire student body have participated in at least one Study Abroad experience. With 49,000 students, that’s a lot of people who said Yes to the opportunity.

Can you imagine if 25% of your team were business builders? Or if 25% of your team attended your annual convention or monthly meetings? Or if 25% participated in the corporate training modules offered freely to all consultants? How would your direct sales business look if 25% of all your hosts opted to enroll as a consultant? What if 25% of all your customers reordered each month?

The possibilities are endless if you consider a 25% success rate for all aspects of your independent direct sales business.  To put it in perspective, loose statistics for the direct sales industry is that 2% will hang in there to advance to top ranks. If you get 10% attendance of those you invite to parties or convention, you’re doing well.   Of those consultants who enroll 50% will quit within the first two years.

The Secret to MSU’s Success

[Read more…] about Direct Sales Lessons Learned from MSU

Active vs. Passive Recruiting

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active vs passive recruitingOne of the biggest challenges for some independent direct sales consultants is recruiting new team members.   This is in part because it requires getting out of their comfort zone, and building relationships with people.

In the age of technology, face to face dialogues are becoming less common in some circles.  The newer generation rarely talks on the phone, let alone meeting face to face. They’re more comfortable texting each other. It’s effective; but it’s also impersonal.

There are two type of recruiting activities that you can engage in for your direct sales business:

Passive and Active Recruiting

Passive would include activities such as marketing your website; blogging; social networking; posting flyers; and passing out business cards. Passive recruiting is good and necessary to build your business. However it comes with limitations. It will only take you so far if you’re not building personal relationships. Passive recruiting should be viewed as extra activities – not the only activities and not the core methods of building your team. [Read more…] about Active vs. Passive Recruiting

Are You Open for Business?

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open for business

Do your customers know you exist?

A few months ago a local small business closed. Not long after that we saw a construction crew in there remodeling for a new business to open in the same building. After a period a time there was new signage out front.   It was a tiny pet grooming salon. Yay! My hound dog always needs her nails trimmed.

Every time we drove past there was never any cars in the lot, nor did we see any lights on. It was a small corner building, so it appeared it could have easily been owned by a sole proprietor who worked limited hours. That’s not terribly uncommon with start-ups.   At some point a paper “Open” sign appeared in the window.

I’ll cut to the chase – it’s been months. Literally months, and I have never once seen the lights on or anyone inside and certainly no cars outside. This building is right up the street from me so I drive past it frequently. There aren’t any posted hours on the door either – just the paper OPEN sign. Yet it is never open. I have also never seen any kind advertising or marketing about the place.

This made me think about some independent consultants with their direct sales businesses.

People have to know you exist and know how and when to contact you before they’ll consider doing business with you.  You can’t just sign up, get a website and hope the customers will flock to you. [Read more…] about Are You Open for Business?