4 Pillars of Direct Sales Success

In all my years as a consultant, coach and trainer, the one thing I’ve NEVER heard anyone say is this:

“When I was a kid, I always dreamed of becoming a direct sales consultant.”

I’m still waiting for that day.

The reality is that nearly every single direct sales professional comes into this industry because it is a means to achieve something else.

• Paying for a child’s college education
• Getting out of debt
• Having some extra spending money, or to just make ends meet
• Earning a few vacations (all expenses paid, of course)

And yet few direct sellers understand that when they sign on the dotted line, they are actually going into business for themselves. You have just started your very own business! Now you have a whole new set of challenges:

Be Booked Solid for 90 Days

Direct Sellers have been taught for years to “book in close” and keep your calendar full for the next two weeks. We use phrases like “21 up” and “3-2-1″ to keep focused on the short-term goal of keeping this month’s calendar full.

It’s killing your business.

Host Coaching Success: Text and Mobile Marketing

Direct sales consultants often complain that they don’t want to appear “pushy”. This is the number one reason they use for not staying in frequent contact with their hosts.

Their reasoning makes sense at a certain level. How would you feel if someone were to call you every other day for two weeks? No wonder consultants have this sneaking feeling that they’re being pushy. If you called me every other day, I’d think you were pushy, too.

It’s time for a contact revolution.

I believe Victor Frankl said it was important to meet people where they are. Instead of calling and leaving message after message, consider sending a text.

Text coaching is becoming a popular method for direct sellers to reach hosts and get their message through.

One client indicated that her hosts were more responsive to text messages because they were short, sweet, and she always had her cell phone with her – even if she couldn’t always answer the phone.  Voice mails may pile up or get deleted, but a text message seems to slip in under the radar at a time when direct sales consultants need it most.

Here are three tips to incorporate text messaging into your host coaching plan:

Direct Sales Tips: 5 Host Coaching Rules For Holidays

As the Holiday selling season rolls into full swing, I hear from clients even more about the biggest fear most direct sales consultants face: being pushy.

With your hosts being busier, it becomes even more important to stay in contact with them. Yet, time and again, consultants come to me asking about the best way to do it without appearing pushy.

Here’s the thing, hosts need you to stay in contact with them. You may be booking parties further out (and I hope you are!), which means if you want shows to hold, you need a contact plan to keep your hosts on track.

This is where most of you will fall down. It’s

In direct sales, the phrase “host coaching” has an ominous cloud around it. Frankly, a better word for it is host training.

I’ve learned in life (and in direct sales) that you train people how to treat you by the behavior you tolerate from them. Expect better to get better.

Here are 5 tips I use to help train my hosts in having the best show possible:

Direct Sales Tips for Holiday Show Success

Most direct sales consultants are rolling up their sleeves and heading “back to business” as their children head back to school.

Big mistake.

In truth, the holiday sales season is already in full swing, as parents are quickly filling their fall calendar with events, to-do’s, and other commitments that don’t include your direct sales business. It’s even more important now that you’re filling your calendar early, and host coaching often, in order to have successful holiday shows that stick.

Here are 5 quick tips to help you make the most of the holiday selling season that’s on now:

Direct Sales Success: The Fortune is NOT in the Follow-up

You’ve probably heard it time and again.

“The fortune is in the follow-up.”

Who ever said it first, could have been a billionaire if they only got a penny for every time someone said it.

And yet, they’ve only got it half right.

Follow-up is important, that’s true. But the real fortune is in the follow up system.

As I was working with a coaching client today, she explained to me that she spends approximately 6 hours a week doing follow-up calls, chasing down clients, consultants, and other leads in her direct sales business.

On a good day, the total income she can expect to earn for her efforts is approximately $200.

My Momma would call that “going out of the world backwards.”

You’re essentially LOSING money on your follow-up efforts. If you spent that same 6 hours doing two or three sales presentations, you could easily earn two to three times that amount of money.

This is exactly why consultants complain about the “hassle” of doing follow-up. It’s simply not cost effective.

Or so it would seem.