Crickets on Your Call?

Guest Post by Melissa Dery

As a team leader, you know the value of having regular calls with your team: keeping them informed about promotions, inspiring them to take action with contests, and celebrating their achievements.  Even if –ESPECIALLY IF — your team is spread across the country, a regular conference call is a powerful tool to create community and support your team.

But I’ve heard of team leaders who have more crickets than team members on the other end of the line during those calls.  If that sounds familiar, I’m glad you’re here.  I’ve got a simple fix for you. 

Together Everyone Accomplishes More!

Guest Post:  Melissa Dery

Gratitude Is Always In Season

Guest post by Melissa Dery

The holiday season is upon us, and while this is the time of the year when people tend to acknowledge their customers more than any other, gratitude and appreciation can — and should — be expressed all year long.

The problem facing many business owners is that while they often feel appreciation, the work involved with actually letting people know takes time away from an already over-loaded schedule.  Finding just the right card, deciding what to write inside, addressing, stamping, (heck, some days even FINDING a stamp), sending it – the frustration involved with not being able to keep up prevents too many people from even getting started.  It’s easy to get discouraged and start beating up on yourself just thinking about the process.

What fun is that? 

Telling people that we value and appreciate them should feel good – to everyone involved.  The good news is there are a few systems that can make it easier.

My personal favorite, and the one I personally recommend is SendOutCards (I am an independent distributor).  This online system allows you to create personal cards, with pictures and even to your own handwriting font.   When you press “send” a real greeting card is printed, addressed, stamped and sent by “snail mail” to your recipient, from the company headquarters.   You never have to leave your office or lick a stamp!

Cards can be scheduled to go out on specific dates, a batch of cards can be sent to a group (for example: your Team or your Hostesses). You can even choose to include gifts such as books, gift cards, or brownies!

Best of all, if this still feels like too much time, a steep learning curve or you are not confident on the computer, your Virtual Assistant can create and schedule these cards to go out for you. That makes following up and staying in touch even easier!

Being able to follow through and actually share those encouraging words with others is a very powerful tool. Create a follow-up plan that includes showing your gratitude to your customers and team members. Not just during the holidays, but throughout the year.

About The Author

Melissa H. Dery is The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) providing Virtual Business Management to Direct Sales leaders.  A former direct sales consultant, Melissa also grew up in a direct selling family.  She knows first hand about the “behind the scenes” work required to help your business grow and prosper.

When Melissa combined more than 20 years of experience as an administrative professional with her desire support those in direct sales and The Golden Rule VA was born.  Her mission and her “rule” are the same: to treat your business as if it were her very own, with respect, creativity and professionalism.

Melissa is married to her best friend and lives in New Hampshire with her two boys.  She has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management and a “Ducktoratte” Degree from Disney University.  She loves coffee, running, and – most of all – camping with her family.

Your Direct Sales Business Doesn’t Require A Super Cape!

“I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively.” ~Golda Meir

Do you ever feel badly about not being able to do it all? I think that as women we have grown up believing that we not only can we “do it all”, but that we must. However, when it comes to your business that doesn’t need to be the case.

Recognizing that you need to delegate a part of your business is not a sign of failure or weakness. Nobody’s gonna come revoke your Wonder Woman costume – quite the opposite. Realizing that you can’t (and shouldn’t) do it all is a sign of leadership and true strength! But you already know this, remember? Let me explain.

If it wasn’t for the help of your hostesses, customers or recruits you wouldn’t have a business at all would you? You had to ask them to help your business in one way or another, either by hosting a party, buying your product or being a part of your team. You couldn’t do all those things by yourself, could you? Well… maybe you could… but you wouldn’t have much of a business if you did, would you?

Delegation is the same sort of thing. There are other parts of your business where you cannot and should not try to “do it all.” Just like any other business, you do not excel at every part of your direct selling business. It’s ok to let go of some of the tasks in your business: it will free you up to give more time and attention to the places where you shine. Can you, for example, delegate birthday cards so you pick up an extra hour every month for booking parties, meeting prospects and selling product? Who does your hostess packets? Are you an awesome blogger with no time to get your articles queued up for readers?

Don’t beat yourself up that you can’t do it all… nobody can! One of the best parts of being a woman, is we have lots of friends to help us out! All you have to do is ask. Even Super Heroes (and She-roes) have sidekicks!

About the Author

Melissa H. Dery is The Golden Rule Virtual Assistant (VA) providing Virtual Business Management to Direct Sales leaders. A former direct sales consultant, Melissa also grew up in a direct selling family. She knows firsthand about the “behind the scenes” work required to help your business grow and prosper.

When Melissa combined more than 20 years of experience as an administrative professional with her desire support those in direct sales and The Golden Rule VA was born. Her mission and her “rule” are the same: to treat your business as if it were her very own, with respect, creativity and professionalism.

Melissa is married to her best friend and lives in New Hampshire with her two boys. She has a Bachelor Degree in Business Management and a “Ducktoratte” Degree from Disney University. She loves coffee, running, and most of all, camping with her family.

Direct Sales Success: Multiple Companies Is Like Chasing Two Rabbits

Visit the Direct Sales Classroom Store to take advantage of the special offer on Direct Sales JUMP Start. The sale ends October 31, and after that, the product will never be available again in any format.

If you’re curious to see what I’m up to that’s causing all these changes, take a look at the Business Action Hero blog for more details on the 90 day Webadventure challenge.

Choosing To Lead

Leadership is not about the number of people in your organization. Leadership is not about the size of your paycheck, or even the fancy “stuff” you possess. Leadership is an in-born quality that we all possess – if we choose to put it into effect.

Leadership means making right choices – even when no one is looking. It means being courageous in the face of your fears. It means choosing to be a leader – and trusting that followers will show up.

Dave Ursillo‘s fascinating book, Lead Without Followers, describes this very thing (you can read my review and win an autographed copy of his book here). Lead Without Followers is an examination of everything wrong with our perception and definition of leadership in today’s world. Using Washington D.C. as a backdrop, Dave illustrates how we as a society have taken to wealth and “power” as what defines a leader, instead of the intrinsic qualities that we all aspire to: trustworthiness, honor, respect, and the ability to do the right thing.

As I was reading the book, I got to thinking about the number of direct sellers I know that are true leaders in their field – not because they have an organization with thousands of people (some of them do, but some do not), but because of how they conduct themselves and their business.

These leaders may only be leading a small army (or an army of one), yet, they are exemplary, compassionate people. They care for their teams, their customers, and their hosts with a servant’s heart. They’re focused on quality, not quantity, and while earning the company incentive trip is a nice feather in their cap, their focus is on helping those they meet make better choices for their lives.

By Dave’s definition, being a leader doesn’t mean you need millions of dollars or millions of followers. Being a leader is a choice – in fact choosing to be a leader must happen before you can ever have followers.

Whether or not you decided to step up into leadership in your company, and nurture a team of consultants, you are still very much a leader. It’s how you conduct yourself and your business. It’s how you treat the people around you. It’s how you build your life and business with integrity.

Leadership is not about the stuff you have, it’s about the stuff you’re made of.