You just have to keep your eyes open.

This is what I’ve coined the “Sales Cycle” – and it’s where you can find customers at any point in your business. Some people you are just meeting, others, you have been doing business with for a long time, while others still have known you, but never done business with you.

It works kind of like a wheel. You are at the hub, and each “spoke” represents a public-facing point in your business where you could potentially meet new customers. The right half of the image is where most people think of meeting new clients (Meet, Lead, Client), but customers are also found on the left half of the Cycle.

But like Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work“. The left side of the Cycle takes a little more work, but produces far better customers as a result.

We dig in deep on this concept in Direct Sales 104, and as part of the updated, expanded Direct Sales 101, I’ll be sharing specific examples of each. For now, let’s give you an overview of what each spoke represents in your business. That just may give you all the fuel you need to make fast progress at attracting new customers to your direct sales business.

1. Meet People – this is something you do every day of your life. You’re online or off, you’re connecting with strangers, and adding them to your circle. Some of these people will pretty much stay strangers in your life – you may never encounter them again. Many of them, however, have the potential of becoming…

2. Leads – these are the folks that have at least a remote interest in who you are and what you’re doing. Over time, if they have a need, and know you, like you, and trust you to their satisfaction, they’ll cross a threshold into…

3. Clients – people that pay you money for what you do! Too often, we think these people are the only people that exist. While it’s true that you’ll spend less money to keep current clients than you will to attract new ones, that is only helpful if you actually have clients in the first place – and enough of them to keep you in business. For most of direct sales professionals, with a re-order rate of 1.1 (meaning for every eleven people that buy from you, ONE of them will make a repeat purchase – and only once), this group won’t be helpful on their own, unless you move them into…

4. Delivery – this is where the client relationship is fortified. Typically, it begins at the time of product delivery, which is why I call this spoke delivery. But it could just as easily begin as soon as you take the order – before they’ve received anything more than your good will and gratitude.  How you deliver to the client is far more important than what you deliver or when. All of them are necessary, but it’s the how that often determines repeat business. When it’s done right, it’s a…

5. Bonus – this is where the client relationship is intensified. When you go out of your way to surprise and delight your clients with occasional bonuses, they are oft wont to talk you up, referring to you favorably with their friends and colleagues. Positive referrals beget more business, more customers, and the opportunity to build deeper, richer client relationships. This ultimately gives you the opportunity to…

6. Reciprocate (giving back) – call it charity, tithing, or donating your time or money, the name doesn’t matter. Reciprocity is when you give of your blessings to bless others. You might think it strange to include this as part of the Sales Cycle, since it can often be such an intangible thing to measure. However, my experience, and that of my clients has proven time and again that some of the best business (and positive public exposure) comes from giving back to the community – and often it’s better to give of your time than your money, so there’s very little cost involved to make it happen. People talk about you when you’re going out of your way to make a positive impact in the world. Your direct sales business can be a vehicle for great things, if you remember to include giving back in your Sales Cycle. The best part? Getting involved and giving back often puts you in a position to…

7. Meet People – oh! here we are at the top of the Cycle again. See how that works?

You could easily find yourself on different spokes of the Sales Cycle at the same time with different people. Unlike a “funnel” where you’re trying to “push” clients through it to your desired end result, this Sales Cycle gives you an at-a-glance approach to dealing with each person uniquely. You can see quickly where they fall in the Cycle, and what your best approach is to working with them.

Over time, the Sales Cycle becomes a powerful tool to help you track the opportunities in your business, by making it clear where to focus your business development. Not generating enough leads? Take a look at what you’re doing to meet the right people for your business. Surprising and delighting your customers, but not seeing referrals? How are you handling delivery? If you keep an eye on each of the spokes of the Sales Cycle, your business will continue to roll along nicely.

I just had to tell you all about my encounter with a good friend of mine and how it is so relate-able to building relationships with your customers.

My friend has a condo that she rents out. She is thinking of selling it and buying another home in Florida, as “snowbirds” often do.

She was telling me about her Realtor, who sells residential as well as commercial real estate. Each year, he sends out calendars with his family’s picture  on it. He also sends her a card or e-mail every few months to ask how she is doing.

When she was talking to him, he told her it was not a good time to sell her condo because she would not get as much out of it as she would want. She mentioned that the commission on her condo was probably peanuts compared to what he would earn for selling a commercial building.

His comment to her was that “it was not about the money…it was about the friendships”.

He gets it! This Realto does what you need to do: become your customer’s friend. Stop selling just to sell and focus instead on building those relationships. That’s when the sales will consistently roll in!

When I asked her who she would use if she ever sold any of her property, of course she emphatically said “HIM! And I recommend him to everyone I know!”

That is what we want in a customer. That is what your customer wants from you.

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About The Author

Jen Fitzgerald is the owner of The Client Angel, the proven tool for the Direct Selling community.

The Client Angel is an online customer relationship management tool designed to work with your company’s website to catapult your business to greater heights. Give yourself the organization you deserve. Stop worrying, and start succeeding with the “gentle reminders” you need to effectively follow-up and build relationships with your customers – for a lifetime. Visit Jen’s website for a free demo of The Client Angel today.

I told her that this was an opportunity to get excited instead of getting bummed. Because now, the playing field truly was level, and everyone could market themselves rather than the company they represented.

See, sites like Facebook and Twitter make it easy for any consultant to create an online outpost for their direct sales company. The problem is that, sooner or later (usually sooner), some consultant gets a little too overzealous, and makes a claim or a comment that sounds like it’s coming straight from the home office, rather than the company. Customers can’t tell the difference between a page created by a consultant or one created by the home office.

How are they supposed to know what claims are accurate, and which ones are being made by a new consultant that doesn’t have a clue?

They can’t, and so many companies have tried to create rules, guidelines and policies to “protect the brand”.

To most consultants (especially new consultants), it feels as if they’re not just protecting the brand, they’re just making it harder to do business online.

Here’s the truth: If you’re counting on your company’s brand name or logo to keep you in business, then you’re absolutely right. By restricting the use of those corporate owned identities, they are restricting your business.

But that’s not their problem, because in reality, you’re relying on the wrong elements of your business to market yourself.

See, I could get a ton of traffic to my facebook page if I called it “The biggest Justin Bieber Fan Club of all time”, and created “pictures” of the J-man with my direct sales products. I could probably sell a ton of them too. But as soon as Big-J got wind of it, I’m sure his legal eagles would be all over me with a cease and desist order, citing my use of his image as being a violation of his rights to use his likeness to promote a product.

So yes, I could get a short-term gain of new leads, but at what cost? This is an extreme example, to be sure, but this is exactly what you’re doing when you use pictures from your company catalog, use the company brand name, or any unauthorized company logos to promote yourself in ANY venue (online or offline). Because it’s challenging for direct sales companies to track all the ever-expanding social media outlets, most companies create policies that focus on the big 4: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. It would be virtually impossible to create an exhaustive list of sites, which forces many companies to just say “no online advertising of any kind,” essentially throwing out the baby with the bath water.

My colleague Jennifer Fong has been leading this crusade for a few years now, and slowly the tide is turning, but for those of you stuck in a “no-way” company policy, here are some options to help you continue to market online – without violating company policies:

1. Make your page about you, not your products or company. Stop blathering on about your super-duper product of the month in public areas of the web. Use your facebook page to talk about you, not your special offers. Take photos of your trips, and the incentives you’ve won. Post pictures from parties, and tag hosts/guests (with their permission). Don’t talk about what company you’re with, just let people ask. Then, you can send them a private message or a link with more details.
2. Market from a mailing list. Use social media sites as a place for your clients to learn more about you as a public persona, and drive traffic from those sites to an opt-in mailing list. I don’t know any company that presently prohibits you from sending an email to your own list of clients to let them know about your company, your products, and your specials. Plus, this makes a great way to screen prospective leads. They get on your list, THEN they get to learn about your company, your products, your business opportunity.
3. Stop using logos as your avatar. People want to know, like and trust you, not your logo. Put your friendly face on your online outposts so people can start to see you everywhere, instead of the company logo. Besides, if you ever switch companies (it does happen, you know), then, all your online efforts won’t have to be scrapped.
4. Stop product pushing and keep it social. Social media is a great funnel, but it’s lousy at converting prospects into customers. What it is GREAT at is turning strangers into friends. Just like your home shows, turning strangers into friends takes time, but ultimately yields better results.
5. Give them a reason to want to know you. Your product isn’t enough. If you look at the majority of folks that are in your social media circle, it’s probably not because you used the company name on your blog or in your page title. Chances are good that while that may have been why they first ventured to your page, they stick around because they know you, like you or trust you (there it is again!). Do more for your existing online community so that they have more reasons to want to talk to you – and share you with their online community.
6. Stop trying to circumvent the party. Yes, you can make good money online.  It takes effort, but it’s possible. Yes, you can do it without doing parties. It takes a lot more effort, but it’s possible. BUT… your parties (face-to-face interactions) will always be the most lucrative means of developing a solid direct sales business. The personal touch outshines an email or facebook “like” any day of the week.

I’ve yet to see a company that can prohibit you from having a blog, website or other social media presence that talks about you, rather than your company or product line. By marketing yourself, instead of your company or products, you become the focus of your business – and clients can gravitate toward you. While it sounds a little self-centered, it’s actually creates an asset for your business, because your clients are following you then your product, not the other way around.

Before I offer my tips, I want to take a moment to offer a warning:

Just because YOU think your demo is boring doesn’t mean your customers do. When a consultant gets used to a routine, it can seem monotonous or tedious to “perform” the same show or demonstration over and over at every event or home party. For you, this is “same stuff, different day”, but for your host or clients, this may be entirely new for them.

In the advertising world, it’s said that when the company is tired of seeing their commercials on TV, that’s when they’ve finally started being effective, because people now recognize them. In that instance, change would be a bad thing, but very often, that’s exactly what the companies do.

The result is often counter to their desired outcome.

Think of it this way: if a musician or an actor has been practicing the same part for months on end, it can get very monotonous for the player. However, the audience will only hear them perform it once. Twice if it’s exceptional. Three or more times if it was recorded AND exceptional.

The audience will rarely get bored. And it would be in poor taste for a performer to show up and decide they were going to do something completely different just to “spice things up” for the show. Imagine the shock and horror if a saxophonist decided that, just for tonight, he was going to play some jazz instead of the Mozart piece everyone else was scheduled to play. Or an actor shows up ready to do Neil Simon, only to find out the director decided to do Shakespeare tonight instead.

Before you get itchy to change things up in your demonstration, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Your boredom is not necessarily the right reason.

That said, if you find yourself doing the same presentation over and over to the exact same audience, you may find it’s time to change some of the elements of your presentation to keep listeners engaged. Here are some suggestions:

1. Do a micro-intro. Give your clients the basic, need-to-know info about you. Since they’re probably already familiar, you don’t need to share the long-winded version of your story. Tell them your name, thank your hostess, and start sharing.

2. Ask them questions. Instead of doing an entire demonstration from a script, ask THEM what they want to learn about most, and use your training to answer those questions and recommend appropriate products. This allows you to cover all the necessary elements of your presentation, while giving your clients a reason to stay engaged. This suggestion takes a bit more product knowledge, and it’s not recommended for brand new consultants.

3. Share your “Fave Five.” Instead of a full-blown product demo, share your five favorite products – or have your host share her Fave Five. Then allow your customers to shop while you answer questions. This allows for a more social environment, and frees you up to work more closely with your customers.

4. Don’t demo. Do a brief intro and run your party open house style. Make sure you are mingling and sharing your booking and recruiting seeds as you interact with guests or you won’t get many bookings at a party like this. Again, this is recommended for advanced consultants.

5. If you do one-on-one consultations, focus on the customer. “Sprinkle” your product and business info throughout the conversation, but make it more of a fact-finding mission rather than a demonstration. The more you show that you’re interested in helping your client, the more engaged they’ll stay in your presentation.

These quick, simple ideas will help you refresh your existing presentation. If you’re new to direct sales, follow your scripts until they are comfortable. Don’t try re-inventing the wheel until you’ve got a solid base of knowledge under your belt. Then, make small adjustments to your presentation until you find a routine that works. Then, stick to it like crazy glue.

Remember, just because it’s boring to you, doesn’t mean it’s boring to your clients. Ask your best customers for their opinions before you start changing things up.

© 2011 Lisa Robbin Young

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USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!

Simply include this paragraph with active links as appropriate:

Lisa Robbin Young offers direct sales training and coaching to direct sales professionals looking to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com.

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Action Step: Looking for more ways to increase sales? Consider Direct Sales 104: Secret Sales Strategies to increase your direct sales income.

Then came social media. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube created an entirely new landscape to reach prospects, build business, and grow my organization.

And I was scared out of my mind.

See, I didn’t “get” the concept of social media. I was socially awkward myself. Plus, with all the confusing rules that most companies have about “internet advertising” I couldn’t figure out a way to navigate the social media landscape without pulling out my hair.

First, I went to MySpace, but with so much spam, and “fake accounts” I couldn’t tell who was real and who was scamming me. So I left.

I set up my twitter account and started following people. I didn’t understand why people were talking about what they ate for breakfast. How’s that beneficial to business?

So then I went to facebook, where it seemed like everybody I knew was “hanging out”. But there were so many applications. People were “poking” me, asking me to be in their “mafia war” or help them work on their garden in “farmville”, and it was maddening. Then, I got sucked into one of those games myself, and found i was spending more time playing than I was building relationships.

And I was too scared to do video. In fact, if it weren’t for a contest that Mark Joyner put together, I probably would never had made a video in the first place. In fact, I didn’t even use a video camera in my first video, just a picture, my voice, and some music I wrote. I ended up with an honorable mention in the contest, and a little less fear about doing video.

But I still wasn’t keen on the idea, so back to twitter I went.

This time, I just watched for a bit. Trying to figure out who I really wanted to connect with. I figured that if I was just talking to myself, I wouldn’t be too productive. So I started following people I wanted to learn more from. I watched what they were doing, who they were talking to and what they were saying to generate followers.

It didn’t take long to figure out I was doing some things wrong – and a few things right. That first year, I earned more than $30,000 because of twitter. Plus, I made some great contacts and new friends. REAL friends, which surprised me. And while I still don’t have fifty gazillion followers on twitter, the relationships I have are high-quality, conversational and engaging. I actually know most of the folks I “follow back” on twitter, and that’s a good feeling. Here are some lessons learned that may help you use twitter to grow your own direct sales business.

Five Tips To Build Your Direct Sales Business Using Twitter

1. Have a plan. When I first started, I followed everybody – including the spammers and robots. I had autofollow on and it nearly killed me. Every time you follow someone, they now have permission to send you private messages (called DM’s). My inbox lit up like a Christmas tree with all the spam messages being sent. I turned off autofollow and developed a strategy to engage with thought leaders, authors, and other real people with whom I wanted to connect.
2. Have something to say. You can follow people all day, but until you start speaking your own mind, people won’t know you exist. Because I don’t autofollow, if you start following me, unless you actually speak to me (tweet, re-tweet or otherwise lets me know you’re human), I don’t follow you back. Many people are the same way. Ask a question. That’s how I met @LesMcKeown, best selling author of “Predictable Success“. He helped me build a new division of my company! Sharing an occasional quote is fine, but if that’s all you have to say, when will people ever get to hear who YOU really are?
3. Share other big ideas. Retweet the people you follow. Not religiously (or chronically), but occasionally, as it best fits who you are. If you’re excited about an upcoming event, then tell your followers and share a link. Don’t just promote anything and everything, or you may be seen as a spammer.
4. Take time out. You don’t need to pull a Scott Stratten and live on twitter for a month to build your following. In fact, even Scott’s acknowledged that his personal life suffered because he couldn’t put his “crackberry” down and stop tweeting. If you live on twitter, when does the work get done? Remember, it’s like a party. You don’t want to be the one that’s always closing down the joint. Take a day (or two) off. Hop on for a few minutes or an hour. Take time away from social media so that people will want to hear from you when you return.
5. Don’t SPAM. Period. This means being mindful about the links you share. If you’ve got a special deal with the home office, sharing that link once or twice is okay, but if every tweet is your “special offer” it becomes a lot less special. A better choice is to promote a signup link for your newsletter (you do have one, don’t you?). Then you can promote the heck out of your special offer to your subscribers.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a great start for ideas to build your following, and make new friends (and clients) on twitter. If it worked for a socially awkward gal like me, just think how great your direct sales business could be!

© 2011 Lisa Robbin Young

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USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!

Simply include this paragraph with active links as appropriate:

Lisa Robbin Young offers direct sales training and coaching to direct sales professionals looking to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com.

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Action Step: These are just a few of the tips I’ve shared with my clients over the years. If you’d like to learn more, this month’s Marketing Mentor call is on Friday at Noon ET. We’re talking about using Twitter to build your business. Sound like fun? Get registered here.