I am always looking for creative ways to interact with my customers either at a home show or by sending out an email to get them excited about something!

Here is an idea I love and a way for your customers to think they are playing a game while you get them to look over your catalog.

At a home show or through an email to all your customers (this will work in either situation) tell them to look through your catalog and count something to give you a total.  Here is an example of what I mean:

• If you sell jewelry, have them count the number of rings, necklaces or bracelets in the catalog.
• If you sell candles, have them count the number of a certain size of candle.
• If you sell makeup, have them count the number of lipsticks you offer.
• Etc.

Have them tell you (if you are at a home show) or email you (provide a deadline for them to have answers back to you) the answer.  Once all the answers are in..take all the correct ones and select a random winner. That winner will get a special discount or gift for winning the game.

How does this help you?  Well….it gets people to search through the catalog and look at your products.  You are not asking them to buy anything but rather making it fun for them to look at your catalog and they can win something in return. On the surface, this may not seem like a way to increase sales. But this isn’t just a short-term strategy.

There’s a psychology at play here. Part of the sales battle is just getting a person to look through the catalog in the first place. Once people get to looking through the catalog, invariably they find things they want to buy. Sometimes that realize their eyes are bigger than their wallet and they opt to host a party.

This is a great way to get clients interacting with you without you having to sell them anything. Plus, it can be a lot of fun for everyone, since no one has to feel like their budget keeps them from participating. Many games have you earning points or tickets and people who have a bigger budget usually have the advantage. A game like this will help

Jen Fitzgerald is the owner of The Client Angel, the proven tool for the Direct Selling community. It is the premier tool for Direct Sellers helping them to build relationships with their customers by providing better follow-up causing their businesses to soar! See a demo at: www.theclientangel.com.

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.

“One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.” — Earl Nightingale

I truly believe this is true for your business as well as your relationships with your customers.  If you spend adequate time on your business, then it is bound to grow.  This is not just looking at your catalogs, but truly building your business.  Finding ways to advertise, people to host shows, marketing, etc.

This also follows suit with your customers.  If you spend just one hour a day following up with your customers: getting to know them or sending them an e-mail about their vacation, hobby, family or work, it will pay off for you and your business.  Building relationships takes time.  No one said customers would pour in overnight. But if you are diligent and spend one focused hour a day doing follow-up and building relationships with your customers, your return can be tremendous!

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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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.

If you are involved in conducting home party plan shows, there is a good chance that you have been in plenty of circumstances where your party ended up being canceled. In some cases, a cancellation simply cannot be avoided. Don’t let this fact get to you. In these cases, it is almost always possible to reschedule the party.

There are other cancellations that can be prevented, however. Generally speaking, these types of cancellations can be avoided long before they actually happen. Often, parties are cancelled because not enough guests are invited, or not enough have shown up. Here are some suggestions to help you understand what you can do to reduce cancellations in your direct sales business.

Send Home Party Invitations

One of the most effective steps that you can take is to send out the invitations on your own. Of course, a host may be concerned about giving away the names and addresses of her or his guests. Let your hosts know that you will not hold onto the information, and that you won’t contact the guests unless they ask to be contacted.

Offer to call the guests for the hostess. Let her know that if you do this, you can offer a free gift to every guest who brings a friend. Put yourself in charge of all the RSVPs to the extent that this is possible without offending anybody. You will have a great deal more success as a result.

Consider Dual Party Hosts

If you find yourself with a host who does not know a lot of people, find out if she or he would like to work with another host. There is nothing wrong with having two hosts for a party. In many cases, this will bring in enough people that both of the hosts will be able to win their own free products. Always encourage every host to have a friend be a co-host to increase guest attendance.

Have A Follow-Up Timeline

One of the most important things that you can do is stick to a timeline. Make sure that the invitations are sent out well in advance, but not too far in advance. Ideally a phone call first, then the invitations could go out about 3 weeks before the show. Too soon and people will forget about the party before it happens. Too late and everybody’s schedules will be full. It will take some time in direct sales before you find the right balance. The timing is different for each market. Make sure that all of the guests get follow up phone calls to remind them of the party.

Partner With Your Hostess

Ask the hostess to get in touch with anybody that didn’t make it to the party for follow-up orders. The same goes for anybody who made it but couldn’t buy any products for one reason or another. If the party was friend-oriented, ask her to see about getting sales from her family. If it was family-oriented, see if she can get orders from her friends.

Have the hostess ask for pre-orders from any of their friends who will not be able to make it to the party. It is highly desirable to already have some sales before the party takes place.

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About the author: Deb Bixler is a direct sales coach and trainer, offering more party plan tips and show techniques at http://bit.ly/debbixler

Action Item: Share YOUR Story, and Enter to WIN

The 100 Million Voices Project and the CashFlowShow Direct Sales Recruiting University have teamed up to create a fun and interesting sweepstakes. Share your story and enter the sweepstakes.

100 Million Voices = Direct Sales History

The 100 Million Voices Project is gathering direct sales history stories. The goal is to document 100 million stories using video, email, text and audio stories. Commemorating 150 years in direct sales history, the project is founded by direct sales visionary Keeper Caltran-Whitney of Direct Selling Live. Keeper is firm believer that every distributor, no matter what their level of experience, should be given the opportunity to seen and heard.

When Did You First Come In Contact With Direct Sales?

Most of us need to stop and think when we came into contact with direct sales for the first time. The project is seeking all stories not just your personal sales business story. When was the very first time that you were impacted by direct sales in your life?

• Did you know an Avon lady when you were a child?
• Did you buy some Girl Scout Cookies?
• Did your Mom cook on Regal Ware?
• Did you have any Longaberger baskets in your house?

Direct Sales Recruiting University Grand Prize

When you share your direct sales story you will be entered to win a team enrollment into the Direct Sales Recruiting University! Retail value is $200! Send your team to the Direct Sales Recruiting University and create a caring and sharing team that is a recruiting machine!!  The Direct Sales Recruiting University is like college for direct sales professionals.