It’s one of the biggest mistakes direct sales consultants make during the month of December.

They stop working their business.

They take a break, enjoy the holidays, and stop reaching out to their clients, leads and hosts.

Then, they have to start all over again in the new year.

In no other industry do we see such a full-scale shut down. Even in the automotive industry, when plant “changeovers” are scheduled during the holiday “shut down” period, there are still people in the plant, getting ready for the next model year. You’ve no doubt heard the direct sales axiom “so goes January, so goes the year”. Just because it’s harder to reach your hosts and clients, does not mean you should stop working your business.

So how can direct sellers continue to work their business, attend to holiday details, and still manage to save their sanity?

Remember to put your “big rocks” in first.

When I train clients on the importance of “big rocks” very often, they think I mean their customer care calls. Actually, my reference is to what I call the Five Key Areas of Success. These key areas are as follows:

• Faith
• Family
• Fitness (mental, physical and emotional)
• Finances
• Fun

Notice, there’s nothing here about booking, selling or recruiting. At least not on the surface. If you tend to these five key areas every day, you’ll find your life more balanced, more “sane” and it will be easier to be successful in life and business.

During the holidays, it’s even more important to focus on these big rocks first. More than likely, your direct sales business will fall under either the “finances” of “fun” category. Maybe even a little of both. The key here is to do one thing each work day to keep your business moving forward. Maybe you can’t call customers during the holidays because they are too busy (or you are). But you can to some of the integral, “behind the scenes” work that needs to be done before the new year begins.

Every day you take off from your direct sales business during the holidays will put you that much further behind in the new year. Yes, you need to take time to relax, and give yourself a much deserved break after the busiest selling season of the year. There’s a difference between taking a break and shutting everything down until January.

Those who take a break find themselves refreshed, revived and ready for the shows they have booked for the first month of the new year. Those direct sales consultants that go into “shut down” find themselves scrambling for bookings in early January, and are lucky to have a handful of shows on their calendar – for February.

Take a cure from the automotive industry and scale back during the holiday season. Run with a skeleton crew, and handle the “big rocks” of your business, and be working behind the scenes to get your business ready to roll come January.

It can mean the difference between a solid book of business or begging for bookings in the new year.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young

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Lisa Robbin Young offers direct sales coaching and training 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 https://www.homepartysolution.com.

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Action tip: Visit our Facebook page for a few ideas on things you can do between now and year end to keep your business running like a well-oiled machine in the new year.