The Benefits of A Direct Sales Business

I – quite literally – grew up in the direct selling industry.  When I was three, my mom founded Discovery Toys, the direct selling, mlm, education product company.  As a result of my mom’s career, I saw the lives of many, many, many successful direct sellers.  I went on the trips (literally along with hundreds of others) to Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti, London, Paris, Hong Kong.  I was on the cruises to the Bahamas.  I was on the trips where every guest at the Club Med was a Discovery Toys representative.  I was on the cruises were every passenger aboard was associated with Discovery Toys.  I grew up with a group of children whose parents were able to say to them “because mom [NOTE: Discovery Toys representatives are 99.9% women) chose to work her business every day,  we can afford to send you to any college in the country.”  I spent time with the women who, because they made their business a priority, could afford top-of-the-line in-home care for their aging parents.  I saw parents who could afford (literally) to stay home when their children were sick, or to volunteer to chaperon a field trip.   I saw children grow up with a strong work ethic, and a desire to be passionate about their own careers.  And I saw this not just with people who sold Discovery Toys, but with direct sellers from many other companies.

Here are just some of the pros of being a direct seller:

• You set your own hours
• You are your own boss
• You do not have worry about paying rent on a store, maintaining inventory, developing your own marketing materials.
• You do not need any special education or training
• You have unlimited income potential

Interestingly enough  – the two biggest benefits of being a direct seller, you are your own boss and you set your own hours, can also be the two biggest drawbacks.  I’ll discuss that in my next post.   What do you think are the biggest benefits of being a direct seller?

Is Direct Selling A Pyramid Scheme?

“I thought direct sales was a pyramid scheme!”  “Only the first few people to get in ever make money at this business.”  “No one really succeeds at direct sales.”  Chances are, if you mention the term”direct sales” (or network marketing or multi-level marketing) these are some of the phrases you will hear.  And it’s true, there are a lot of companies out there promising get-rich quick schemes, companies that demand huge investments, companies were only the first few to get in ever really do make the 6 and 7 figure incomes promised.  That being said, there are numerous companies across the globe that offer great product, excellent business opportunities, and a chance to truly be your own boss and determine your own income.  For this next series of postings, I want to provide you with enough information to make your own decision about direct sales.  This post will provide some basic definitions.

Direct Selling: The Direct Selling Association (the most well-known national trade association for direct sales companies) defines direct selling “as the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location.”  In other words, sales people sell direct to the customer without a retail store being involved.

Have you ever been invited to a Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Southern Living At Home, candle or jewelry party?  If the answer is yes, you are familar with direct sales.  Parties and one-to-one meetings are the primarily how direct sellers market and sell their product.   Prior to the internet, direct sales companies sold their product solely through these channels.  Today, almost all direct sales companies have a website, and the vast majority allow you to purchase items online.

Multi-Level Marketing:Whereas direct sales refers to how products are purchased, multi-level marketing refers to how sales people are paid.   In a single level plan, a sales person makes money on his or her sales alone.  In a multi-level plan, a sales person makes money both on her own sales, and on the sales of the people she brings into the business. 

Pyramid Scheme:In a legitmate direct selling company that follows a multi-level marketing plan, sales people are not paid simply for signing up other sellers.  Instead, sales people are paid on the performance of their team members (the people they brought into the business).  In a pyramid scheme, sellers are paid solely for bringing people into the business.  According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission,”the fraudsters behind a pyramid scheme may go to great lengths to make the program look like a legitimate multi-level marketing program. But despite their claims to have legitimate products or services to sell, these fraudsters simply use money coming in from new recruits to pay off early stage investors. But eventually the pyramid will collapse. At some point the schemes get too big, the promoter cannot raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier investors, and many people lose their money.”  A surefire sign that a multi-level marketing plan is a pyramid scheme is that you cannot make money on your sales alone – you mustbring people into the business to receive any kind of payment.  Pyramid schemes are fradulent and illegal.  For more information on pyramid schemes and the difference between them and legitimate multi-level marketing companies, I highly recommend the online article What Is A Pyramid Scheme.

The One Person Approach

“I’m reluctant to talk to my friends and family about this product.  Is it okay if I focus on selling it mainly online?”  There is a perception about sales – mainly that it is somehow miraculously easier if it is done in an anonymous fashion and online.  Trust me when I tell you it’s not true.  There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that ECommerce plays (and will continue to play) a huge role in sales.  However, if ECommerce were the be all and end all of sales, brick and mortar stores would cease to exist.

However, the problem of how to encourage a new team member to approach what are known as “warm leads” (e.g. people well-known to her) can sometimes prove a monumental stumbling block.  My co-worker recently provided me a great solution to this problem – and I am incredibly proud to report that this method is allowing me to work with team members who otherwise would like likely have given up before they ever got started.

Step 1: Ask your team member what product he or she is MOST excited about.  With Petlane, a lot of people tell me it’s the food.  I have also had new team members who have cats who go nuts over the Kitty Chianti, or a dog who has literally chewed through the box to get to the treats inside.  The product picked is not really important.  What is important is that by asking this question, you are taking the focus off the fear (I actually have to tell someone about this business?) and re-focusing the person on excitement and passion.

Step 2: If this was not readily apparent during step 1, ask your team member whyhe or she is really excited about the product.  The responses I get range from “it is really hard to find a quality, well-priced holistic food,” to “my cat has not played with toys in years and I can’t get her out of the Kitty Calisthenics!!!” 

Step 3: Ask your team member to pick one person (just one) that she thinks would be interested in seeing that same product.  If that person (say a good friend) is nearby, ask your team member to pick a day (within the next couple of days) when your team member can bring the product over to her friend.

Step 4: Explain to your team member that all she is going to do is tell her friend she is really excited about a new business she is in and loves the product.  However, she is eager to get some other people’s feedback. She would like to show this particular product to her friend and get her thoughts.

Step 5: Well actually Step 5 is to follow through on steps 1-4.  The purpose of this excercise is not to make a sale, not to sponsor a new team member, not to book a party.  The sole purpose is to get your team member comfortable approaching other people.  Any sales that come are simply an added bonus.

The Non-Pushy Sales Approach

“I’m worried I might sound pushy.”  This is the probably the number one fear I hear from the team members I coach.  Even though my team members believe in our product 110%, they are concerned that somehow by asking friends and family members to host a party or look at a catalog, they are going to be perceived as pushy. 

My top sales people have been able to reframe their activities as offering their customers a gift.  They realize that they are helping their customers with pet behavior problems, aiding their pets in living longer and healthier lives, and offering them an opportunity to save money, not to mention a career opportunity. 

That being said, I have cast about for years for an approach that I could offer to the multitudes of people who have come to me and said “I’m afraid to pick up the phone because I’m afraid of being pushy.”  Then, only a few days ago, my co-worker offered me just such an approach.  I call it the “non-pushy approach for people who are concerned about appearing pushy.”

Pick one product from your kit that you are absolutely crazy about.  For Petlane people, the products tend to be the Everlasting Treat Ball and the Kitty Calisthenics or the Kitty Chianti.  Now, think of one person in your social circle who you think would like that product.  My neighbor for example has a Boxer who I know would LOVE the Everlasting Treat Ball.  Take that product over to your friend/member of your social circle and ask him or her to try the product out and give you feedback.   You can tell her truthfully that you have started a new business and are looking for feedback on your product. 

Best case scenario, the person wants to buy the product.  Worst case scenario, you have some great feedback to share when people ask what the response has been to your product.  I have already started utilizing this technique with the “I’m afraid of being pushy” members of my sales force and they are loving it.  This year, make a resolution not to let fear stand in the way of your dreams.

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The Power of Consumer Choice

Customers WANT choice.  Okay, this is not exactly a shocking revelation.  Shopzilla and about 1,000 other price comparison sites thrive on this fact.  The fact that I can type “disney checks with disney villains”  into Google and have four different sites immediately pop up, all begging for my business, indicates that consumers want choice.  So with all that in mind, I feel a little silly admitting that it took me almost four years to apply this concept to direct sales.

In the past, I taught my sales people to ask for a party.  If the customer said no, ask for a private showing.  If the customer said no, ask for an order.  Seemed like choice to me!  Then one day I was on the phone with one of top sales people.  

“It’s embarrassing when someone says no the first time,” she said ”and it’s hard to continue asking because you start sounding desperate.”  That was eye opening for me.  And as a result, I have started training my sales force completely differently.  Rather than ask for a party, my sales people use the following 30 second commercial: “My name is Tara Nemeth and I am Pet Advisor with Petlane.  As a Pet Advisor I enhance the lives of pets and their people.  My products are available through parties – in-home, online, or catalog, parties offer the greatest amount of reward, I also offer one-on-one private showings and of course you can shop my website 24 hours a day.  I look forward to learning how I can best meet  your needs!’ 

I personally have already been experiencing positive results.  I am a member of a networking group and, prior to using this approach, with the occasional exception NO ONE asked to learn more.  I have been using my new approach at my group for three weeks, and each week without fail, a minimum of 2-3 people have come up to me and asked to see a catalog or purchase a specific item.  The lesson? Direct sales thrives on the concept of duplication – but duplication needs to be backed by the power of choice.

Conquering Your Fear of Yes

Conquering Your Fear of Yes

 

Podcasts can be an invaluable resource for anyone in any business.  I became addicted to podcasts after my husband and I both received ipods as wedding gifts last year.  Initially, my podcast addiction was fairly limited – particularly to my favorite NPR shows that I like to listen to while walking the dogs.  Within the past couple of months however, I have begun downloading and listening to any podcasts I can find on selling in general, and direct sales in particular.  The series I am currently listening to is called “Sales Warrioir” and the most recent podcast sparked the idea that led to this article.

 

As someone who coaches sales people, I have often used the phrase, “people are terrified of the word ‘no’.”  What this podcast made me realize is that sales people are not afraid of the word “no,” they are actually afraid of the word “yes”!  Anyone who is in sales knows exactly what to do when they hear the word “no.”  “No, I don’t want to book a party,” “no I don’t need any additional product,” “no, I’m not interested in joining the business at this time.”  In these situations you say “no problem, I completely understand.  Thank you very much for your time and is there anyone to whom you could refer me who might be interested in a party or in the business opportunity?”

 

What this podcast said was that when people are caught off guard is when they hear the word “yes!”  And I realized that is very true for direct sellers – especially those who are new to the business.  We are so prepared to hear the word “no,” that we genuinely don’t know how to respond when we hear the word “yes!”  This lack of knowing how to respond can be so paralyzing that it can actually prevent people from asking someone to book a party or join the business!  Fortunately, I have a very simple solution (please note that while I talk about this solution in terms of booking a party – it can be applied to any situation where getting a date is required).  When someone says “yes, I would love to book a party,” all you have to do is respond “fantastic, would a weekend or weeknight work better for you?”  When the person answers, offer two different dates, approximately two weeks out.  That’s all there is to it!

 

This technique is called an “alternative close.”  An alternative close is simply offering someone two different choices.  Think about yourself and your life for a moment.  If someone said to you, “when would you like to get together?”  Your mind is likely to conjure up every appointment and outing you have between here and next July.  On the other hand, if a friend says “I would love to see you dinner are you free sometime this week or this weekend,” you can easily make that decision.  Use this technique the next time you need to firm up a date on the calendar, and I bet  you will be amazed at the results.

Do First, Teach Afterwards

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a new team member who was preparing to set up her first booth and was asking me for some advice on what to put on display. “Focus on our best-sellers and exclusive product,” I told her.  “Don’t try to put the whole catalog on display.  Trust me – I’ve tried it and it really doesn’t work.  Rather than look impressive, it just creates a very cluttered table.  Instead, leave extra inventory or products you don’t really need to display but want to have on hand under the table – you can always bring them out if you need to show them to a customer.”  My new team member was silent for a minute and then responded with “I didn’t know you did booths!  That’s GREAT!” 

Substitute the word “party” for booths, or the phrase “you talk to the Baristas at Starbucks about the business” or just about any other business building strategy you can think of and you have the response of my team members when I tell them I have been in their shoes.   And it’s my experience that has allowed me to become a good manager. 

I can read books on managing, listen to podcasts, dowload whitepapers, talk to people with more experience than I, but nothing beats the power of my being able to say to someone who just had a disappointing party “I know how you feel – I’ve gone home from parties and cried I was so frustrated.”  Or, “yes, it can be frustrating when you thought the booth was going to go really well and the turnout was poor.  I’ve done events where the only attendees where the other vendors.  I know it’s disappointing.” 

So truthfully there are three components to being successful in the direct sales industry: sell, build a team, and always, always, always, do yourself what you are asking your team to do.  If nothing else, it is the best way to build trust among your team members.

Frighteningly Good Business Tips

Robin Early and Teresa Garrison both ran highly successful direct-selling businesses for years.  Today, the two are the co-owners of a business called “The Success Factory.”  Along with motivational and informational books and CD’s, they provide free e-mail tips!  I received this one in my e-mail today and thought it was wonderful and wanted to share it with all of you!

Running your own home based party plan business certainly has its ups and downs, doesn’t it? Some days it seems like everything goes right. And then there are the days when nothing goes right, you’re down in the dumps and you feel like tossing in the towel.

Before you do, try these simple steps…

Step 1. Dump up! Call your upline, tell her you need 60 seconds to whine and then get over it!

Step 2. Make a phone call to one of your favorite customers just to talk to a friendly voice and find out how her last purchase is working out (chances are, she’ll have nice things to say), THEN end your day on a positive note!

Step 3. Put on some upbeat music and dance around with your kiddos…the endorphins will work wonders for your mood

Step 4. Sit down and brainstorm with yourself. Figure out what’s working, what’s not, and how you can change it. You’d be surprised…sometimes making one little “tweak” can make all the difference in the world. (Here’s an example…several years ago, TSF found herself getting completely stressed out over getting prepared for parties. She found herself wondering if it was really worth it. After analyzing her pre-party preparations, she figured out that the source of the stress was preparing guest folders before parties. With small children, a trip to the printers and a block of time to “re-load” folders was nearly always a big challenge. The simple solution of just passing out order forms and catalogs at parties and having other handouts available on an “as needed” basis, made all the difference in the world and guests never knew the difference. So easy, yet a huge stress reducer! What small change can you make that will make a big difference?

If you’re having trouble getting to the source of your challenges, call a buddy or call your upline for help. Just remember to be solution oriented. The best thing about this business is that someone, somewhere has probably “been there and done that” in any given situation. There are lots of tips out there, it’s a matter of networking and reaching out. That’s what this daily email is all about. Do you have a challenge or a situation in your business you need help with? We’d love to hear from you…just like when you were in school; chances are, someone else has the same question too. Let us help! Send us an email at www.TheSuccessFactory.com and we will do our best to offer some advice (or at least post it and get some input from the rest of the online subscribers!

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How (Not) To Set Up A Booth At A Sales Event

I am one of those people who knows exactly how things should be done – until it is time for me to actually do said thing myself.  For example, prior to getting my puppy Jade, I was the world’s best puppy mom.  I talked glibly about crate and obedience training.  Secretly rolled my eyes at dogs who would not come when called and stories about 1 year old dogs that still were not housebroken.  In the first year of Jade living with me, he was on antibiotics three times for bacterial infections cause by eating goose poop (because my dog would not come when called and ignored the command “leave it”); when I moved out of my apartment (where Jade had lived with me for the past 9 months), the whole apartment had to be professionally cleaned because Jade refused to go to the bathroom anywhere but my living room carpet.  And he has spent a sum total of 6 hours in a crate in his entire life.

 

This being said, it will probably come as no surprise to anyone that I decided I knew exactly how to set up a sales booth.  Before I go any farther, let me explain my background.  I grew up, literally, in the direct sales industry (my mom is the founder of the educational product company Discovery Toys).  I currently work for the corporate offices of a direct sales company and I helped product the training available for our sales force on how to be successful at booths and events.  I have attended numerous craft fairs and trade shows and gleefully pointed out what I considered to be mistakes made by vendors at these events.

 

So, when I was asked to set up a display of my product at a “pre-show” for the local Junior League (the Junior League is having a holiday boutique this November and they asked a few vendors to come to one of their meetings earlier this week to essentially whet people’s appetite for the holiday boutique), I was delighted at the opportunity to show off what I was convinced was my expertise in booth display and sales.  Prior to the event, I carefully packed up all the products and supplies I felt I would need for the 90 minute show and headed off to my designated location.  Here is what I learned from that event.

 

RULE #1: Bring a solid color table cloth to decorate your table

There were four vendors scheduled to show their wares at this pre-show, and only one had arrived prior to me.  The first vendor was the representative of a jewelry company and has most of her wares setup when I got there.  Her table had been artfully draped with an attractive black velvet table cloth.  I looked at my table – which had no table cloth looked like exactly what it was – a folding table with no table cloth.

 

RULE #2: Bring a few stands and small display easels to better display your product

For me, the easiest way to create a display is to lay all of my product out and then arrange them.  When you set up a display, it is always a good idea to have products at different levels and to prop up items that might otherwise lie flat (plastic display stands can be purchased at almost any arts and crafts store).  Of course, I had forgotten to bring any such thing (despite the fact that my warehouse has an entire bin full of display props).  So, while I was attempting to make-do as best I could, I kept sneaking peeks over at the jewelry table.  Naturally, the jewelry representative not only had black velvet draped level stands that exactly matched her table cloth, she also had black velvet t-stands to display items like her bracelets.

 

RULE #3: The only items on your table should be your product and marketing material

Actually, I have to credit the jewelry representative for giving me this rule.  Her younger sister, who was there helping her setup, was drinking a can of Coke and set it down on the display table only to receive the rebuke “take the can off the table – we are not advertising or selling Coca-Cola!”  The statement actually made a lot of sense to me – and I nodded in sage agreement with her comment while hastily tucking my own water bottle (that had moments before been resting on the edge of my table) into my pocket book.

In the Beginning: How I Became Involved With Direct Sales

I am one of those people who, almost literally, was born into the business of direct sales.  In 1978, the year I turned three, my mom started a direct sales company called Discovery Toys.  My mom, Lane Nemeth, had no business experience; at the time she founded Discovery Toys she ran a daycare center in Concord, CA.  Her educational background was English.  Her previous work experinece included working for social services in Oregon and for the HR department of a phone company in New Jersey.  When she started Discovery Toys, she never dreamed that she was starting something that would, ten years later, grow into a multi-million dollar company. 

What my mom did dream of was 1) providing the parents of the world access to the high quality education toys, books, and games that could be bought by schools but not were not available to the public and 2) ensuring that all parents with young children learned how to be fantastic parents so that when I decided to get married I would have my pick of children who had been raised by these fantastic parents (of course I didn’t hear that part of the story until I was in my late twenties).

Today, mom runs a new company called Petlane - this is founded on the same principles as Discovery Toys but for a different breed of child (i.e. the products are for pets as opposed to human children).  Four years ago, I came to work for Petlane and am currently their Director of Field Development. 

This blog is aimed at anyone who is in the direct sales industry.  Growing up, I have had the opportunity to talk with literally thousands of direct sellers – and not just people from Discovery Toys.   I have talked to people from Passion Parties, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Amway, BeautiControl and countless others.  I continually scour direct sales websites looking for ideas and inspirations.  My intention is to share the lessons I have learned as both a representative of the direct sales industry and as someone who sees the corporate side.  I invite anyone who is in direct sales to comment, share your experiences, and provide resources.  It is my belief that anyone can succeed in direct sales and that there is a direct sales company for everyone.