10 Ways to Make Real Money with Direct Sales By Angie Nelson http://thebestdirectsalescompanies.com

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** Please note every effort has been made to include accurate information, but further research and the advice of a professional is highly recommended. Following the advice in this report is not a guarantee of income. And, we recommend you put a disclaimer on your business-related sites, as well. This report may contain affiliate links to recommended products or services.

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Introduction: The Basic Equations

There isn’t a direct salesperson on the face of the planet who wouldn’t want to earn more money. After all, that’s why you’re in the business! But unfortunately many salespeople don’t understand the basics of business. When it comes to making money in a business, the basics are clear whether you’re the owner of a multi-million-dollar franchise or an entrepreneur working to make your first thousand. The basic business equation looks like this: Sales – Expenses = Profit What that means is, the bigger your sales and the lower your expenses, the more money you’ll make. And when it comes to increasing your total sales, there are really only a limited number of elements that go into that part of the equation. To increase your sales, you have the following options:   

Increase the number of customers you serve Increase the number of transactions per customer Increase the average value of each transaction

It really isn’t more complicated than that. Of course, a lot goes into each option, and that’s what we’re going to focus on in this report: How to increase your sales so your overall profit is higher. I won’t be addressing the expenses part of the equation: We’ll save that for another day! Ready to get earning? Let’s go.

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Expand Beyond Your Circle At a certain point in your direct sales career – after a week, a month, or a year or so – you will have exhausted your immediate circle. You’ve hit up all the ladies in your Tuesday tennis group; you’ve worked your neighbors, and your kids’ teachers tell you that though they love what you sold them, they really don’t need anything right now – nor do they want to host another party for you. You’re stuck. Instead of waiting for your current customers to run out of whatever you’ve sold them or suddenly decide that yes, they want to buy from you, and right now!, you’ve got to break out of your small circle of influence. You need to push through to that next level to reach people you haven’t tapped before. There are two main ways to do this: 1. Look for “friends of friends,” or 2. Find “strangers.” Let’s talk about the first method – getting referrals. You may think that all your friends know the same people, and to a certain extent, that’s true. The ladies in your Tuesday tennis group all know each other, your neighbors all know each other, the teachers at school all know each other. But I bet you know at least five people they don’t… and vice-versa. Think of the party game, “Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon.” If everyone knew only the same people, that game wouldn’t be possible. Either it would only take one degree to reach Mr. Footloose, or it wouldn’t be possible at all. The same goes for the people you know, and the people THEY know. Think about your college roommate, your next-door neighbor’s pet sitter, your spouse’s officemates. These aren’t people in your direct circle, but they’re in that next ring. So how do you get to these people? You ask. Ask your neighbor to introduce you to their pet sitter; ask your college roommate in the next town over to introduce you to her neighbors, ask your spouse’s workmates to broker an introduction with their spouses and neighbors. Tools online like Facebook (facebook.com) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com) make this very easy, as you can see who your connections are connected with. On LinkedIn, you can even request an introduction to a particular person. The key is to see each person in your current network as a bridge leading to many more circles. All you have to do is cross that bridge! Now, let’s talk about strangers. When you were young, your mother probably warned you, “Never talk to strangers!” The problem is, many of us are still holding on to that advice, twenty or thirty or forty or more years later! With all due respect to your mom, you need to forget that advice right now. She gave you that advice – and rightly so – when you were too young to protect yourself, or to be able to judge between “nice” strangers and “bad” strangers.

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As an adult, you must talk to strangers virtually every day: The teller at the bank, the man holding the door open for you at the grocery store, the customer service person at the cable company… these are all “strangers.” Somehow we think it’s okay to talk to them in one way or setting, but it’s not okay to speak to them about our business. Wrong! If you want to make more money, you have to sell more. And to sell more, you need to talk to more people about what you sell! It’s as simple – and as easy – as that. If you think you can’t talk to strangers about what you do, then you’re basically giving up on 99.99999 percent of the world. Sure, it can be a little anxiety-producing. Here are some ways to make it easier to talk to strangers:

1. Assume the best. It was the great Will Rogers who said, “A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet.” How true! If you approach each interaction expecting that the other person will be interested, or at least polite, your anxiety will drop tremendously. Instead of telling yourself, “ 2. Take the pressure off. You can make any interaction scarier by convincing yourself that if the other person shuts you down, you’ll die. Instead, minimize the encounter. Inviting them to hear more about your products or business isn’t a life or death situation; think of it as offering them a stick of gum. They may want one; they may not. It won’t kill you either way. 3. Play the numbers. Most direct sales companies will give you a good sense of how many “no” answers you can expect to receive before you get a “yes.” Each time you approach a new person, remind yourself that it’s a win either way. If they say “yes,” hurray! If they say “no,” you’re just one step closer to your yes. Expanding outside your limited circle doesn’t take any particular skill or talent; it just takes commitment. Resolve to get introduced to one new person a day, and to discover another new friend on your own. If you do that each and every day, each week you’ll add 14 people to your circle – and over the course of the year, your network will have grown by over 750 individuals! Now that can’t help but have an impact on your bottom line.

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Go Online The internet is one of the biggest tools you can leverage for your direct sales business’s success. Where else can you have push-button access to over a billion people – and mostly for free? The internet removes time and geographic boundaries, and allows you to reach individuals you never would have had access to. If you’re not using the internet as a sales channel, you’re making a huge mistake. Many direct sales companies have already realized that the future of their business is online, and they provide tons of resources to enable web-based sales. These resources might include: -Consultant websites. -Online sales materials such as order forms, digital catalogs, etc. -A system and platform for conducting online parties or sales events. If your company offers these tools, set everything else aside (including this report!) and get up and running RIGHT NOW. Each day you are not online is a day a competitor is stealing your potential customers. Go claim your slice of the World Wide Web immediately, and then come back and finish reading. If your direct sales company doesn’t offer a complete suite of online sales tools, it’s still possible to make this channel produce for you. Here’s how:

1. First, check out your company’s web-based sales policy. You may find that you are not allowed to sell via a website, or that there are other restrictions. It’s better to find those out now instead of building your own website, only to find out you’ve violated a sales agreement. 2. Start small. You don’t have to take over the whole web in a day! Try creating a simple site where you can take re-orders from existing customers, and let them know they can now email you their orders. You can always build, but if you try to take on too much at once, you can easily become overwhelmed. 3. Host a virtual party. You know your Aunt Ellie who always said she’d hold a party for you, but has never been able to because she lives in Iowa and you’re in Florida? Ask her to host a virtual party. This can be done via Skype (skype.com) in real time, or via a dedicated website where guests ask questions, place their orders, and interact at their convenience. (If your company doesn’t have an online catalog, ship a box full to Aunt Ellie and ask her to distribute them for you.) 4. Keep in contact. A blog where you post regular tips, specials, and other information and resources related to your business is a great way to get people coming back for more. Become an expert in your field, and you’ll be the one they turn to when they need to buy. Doing business online isn’t that much different than the way you’ve been working up until now. The same principles of customer service, integrity, and honesty work just as well – if not better – 6

in a virtual world. It’s just a new channel and a new opportunity, one you can’t afford to miss out on.

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Never Close the Doors to Your Direct Sales Business It’s been said that if you want to be a success in direct sales, your business must always be open. That means you’re ready to sell when you head to the supermarket, coach your son’s Tball team, or attend a parent-teacher conference. You are your business, so if your eyes are open, your business is open. Here’s what this tip means when it comes to selling: 1. View each person you meet as a potential customer or referrer. That means each person you meet will either buy from you, or introduce you to someone who will buy from you. If you don’t ask, you’re missing out on a sale somewhere down the road. 2. Find a way to break the time barriers. Having an online presence will allow you to take sales (and make money!) even when you’re asleep. Even just giving your existing customers to option to order via email will save you one more phone call. 3. Layer your activities. If you’re holding a class or party, invite someone from your downline to attend with you. This allows them to see how you interact with customers as well as lets them hear the product and company information another time – much more interesting than reading about it in the training materials! 4. Be a walking advertisement for your business. I don’t mean wearing a t-shirt that proclaims, “I lost 40 lbs. in six weeks. Ask me how!” Although that is an option. Instead, I mean using the products you represent, from top to bottom. The first thing a skeptic will ask you is, “Do you use the products?” You do NOT want to have to answer, “Well… no.” 5. Don’t be embarrassed by what you do. Sometimes we feel embarrassed because we’re in direct sales. This usually occurs because we know that some direct sales companies and salespeople give our industry a bad rap. But how are you going to change the public’s perception of direct sales if you don’t let them know what you do? Never be embarrassed by your profession. If you truly are ashamed, it’s time to find a new company – or a new profession. Being constantly “on” can be tough and draining. However, you don’t always have to be selling; you just need to be ready to do business. Hopefully, these five suggestions can help you expand your business hours without burning you out.

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Market Constantly In the previous sections we discussed how to find more people to convert to customers or referrers. Now, I want to talk about ways to be constantly marketing yourself so the sales come to you. For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll consider marketing your products as separate from the act of actually selling those products. There are ways that you can promote your business and products without pushing your offerings down other people’s throats. In fact, the “hard sell” is rarely successful; and when it is, more often than not the customer resents being “forced” to buy. For a long-lived direct sales business, you will need happy, repeat customers. That’s why luring them to you in an ethical and relaxed manner is essential to your business success. Here are five ways to market your business without being pushy: 1. Add your business tag line to every email. Most email programs make it easy to add automatic signatures. Just by adding a sentence saying, “Jane Doe, independent sales representative for XYZ Corporation,” may net you extra business. You’ll soon find people saying, “I never knew you sold XYZ!?” 2. Distribute business cards prodigiously. Post them to public bulletin boards at libraries, bookstores, Laundromats, and gyms. Leave them with receptionists at the doctor’s office, hair salon, and barber shop. See each business card as a little bird winging its way to the person who needs it most. 3. Talk about what you do – in a positive manner. No one wants to hear about your work troubles. Complaining is especially destructive if in the next sentence you turn around and say, “Would you ever be interested in doing what I do?” Someone would have to be crazy to say yes! 4. Put it on your car. Mary Kay reps who are lucky enough to drive the coveted pink Cadillac almost all have a tale of someone flagging them down on the highway or following them into a parking lot to find out if they have their favorite lipstick in stock. If it works for them, it can work for you! Add a bumper sticker or window cling advertising your business. 5. Get online. In an earlier section we talked in more detail about creating a website to sell your goods; now, I want to encourage you to find ways to promote yourself and your business online. Write articles for sites like ezinearticles.com, guest blog about your area of expertise, create videos, and post regularly to Facebook and other social media sites. Each one of these efforts is a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to you. You may think that your parent company does plenty of advertising and marketing, and that may be true. While you can’t match their million-dollar budgets, you don’t need to. There are dozens of low- or no-cost options that will bring hungry customers right to you.

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Master the Art of Add-On Sales If you head out for dinner with your family, the waiter or waitress will almost always ask you, “Can I get you an appetizer to start?” Then when you finish your meal, they’ll close with, “Would you like to look at our dessert menu?” They’re not just being polite or angling for a bigger tip. They’re doing something that big business makes for big profit; they’re working for an add-on sale. An add-on sale is an additional item that is added to the customer’s order in addition to the main purchase. If you buy a barbeque, the man at the hardware store may ask if you need a grill brush, cover, or extra kerosene. If you buy a new car, you’re asked about an upgraded stereo, floor mats, or a luggage rack. If you buy a cruise, you’re asked about trip insurance or shore excursions. All add-on sales! Waiters, waitresses, travel advisors, and pretty much anyone in retail knows the truth: It’s the first sale that’s the hardest. Once the customer has agreed to buy, it’s much easier to get a “yes” on any subsequent purchase. But there are some guidelines to increase the likelihood of making the add-on sale: 1. Make it a related product. When someone buys a new car, they’re not asked if they want a bag of charcoal. When someone purchases a new sofa, they’re offered pillows or Scotch-guarding, not a new mattress. The add-on item should be complementary to the original purchase. 2. Make it smaller. Add-ons are typically less expensive than the original purchase. Research has shown that if someone is buying a large item (like a suit), then the cost of the smaller item (like a dress shirt or tie) seems almost negligible in comparison. If someone has just bought a mascara for $7 and you ask them if they want a skin care set priced at over $100, they’re going to look at you like you’re nuts. But in the reverse order, it makes sense. 3. Make the offer at the right time. If you offer the add-on item before the customer has decided to purchase the original item, you may be seen as too pushy and they may back out of the deal altogether. Conversely, if you offer an additional item after they’ve already paid for the original item, you’ve probably missed the boat. The sweet spot is when they’ve made up their mind to buy and they haven’t yet signed the credit card slip. Offering a complementary item to your customers should become second nature to you. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won’t. But each additional sale you achieve adds to your profit and took virtually seconds to make. The risk is worth the return!

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Take a Tip from the Grocery Store Every week, thousands of grocery stores across the country send out their store flyers with some unbelievable deals. Toothpaste for $.99. Cleaning supplies for a fraction of their value. Tuna for pennies. When you see these unbelievable sales, you may be asking yourself, “How do they make money selling at these prices?” The answer is, they don’t. These items are called “loss leaders.” The store actually loses money on the sale of these particular items. They sell them at these ridiculous prices as a lure to pull shoppers into the store, knowing that once they’re there, they won’t just buy four cans of tuna for $1; they’ll pick up mayonnaise, pickles, relish, and a dozen other items that will allow the store to more than make up for the deficit from the tuna. As mentioned earlier, the first “yes” is the toughest. Once someone’s going through the hassle of driving to the store, standing in line, and paying, they may as well pick up a few more things to make the trip worthwhile. The same is true for your business. If you can get a customer to open his or her wallet with an unbelievable deal, you have a good chance of expanding the order. This is different from an add-on sale, because you’re using a really low price initially to get the customer into your “store.” So the related products you present don’t need to follow the same guidelines they would for an add-on sale. Instead, keep these hints in mind: 1. The initial “loss leader” needs to be jaw-droppingly great. 10% or even 25% off is not going to cut it, unless the total cost reduction is huge, or it’s on an item that NEVER goes on sale. Reductions of at least 50% are usually the strongest lure. 2. Choose an item that might be better used in conjunction with something else. For instance, reduce the price of a particular shade of foundation to 50%, and then encourage the purchase of a set of brushes or the compact to hold it in. 3. Use add-on sales for loss-leaders. The principles you learned in the previous section on add-on sales can be used for loss leaders, too! The hot dogs are half off, but of course you need buns to go with them… 4. Select a loss leader that ensures you repeat business. Refillable items are great because once the customer has invested in the original package, they’ve got it sitting their in their garage, bathroom, or kitchen counter, just begging to be refilled. 5. Don’t do it too often. A monthly special is great, as are seasonal items. But if you offer too many loss leaders, or put things on sale too often, people will just wait for it to go to half off before they buy. Grocery stores spend millions on analyzing customer behavior. Piggy-back on their research and use some of their hard-won strategies for your own.

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Learn Your Products The only thing less inspiring than a ho-hum salesperson is one who doesn’t know the first thing about their products. If you want your customers to exchange their money for the products you sell, then you had better know everything there is to know about what you’re selling? Customers have individual concerns, and if you are touting yourself as their personal “consultant,” you’d better know what you’re talking about! -Is it allergen-free? -Will it rust? -Will it work with X product that you sell? -How does it compare to (Insert leading brand here)? You need to know the answers to these questions and more. Why? Because the more you know, the more you can tailor your responses to the customer’s needs, and the better you’re able to recommend something that will actually work for that customer. Here’s how to begin your product education:       

Ask your upline or trainer what the most common questions are. Then research answers and practice them. Keep track of the questions you get. Keep a running list of the questions your customers ask, and write out questions. Not only is this a great cheat sheet, it’s also wonderful training information for your downline. Read everything the company gives you. Then read it again. And again. It takes a while for information to sink in, and you will pick up on nuances as you re-read and your bottom-line knowledge level grows. Say “I’ll find out for you” instead of “I don’t know.” Then follow through! Educate others. Sometimes the best way to cement information in your mind is through teaching others. When you learn a new fact, use it. Never stop learning. Product ingredients and formulations change, and new products are released. You never “know it all,” so keep learning. Put your knowledge to work. Explain why you’re recommending a particular product to a particular customer. For example, “I recommend you opt for the stainless-steel model rather than the ceramic. You have small children in the house, and the stainless-steel has a stay-cool base that will protect small children.” Your customers will appreciate how you make the link between the product information and their situation.

Knowing your products inside and out doesn’t mean boring customers with tons of facts and details in your presentation. It does mean pulling out the knowledge you need, when you need it – and that’s usually to make your customer’s life better in some way. Maximize Your Existing Customers Sales experts know that selling to repeat customers is much more time- and effort-efficient than is getting new customers. And experienced direct sales reps know this, too. After all, what takes 12

more effort: Scheduling and holding a product class or party, or taking reorders from existing customers? For some reason, though, many direct salespeople overlook existing customers as a source of sales. Sure, they’ll take any repeat orders that come in, but they don’t actively mine this list for additional opportunities. Maybe it’s because booking a new party or class seems more exciting, or maybe because they think they’d be bugging people if they called. Whatever the reason, not looking to your existing customer base for sales is like not picking up a twenty-dollar bill on your front steps. Here are some ways you can maximize your profits from your existing customers: 

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Ask for referrals. If you have a customer who orders from you again and again, ask for referrals. They obviously like your products and wouldn’t mind sharing their great find with their friends. Even if you have asked before, ask again. People are constantly getting introduced to new social circles, meeting new individuals, or realizing that someone they thought wouldn’t be interested now might be ready to give it a shot. Ask for feedback. If you have a loyal customer, leverage the relationship by asking for their opinion on your presentation, products, or competitors. You might want to offer a small discount or free product for their assistance. Tell them about the new stuff. Instead of just letting them put in their order every quarter for the same six items, introduce them to new products they may not have been aware of. Customers can fall into ruts, and it’s up to you to give them a jolt. Let them know what’s new, different, or better. Offer preferred customer status. Many direct sales companies offer programs specifically for their “preferred” or high dollar-value customers. If your company offers such a program, take advantage of it! If there is no structured program, create your own. You can send long-time customers special promotions, product announcements, and news and tips particularly for them. It will make them feel special and give you another reason to contact them every month.

Your existing customers are the backbone of your business. Spend time finding ways to let them know they matter to you, and you’ll find that your efforts pay off handsomely.

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Know Your Customers One of the benefits that small businesses – including direct salespeople – have over large, bigbox retailers, is the ability to get to know your customers on a more intimate level. But to really use that relationship to maximize your profits, you need to go beyond first-name basis. You need to know them as a friend, and that takes work. Here’s how you can establish a relationship that pays big dividends:

1. Make it authentic. It’s obvious when someone is being nice to you or expressing interest only to make a sale. That’s the last thing you want your customers to think, so your interest in them has to come from a place of true service. Yes, you’re hoping you’ll make money, but your real motivation needs to be one of service. Keep your eyes on their hearts, not on their wallets. 2. Start a customer information file. Whether it’s a box of index cards you jot notes on, a computer program, or a binder, have a way to track your customers, what they order, and other pertinent information. At a minimum you should know their family members’ names, their birthday, and their contact information, as well as their preferred means of contact (mail, email, phone, etc.). 3. Contact them regularly. Your customers should hear from you at a minimum of once a month. Any less, and they will forget about you. Depending on your business, you may find that a once-a-week schedule is preferable. That doesn’t mean you need to call all your customers every week! Your schedule might look like this: Week One – Phone call Week Two – Emailed newsletter with tips Week Three – Postcard reminder Week Four – Email announcement of special sale or product Many of these can be done in bulk and don’t require the same amount of time to send 100 as one. To make sure the information you send is welcome, make it useful. Tips, resources, savings, ways to use the products they already have… these are all wonderful options. 4. Use product delivery to increase connection. When your customer comes to pick up his or her order, or you swing by to drop it off, this is a great unstructured opportunity to further your relationship. There’s no stress because you’re not in the middle of a sales presentation, and you already know your customer likes you because they purchased from you! Use this opportunity to find out how the customer plans on using their purchases, what additional questions they have, and how your business fits into their overall life. If you visit their home, you may have the opportunity to meet their family and get a glimpse of their life. Take advantage of it! Your customers are better than gold. Treat them that way, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of a positive relationship, both personally and professionally.

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Follow Up One of the biggest mistakes direct salespeople make is failing to follow up – with leads, with new customers, with past customers, and with inactive customers. Treating transactions as isolated events rather than a chain of interactions means you see your customers as commodities, and they will view you the same way. In this section, I’m going to address why you need to follow up with each of these categories:

1. Following up with leads. You’ve got a basket full of business cards from a promotion at a local bank. Now what? Well, if you’re like most direct salespeople, you’ll do nothing. That’s right – nothing! Most people seem to think their job is done when they have collected the names, but the names by themselves mean nothing. You need to actually sit down and call or otherwise contact the names collected to try to convert them from a lead to a customer. 2. Following up with new customers. The time when a little extra effort can make the biggest impact is right after a new customer has purchased with you. They may be feeling a little unsure of their purchase and hearing from you at this vulnerable time will definitely reassure them that they made the right decision. It’s also a perfect time to head off any problems or answer questions – and to see if they regret NOT purchasing something they were thinking about! 3. Following up with past customers. Don’t assume that your customer will contact you directly when they run out of something or want to make another purchase. Most people are lazy and will just as easily buy from a competitor or from the mall or other retail shop if you don’t make the effort to contact them. More than one direct sales rep has lost a customer to the mall because they weren’t in front of the customer when a re-order or replacement was needed! 4. Following up with inactive customers. If you haven’t heard from a previous customer for a while, don’t assume everything is okay, or that they would contact you if they needed something. Make the effort to phone them to see where they are. Do they need a new item? Are they unhappy with a previous purchase? Did they lose your number? Whatever the situation, you’re better off hearing from them directly than letting them die a slow death because you couldn’t be bothered to get back in touch. Following up – and following up when you say you will – is a critical part of good direct sales. Many experts recommend the three days – three weeks – three months approach, following up at each of those intervals after the initial contact. While that’s a good rule of thumb, even better is working with your customers and your unique business to do what’s right for them and for you.

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Conclusion

Making money and increasing your own paycheck as a direct salesperson isn’t complicated; it’s actually quite straightforward. But there’s a difference between “simple” and “easy.” While what you need to do is pretty simple, actually buckling down and doing it can be hard. Sometimes the fear of failure, lack of motivation, or just plain laziness can get in the way of your success. I hope this report shows you that success can be yours – if you’re willing to work for it. And I know you are.

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