The Importance Of Explaining Your Warranty, Returns and Exchange Policy To Customers

When it comes to Direct Sales and demonstrating your business products at home parties, it is important to take time out to explain your company’s warranty, returns and exchange policy to all of your home party guests.

Customers who attend your home parties have the right to know your business policy up front before they place an order. There are a few ways you can approach this but I feel its best to do it at the beginning of the ordering process, in other words…before your customer starts filling out the order form.

You can go over your company’s policy several different ways, However, I like to do a combination of ways to ensure that my customers know the policy. Here is how I handle it.

1. After talking about my products and before I have the guests fill out the order forms, I like to spend 5 minutes talking about my particular company’s policy and I do this in a group setting…near the end of my demonstration time period.

2. My company has the policy printed in the catalog so I tab that particular page with tab-type stickers.

3. My company has the policy imprinted on the back of our order forms so when each customer hands me their order form, I like to ask them if they have any questions about my company’s policy.

By spending a few minutes at your home parties explaining your company’s policy to all of your party guests, you will save yourself time, money and a headache down the road. Customers have the right to know your business policy before they give you an order so its in your best business interest to spend time explaining it to them.

What are your thoughts? Do you spend time talking about this at your home parties? If so, is it in a group setting or one on one with your customers?

Shelly

It’s Just Not About Selling Your Products

When it comes to having a Direct Sales home business, its just not about selling your products to your customers. Direct Sales and Network Marketing is also about building relationships with your customers, party hosts, team members, etc.

Many times a consultant gets too focused in pushing the product sale that they forget about building a trustworthy business relationship with the customer/client.

One of the ways you can build a relationship with your customer is to keep in contact with them. Let the customer know that you appreciate their business and that you are there for them when then need additional items.

When I work on building a relationship with my customers and clients, I like to talk to them about some generic personal topics…such as: Are they married, have children, hobbies, holidays, vacation plans and so forth. By allowing some personal chit-chat when you are conversing with customers/clients, this opens up the door to some ‘personal’ relationship building.

Studies have shown that customers/clients are more apt to do business with you or refer their friends and family to you…if they feel like they have a good business & personal relationship with you. It reminds me of the old saying “Customers will do business with those they know & trust” so its your job to get to know your customers and to let your customers get to know you.

When you take the time to build relationships with those who you come into contact with…this will lead to future sales, additional party bookings, new team members and so forth. Relationship building is well worth your time & effort and should be done on a consistent basis.

How do you like to build relationships with your customers and clients?

Shelly

Direct Sales – Harassing Potential Customers By Phone

Today I wanted to share with our blog readers a very unpleasant situation that I recently experienced in regards to someone having a Direct Sales home business.

As you know, I have been in Direct Sales since 1987 and have a lot of DS experience. Recently, a distant family member joined a Direct Sales company. For the purpose of this blog post, I will refer to the company as Company ABC.

Most of us are taught to get busy right away building our business and for most of us, that means calling up and/or talking to our family and friends to book home shows or to come listen to our sales presentation.

However, there is a right and a wrong way to go about this. I do agree you need to work the phone and call up family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc and let them know about your new home business. This includes asking them to book a party, look at a catalog or to come to your presentation.

Where I have a problem with this is…when some Direct Sales consultants take this too far. For the past month, my distant family member has been calling me numerous times (more than 10+ times) as well as other family members and harassing us to come to her presentations, to give her orders, book parties from her and so forth.

Many of our family members have called me to complain and voice their opinions about this. I totally agree with them as I too…am being harassed by her. To make this clear…YES, we have all told her that we are NOT interested, NO we don’t want to book a party and NO we don’t want to place an order. Several family members have even gotten rude with her and hung up on her because they are tired of the harassment.

I think its great that Cousin B is busy working her new business with company ABC…however, she is going about it all the wrong way.

When a customer or potential customer tells you FLAT OUT and STERNLY that they are not interested in attending, booking or buying…you really need to thank them for their time and MOVE ON to the next one. You need to be the constant professional and that means accepting the word NO graciously and moving on.

One of the best ways for you to lose customers and/or potential customers is to keep harassing them or hounding them via phone, email or in-person meetings.

You ask once and move on. If you want to ask a second time, you should wait for a few months and then ask again. However, it is very unprofessional to be calling up people and hounding them to death several times a month to come and book a party or place an order with you. This is a SURE FIRE way to drive a customer right out the door.

So the next time you get a ‘no’ I suggest you move on to the next person on your contact list. If you decide you want to approach customer A again, you should wait a few weeks or better yet…a couple of months.

There is a big difference between being a driven go-getter compared to being someone who harasses.

Shelly

How To Plan Your Own Vendor Show or Craft Show

Many people who are involved in Direct Sales participate in or plan their own craft show event. Displaying your Direct Sales products at craft shows is a great way to obtain host & recruit leads and to generate additional sales for your Direct Sales business.

My good friend Chris Carroll has agreed to share some of her wisdom on craft shows this week with all of our blog readers.

Thank you Chris!

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Want to put on your own craft show? Here are some tips to get you going~

Planning an Awesome Craft Show

Are you living in an area that has limited craft and vendor shows? Have you ever thought about developing your own but wasn’t sure how to go about it? Well here is the low down on how to grow your show into a well attended event.

Prep work for an event takes place months in advance. One of the first things you need to know is what type of event are you wanting to hold. Do you want retail items or a mix of crafts and arts? Think about your target market. What type of event would they want to attend and what type of items do they want to see and to purchase? Having a Direct Sales business, we may tend to want to only have Direct Sales people there as well as retail type items. But in order to grow your event and have good attendance and interest, a good balance should be the goal. Here is a secret that I learned. Most arts and craft vendors that make their own products do not like having too many Retail items at shows. It discounts the value of their hand made goods and they cannot compete price wise with something coming out of China. That is a good rule of thumb to keep in the back of your mind when planning your show.

Next on your list of things to do is find a great venue. The location plays a big part in how many vendors you can have as well as how many customers you will attract. Parking is a big part as well and having a place for the vendors to load and unload.

Advertising is huge! When figuring your costs, make sure you take into effect some advertising costs. A lot you can do free such as signs and press releases. But sometimes an inclusion into the Classifieds is not a bad idea. Don’t forget online posting in craft show listings as well.

Finding your vendors should not be too hard to do. Attending other shows with your application and show information in hand and personally asking people to attend is a great way to grow your attendees. Mind your location and map out your spacing so you do not over invite.

Think about food booths and drink booths. Many shows I attend do not allow other beverages sold as the sponsor of the show sells those. Adding a food or beverage booth will depend on your hours, location, attendance and availability to support these types of booths. If you are planning events that say a church or non profit is hosting, most of the time that group sells the food and drinks as a fundraiser.

Use your good customer service with your vendors. Showing them that you care and want to make this experience a great day for them is very important. Remember the vendors are there to make money and that should be tops on your list. Take care of them and they will take care of you!

Another tidbit regarding your vendors would be to make sure that you do not place competing products next to each other. Place them as far a part as possible. Remember that each vendor is its own store. A retailer would not build a jewelry store next to a jewelry store so be mindful of your placement of your vendors; ie. Your customer.

Work on your next show right way. Invite your vendors to the next year’s show and ask for feedback to help you plan and make it a better function. Growing your show each year will mean a better event for everyone! Good luck and Have Fun!!!

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Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved

Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. You can sign up for tips on managing and increasing your business at her site http://DirectSalesTalk.com .Y ou can also find her at her business site http://ShopOnYourSeat.com .

Aggressiveness In Direct Sales – Does It Pay Off?

When it comes to Direct Sales, do you have to be aggressive with sales and recruiting to be successful? What do you think?

In my professional opinion, if you are too aggressive you will chase off your customers, party hosts, team members and recruit leads.

I want for you to look at this shoe from the other foot. At some time or another, we have all experienced an overly aggressive sales person, how did that make you feel? Did you enjoy being pressured into booking a party or placing an order? Did you feel bullied into?

There is a difference between being motivated and hardworking compared to being aggressive and I have never met a truly successful Direct Sales consultant who was overly aggressive…it just does not pay (at least for the long haul) to be like that.

When people book parties from you, place orders with you, join your team or do any type of business with you, it should be a pleasant and care-free experience. So the next time you are out and working your business…remember that being excited, motivated and driven are entirely different than being aggressive.

What are your thoughts?

Shelly

Direct Sales and Business Blogging

I am often asked if its necessary to have a blog if you are in Direct Sales and my answers is this…if you are looking to build a Direct Sales business online…then yes. If you are only looking to market your business offline, well then, you don’t need an online business blog.

Often times a Direct Sales consultant will start a business blog and then shortly after they abandon it or they just copy and paste a lot of corporate information onto it. Seriously…this is the wrong thing to do. It takes a lot of time and hard work to build up a blog following and millions of people will not flock to your blog over night…it takes months to build up a good traffic stream to your blog.

The next thing I would like to discuss is blog content. If you have a Direct Sales blog, then your blog needs to be content rich, meaning…less sales ads and more helpful information that your readers will want to read and to keep them coming back for more.

Way too often I see consultants make the mistake of loading up their blogs with sales pitches, sales ads & specials, banners, buttons, graphics of their products and other things that will drive a reader away. When people visit a blog they want to READ content. This content should be in the form of helpful tips, indepth product information, how to use such and such product and things of this nature. They don’t need to see ‘in your face’ spam ads!

If you are considering starting a blog or if you already have a blog, I suggest you visit some other Direct Seller blogs that are successful to see the type of content they are posting on their blogs to help guide you down the correct path to Direct Sales blogging.

Remember…it’s all about good information and helpful content and less about what you have on sale that week.

~ Shelly ~

Adding Re-order Stickers to DS Products

When it comes to selling consumable Direct Sales products, you will often see direct sales reps who add ‘Re-order’ stickers to the products and to the products packaging. They are told to do this usually by their trainers or home offices.

I personally do not like re-order stickers all over the products that I purchase from various Direct Sales Reps. I find that it degrades the appearance of some of the products that I use. I look at it this way…companies put great thought and design talents into making a product packaging look pretty…some are so pretty that we let them sit out on our countertop or vanity…when you slap re-order stickers all over the product, I think it degrades the pretty appearance.

Now some of you might say…well, just peel them off. Often times…they don’t come off easily or they leave an icky sticky residue.

I was tweeting about this very topic over on twitter and several DS reps came forward and agreed with me in regards to the tackiness of slapping reorder stickers all over the products that you sell.

In my personal opinion (yes my personal opinion), I don’t like having them on the products I purchase. However, if you insist on putting the stickers onto your products, it should go on the packaging (box, bag, whatever) and not on the product itself. I think having the stickers on the product…degrades its pretty appearance.

I really don’t think slapping these stickers all over your products helps with repeat sales…after all, your customer purchased it from you once…so they usually know how to find you to purchase it again.

I find that imprinting your business information onto a pretty refrigerator magnet and including that magnet in with the order is a much better way to get your repeat orders.

~ Shelly ~

Customer Service – The Holidays

When it comes to the holidays…you need to go above and beyond the call of duty to satisfy your customers. After all, providing excellent customer service should be a priority in your business all year long…even more so during the holiday season.

What extra little things do you do for your customers during the holiday shopping season? Here are some things I like to do for my customers.

1. I offer free gift wrapping for holiday gifts that they purchase from me. Yes that is right folks…free gift wrapping. You can go to your local dollar type of store and purchase gift bags, rolls of wrapping paper and even a box of holiday greeting cards for only $1.00

So lets say that a customer purchases $50 worth of products from you and 2 of those products are for holiday gifts. You can wrap those gifts and place a gift tag on those 2 gifts for less than $1.50 out of your own pocket. Sure…offering this type of service might cost you 3-5% of your profit…but it will be well worth satisfying that customer during the holiday season.

2. If your company doesn’t offer direct shipping (example: customer purchases a gift but wants it shipped directly to the gift recipient)…then you can offer that service yourself. Make sure you charge your customer EXACTLY what it will cost to send the item(s)…by exactly…I mean don’t add on a handling charge.

3. If you know the customer well and this customer has been doing business with you for a long time…you can consider offering a layaway plan on large purchases of $100 or more. You could request 50% down and then the other 50% in the next 30 days. You will hold onto the purchase until it is paid off. If you decide to offer a holiday layaway plan, make sure you have something drafted up in writing and have your customer sign and date it. On my layaway plan, if a customer does not pay off their layaway by such and such date, they forfeit their purchase. So far, I have never been stuck with a layaway but I only do this for customers who I know very well.

4. Tis the season to be generous! If your customer places an order for $50 or more, you could offer a freebie item with their purchase…or you could offer a discount coupon that they can redeem off their next purchase after the holidays.

When it comes to providing excellent customer service during the holidays…try to go above and beyond the call of duty. If you a treat a customer ‘right’ during the holiday shopping season, they will often times come back after the holidays to make future purchases.

~ Shelly ~

Direct Sales: 9 Ways To Use Extra Product Inventory

As Direct Sales consultants, we often end up with excess product inventory. These items could be discontinued items, slightly used demonstration products, or items you received as gifts from your company.

At my home, space is at a premium. I like to use my overstock to help promote my business, after all, it doesn’t make me any money sitting around in storage.

Here are 9 creative ways you can use your inventory to enhance your business.

1. Booking Gifts – You can use products from your inventory to obtain new party bookings.

2. Customer Orders – Entice larger customer orders by offering a product from your overstock for free or for 1/2 price, if the customer places an order of $100 or more.

3. Open House – If you have a lot of overstock on hand, you can hold a cash and carry open house.

4. Rewards for Team Members – If you have a team, set a monthly goal for them to achieve. If they reach the goal, reward each member with an item from your personal inventory of products.

5. Sponsor a Contest – Donate a product to a business as a prize donation. You can receive some terrific business exposure.

6. Charity Raffle – Donate a product to a charity raffle event. You get business exposure and a tax write-off.

7. Recruiting Incentive – Offer a product from your inventory as an extra incentive to a potential new consultant to join your team.

8. Bartering – Consider bartering with other business owners for business products or services that you need.

9. Gifts – When you need holiday gifts for friends and family members, consider using items from your product inventory.

I hope these ideas have sparked a few of your own. Just remember, if your merchandise is sitting around in boxes collecting dust, it isn’t making you money.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. You can contact Shelly at:
Web: Classy Home Business Women
Web: Shelly’s Tupperware Home Business

5 Creative Ideas To Generate Additional Product Sales

When it comes to running a home business, we are all looking for some creative ways to generate more sales. Generating more sales, equals more income for you.

Here are 5 creative ideas that I would like to share with you.

1. Start a monthly auto-ship program. This auto-ship program could be monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. When I do auto-ship programs, I always give my customers a discount for participating. They need a nice incentive to sign-up for your program.

example: If you sell candles, you could do a monthly auto-ship program by offering a different scent for your customers each month.

example: If you sell gourmet baking mixes, offer a different mix each month.

2. Start a referral program. Print up some coupons or business cards with your referral program information on them. Offer your current customers an incentive to refer their family and friends to you.

example: Refer 2 new customers to me and receive a free _____________.

3. Try before you buy program. If at all possible, purchase or create sample packs of items you sell. Customers are more likely to buy a product after they have sampled it.

4. Offer A Contest. Announce to all of your customers that you are holding a contest this month. Let them know that every purchase they make, will earn them an entry into your monthly contest.

5. Teach A Class. Offer to teach a class within your business niche. It’s important to use your company products as supplies for the class. You will need to charge your student’s appropriately, for the supplies.

example: If you sell scrapbooking supplies, offer to teach scrapbooking classes at your local craft store or community center.

example: If you sell home decor items, offer to teach home decorating classes at your local home decor store, furniture store, and community center.

There are many more creative things you can do to generate more business sales. I hope these 5 ideas have started the creative process for you.

Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. You can contact Shelly at:
Web: Classy Home Business Women
Web: Shelly’s Tupperware Home Business

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