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Archive for the ‘Gaining New Customers’ Category

Often times I see consultants giving customers discounts if they purchase products from them. When I ask them why they are giving them these discounts they tell me that they want the customer’s business so giving them a discount will entice the order from the customer.

Well..that might be true and I say “might” because if you are just blindly giving out discounts to people to just get their order it is REALLY going to take a “bite” out of the amount of money that you earn.

In my honest opinion you should not be placing a slew of advertisements (in-print online or offline) offering customers a big discount if they come buy their products from you because you are in a direct sales business to make MONEY. With most direct sales company you earn 25% to 40% in commission and if you are giving a slew of people 10% to 20% off their purchases with you…well…that adds up and that big chunk of discounts takes a huge bite out of your wallet.

I think if you are going to give discounts out to folks it should be LIMITED…like 10% off their FIRST order from you or 10% off their 10th purchase from you or something along those lines. However, I wouldn’t be placing a slew of ads all over the place allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to take advantage of that discount.

In addition…it should never be a discount with NO expiration date!!! If you really want discounts to work for you they should have an expiration date of 60 days or less so that it encourages the customer to order sooner than later (later…they could forget).

I do believe in giving discounts but on a very limited basis because in direct sales we are not like big retail stores that can take big cuts into our profit line. So my advice…don’t sell yourself short. If you are going to give customer’s discounts…give it to only a few of them at a time and make sure they have a 60 days or less expiration date.

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Back in the old days of Direct Sales Marketing leaders used to train their downline consultants to “pressure” folks to get the sale. I am here to tell you that pressuring people to book parties from you or pressuring people to give you the sale is a tactic that you should NOT be practicing! Why you might ask?

Well…to me it is common sense but I will explain why. I am sure that the majority of people in this world have been pressured at one time or another to purchase something and/or to book a party from someone. I want you to remember how you “felt” when that person was pressuring you for the sale or the booking? How did that make you feel? It certainly didn’t make you happy did it? Of course not!

We all get into Direct Sales to make money and that does mean that you need to be talking to people and asking them for the “sale” but…asking them and pressuring them are entirely two different things. If the person tells you they are not interested then you really need to back off and find someone else to talk to about your business and products. If the person says…”not right now” then make a note of that and contact them in a few weeks. (don’t contact them tomorrow!).

Pressuring people to book parties and/or to give you an order is really not the way to go. You can get bookings and orders without pressuring people and “irking” them off. You want to come across as a professional and a gentle/caring person…not as a bully who is asking them to spend their money with you.

So…the next time you are pitching your business to another person just remember that pressuring them is really not the way to go.

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If you are looking to market your products online then one marketing strategy you need to consider is marketing your products via product review bloggers. Now you might be saying to yourself how will participating in product reviews benefit you and your business and today I am going to tell you how this method of marketing can benefit your business.

When you give a review blogger a product to review that blogger will use/consume that product and then they will write about it on their blog. In addition these same product review bloggers promote their reviews on several social media sites like Facebook and Twitter which gives you even more business exposure.

Here are some additional benefits:

1. A good review blogger will insert 3 keywords into their review and link those keywords to the specific pages on your site which helps with your SEO.  One-Way incoming keyword links are the most important thing when it comes to SEO.

2. A good review blogger will write a very detailed review and use stock photos & personal photos that they took of the product in a real-life setting which helps readers to understand the product even more.

3. Review bloggers (established ones) have loyal readers who follow their blogs so it’s an inexpensive way for you to advertise your business and products to new people who normally wouldn’t see your products. This will get you some great traffic coming into your web site. Unlike search engine advertising there is no cost per click with traffic coming into your site from a review bloggers site. Anytime you can generate free traffic or low-cost traffic is a good thing!

4. The reviews are archived on the bloggers site for years to come and also found in archived cached pages on search engines so again…for years to come people who are searching for your type of products can and will find you!

This is just scratching the surface on the many benefits you will gain by participating in product reviews on mommy bloggers web sites.

With all of that said …you need to find the “right” bloggers for your product review marketing campaign as not all of the bloggers out there are doing this for the right reason. Here is what you need to look for.

1. Scour that review bloggers site and read several of their product reviews to make sure they are keyword linking products to the sponsoring companies web site.  Make sure they are writing detailed reviews with proper spelling & grammar.

2. Check out that review bloggers Twitter stream and Facebook page to see if they are properly promoting those reviews. Is that review blogger tweeting out your review and/or review/giveaway every day or just one time after they post it? You want them actively promoting that review for you and tweeting it just once after they posted your review is not acceptable.

3. Is that blogger posting original photos that they have taken in the review? This is important to make sure the blogger is actually using the product you sent to them. I feel it is important to use stock photos of your products along with personal photos.

4. If you are sponsoring a giveaway along with your product review does that blogger post screen shots of the winner’s winning entry? I hate to say this…but I do know a couple of bloggers who don’t post winner’s entry screen shots and it seems that same handful of people are winning over and over and over again on their blog. I know some reputable bloggers who don’t post the screen shot but personally I feel it’s important.

So there you have it…I think marketing your products online via a good reputable product review blogger has many benefits for your business.

If you are looking for a reputable product review blog I would like to suggest that you check out Two Classy Chics.

When you run and operate a home business in Direct Sales, you need to be really conscious of the type of customer service that you give to others who come into contact with you and your business. Unlike big brick and mortar retail type of stores, you have no one else to blame if poor customer service is given to your party hosts and customers.

It is a proven fact that people will purchase products and services from party plan consultants who they feel comfortable with, who treat them well, who consistently contact them and with who they make a personal connection with.

Today I would like to share with you, several ways that you can make your party hosts and customers feel special and important, to you and your home business.

1. If you are utilizing email to stay in touch with your business associates, party hosts, customers and/or downline team, it is important that you answer those emails in a timely manner. When people contact you via email regarding business matters, they don’t want to be left hanging for days on end. Business emails should be answered in a minimum of 24 hours unless it is the weekend.

2. When you are corresponding with business associates and clients via telephone, it is important to do so when you are not feeling rushed. In addition, background noise should be kept to a minimum. In other words, customers deserve more than two minutes of your time and they should be able to talk to you without a screaming spouse or kids in the background. Those who you speak to via telephone deserve your undivided attention when you are speaking to them about business matters.

3. It is important to try to make a personal connection with your party hosts and customers. I like to ask them a few questions and I really try to act interested in their answers. You could talk about marriage, children, sports, hobbies, food, whatever…just try to make a personal connection with them so that they feel comfortable in working with you.

4. It is your responsibility to handle any and all business problems and issues quickly and thoroughly if and when those problems arise. In other words, if a customer receives a defective product, you should handle the warranty and return as quickly as possible. When you offer a swift and thorough correction in an error to a client, they are more apt to forgive you and come back to you for future purchases. If you take your good old time and don’t thoroughly correct the problem, I can assure you that next time they need to make a purchase, they will seek out another party consultant to buy it from.

5. Treat those party hosts and customers like gold! I like to go out of my way and offer little inexpensive gifts to thank them for their loyalty in continually purchasing from me and/or for continually booking home parties from me. These can be little gifts that you pick up at your discount store or little promo items from your business company.

When you run a small home party business by yourself where you are solely responsible for offering great customer service to those you come into contact with, you really need to be on the ball and go above the call of duty to make that party host and/or customer feel special. If you take the time out of your busy day to focus some of your efforts just on that task, it will reap you future business and rewards.

This article was written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

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How Direct Sales Reps Can Use Blogging to their Benefit by Anita DeFrank

One of the tools that a smart direct sales representative use to attract new business is a blog. A blog keeps customers and potential customers informed about products, events and services that relate to your business, new releases, contests, specials and it always keeps your name front and center. It shows readers that you are a good source of information that they can count on.

If you think about it, you also probably subscribe to a number of blog feeds on various subjects that interest you. Where do you think you are going to get information when you are in the market for a product or service that relates to your interests? Yes, that’s right, you think about that blog that gives you all that great information!

Often direct sales representative’s websites are nothing more than a corporate website. Websites in which they are unable to update information. These types of websites also make it difficult for a representative to look unique. They all have the same websites saying the same thing. Corporate sites also make it difficult for the representatives to hold special contests or special sales.

With a blog you can quickly update your customers anytime your company released a new product, when you’re holding a contest or are placing items on special pricing. Blogs also can be more fun and unique than the traditional newsletter. Newsletters are often sent out at a set time. With blogs you can stop in anytime. With all the feeds available your visitors can subscribe to your feeds and be instantly updated without any spam filters interfering.

If you want to produce a professional looking blog, try using a service such as Blogger.com. You can then upload your blog quickly and easily readily available for your visitors. Another great thing about Blogger.com is that it is free. This means no hosting costs or domain costs.

Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank, authors of Direct Sales Success, specialize in coaching direct sales representatives to reach their goal of becoming successful in their field. Visit http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com for free weekly tips.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

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When you are with a Direct Sales Company, part of your business success comes from customers placing re-orders with you.

I often hear Direct Sales Consultants saying that it all boils down to customer service. In my opinion, that is only partially true. There are other things that you need to be doing in addition to providing top notch customer service.

Let’s look at a few ways that you can get customers, to keep coming back to you for their product orders.

1. Post Sale Follow-Up: Customers want to know they are important to you. It is your job to go out of your way to make sure your customer is satisfied with their first purchase from you. After your customer has received their first purchase, make sure you follow up with them to make sure they are 100% satisfied with their purchase. If not, work promptly to correct it.

2. Company Catalogs: Every time your company changes their catalog, make sure your customers receive a new copy. I find that most of my customers prefer receiving a hard copy of our catalog vs. an online copy. You can do this one of four ways:

a. Mail out a new catalog to your customers via postal mail.

b. Mail out a postcard letting customers know that you now have new catalogs available and how they can request a new catalog from you.

c. Send an email if you have permission from your customers to contact them via email. Let them know a new catalog is available and how they can request a new copy from you.

d. Call your customers up by phone and let them know that you have new catalogs available and ask them if they would like to receive one.

3. Monthly Customer Newsletters: I recommend that you do a monthly newsletter to keep in contact with your customers. You can announce party host specials, customer specials, recruiting specials and new catalog releases. If you are going to do a monthly newsletter, make sure you have some informational content within it. Customers don’t want to receive newsletters that are nothing more than spam advertisements.

4. Open Houses: Hold a Open House bi-yearly party in your own home or other location. Invite your customers to the party so that they can see and touch new product releases. Offer some refreshments, games with prizes and some product sales specials.

5. Business Cards: Include a business card with all shipments of products. I make all of my business cards into refrigerator magnets and feel that business card magnets yield me better results than just a plain old business card. Customers will put them on the front of their refrigerators which keeps you and your business in front of them.

6. Business Coupons: Offer a coupon with all customer purchases.

example: Thank you for your purchase! Please take 10% off your next purchase before (date). I find that when you include an expiration date on your coupons, you are more apt to get another order from your customer. Try dating your coupons for 90 days.

7. Re-order Stickers: If you are selling consumable products, purchase some re-order stickers and place them on the packaging of your products. Make sure your contact information is on that sticker.

I think it makes smart business sense to pay attention to the customers that you already have. If your current customers like doing business with you and your company, they will happily refer new customers to you.

This article written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.

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