Setting Obtainable Goals For Your Direct Sales Business

As a 20+ years Direct Sales professional, I can personally tell you that setting goals for your home business is a great way to keep yourself focused and motivated. However, I often see consultants who make unobtainable goals for themselves and their business and then get frustrated and disappointed when they fail.

When you set goals for yours business, you really need to make them manageable and obtainable. We all want to dream big and land among the stars, but its important to start out small with your goals and increase them as you go along.

I find that when I do weekly, monthly, semi-yearly and yearly business goals, that is what works best for me. Your goals should consist of:

* Personal Sales
* Personal Recruiting
* Team Sales
* Team Recruiting

In addition to the 4 mentioned above, You should make a goal to enrich your business knowledge and skills on a weekly basis. This can be done by networking with business professionals, reading or listening to books on home business, attending company sponsored training, take an online or offline business course, etc. You need to be updating your skills and knowledge often. Learn from the top professionals in your field when possible.

When you sit down and list out your business goals, it is important to make them obtainable so that you keep motivated. As you reach and exceed the goals you set forth for yourself, you can work on expanding them a little bit each month.

By keeping things reasonable, you reduce the stress and frustration that you put upon yourself and your team members.

To Your Business Success,

Shelly

Recruiting – Quality vs. Quantity

When it comes to recruiting and adding new team members to your Direct Sales team, which do you think is more important? Do you want quality team members or a lot of team members?

You can have the biggest team in your Direct Sales company in regards to the number of members but yet…You rank number #35 in team sales. Why is that?

When it comes to recruiting team members, it’s not about signing up every Tom, Dick, Harry, Jane and Sue. You can bring in 10 new members a month, but how many of those members will work the business? How many of them will stay with the business and become successful with it?

If you want to build a strong and healthy team, you need to look at quality and not quantity. Personally, I would rather recruit 2 new team members who are serious about building a business and who are hard workers and go-getters, compared to 10 team members who are in it just as a hobby or for a little pocket change.

When you are presenting your business opportunity to others, you need to be upfront and honest with them. Direct Sales is not a cake walk, customers and party hosts don’t magically find you. To be successful in this type of business, you need to be a hard worker, passionate about the business and the products you are selling, willing to do the training and put forth a consistent effort to work and grow your business. Let your prospect know upfront that this type of business needs their full attention and their commitment to work it and to learn everything they can about it. Let your prospect know you are serious about your business and they will need to be serious about theirs.

One thing I have learned over the 22+ years that I have been in Direct Sales is that not everyone is ’suited’ for this type of business. When interviewing a new recruit lead, I have serious and intense business conversations with them. I am upfront and honest and I don’t sugar coat, hype or mislead them just so I can add another team member to my team.

When you hype, mislead, brag and make it all seem too easy to your prospect, sure…they will often join your company. However, they quickly become frustrated, lose interest and move on to something else.

A strong and healthy Direct Sales team is built on quality team members and career business builders. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.

Shelly

The Importance Of Team Motivation And Recognition

As a Direct Sales team leader, it is our job to motivate and encourage our group members to reach their business goals and to recognize their efforts for a job well done.

What do you do to motivate and recognize your team members? Do you even do it at all? If not, you really should be!

I find that doing little things to motivate and encourage my teammates to reach their own business goals helps us both to succeed in the business. Just remember, your own goals are usually not those of your teammates.

Here are a few things I like to do:

1. Send daily or weekly emails with short stories, inspirational articles, business articles and business quotes to my team.

2. If you are recognizing your team members for a job well done and rewarding them with prizes, offer inspirational, motivational and business books as the gifts. This will benefit their business more than a free product or gift from the business line that you all represent.

3. Hold offline meetings and online chats for your entire group. Offer them an incentive to attend and recognize their efforts. You can hold door prize drawings, contests for the members with the highest sales, most parties booked, recruiting contests etc. During the meeting/chat…make sure you offer some team motivation and challenges for the following month.

One of the most important jobs of a team leader is to motivate, support and recognize your teammates for a job well done. By recognizing them for their business efforts, it helps to build a stronger relationship with them. It lets them know that you appreciate them and their dedication to the business.

How do you like to motivate and recognize your teammates?

~ Shelly ~

11 Essential Direct Sales Recruiting Tips

I have been working in Direct Sales since 1989 and I have learnt a lot over those years as to what it takes to be a successful Direct Sales Recruiter. I have been one of the top 10 in recruiting in our Direct Sales Unit since 2003.

One question I am often asked is, how do you manage to get so many recruits? My reply is simple, I did my homework first on what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to talking to potential recruit leads.

Here are some recruiting tips that I have learnt over the years.

1. Never over-hype the business opportunity! Some people are leary of those who over-hype any business opportunity, making it sound too good to be true can scare people off. Always give straight and truthful facts about your companies business opportunity.

2. When talking to a possible recruit via phone or in person, always speak clearly, do not use slang words and make sure you sound like you are excited to be talking to them about your Home Business Opportunity. Try not to have other distractions going on at the same time in the background ie. kids screaming, hubby yelling etc. The new possible recruit deserves your undivided attention.

3. Allow the person you are speaking with to to ask you questions. During the conversation at several points, make sure you say “Do you have any questions for me?” then go on and answer them.

4. Make sure you educate yourself about the current New Consultant Specials that your company is running so you can explain them to the possible new recruit. You should inform your new potential recruit of all costs in starting this home business along with normal ongoing costs such as reordering of catalogs, monthly website fee’s, order form costs, mandatory quota’s and so forth.

5. I like to end my conversations with “I would like for you to think about all of this and you can contact me again if you have any questions for me” and let them know how they can contact you again via email, phone, mail or in person type of contact. Let them know when you are available ie. Your schedule.

6. After a few days or a week if you do not hear back from them, you can initiate contact again to see if they have any questions for you. Never assume they are not interested, sometimes they get busy with other things so always follow up with them at least one additional time.

7. I keep a list of possible recruits, sometimes its just not feasible for them to join right now ie. money commitments, family commitments and so forth. The next time we run a good new consultant special, I pull my list and initiate contact with them again. This has worked several times for me in getting new recruits! Just because they say no now, doesn’t mean you will get another no in a few weeks!

8. I try to connect with all recruits on a personal level too. I tell them why I joined and started my own home business, a little about myself and why this company has worked for me. This gives them a personal connection. I also ask if they have children or if they are married and how this business can work for them around their family obligations and so forth.

9. Always be honest when recruiting! Don’t lie and say you are making thousands of dollars! Let them know that with any business or job, it does take consistent work. Hard Work does pay off!

10. After I get a new recruit, I always follow up! I like to email them and let them know I am available to answer questions or to help them get started any way I can. I also like to snail mail them a Thank You card with my personal contact info inside it. I always make myself available at any time to answer any of their questions or to offer help when they need it.

11. Consistent Contact with New Recruits is essential for them to stay in it for the long haul. Keep in contact with them via phone, email, postal mail, team meetings etc. This keeps them connected to you and well informed about the business they are now involved in.

Remember, When you recruit…its also your job to help them get started by answering any questions they have. You just don’t sign them up and never contact them again. That makes for bad business relationships! The more help you offer and the more connection you make with them the better recruit they will be for you!

Copyright © 2007 By Shelly Hill

6 Responsibilities Of A Direct Sales Team Leader

As a Direct Sales Manager, I can personally tell you that managing a large team can be a difficult balancing act. It all boils down to being organized as a leader.

I recommend that you create a business schedule. On this schedule, you want to mark off blocks of time, where you will be working on specific tasks, relating to managing your team. Here are the 6 tasks you need to focus on.

1. Communication.

As a leader, it’s your job to communicate with your group. This communication can be done by phone, email, postal mail, and in-person local meetings. I recommend that you communicate with your members once a week.

2. Motivation and Encouragement.

Dream boards are excellent tools for staying on track and providing motivation. Teach your consultants how to use dream boards. It could be as simple as…when you wake up in the morning walk over to your dream board and say out loud with confidence while pointing to the items “I want to drive a Mercedes Benz”. “I want to put a down payment on a new home within 6 months,” and so on. When they are done, have them list their goals for today only. They are going to learn how to grow their business one day at a time, so the goals should be attainable. Encourage them to forge ahead to make it happen.

3. Professionalism.

As a leader, it is your job to set forth a professional example. A strong and healthy team is built on professionalism. I recommend keeping your relationship with members on a business level.

4. Share Your Knowledge.

If you are building a downline, it is your job to help train them. You can hold one on one or group training sessions at your home or at another location. The more time you spend educating and training your team about the business, the more successful they will be.

5. Time.

Give the gift of ‘time’ to your team. You need to realize that a certain amount of time every day needs to be spent on working with your downline. This can be in the form of training, answering emails, taking phone calls, publishing a newsletter, assisting them with parties and offering your help when they need it.

6. Reward and Appreciation.

Reward your consultants for a job well done. When they reach goals or milestones within the business, reward them with a gift that you have personally selected for them. This shows that you appreciate them and their hard work. In addition, it can provide a great incentive for them to acheive the next level.

Managing a team isn’t hard nor difficult, it just requires your time and some organizational skills. If you build a strong relationship with your consultants, they will respond in a positive way.

This article is Copyright © 2009 By Shelly Hill, all rights reserved. If you would like to reprint this article, please contact us.

Spend Quality Time Developing Your Team

When it comes to recruiting for a Direct Sales home business, it’s not about adding a slew of new members to your team.

As a recruiter, it is also your job to help train your new team members and to help them to become team leaders too. All of this takes time on your part along with your knowledge of the business.

A mistake that I often see by fellow consultants in Direct Sales is that they are too focused on the numbers. Yes, you need team members…but you also need to concentrate on developing those team members into strong leaders. It’s not about signing them up and moving on to the next one.

Take the time out of your schedule and focus your energy on team management and training…You will find that you will retain new team members for the long run and they in turn will build their teams making your job a lot easier.

A strong healthy team…starts with the team leader.

Shelly

Men Working In Direct Sales

The trend has been growing over the past 10 years or so…every day I see more and more men entering the Direct Sales fields. These fields used to be dominated by work from home women.

These days you can find men doing Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Discovery Toys and other home parties.

I recently encountered a male Avon representive and asked him why he decided to get into Direct Sales. He told me, “I saw my wife Janet making a decent amount of money selling gourmet food for a home party plan company and I said to myself, I can do that too.” Another thing that he told me was, “I didn’t see myself particularly doing home parties as I was more interested in the one on one approach and door to door sales, so I chose Avon as the company I would represent.”

Men can make great consultants for a home party plan company and I have worked with a few of them over the years. They are usually very highly motivated and take the business seriously.

I am personally a consultant with Tupperware and I can tell you from personal experience, every day I see more men joining the Tupperware business and excelling at it.

Direct Sales isn’t just for women any more!

~Shelly~

Direct Sales Kit-Nappers…

In the world of Direct Sales, most consultants are serious business builders and take great pride in recruiting and building their Direct Sales teams.

We take the time to come up with great recruiting ads, invest in business opportunity fliers and brochures, and invest our time in trying to find quality teammates to join our business opportunity.

Lately though, there has been an increase in people who are joining various Direct Sales Companies just to nab a demonstration business kit and run off with it. These people desire a great deal on the products.

Let’s look at an example:

Business Kit might have $400+ in retail products in it, but yet a company is running a special on the kit for only $50.00 for people to come into the business and join.

Kit-Nappers will usually run around to the various Direct Sales Companies and join several of them to just get the kit. They have no intentions on ever working the business. I have found that they usually take the few products they want from the business kit and sell the rest to make their costs back, sometimes even profiting off it.

Let me make this clear, those who kit-nap, have NO intention of ever working the business. These are not people who join a company and then after receiving their business kits, decide that the company isn’t the right ‘fit’ for them. Kit-nappers are usually people who have deception on their mind from the very beginning.

After you get a new teammate you can usually tell within 2 weeks if they are serious about the business, as they will respond to your communication with them. (Kit-nappers usually don’t respond or if they do, it’s to give you their resignation notice within 2 weeks of them joining your company).

Can you stop it? Not really…you never know who is just a kit-napper and who isn’t because they will not be honest about their intentions with you.

My advice, Don’t waste your time communicating with folks who don’t want the communication. Invest your time with those on your teams who are serious about building a business. If possible, interview your potential recruit leads…sometimes you can figure out who will be serious about the business and who is kit-napping by just spending some time interviewing them and asking some questions.

~Shelly~

Recruit Lead Interview Sheet

You can print this Interview Sheet out and use it while conducting your recruit lead interviews.

Recruit Lead Interview Sheet

Name: ___________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________
City: _______________________State: _________ Zip: ____________

Home Phone: _________________ Cell Phone: __________________
D.O.B. _____________
SS#: ______________

Interview Questions

1. Do you plan on doing home parties? ___________________________________________

2. How do you intend to work your business? ______________________________________

3. Are you available for training? ________________________________________________
If yes, when is a convenient time for you? _________________________________________

4. Do you have any previous Direct Sales experience? _______________________________
If so, what? ________________________________________________________________

5. How much time can you spend working on your business every week? ________________

6. How do you wish to be contacted by your team leaders? ____________________________

7. Will you be working this business full-time, part-time or just as a personal use consultant?
__________________________________________________________________________

8. Are you interested in being partnered with a teammate mentor? ______________________

9. Are you available for regularly scheduled team meetings? ___________________________

10. Do you have any limitations or concerns that you feel I need to be aware of? ____________
If yes, what? ________________________________________________________________

Notes:

Recruiting Or Sales First?

When you join a new Direct Sales Company, do you immediately go out and try to recruit others or do you try building your customer base first?

I am often asked which should a new consultant do first? My answer…You should learn your products, your company business policy, build your party base and work on reaching new customers.

Recruiting should be after all of the above is reached. Why? How can you effectively train and recruit others if you don’t have a solid foundation for your own business?

When you recruit others into your business opportunity, you are to set an example as the team leader. You need to know everything there is to know about your company and products PLUS…you need to be out working the party side of the business. Get your own business experience and build yourself a solid foundation. After you have accomplished that, it’s time to get out there and ADD some new team members to your team.

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