Take the Bucket to the Horse

Today, practical advice for direct sales.

Bring the water to the horse.

You know the old saying of course, "You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink." In other words, you can offer, but the horse may or may not be thirsty.
My question is, how much time did you spend dragging that poor not-so-thirsty horse to the pond? Grab a bucket, fill it up, and carry it around the barn until you find a thirsty horse!

Translation – take your products to places where people who might need them are working, playing, or hanging out. Don’t just wait for hostesses to invite them to shows. Don’t just wait for shows to find hostesses. Truth be told, times aren’t that tough compared to some previous economic setbacks. But lack of consumer confidence is making people who do not need to save or pay down debt choosing to save or pay down debt rather than buy. That doesn’t mean they don’t need products and services, but that they are deferring unnecessarily.

Take it to THEM. Take your products out there and find people who need what you have to offer.

Understand your local economy. If you go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/LAU you can find the most current employment stats for your state, county, and some cities. What ever the Unemployment number is, subtract it from 100. That’s how many people ARE employed. Start there.

Next, go to this site and examine your area by zip codes. You won’t be able to get detailed descriptions without paying, but the segment titles are very descriptive and can give a strong feeling of the demographics of a particular zip code. These are residential demographics. http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=20&SubID=&pageName=ZIP%2BCode%2BLook-up

Now, put together with your employment information, your knowledge of the zip codes where you want to sell, put on your practical hat, and think about the industries that are doing well, regardless of the economy, or doing well BECAUSE of the economy. Here are some ideas:
Medicine
Bankruptcy Lawyers
Pawn Brokers
Companies that do repossession work
Educators
Divorce Lawyers
Consignment Shops
Financial Planners/Advisors

Many of your potential customers may work in these businesses and simply be too busy to attend a home show, but have need of your product. Consider taking it to them where they work. Would the doctor’s office let you set up in the break room during lunch? Likewise lawyers or schools? Could you do a drawing giveaway at the consignment shop? You may have to WORK this to find a formula that works. Your mileage may vary.

The point is, are you waiting for them to find you?

Or, are you finding them?

SALES…the Life of the Party Plan

Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://www.beabetterseller.net