Are You a Direct Sales Addict?

Hi. My name is Kimberly and I'm addicted to direct sales.

There. I've said it in public!

What do I mean by "addicted" and how do you know if you've got it too?

Well, I'll start on the consumer side. I am one of those people who LOVED going to home parties, back in the days before my husband's business turned seriously disasterous and we had two incomes and plenty of moula. I was the guest who could be counted on to spend $50 - 75. And, I loved the social aspect of getting together with a bunch of gals and having an adult beverage and gabbing, and oh yeah, SHOPPING. I rarely go to malls or even department stores anymore, so for years when my kids were really young, I did my shopping at home shows.

Only ONE time did I have to work really hard to find something in the catalog that I wanted. Most of the time, the list was longer than the allowance. I love the opportunity to play with products, to learn about them ,etc.

What can I say - dream guest, right?

And yeah, I've bought a few kits in my day!

In general, I am not a "kitnapper." That's someone who buys the kit with no intention of selling, but just to get the items in the kit and/or the discount for a period of time. In fact, only once did I actually buy a kit for that reason and it was with the full endorsement of my sponsor. She suggested it when she saw how much stuff I wanted to buy. I'd been a loyal customer of hers for about ten years at that point, hosted a good show years before, etc.

Two other times...no maybe three, I bought a kit to help out a friend with the express purpose of adding a new recruit to her lineage during a contest or promotion effort. Again, with the understanding that she needed a body for a period of time, and I had no intention of actively selling the products.

Three times I have retailed product aggressively and sponsored or built teams, once up to the half-million in sales, 200+ team size.

Twice I have found products I thought were great, but never got traction retailing the product. In both those cases, I truthfully did not try very hard.

So yeah....I am pretty sure when you tally the list of the number of times I've joined a company, I qualify as an addict! Even though, in all fairness to myself, I NEVER INTENDED to retail most of those products.

Still...the list is long.

Does this matter? Does it affect my credibility as a sales person? Unfortunately, it may. Likewise, you may find if you have done a variety of companies that your friends will say to you, "Oh no, what now!?"

On the flip side, should you continue to sell a product that doesn't inspire you? I would definitely say "no." And, I've met a whole LOT of ladies like myself, who have tried lots of things. Sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong ones. Sometimes because we thought a company was a great opportunity, sometimes because the product was cool. Sometimes because we needed a quick $1000 and doing something for a couple months produced that.

The constant that I see in these (mostly) gals is that they have a passionate desire to improve their lives, and the lives of people they touch. It just takes some of us LOTS of frogs to find the "prince" of a product we can both sell consistently, enjoy consistently, and want to do to the exclusion of other things.

So, go on, go shopping at that home show.

Or, go ahead, take the plunge. Found yet ANOTHER product you love and want to try to sell?

Go for it.

(You may have to find some new friends to sell to though!) ;)

I'm looking at my list and thinking, do I do it AGAIN? For the first time, I've found a product that I want every single thing in the catalog - I've never responded to a line like that before. I've tried the product and LOVE what it is doing for me. Joining companies before has mostly been a more practical decision, timing, market, etc.

Decisions, decisions.

Hi. My name is Kimberly, and I'm a direct sales addict.

SALES...the Life of the Party Plan

Kimberly Bates

Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/kimberlybates
Learn my system for selling without feeling or being a pain the butt, The Gentle Seller System
http://www.beabetterseller.net

P.S. EDIT If you read my last post, it was about the Trump Network. Just FYI, I don't consider that a traditional "party plan" opportunity. My husband is very interested, and we are researching their products. But, Trump is NOT the company I am referring to above, when I say I want everything in the catalog. That is a different company.

The Trump Card

Okay, I'll say it.

Why are the people who are touting the Trump Network approaching everyone with "have you heard about the Trump Network?" and nary a mention of what is a terrific product line? (So good, I may join.)

Here's the story as I understand it.

Donald Trump said several years ago that if he was starting over, or going into a new business, or some such thing, that he would do network marketing. I THINK it might have been on Oprah in the past ten years. It's probably on youtube...

Anyway, when things started turning south in the economy last year, he decided, "now's the time." So, he went searching for a company to buy. He had some strong criteria. He wanted a company already in business, but one that had not reached explosive growth. He wanted a health and wellness product. He wanted a quality product. He ended up purchasing a company by the name of Ideal Health. They've been around about twelve years - successful, but not hugely, in an admittedly crowded market.

Several months ago, they went into pre-launch. Ever since, I've seen tweets on twitter, mentions on facebook, a few blogs, etc. And every single one of them focuses on one thing.

Donald Trump.

Now, Mr. Trump is a bonafide force of nature. And having his name, credibility, financial backing, and marketing savvy behind a product is absolutely a good thing. But here is my question.

What are these recruiters going to say to people in a year when everyone knows about the Trump Network? What reason will they give for joining then?

More important, as I have previously discussed here on this blog, it is the retail selling of product that pays the bills in any network marketing or direct sales structure. Even IF a commission is paid on start-up kits, long term, it's residual continuous product sales that really drive checks.

Are all these people signing up for the Trump name thinking they only need sign up a bunch of others and sit back and let the money roll in? If the sole message going out to the public is "Sign up because it's Donald Trump," what does that portend for the ultimate success of the company?

My greatest fear here is that people are signing up literally not caring what the product is. If it's Trump, they're in.

Sigh. Well, to each his or her own. Millions will be made either way.

And, on the plus side, having someone like Trump endorsing network marketing could give an industry that has traditionally suffered mis-understanding and negativity a much deserved dose of credibility.

I'm still sayin'...

SALES, the Life of the Party (or any other direct sales) Plan!

Kimberly Bates
The Better Seller Coach

Follow Me on Twitter http://twitter.com/kimberlybates
Get Selling Skills tailored to party plan http://www.beabetterseller.net