Oooh, friends. THIS is a tough one.
I find myself coming down on both sides of this, but I tell you what - I'd MUCH rather sell a product I love than one I don't. Here's why.
The process of "selling" has evolved. No question about it. As we've previously discussed, "sell" has become one of the four-letter words we don't want to admit doing. We "offer." We find needs and fill them. We look for people who are looking for us. But heaven forbid, these days, it is very out to actually "sell." In fact, it's not unusual for someone to be recruited into our business - called "Direct Sales" by the way - and be told that they don't ever have to "sell."
Avoiding all the negatives of selling, then, the process has moved to one of "permission" marketing, storytelling, etc. I don't really have a problem with this - but it works a whole lot better IF you have a story to tell about your product or IF it has made some difference in your life that you just have to share. In essence, if you LOVE it.
What if you don't have a story about how the product made a difference in your life? What if you don't use the product? What if you respect the product, but it just doesn't zing for you? Can you still sell it?
Yes, yes, and yes again. But don't lie. Use simple selling skills, and look for people for whom this product is the RIGHT answer to their needs. Just because it doesn't solve a need for YOU, doesn't mean it doesn't solve a need for someone else. I started out in this business selling a product for children before I had any. I believed in the product, but had no personal story or personal experience to share.
But, it's easier if you love it. It's easier if you've got a story. It's more fun if it's a passion.
Now, the hard part. What if it wasn't the product, but the opportunity that called to you?
This one has tangled up more than a few of us. Here's the dilemma. You hear about a great, probably start-up, company and you have a chance to get in on the "ground floor." It's not a product that excites you, but you're a smart enough business person to realize there IS a market for it. So far, so good.
But, because what attracted you was the "great opportunity" you MAY have the tendency to sell that, instead of the product. Just be aware. It's not going to be ground floor forever. This is the voice of experience sharing with you here. I'm not saying you should avoid a great opportunity - I just want you to make sure a great, viable product that you are comfortable selling is part of it.
So, do you have to LOVE your product to sell it ethically and effectively? Nope.
Does it help? You BET.
SALES...the Life of the Party Plan
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
You can follow me http://twitter.com/thebetterseller
To receive a sequenced twenty-six week Selling Skills course via email, sign up here
http://www.beabetterseller.net
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Is Your Market Saturated?
I’d like to tell you a story.
Several years ago I was part of the launch of a direct sales company. About a year and half later I had an opportunity to do a show for a friend of mine who happened to live in the company’s home city. The population of that metro area was 804,340 at the time. Using the 1 to 1000 rule, the area could sustain 804 active consultants. Using the 80/20 rule, we’d need five times that or just over 4000 signed up consultants to be saturated. (I'll talk about these "rules" below.)
Now, being as the company was based there, many of the first consultants and superstars lived there. In fact, at the time I did the show there were at LEAST five senior leaders – the top level of management with teams generating in the hundreds of thousands in sales per MONTH. Now, of course, the teams were spread all over the country, but a whole lot of them were in this city. Although no one person I knew had access to the company’s ledger, my senior leader estimated (based on conversations about team size with her counterparts, joint meetings, etc.) that there were about 4000 consultants SIGNED UP in this city at that time, eighteen months after launch. Using the 80/20 rule, there were probably 800 active, selling consultants.
So, I pretty much figured doing this show that the audience would have seen it all and heard it all about the company and products. To shorten it up, I did the show, booked two shows, and then one more from one of those. I did four shows there in three weeks, with approximately forty-four total customer guests.
I’d like you to take a guess at the following: How many of the forty-four had already been to one of our shows?
Are you ready for this?
One.
That’s right. Eighteen months after launch, in the headquarters city, with approximately 800 active consultants, ONE guest of forty-four had been to show. Even more interesting, at least HALF had never heard of the company before they were invited.
HALF!
This experience cured me of believing in saturation. But, let me put some "rules" and numbers around it so you can see where the expectations come from.
One reason is simple math. Different examples exist by various organizations, but common wisdom is that an area is saturated when there is one consultant for every 1000 people. Using Year 2000 census data, let’s pick a city. How about the metro Atlanta area? Using only four counties – Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Cobb, the population was 2,678,150. So, theoretically that area would be saturated if there were 2,678 consultants for any given company in metro Atlanta.
But wait, don’t forget another common wisdom, the 80/20 rule. That is 80% of the work is accomplished by 20% of the people. So, should you consider the total number of consultants in an area, or 20% of that number? Using that rule, it would take over 13,000 signed up with 20% active to "saturate" these four counties.
Let’s throw another common statistic. Among every three consultants who sign up, one will do nothing, one will sell for a while and eventually drop out, and one will sell something consistently. Then, of the three who sell consistently, one of those will sell only, the second will sell and sponsor and move into lower management levels, and one will sell well, sponsor and move into upper management. For the third, one in three is a superstar. If you’ve stayed with the math, one in nine works the whole business, and one in ninety-nine is a superstar.
Here’s another example, and I’m not picking on Mary Kay. I have PROFOUND respect for that company and what they have accomplished on behalf of all of us who do direct sales. But, there’s a perception that MK is saturated in the U.S. I beg to disagree. Let’s go back to the stats. Population – about 300 million. Divided by 1000 that’s 300,000. And yes, there are more than 300,000 MK reps in the U.S. But, how about the 80/20 rule? Last figures I could obtain for U.S. Mary Kay consultant numbers was around half a million – so 20% of that is 100,000 doing 80% of the sales.
Waaay under the 300,000 the population could sustain.
And no company has anywhere NEAR MK’s numbers. Not even close. I always ask people – is there a Mary Kay rep on your street? Do you know her name? You’d be amazed how few people actually know anyone who actively sells.
Do certain areas have a higher percentage of consultants to population for any company? Absolutely. Does that mean a passionate and determined sales person is destined to fail there? Absolutely NOT. There’s no substitute for effort. None.
Bottom line. Saturation is a myth. Don’t let the perception of saturation keep you from working. A determined sales person who is actively seeking customers will find them anywhere, regardless of how much presence the company has.
Do you love your product? Then just keep looking for people who need it. They’re out there. Just keep asking – and prepare to find customers!
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
Twitter @thebetterseller
http://www.beabetterseller.net
Several years ago I was part of the launch of a direct sales company. About a year and half later I had an opportunity to do a show for a friend of mine who happened to live in the company’s home city. The population of that metro area was 804,340 at the time. Using the 1 to 1000 rule, the area could sustain 804 active consultants. Using the 80/20 rule, we’d need five times that or just over 4000 signed up consultants to be saturated. (I'll talk about these "rules" below.)
Now, being as the company was based there, many of the first consultants and superstars lived there. In fact, at the time I did the show there were at LEAST five senior leaders – the top level of management with teams generating in the hundreds of thousands in sales per MONTH. Now, of course, the teams were spread all over the country, but a whole lot of them were in this city. Although no one person I knew had access to the company’s ledger, my senior leader estimated (based on conversations about team size with her counterparts, joint meetings, etc.) that there were about 4000 consultants SIGNED UP in this city at that time, eighteen months after launch. Using the 80/20 rule, there were probably 800 active, selling consultants.
So, I pretty much figured doing this show that the audience would have seen it all and heard it all about the company and products. To shorten it up, I did the show, booked two shows, and then one more from one of those. I did four shows there in three weeks, with approximately forty-four total customer guests.
I’d like you to take a guess at the following: How many of the forty-four had already been to one of our shows?
Are you ready for this?
One.
That’s right. Eighteen months after launch, in the headquarters city, with approximately 800 active consultants, ONE guest of forty-four had been to show. Even more interesting, at least HALF had never heard of the company before they were invited.
HALF!
This experience cured me of believing in saturation. But, let me put some "rules" and numbers around it so you can see where the expectations come from.
One reason is simple math. Different examples exist by various organizations, but common wisdom is that an area is saturated when there is one consultant for every 1000 people. Using Year 2000 census data, let’s pick a city. How about the metro Atlanta area? Using only four counties – Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Cobb, the population was 2,678,150. So, theoretically that area would be saturated if there were 2,678 consultants for any given company in metro Atlanta.
But wait, don’t forget another common wisdom, the 80/20 rule. That is 80% of the work is accomplished by 20% of the people. So, should you consider the total number of consultants in an area, or 20% of that number? Using that rule, it would take over 13,000 signed up with 20% active to "saturate" these four counties.
Let’s throw another common statistic. Among every three consultants who sign up, one will do nothing, one will sell for a while and eventually drop out, and one will sell something consistently. Then, of the three who sell consistently, one of those will sell only, the second will sell and sponsor and move into lower management levels, and one will sell well, sponsor and move into upper management. For the third, one in three is a superstar. If you’ve stayed with the math, one in nine works the whole business, and one in ninety-nine is a superstar.
Here’s another example, and I’m not picking on Mary Kay. I have PROFOUND respect for that company and what they have accomplished on behalf of all of us who do direct sales. But, there’s a perception that MK is saturated in the U.S. I beg to disagree. Let’s go back to the stats. Population – about 300 million. Divided by 1000 that’s 300,000. And yes, there are more than 300,000 MK reps in the U.S. But, how about the 80/20 rule? Last figures I could obtain for U.S. Mary Kay consultant numbers was around half a million – so 20% of that is 100,000 doing 80% of the sales.
Waaay under the 300,000 the population could sustain.
And no company has anywhere NEAR MK’s numbers. Not even close. I always ask people – is there a Mary Kay rep on your street? Do you know her name? You’d be amazed how few people actually know anyone who actively sells.
Do certain areas have a higher percentage of consultants to population for any company? Absolutely. Does that mean a passionate and determined sales person is destined to fail there? Absolutely NOT. There’s no substitute for effort. None.
Bottom line. Saturation is a myth. Don’t let the perception of saturation keep you from working. A determined sales person who is actively seeking customers will find them anywhere, regardless of how much presence the company has.
Do you love your product? Then just keep looking for people who need it. They’re out there. Just keep asking – and prepare to find customers!
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
Twitter @thebetterseller
http://www.beabetterseller.net
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Do You HAVE to do Parties?
Yes, you need to do shows.
This is coming from someone who doesn’t necessarily love the process of doing shows. That is, I absolutely loathe hostess coaching. Gotta do it, but I’m one of those sellers who wants to tell my hostess exactly what to do, have her do it without question, and then I show up at her door at the assigned time to a room full of excited prospects.
Not happening. But, that’s the topic of another blog. Today, we’re going to talk about why you need to do shows, even if you ALSO take the water to horse by "door to door" work, or other selling efforts.
It’s simple math – shows will almost invariably pay you more per HOUR for the simple reason that you walk into a room of pre-qualified prospects because they accepted the invitation to come to the show. That doesn’t mean they’ll buy, but it does mean you get a chance to see if your product fits their needs. It’s the audience that matters. A bigger group that someone else assembled is GOOD for your business.
Let’s do some math. It won’t be bad, I promise!
Suppose you call around to individual customers, or go visiting offices, or whatever, and collect enough orders to put in a show. For our example, lets say you spend two hours a day for five days one week and you get $500 in orders. I’ll pick a 25% commission rate since that’s common. So, you earn $125 in straight commission. You could also quantify soft costs of mileage, and soft gains of getting hostess benefits if you are allowed. But, to keep it simple, we’re going to use the $125 commission for $500 in sales for 10 hours of work.
That’s $12.50 per hour.
Now, you have a show for that Friday night. Spend half an hour prepping, half driving, two hours at show, half driving home,. That’s 3.5 hours. And you sell $500. So you earn the same $125 for 3.5 hours work or $41.67 per hour.
It’s almost a no brainer, all other things being equal. That is, you may get show leads from both efforts, meet consultants from both efforts, etc. You know from my previous post I’m a believer in working your business outside shows unless you have more than enough leads to suit you.
But, I want to make sure you get the biggest benefit of the show…SOMEONE ELSE does the initial prospecting for you. And prospecting is time consuming, no doubt about it. So, suck it up and do those shows, even if they aren’t your favorite part of the business!
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://beabetterseller.net/
On twitter, you can follow me @thebetterseller
This is coming from someone who doesn’t necessarily love the process of doing shows. That is, I absolutely loathe hostess coaching. Gotta do it, but I’m one of those sellers who wants to tell my hostess exactly what to do, have her do it without question, and then I show up at her door at the assigned time to a room full of excited prospects.
Not happening. But, that’s the topic of another blog. Today, we’re going to talk about why you need to do shows, even if you ALSO take the water to horse by "door to door" work, or other selling efforts.
It’s simple math – shows will almost invariably pay you more per HOUR for the simple reason that you walk into a room of pre-qualified prospects because they accepted the invitation to come to the show. That doesn’t mean they’ll buy, but it does mean you get a chance to see if your product fits their needs. It’s the audience that matters. A bigger group that someone else assembled is GOOD for your business.
Let’s do some math. It won’t be bad, I promise!
Suppose you call around to individual customers, or go visiting offices, or whatever, and collect enough orders to put in a show. For our example, lets say you spend two hours a day for five days one week and you get $500 in orders. I’ll pick a 25% commission rate since that’s common. So, you earn $125 in straight commission. You could also quantify soft costs of mileage, and soft gains of getting hostess benefits if you are allowed. But, to keep it simple, we’re going to use the $125 commission for $500 in sales for 10 hours of work.
That’s $12.50 per hour.
Now, you have a show for that Friday night. Spend half an hour prepping, half driving, two hours at show, half driving home,. That’s 3.5 hours. And you sell $500. So you earn the same $125 for 3.5 hours work or $41.67 per hour.
It’s almost a no brainer, all other things being equal. That is, you may get show leads from both efforts, meet consultants from both efforts, etc. You know from my previous post I’m a believer in working your business outside shows unless you have more than enough leads to suit you.
But, I want to make sure you get the biggest benefit of the show…SOMEONE ELSE does the initial prospecting for you. And prospecting is time consuming, no doubt about it. So, suck it up and do those shows, even if they aren’t your favorite part of the business!
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://beabetterseller.net/
On twitter, you can follow me @thebetterseller
Monday, February 23, 2009
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
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
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bottom Line - Sales Drive the Checks
How to make money in direct sales? Personal selling, team building? Wide? Deep? Wholesale? Retail?
Every direct sales company out there has a different compensation plan. Most of these plans are a combination of commission structure on personal sales, a bonus or override structure on team sales, and other components such as milestone or rank bonuses tied to pools of some sort. Some pay on retail, others wholesale. It’s all over the place.
It can be VERY confusing, particularly if you’ve never been in the business before.
Here are some very basic pieces of information for you to make sure you understand about your comp plan, and also a few thoughts on the best way to go.
Organizational Structure
Should you be wide or deep and what the heck does that mean anyway?
As a GENERAL RULE, go WIDE first, worry about deep later.
If your organization is wide, that means you have a wide line of team members BESIDE each other RIGHT UNDER you. You might be a prolific personal sponsor, or these people may have rolled up to you from someone you sponsored who left the company. Although many comp plans count someone who rolled up as being on your frontline, others specifically require you to have personally sponsored consultants on your frontline to satisfy rank requirements. Be sure you know what your plan requires to promote.
Why wide? You likely have a requirement of some sort that a certain number of your FRONT LINE (immediately under you) sell a certain amount of volume on a monthly, or quarterly basis. In addition, the wider you are, the wider the total organization will be underneath you. This usually helps your overall compensation. Which brings us to depth.
On the depth side, also as a general rule, the farther people are from you, the less money you will be paid on their production. This may be because there are low level promotes between you, or because your comp plan only pays so many levels deep. If your company pays four levels, you just don’t get paid on people below that, regardless of their status. (If there is a comp plan out there that building wide first hurts you more than building deep first, rest assured it’s very unusual.)
So, it’s simple math. The more people you have on your frontline, the better the chances you don't have to sweat every single sales period that enough of them will do what you need. I feel very strongly that it is NOT your team member’s responsibility to maintain YOUR rank. So, I hope you never pressure your team for results. Build wide enough, and you won’t have to worry. Build wide and you’re likely to have more people in your pay range too.
Bottom line, know your plan and work it.
Which brings me to the next component you need to grasp. What is your company’s policy on "recapture?"
Recapture
Most companies have a rank promotion structure that requires someone to promote with a combination of team sales volume, and so many frontline consultants who are "active" or participating at a certain level. What happens if you don’t recruit all that much, but you wind up sponsoring a superstar?
In most every comp plan, you’re going to be penalized. That’s just the way it is. Eventually, that person is going to build their personal and team sales and structure enough to promote. If you aren’t ready to promote as well, they are going to go around or "break away" from you. Or worse, you go ahead and promote, then can’t hold the new rank when you can’t count their volume anymore. This is what I mean by "penalized." I understand why it happens – the company doesn’t want consultants who aren’t particularly active and working the business regularly to be able to move up in rank just because they sponsored someone terrific.
The question is, can you "recapture" that person and their organization, when and if you ever manage to promote to the level where they would have stayed under you? Unfortunately, in many companies the answer is "no."
BRAVO to companies that provide recapture! I have long thought that punishing someone permanently for recruiting a superstar was a terrible message to send. If you recruit someone great and they pass you, you ought to benefit from being the one who "brung ‘em" to the dance if you work your way up to their level.
Either way, know your plan and work it.
But, please remember one thing that applies regardless of width, depth, or recapture:
Sales drive the checks.
The team will do what you do. If you sell, they’ll sell. If you sell and recruit, they’ll sell and recruit. If you just sell to minimums and recruit, you can expect a large portion of your team to do the same. If you want to earn more, sell more. When the team follows, your checks will too.
Bottom line, you are PAID on your team SALES, not your team SIZE.
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
To receive a weekly direct sales tip and other ideas: http://www.beabetterseller.net
Every direct sales company out there has a different compensation plan. Most of these plans are a combination of commission structure on personal sales, a bonus or override structure on team sales, and other components such as milestone or rank bonuses tied to pools of some sort. Some pay on retail, others wholesale. It’s all over the place.
It can be VERY confusing, particularly if you’ve never been in the business before.
Here are some very basic pieces of information for you to make sure you understand about your comp plan, and also a few thoughts on the best way to go.
Organizational Structure
Should you be wide or deep and what the heck does that mean anyway?
As a GENERAL RULE, go WIDE first, worry about deep later.
If your organization is wide, that means you have a wide line of team members BESIDE each other RIGHT UNDER you. You might be a prolific personal sponsor, or these people may have rolled up to you from someone you sponsored who left the company. Although many comp plans count someone who rolled up as being on your frontline, others specifically require you to have personally sponsored consultants on your frontline to satisfy rank requirements. Be sure you know what your plan requires to promote.
Why wide? You likely have a requirement of some sort that a certain number of your FRONT LINE (immediately under you) sell a certain amount of volume on a monthly, or quarterly basis. In addition, the wider you are, the wider the total organization will be underneath you. This usually helps your overall compensation. Which brings us to depth.
On the depth side, also as a general rule, the farther people are from you, the less money you will be paid on their production. This may be because there are low level promotes between you, or because your comp plan only pays so many levels deep. If your company pays four levels, you just don’t get paid on people below that, regardless of their status. (If there is a comp plan out there that building wide first hurts you more than building deep first, rest assured it’s very unusual.)
So, it’s simple math. The more people you have on your frontline, the better the chances you don't have to sweat every single sales period that enough of them will do what you need. I feel very strongly that it is NOT your team member’s responsibility to maintain YOUR rank. So, I hope you never pressure your team for results. Build wide enough, and you won’t have to worry. Build wide and you’re likely to have more people in your pay range too.
Bottom line, know your plan and work it.
Which brings me to the next component you need to grasp. What is your company’s policy on "recapture?"
Recapture
Most companies have a rank promotion structure that requires someone to promote with a combination of team sales volume, and so many frontline consultants who are "active" or participating at a certain level. What happens if you don’t recruit all that much, but you wind up sponsoring a superstar?
In most every comp plan, you’re going to be penalized. That’s just the way it is. Eventually, that person is going to build their personal and team sales and structure enough to promote. If you aren’t ready to promote as well, they are going to go around or "break away" from you. Or worse, you go ahead and promote, then can’t hold the new rank when you can’t count their volume anymore. This is what I mean by "penalized." I understand why it happens – the company doesn’t want consultants who aren’t particularly active and working the business regularly to be able to move up in rank just because they sponsored someone terrific.
The question is, can you "recapture" that person and their organization, when and if you ever manage to promote to the level where they would have stayed under you? Unfortunately, in many companies the answer is "no."
BRAVO to companies that provide recapture! I have long thought that punishing someone permanently for recruiting a superstar was a terrible message to send. If you recruit someone great and they pass you, you ought to benefit from being the one who "brung ‘em" to the dance if you work your way up to their level.
Either way, know your plan and work it.
But, please remember one thing that applies regardless of width, depth, or recapture:
Sales drive the checks.
The team will do what you do. If you sell, they’ll sell. If you sell and recruit, they’ll sell and recruit. If you just sell to minimums and recruit, you can expect a large portion of your team to do the same. If you want to earn more, sell more. When the team follows, your checks will too.
Bottom line, you are PAID on your team SALES, not your team SIZE.
SALES…the Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
To receive a weekly direct sales tip and other ideas: http://www.beabetterseller.net
Thursday, February 12, 2009
So, What is "selling" anyway?
Who’d think one little word could get people so worked up? And, what is "selling" anyway? Well, according to http://www.dictionary.com/, if we look up the word "selling" and scroll down to the verb definitions…Yep. There it is, not once but twice, definitions 4 and 5…"to persuade or INDUCE someone to buy something."
Ouch. No wonder people who get into sales like to say they aren’t in sales…
I’m going to be the first to tell you, after having two children via induction, it’s not a great thing to experience. Okay, different inducement. But the point is, inducing or even persuading…not such a great way to go about things anymore. Truthfully, it hasn’t been for years. But there are lots of "salespeople" out there who, IF formally trained at all, haven’t been trained any other way than the "persuade, induce, manipulate" school of selling. And they’ve given an honorable profession a terrible reputation.
So, then, what is "Better Selling?" Well, if I have it my way, better selling is finding a need and filling THAT need. It is NOT aggressive, pushy, manipulative, OR inductive.
It’s paid PROBLEM SOLVING.
And it IS "selling."
It’s all about listening. When I teach, the very first thing I teach a new consultant to do is to be quiet and listen. The second skill is to learn to ask questions. Then listen some more. Why? It’s all about finding out IF this prospect, customer, or guest has a need for the product. Does the product solve a problem? If not, LET THEM GO! Teaching salespeople to qualify effectively is an absolute essential of Better Selling. If I can’t fix a problem in your life, I have nothing to sell to you…right now.
So, for many salespeople and new direct sales consultants, the challenge lies in getting started. In filling their well with potential customers, hostesses, and maybe fellow consultants. I believe the best place to begin to find people with needs is to look for people who have the same need the product filled for you. This technique is explained in great detail in Kim Klaver’s book "If My Product’s So Great, How Come I Can’t Sell It?" http://budurl.com/findingprospects I definitely recommend the read. Twitter @kimklaver
And that, my friends, is what I mean when I talk about Better Selling. Find a need and fill it. Expose a problem and solve it. Listen and Help. But, it is SELLING. Okay, call it what you want. I just can’t see the national convention of any company giving an award to the Queen of Offering.
...I’m just saying.
SALES…The Life of the Party Plan
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://www.beabetterseller.net/ Twitter @thebetterseller
Ouch. No wonder people who get into sales like to say they aren’t in sales…
I’m going to be the first to tell you, after having two children via induction, it’s not a great thing to experience. Okay, different inducement. But the point is, inducing or even persuading…not such a great way to go about things anymore. Truthfully, it hasn’t been for years. But there are lots of "salespeople" out there who, IF formally trained at all, haven’t been trained any other way than the "persuade, induce, manipulate" school of selling. And they’ve given an honorable profession a terrible reputation.
So, then, what is "Better Selling?" Well, if I have it my way, better selling is finding a need and filling THAT need. It is NOT aggressive, pushy, manipulative, OR inductive.
It’s paid PROBLEM SOLVING.
And it IS "selling."
It’s all about listening. When I teach, the very first thing I teach a new consultant to do is to be quiet and listen. The second skill is to learn to ask questions. Then listen some more. Why? It’s all about finding out IF this prospect, customer, or guest has a need for the product. Does the product solve a problem? If not, LET THEM GO! Teaching salespeople to qualify effectively is an absolute essential of Better Selling. If I can’t fix a problem in your life, I have nothing to sell to you…right now.
So, for many salespeople and new direct sales consultants, the challenge lies in getting started. In filling their well with potential customers, hostesses, and maybe fellow consultants. I believe the best place to begin to find people with needs is to look for people who have the same need the product filled for you. This technique is explained in great detail in Kim Klaver’s book "If My Product’s So Great, How Come I Can’t Sell It?" http://budurl.com/findingprospects I definitely recommend the read. Twitter @kimklaver
And that, my friends, is what I mean when I talk about Better Selling. Find a need and fill it. Expose a problem and solve it. Listen and Help. But, it is SELLING. Okay, call it what you want. I just can’t see the national convention of any company giving an award to the Queen of Offering.
...I’m just saying.
SALES…The Life of the Party Plan
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://www.beabetterseller.net/ Twitter @thebetterseller
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Are You Buying It?
That is, are you buying all the drama about the state of the economy? The dire predictions? The fear and anxiety?
I know it’s hard, but try not to. Let’s talk a little about what is going on, and where direct sales fits into things.
There’s a lot of folklore out there about what does and what does NOT sell during a recession.
Some people point to the old Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model, which states that once all the needs are met on one level, the individual begins to seek to meet needs on the next level. At the bottom of the pyramid? Food, Clothing, Shelter, Medical Care. Next up? Safety and Security. Middle – Social Acceptance. So, if you are selling to Maslow, you might be tempted to drop whatever you are presently selling and run to the Eat It, Live in It, Smoke It, or Wash With It products of the bottom level.
Another common belief is that women in particular can be counted on to buy things that make them look good, even during tough times. (Blurring the lines between safety/security and social acceptance. Remember, during the Great Depression it was much more socially acceptable for a woman to find a man to "take care of her." So, looking good equated with seeking security, yes?) Thus the common belief that you should be selling cosmetics, skin care, or adornments.
Faith Popcorn, in the Popcorn Report of almost two decades ago talked about nesting and simplifying as critical trends even in tough times…Candles? Organizing Systems?
Now, truthfully, all bets are off if we go through a complete worldwide economic collapse. But there are a whole lot of people working to avoid that, and just about as many opinions on how to do it. So, what can WE do right now, as direct sales people?
STAY IN THE GAME.
Despite the common belief that "necessity" or inexpensive vanity products sold consistently during past recessions, there is mounting evidence to contradict that. In fact, it’s looking more and more like what sold during these times, and more importantly what products THRIVED after these tough times, were the ones that stayed in the game throughout. For corporations, that means continued advertising, PR, and product placement.
For you, that means getting out there and staying out there with your products.
Sure, maybe people aren’t as likely to just buy for frivolity or shopping therapy. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a NEED for what you have to offer. YOU just need to make sure you are offering what they NEED.
There is no reason why you can’t market yourself with an eye toward the uneasiness of the buying public. If you sell cooking solutions, you can certainly put together a presentation on Healthy 30-Minute Dinners targeted at stay-at-home-mothers who are having to go back to work. Cosmetics or Skin Care? Same thing – can you create a presentation targeted to "Look Smashing for Your Interview," or "The Five Minute Make-Up Routine for Back to the Office." Adornments? How about "Save Money by Updating, Not Replacing, Your Office Wardrobe."
But, whatever you do….STAY OUT THERE with your products. There are still problems and needs than can only be met by you and your product line.
Sales…The Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://www.beabetterseller.net/
I know it’s hard, but try not to. Let’s talk a little about what is going on, and where direct sales fits into things.
There’s a lot of folklore out there about what does and what does NOT sell during a recession.
Some people point to the old Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Model, which states that once all the needs are met on one level, the individual begins to seek to meet needs on the next level. At the bottom of the pyramid? Food, Clothing, Shelter, Medical Care. Next up? Safety and Security. Middle – Social Acceptance. So, if you are selling to Maslow, you might be tempted to drop whatever you are presently selling and run to the Eat It, Live in It, Smoke It, or Wash With It products of the bottom level.
Another common belief is that women in particular can be counted on to buy things that make them look good, even during tough times. (Blurring the lines between safety/security and social acceptance. Remember, during the Great Depression it was much more socially acceptable for a woman to find a man to "take care of her." So, looking good equated with seeking security, yes?) Thus the common belief that you should be selling cosmetics, skin care, or adornments.
Faith Popcorn, in the Popcorn Report of almost two decades ago talked about nesting and simplifying as critical trends even in tough times…Candles? Organizing Systems?
Now, truthfully, all bets are off if we go through a complete worldwide economic collapse. But there are a whole lot of people working to avoid that, and just about as many opinions on how to do it. So, what can WE do right now, as direct sales people?
STAY IN THE GAME.
Despite the common belief that "necessity" or inexpensive vanity products sold consistently during past recessions, there is mounting evidence to contradict that. In fact, it’s looking more and more like what sold during these times, and more importantly what products THRIVED after these tough times, were the ones that stayed in the game throughout. For corporations, that means continued advertising, PR, and product placement.
For you, that means getting out there and staying out there with your products.
Sure, maybe people aren’t as likely to just buy for frivolity or shopping therapy. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a NEED for what you have to offer. YOU just need to make sure you are offering what they NEED.
There is no reason why you can’t market yourself with an eye toward the uneasiness of the buying public. If you sell cooking solutions, you can certainly put together a presentation on Healthy 30-Minute Dinners targeted at stay-at-home-mothers who are having to go back to work. Cosmetics or Skin Care? Same thing – can you create a presentation targeted to "Look Smashing for Your Interview," or "The Five Minute Make-Up Routine for Back to the Office." Adornments? How about "Save Money by Updating, Not Replacing, Your Office Wardrobe."
But, whatever you do….STAY OUT THERE with your products. There are still problems and needs than can only be met by you and your product line.
Sales…The Life of the Party Plan.
Kimberly Bates, the Better Seller Coach
http://www.beabetterseller.net/
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