Direct Sales: Tapping Your Warm Market For Business Growth

Written by Nicole Dean

I just love sales lingo! “Warm market”, whoever thought of that term anyway?! Your warm market consists of the people who have a need for your product and are probably expecting a call from you.

Perhaps you got their name from your sales director because a consultant quit and that customer needs some TLC. Your warm market may be leads from previous users of the product or other people who have lost their consultant for whatever reason. Or perhaps, you know them personally, and they know you are now in business for yourself and are expecting you to ask them first.

Your warm market will be the “safest” place and one of the first places to get sales and bookings from, after your friends and family.
How do you tap that warm market? How do you find these people that love the product but don’t have a consultant? You know they are out there!
If you run out of people to talk to check with your sales director or up line leader. They probably have a list of customers from former consultants who have left the company. When you talk to your leader ask for some names of people, their phone numbers and what products they use or purchased in the past.
Once you have the list – get on the phone. Wondering what to say? Here is a sample script you can use for this scenario. Keep in mind, this is a person who loves the product and lost their consultant for whatever reason. There could be some bitterness toward the company, so tread lightly and find out how she is feeling about the company first then WOW! them with your wonderful customer service.

Customer: Hello.
You: Hi Sally. My name is Mary, and I am a new consultant with Great Stuff for Your Skin. Do you have a minute? (Always ask this first! You don’t want to go into a long drawn out speech just to be shot down with “I’m busy right now”. Plus it’s embarrassing!)
Customer: Yeah, I do. (Of course we are having her say yes, but if she says no, then ask when would a good time be to call her back.) The baby is napping right now, so you called at the right time.
You: Oh good. Well as I understand you may be out of some Great Stuff for Your Skin products. Has anyone else gotten a hold of you since Jane left the company? (It’s always good ethics not to step on another consultants toes and some companies won’t allow you to “steal” a customer from another consultant.)
Customer: No, no one else has called me.
You: Well I have some new products for your skin type that you might love and I can bring you whatever you need now! When would be a good time to get together? (Keep it positive; don’t speak negatively about another consultant or the company.)
Customer: Oh this time in the afternoon is great when the baby is down for their nap. How about tomorrow? I am out of everything and nothing in the store compares to Great Stuff for Your Skin!
You: Great! I will be there tomorrow at 2:00! I’ll bring the products you’re out of now and the new items that just came out so you can try them as well.

See that wasn’t so bad, now was it? Just remember these simple points when calling your warm market:

Ask if they are busy first
Get a feel for how they are feeling about the company
Find out their immediate needs
Introduce new product
Set up a time to meet

In the scenario above, Sally didn’t care about hosting a party for a discount or free product. She just wanted her product and wanted it now. However, if your new customer wants to host a party, then get that booking. In Sally’s case, after getting the product to her, you can ask her to have a few friends over so you can show them the new products too.
Tapping your warm market is easy and can be fun and very rewarding. Your warm market is probably the second place that most of your customers will come from; the first being your family and friends and their friends. So don’t hesitate in getting that list from your sales director and start making your warm market calls before someone else does.

Tags: Direct Sales, Growing Your Business, warm market