20 Tips to Making Your Direct Sales Business Successful

Written by Nicole Dean

You’ve thought about starting a direct sales business but you aren’t sure if it will be successful and that has you at a standstill. While there are no sure bets in direct sales, there are some tips that will help you on your journey to success.

1. Love and believe in the product you are selling. If you love it, use it yourself and know that it works, it won’t be hard to sell.

2. If you have to invest a lot of money to get started on a starter kit or literature, re-think it. A starter kit should have the best selling products, catalogs and other literature you’ll need. Replacement catalogs & literature should be reasonably priced and your personal discount to buy new product should be 30%-50%.

3. Build a network, but don’t just build a network to sell to. Build true relationships and friendships with people first. Be genuine and real.

4. Know your product and know your competition. If a similar product is sold in stores, be ready to explain why yours is the better product especially if there is a cost difference.

5. Have a web site. If your company offers their representatives the option of having a corporate site, make sure to take advantage of having one. Many times you’ll be able to communicate easily with your customers with just a click of a button.

6. Think about creating a personal website to complement your company site. Be sure your web site is top of the line. Don’t just throw something out there to have something out there. You can hire a virtual assistant to make a quality, SEO ready website for your business for usually a lot less than it would cost to hire a web designer. Make sure to check your company’s rules & regulations regarding having a personal website before you create one

7. Make sure your web site has a shopping cart for people to make purchases easily.

8. Verify your company’s advertising rules and then think about advertising your direct sales business in the local yellow pages with your name and phone number.

9. Keep excellent client records. If you sell multiple products like make-up or storage containers, know what products your client uses, likes or doesn’t like. Don’t try to sell them something they’re not interested in. They will be turned off and probably stop buying from you.

10.    Keep monthly records of:
•    sales
•    tax collected
•    money invested in education and training
•    product loss (returns and refunds),
•    gas mileage to and from sales meetings and consultations
•    meals out with clients or potential clients
•    money invested in promotional materials
•    money invested in building a web site, web maintenance, etc.
This will make tax time much easier

11. Be honest in everything you do. Your clients will trust you and come back time and time again. Own up to any mistakes you might make and always make things good.

12. Learn to accept rejection. You will run into a heck of a lot more “No’s” than “Yes’s” along the way, so just know that from the get-go, get past it and move on. You will eventually come to a “Yes” and then to another and another.

13. Attend your sales meetings. You will learn from others who are successful in the same line of business as you, you’ll be built up and encouraged, and you may even help someone else out.

14. Set goals. What goals do you have for your business? What steps will you take to get there?

15. Share your goals with others who will support your efforts: your spouse, others in your company, people in your network. Ask them to help you stay accountable.

16. Help yourself become a success by helping others be a success. Teach others what you know, and then learn more from others and teach that. You’ll be surprised at the lives you touch and change.

17. Don’t expect overnight success. Starting any business takes hard work, effort, determination and perseverance. If it’s worth it to you though, you will stick it out, see it through and be a success.

18. Know when to throw in the towel. If you find you don’t love what you’re doing, you can’t believe in what you’re selling, or the product isn’t good enough, then maybe it’s time to do something different.

19. Back to number 1, know and love what you’re selling! You may be the best sales person in the world but if you don’t love and use the product your clients will see right through you. On the other hand if you know and love your product and use it every day then you won’t have to be a sales person. Your product will truly sell itself.

20. Take Action. Be a doer. No measure of success will come to you until you take action steps to make your goals a reality. Write them down – visit them often but DO something every day to grow your business.

There are many advantages to joining a direct sales company. The income potential, setting your own schedule, prizes and awards, support groups and camaraderie, free product samples, some come with a free website customized for you, free advertising and so on. Check out all the advantages and disadvantages (like cost to join or product that you may have to purchase first) before diving in or being sucked in to a direct sales company.

If you use some of these tips and have a successful direct sales company, won’t you share some of your tips and stories with us? We’d like to hear what you’re doing, what works and doesn’t for your business, so leave us a comment here.

Tags: Direct Sales, direct sales success