Direct Selling Advice

Direct Selling is about social interactions and relationships. Some of our first and most influential social interactions occured on the school playground… so I bet you never would have thought as a kid that you would learn lessons from the playground that would apply to life and Direct Selling!  We will be exploring 10 Direct Selling Playground Lessons and 10 Direct Selling Strategies…

10 Lessons from the School Playground

• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #1 Acceptance
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #2 Be Nice
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #3 Play Nice
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #4 Role Play
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #5 Imagination
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #6 Explore
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #7 Bullies
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #8 Friends
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #9 Teachers
• Direct Selling Playground Lesson #10 Rainy Days

Let’s look at the first one..

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Remember back in grade school… you may have been playing Oregon Trail on the computer or making a card for Mother’s Day… but secretly you knew… sooner or later there was… RECESS!!   

Do you remember what the school playground was like for you?  

Do you have memories of running and playing with your friends or were you the shy child who was left out of things?   

When it was time to play sports were you the first one picked? Or the last one picked? 

Direct Selling Playground Lesson#1: Acceptance

Everyone wants to be accepted. 

We learned early on that there is an in-crowd & out-crowd… even on a playground.  

• There were kids that were popular and ‘in’…
• then there were the kids that didn’t fit in and were in the ‘out’ group…
• maybe because they were shy…
• maybe because they had a distinguishing trait or behavior that made them stand out…
• maybe because they were embarrassed (burn marks from parental abuse)…
• whatever the reason… NO KID WANTS to be left out.

This lesson is critical in direct selling team building.  

• What is your direct selling team’s atmosphere like? 
• Do you accept new direct sellers who join?
• Or do you have little cliques that exclude people? 
• Is your direct selling team the ‘in-crowd’ where people are excited and growing? 
• Or is your direct selling team the ‘out-crowd’ with reluctance and inactivity?
• Which group did you want to be part of as a kid? 
• Which group does your new distributior what to be part of?

Make your biz an accepting, magnetic ‘in-crowd’ environment!

Direct Selling Strategy #1: Covert Priming 

Acceptance & Covert Priming

If you accept the person as they are, build a relationship, find out what they want, show and help them to get it… you have a loyal friend.  Once you have earned their trust and respect you can work at aiding them in areas they may not be aware of… let’s apply this to a customer relationship…

Customer Relationship Illustration… 

I have a new customer well call him Jim, I just started servicing Jim this month with one line of our products he expressed interest in… I also know Jim could improve his overall health by shedding some pounds… even though I have products and services that can help Jim…I know that it is too early in the relationship to bring up… as Jim doesn’t know me that well yet and he has made it clear he is very sensitive about the issue.

So… what am I going to do? 

First, I am going solve Jim’s initial desire then seek out his next need… 

While I build the relationship the Jim, I am also going to be covertly priming him to consider losing weight… 

I confided in Jim that I realized with my wife’s pregnancy I have added some extra pounds I am going to work at taking off… 

(I accepted Jim as he is… focus is on my weight, not his… relayed during small talk after ‘business’ in an easy-going joking manner statement… using in a first person narrative made it engaging and personal) 

I asked if he is comfortable helping hold me accountable by simply asking how am I doing when we see each other next… 

(accepted Jim and gave Jim a power share in the relationship… “I need Jim” empowered Jim with a sense responsibility and purpose) 

So next time I talk to Jim, he will hopefully ask… 

(measure of acceptance… reflecting perceived value of relationship/ownership of responsibility) 

Allowing me to share my results… 

(recognizing Jim’s role, empowered acceptance) 

again all while servicing his existing needs… 

(overt purpose of interaction, continued trust building) 

Repeated exposure of hearing about losing weight, how I am doing it, seeing results and not complicating it… will prime Jim to either approach me, or open him to directly asking if he wants to try it. 

Your Turn Readers:

What is your favorite school yard memory?  What lessons did you learn from the playground?

Since I am at an event away from my laptop… I am going mobile… We’ll see how this works out…

I recently was coaching some new direct sellers.  I asked them “What is your open sign telling people about your business?”

Now if you are new to direct selling… Or not familiar with the industry… We don’t have physical stores!

Naturally they looked confused by my statement.

I explained that every store has to have a way to inform people you exist and are ready for their business…

Just like a brick & mortar business uses an open/closed sign to notify people…

Just like an online business has an active domain and content on their site…

The Direct Seller has an open sign too…

It’s your mouth!

… If you aren’t talking about your business… Odds are no one else is either!

It is basically like having a traditional business and not advertising… (Cause even word of mouth won’t work if no one knows about you)

Or being online without optimizing your site or allowing search engines to find you.
No traffic means no business…

You ARE their business…

It is about you connecting to people…
In person…
Over the phone…
Through Facebook…
With Twitter…
Sending emails…
Or even a letter…

Your goal is to let them know you ARE in business and willing to service them!

Next time…
We will delve into the strategies found in world of an elementary playground.

Your Turn Readers…
If you were going to start a new business… Outside of immediate family (spouse & kid(s)) who would be the first person you would tell?

An Adventure That Became A Nation

The History Channel is kicking off a new special tonight about An Adventure That Became A Nation… America The Story of Us.

Here is the trailer…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk1nrgm55gQ[/youtube]

…why am I sharing this with you?

It’s Who We Are…

One, for those of us living in the United States we have a unique history, one that has shaped the world.  We have the freedom to engage in free enterprise, we can own land, property and build wealth.  There are countries, sadly, that limit what it’s citizen can have, do and become.  History is important in understanding who we are… rejoicing in our victories, learning from our shame.

An Adventure That Became A Legend

Secondly, in direct selling, you are part of a company that either has a history, or may be new enough they are still writing their history.  We all have a part to play in the companies we are involved with… just like in the video…

A New World… in direct selling people are looking for a new opportunity

Built by Hand… success in direct selling does require work… anyone who tells you otherwise, RUN!

A Big Idea… people in direct selling often have a vision/idea greater than they can currently accomplish

Worth Fighting For… we defend and fight for things and ideal that we value, in direct selling, we need to have a backbone to defend our dream and our vehicle… not everyone will agree with it, and that’s ok… but be willing to have a backbone in your company, your product, your dream!

By staying consistent, you can write your own history for your grandchildren’s grandchildren… they can talk about how you had the adventure that became a legend.

Your Turn Readers…

What kind of legacy do you want to leave for the next generation? How do you want to be remembered?