Today's guest blogger Katie Violette is a busy mom who also struggles with Crohn’s Disease and Fibromyalgia. Here are her four best tips for working your direct sales business when your life is more chaotic than calm.
What if I can’t always help my customers immediately?
Life happens. There is never a direct sales emergency! If you are not feeling well, your child has a school commitment, or any one of a million other things that come up in life, you must prioritize. Does that mean neglect your business? Of course not! Communicate with your customers so they understand how thing are progressing. Preplanned events where you will not be available are always best to be laid out in your schedule so your customers are not caught off guard when you are unavailable.
What if a hostess or customer isn’t happy with their party or purchase?
Ideally, it would be great if this never happened, but back in reality there will occasionally be customers who are not happy with their purchase or party. One of the ultimate ways to avoid this situation is to represent a company you believe in. A company that is reliable is your best asset. Selling a product you love shines through every aspect of your business. Knowing that you can rely on your company to provide consistent quality and overcome growing pains provides you the peace of mind that your customers will be treated with the same level of quality you strive for no matter what the situation.
You can only give 100%. Knowing that you have done everything in your power to run your business and keep your customers happy to the best of your ability! As long as you do everything within your company’s guidelines or financial ability to correct any discontent, there is NOTHING else you can do, so stop losing sleep over it!
What if I’m not at 100% at an event or party?
If you are not feeling well, or the baby was up all night and you only got 2 hours of sleep, or any of the other issues that like to creep up right before an event, have a backup plan. If you have a customer who has their eye on a certain product, why not offer to pay them with that product or discounting that product for helping you at an event, setting up, or putting together informational packets before hand? No one ever said you have to run your business by yourself!
If you need help, use your upline as well! Chances are they have been in the same or similar situation and can at the very least give you pointers on how they got through rough times in one piece. If you don’t communicate with or feel embarrassed talking to your upline, friends who are also in direct sales make a great support system as well!
How can I be a good sponsor with the chaos in my life?
Your life experience makes you unique! If you have a unique situation in your life, that doesn’t mean someone without that situation would be done a disservice to have you as their sponsor. Talking to your customers and possible recruits about a funny, embarrassing, or silly blunder makes you accessible. Talking to your customers and possible recruits like you have never had a snag in your career makes them question if they can ever live up to the façade you are presenting (because we have ALL had a glitch or 2 at least here and there).
ulie Anne Jones is a direct sales corporate consultant, coach, and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific systems, language, and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.
