How do you make a call to a lead that is over a year old? Maybe you went to a vendor event and never acted on the leads you got, or maybe you have all the old prize drawing slips for the past few years that you never called back.

Don’t Let Direct Sales Leads Get Cold

Don’t let your leads get cold! You should call all your direct sales leads within 48 hours of the initial contact, no matter where you met them.

• But They ARE Cold Now!

It is tough to respond when it’s been such a long time since your initial contact. Calling within 48 hours ensures that they remember at least where they met you when you remind them.

The real challenge in cold calling is really to even get them to answer the phone!

Successful Direct Sales Consultants = Not Telemarketing

Successful direct sales consultants use scripts. Script out something that keeps the focus on them and acts the opposite of a telemarketer.

Telemarketers are like steam rollers that keep going regardless of the answer. Don’t do that!! When you act like a friend and not a telemarketer your results will be better. Telemarketers do not listen. They have an agenda and they roll.

Let the person answering the phone define the agenda. It is not your agenda, it is theirs.

Write A Script

When you write a script of possible scenarios that may develop you will be prepared for your call. Script out several lines like these that share for less than 10 seconds, then end in a question and you will be able to keep the focus on them.

• Hi Lisa, this is Deb with MyFavoriteCompany – we met last year at this time at the _______ event. I was wondering if you have a moment to chat?
• When we met you said you were interested in more information about MyFantasticCompany. Do you have any of our products now?
• It sounds like you have a lot of products. Which ones are your favorites?
• You marked here that you would like more information about hosting a party… is that still true?

After you have put together several lines just go for it and see what happens. The most important thing to remember is to not act like a telemarketer. Be respectful! Direct Sales Training Deb Bixler provides Free training every Wednesday at 8:00 PM EDT. The radio show is available worldwide with no dial in fees. Just click this link at the appointed time and learn direct sales tips to grow your business.

Share & Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Where do your customers spend their time in the summer? Are they splashing about at the pool, watching their children win big at the ballpark or toasting marshmallows around the campfire? Get creative this summer and turn each of these events into a theme show! Direct Sales parties are all about relationships, social time and fun. Taking your business to the places people gather will make you a natural part of their recreation activities. Just imagine how your calendar will fill when you are welcome everywhere your customers have summer fun.

Fundraising For The Ball Teams

Be the team hero. Offer to hold a fund-raiser for the team. Invite all the parents to join you during practice or between games in the parking lot. Set a card table behind the hatchback of your van and set up for a mini demo. Have the parents circle around with their lawn chairs. Offer a cold drink or snack. Keep it simple and fun. Use your products to promote the sports theme if possible. After a brief demo, give each an order form and catalog. As the game continues, make your way around the stands and collect the orders. Go for a big fund-raiser and challenge each parent to collect 5 orders. You could use the money to reward the coach, buy uniforms or equipment.

Bookings At Pool Parties

While the little ones are splashing in the baby pool and diving off the boards, collect their Moms around a table and circle up the lounge chairs. Place their names in a drawing for the mystery host and have some fun! Maybe a Mom at one of your parties has a swimmer and wants to host the pool party as a fund-raiser for her team. Or one of your customers may have their own pool. Create a luau with tropical drinks, hula contests and Hawaiian music. Create a summer event that will make your host shine and she will easily welcome you.

Campground Gatherings

Campgrounds are often looking for fun events for the campers. Offer to host a party! Make it a fund-raiser for a favorite charity. Let everyone at your parties know that you have a campground theme show. Which of your products come in handy at the campground? Think like a camper. Many campgrounds have resident campers who are already friends and spend their weekend time in fun social activities. Offer to be the entertainment!

Learn to make your events all about your customers. Think like they do. Ask questions about how they spend their time and where they get together with friends. Create events that fit in with their lives and activities. You will soon find that hosting parities with you is a natural part of your customer’s social lives.

Direct Sales Trainer, Mary McLoughlin

Direct Sales Speaker, Trainer and Coach, Mary McLoughlin is the DSWA Director of ELITE Leadership Programs and the 2010 DSWA Speaker of the Year.

Standing out among direct sellers is about thinking like the customer and establishing the habits of Direct Selling Rock Stars. Find Mary on her web site and join her at many DSWA events.

Share & Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Shopping has become a way to unwind from a busy work day, spend time with friends, or to simply find a gift for an upcoming event. Each day thousands of local people visit shopping malls. This creates lots of opportunities to make a connection with interested people. Here are some ways to find bookings at the mall for a direct sales business.

Many direct sales businesses offer a unique niche to satisfy the needs of their customers. Women and men that choose to shop at the mall instead of at a local discount super center may have a larger disposable income. They may be willing to purchase quality items instead of discounted items that are readily available.

Shopping malls do offer tables and kiosks for lease throughout the mall. Paying for a full month’s lease for a small booth or kiosk may be expensive. However, the management may allow for a table to be set up in a prominent area of the mall for a reasonable price.

The table could be set up similar to a trade show display. Have items on display that are to be raffled off or that would be given away during a booking. Have small information sheets or cards so that hosts or hostesses can leave their full information and desired booking date.

Have a flyer or brochure available that helps explain the perks of hosting a party. Briefly discuss the different types of parties that are offered. Examples are traditional in-home parties, parties done in neutral locations like a hotel conference room, or online parties.

Find Direct Sales Bookings With Raffle

If the mall is not open to allowing a booth or table, ask individual store owners. They may be willing to let you display a raffle box or several fliers in a prominent area of the store. Some store owners or managers will do this to help out a fellow entrepreneur by putting out a raffle or prize drawing. I call this the “fish bowl concept”. Just offering a small gift and you will be amazed at the leads you get. If the store has products that are not competitive with the direct sales business, offer to include a flyer for their business in each party order as a trade arrangement.

Business Networking At The Mall

Simply walking through the mall is a free way to find bookings. Socialize, meet people and practice saying aloud the benefits of your products or of hosting a party.

I call this sprinkling.

You should have list of the top 20 reasons why your business is the best thing since sliced bread and be prepared to tell little stories about how it has changed your life or the lives of others. Have a sheet already available with open party dates. Give the potential host or hostess the benefits flyer so they can be motivated about the perks of hosting the party. Always obtain an email address and phone number. Use the email address to send out instructions on how to invite guests, or to communicate any important information.

Direct Sales Training DSWA 2011 Speaker Of The Year, Deb Bixler

Deb Bixler, the DSWA 2011 speaker of the year is a direct sales educator who focuses on teaching proven systems that work for all companies and product lines.

Direct sales businesses need continuous customers in order for sales representatives to reach their financial goals. Finding new bookings at the mall can help jumpstart the business by presenting the products and opportunity to several different groups of new people. You can find more details about how to set up a “Fish Bowl” raffle or how to create your list of top 20 reasons at the direct sales training center.  There really is an unlimited supply of business out there. You just need to be willing to go to any lenghts to get it!!

Share & Bookmark It

Hide Sites