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If you’re looking to join a direct sales company it’s a good idea to interview more than one sponsor before deciding with whom to sign.  There are many factors to consider.  I’ve heard some interesting comments with regard to signing with a seasoned consultant.

While I fully agree that you need to mesh with whomever you agree to have as a sponsor, I’m still somewhat baffled why someone would choose to go with a new consultant versus a veteran one.

I’ve heard the argument “how can new people ever build a team if people don’t sign with them because they’re new?”  I get that if your warm market wants to come along on your new journey with you you can all learn the business together from your upline.  Your warm market (friends, family, acquaintances) will support you and won’t expect you to know the answers.

But why would a new person want to start actively recruiting others before she herself has had an opportunity to learn the business?  And more importantly why would a potential recruit who is interested in starting a direct sales business want to have a sponsor who is also new?

Consider a hair stylist.  Would you want to have your locks cut and colored by someone fresh out of beauty school or someone who has been working on hair for years?  What about a doctor?  Do you want an experienced doctor or a med student?   Do you want your student getting the bulk of his/her education from a student teacher or from a teacher with tenure?

I contend that new direct sales consultants should focus initially on sales and on learning the ins and outs of the business.  Be selfish and soak up everything there is to know about the compensation plan, the policies and procedures and become an expert on your product line.  Then the recruits come as a result of your working your own business and then you’ll be well positioned to build a strong team.

When you are new and share your new business with others, it is true that sometimes others will flock to you and “want in”.  By all means if recruits come to you, sign them, just be sure to disclose that you are also new and still learning the ropes.  Don’t mislead people with your experience.

I actually had someone tell me that they would not sign with a Director because “she’ll be very demanding and expect you to report in your progress and attend meetings and, and, and…”.  Well that is certainly a misnomer.  I mean some Directors might roll that way; but surely not all.  And if that style isn’t your cup of tea, that’s an area that could be discussed while you’re interviewing potential sponsors.  But I definitely would not intentionally stay away from signing with a Director simply because you envision boot camp and a drill sergeant.

Lastly, if a newer consultant promises you the world if you sign with him/her, consider the offer carefully.  If he/she offers you freebies such as a website, more product than comes in the starter kit or exclusive coaching, a red flag should go up.  Any direct sales company should have a complete starter kit. If you truly think that you’re going to need extras right away, more so than what is included in your company kit, then perhaps it’s not the right opportunity for you.

Also, if your starter kit does appear to have everything you need to get started, why is the new consultant giving away his/her profit and time to leer you onto her team?  Does this person appear desperate?  Or lack sound business practices?  Will you also be expected to give away freebies that come out of your own pocket to recruit people?

Lastly, if it appears that the new consultant you are considering joining with has some unique skill set that he will teach you, also look at the knowledge, skills and experience with that direct sales company.  Someone can be a whiz at closing the deal or at Internet marketing, but if she doesn’t quite yet grasp the compensation or policies of the company, how beneficial really is the offer of the less experienced consultant?

Now before all the new consultants spam me with nastygrams about how I was once new too, yada yada yada, please don’t miss my main points which are:

1.    If you are a new consultant, please learn your own business well before actively recruiting others, whom you are responsible to train and mentor and
2.    If you are considering a direct sales opportunity and are serious about running your business like a business, then wouldn’t you want to learn from the person who has the greatest knowledge, skills and abilities with that particular company and industry?

Do your due diligence with both which company and which sponsor and you’ll be off to an exciting career in direct sales.

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

Looking for tips to help increase your recruiting numbers? Prior to talking about some of the things you can do to help grow your team, it’s important to talk about what not to do.

Before you say, “But that’s not focusing on the positive, Laurie” let me say that I am positive that if you are currently engaging in any of the actions below; and if after you read this you find yourself with a new awareness that what you’ve been doing isn’t necessarily a best practice, I am positive you will see an increase to your down line.

Join My Team and Get …

Bribing people to join your team is numero uno on my list desperate recruiting moves.

• Do you really want team members who are just there for the freebies?
• It looks like your company’s business opportunity and/or starter kit isn’t good enough to stand on its own.
• How is this any different than the little elementary school girl who couldn’t get anyone to play with, so she gave away her cookies at lunch just to have friends?
• It’s sending a message that your mentoring and coaching skills are sub-par.  Otherwise you wouldn’t devalue what you have to offer.
• Based on the percentage of royalties you will receive on your new recruit’s sales, have you calculated how much she/he will need to sell before you merely break even on your give away?

I Only Need Two More People To Qualify for the Trip

Do I really need to elaborate how desperate this one makes you look?

Push It… Push it Real Good

Some sales gurus will tout the benefits of creating a sense of urgency. Ok, I’ll give you that some feel this is a good tactic.  However my personal experience with direct sales is that it is not appropriate to push too hard when recruiting team members; doing so only makes you look desperate.

• It’s one thing to let people know if you have a ground floor opportunity or a limited time offer, but will their lives really be that miserable if they don’t act now?
• If you represent a stable company with an awesome opportunity, isn’t it reasonable to expect that you (and the company) will be around for a while?
• You may be able to strong-arm someone into joining your team, or create must-have hype, yet if someone starts a business before she/he is ready, who will that benefit … anyone?
• Some will question the motive behind you pushing so hard to recruit new team members. If it’s a good fit, it should flow naturally.

I have never asked anyone to join my team. Never. I simply make my opportunity and myself visible; those who want to join merely do. I’ve had potential recruits ask if me I am offering any sign-up specials (no) or tell me that another consultant is offering free websites to their recruits (so).  The passive, put-it-out-there-and-then-just-step-back and let-it-simmer approach has worked well for decades (yes decades) with me.

If you need to make some adjustments in your recruiting efforts, there’s no time like the present to do so!

About the Author:  Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles.  She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business.  You can find Laurie at http://la.Scentsy.us or http://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com

If one more direct selling company or sponsor encourages new recruits to “Make a List of 100 People You Know” I’m going to stick a fork in my eye! I’m talking about the practice of spamming the snot out of their friends, family and acquaintances. It goes against the entire concept of target marketing and finding a niche. No wonder the direct selling industry still has a bad reputation in many circles.

This archaic and tired practice claims that if you make a list of 100 people to hound, it’ll be your first networking contact list that will supposedly help launch your new direct sales career. Although, whether you’re selling candles, jewelry, kitchenware, makeup, home décor or any other product offering, wouldn’t you have better results if you presented your new product line to the people whom you believe could benefit from and enjoy your goods?

This concept is ridiculous. What if your dental hygienist started a business selling metal widgets that would help expedite an automobile factory manufacturing process. If this person made a list of 100 people she knows and included you in that list to push her steel vehicle widgets on, you’d think she was totally off her rocker for wasting your time. Yet as direct sellers, we’re supposed to do just that; having no regard to market to those who have a specific want or need.

Instead of investing precious time trying to list and then contact all of the people you know such as: Family, Friends, Neighbors, Your friends’ parents, Your parents’ friends, Your parents’ colleagues, Your children’s friends’ parents, Classmates, Alumni of any school you attended, including high school, Members of the local chamber of commerce, Members of your church, temple, or other faith-based groups, Professors, Teachers, Mentors, Former Bosses, Former or current colleagues, Former or current customers, Former employees whom you managed, Members of the YMCA, YWCA, or other clubs, Members of professional groups to which you belong, Members of a service organization (e.g. the Rotary), School committee members, Counselors, Friends from military service, Coaches (in sports, arts, hobbies, etc.), Your doctor, Your lawyer, Your insurance agent, Your accountant or tax preparer, Your auto mechanic, The manager of your favorite coffee shop, The bartender at your favorite watering hole, The owner of maitre d’ of your favorite restaurant, Your barber/hairstylist, Your mortgage broker, Your real estate broker, Your veterinarian, Your dry cleaner, Any shop or business owners who know you by name (especially in ‘high touch’ businesses like art dealers, florists, dress shop managers, wedding planners, wine dealers—people who have long conversations with others), Any acquaintance who owes you a favor, spend some time defining your target market.

The likely results of spamming the above list:

• You’ll ostracize yourself from them so that in the future they’ll be forced to check Caller-ID before taking your call or find themselves suddenly running late for an appointment and need to promptly depart your presence.
• You may get a few mercy purchases from those who have a hard time saying no because they don’t want you to feel discouraged.
• If you stumble upon someone who is genuinely interested in what you’re offering, it is mere statistics. If you spray enough bullets you’re bound to eventually hit something.

Leslie Truex of Work at Home Success agrees, “Having a business is about finding the market that wants your product/service, not brow beating people you know into supporting you. Plus if your successful without the list, your recruitment may go up because talking to friends and family is a major reason why many people avoid direct sales and you’ll be able to show them how to do it without a list.”

Further, Adriaan at Direct Sell Assistant concurs that “90% of new consultants will stay with this list and expect to make a lot of money. I wish more people that get recruited are rather shown how to market a product and find new customers, than to write down that list of a 100.”

Lastly, if you’ve signed up for a company that has a fantastic product line, don’t you think you should be able to find others who enjoy and benefit from it as much as you do? No need to approach your auntie who has severe allergies to buy your candles or your sweet bald mechanic about your organic shampoo. Just because you may know 100 people, doesn’t mean they’d be good customers.

My advice: It’s 2010, time (way past time) to throw out your “List of 100 People You Know.”

“Join my team and get a free xyz!”

Lately many desperate direct sellers are attempting to bribe recruits into joining their team.  “Psst – over here.  I’ll give you this if you join my team. Hey! Hey! Over here, I’m offering this, my offer is better than her offer.”

I don’t understand why some would lower themselves to increase team members. Whenever I see “Psst, over here honey, join my team” all I can think of is a line of prostitutes standing on the street corner, with Johns passing by, ogling at the goods, looking for the best offer.”

Too callous for you?  So try this one on.  Little Suzy is throwing a temper tantrum in the store and mommy says, “If you stop screaming, I’ll give you a new dolly.”  Little Suzy stops screaming and gets her dolly.  Mommy may be out $30 but so what, she manipulated the result she wanted.  Who really won here?  Right – Suzy did.

Consultants who feel they need to give away the milk for free rarely receive a return on their investment.  Sure they get recruits.  Sure they have the numbers to meet their qualification – short term.  But are they truly recruiting team members who are joining because they believe in the product and want to work the business?  Or are they getting people who mostly just want to see how much stuff they can get for little money?

Since my daughters were old enough to have money, I’ve taught them the importance of understanding they do not need to buy their friends and to be weary of friends who use them for their money and their generosity.  Yet these consultants who offer to give xyz for those who join their team don’t seem to see that they’re being used.

Who the heck wants friends (or team members) who are only in it for the extra freebies?  Personally, I’d be embarrassed to be advertising, “Join my team and receive a free xyz.”  Many people read that as “Join my team because I’m desperate and have to bribe people to join and I like to be used for my free stuff and don’t really worry about having quality team members who want to be here.”

If you are currently doing this to recruit new team members, then perhaps you should take a hard look at your opportunity.  If you don’t honestly believe that your business opportunity or your starter kit is a good value, then it may be time to retire.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home. She is currently an Independent Consultant and Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. You can find Laurie at www.IncomeWax.com

Building Your Team and Team Building

For those of us in a Direct Sales type business, a natural way to grow your income and business is through building a team. A lot of companies preach that this is the Only way to make real money. That may be true, but only the people that are already successful in their business and are prepared will be successful at building a team.

Building a team is hard work. Yes, it may be joyful and fun, but it is work! You must work at it all of the time. Talking to people and being excited about your business is the best way to start, grow and maintain your team.

Some reps are successful at newspaper ads; some at planting seeds at parties; some at chatting with people, but any way that you handle the function of recruiting still means a maintenance of the team by continuing to recruit each day.

Talking and actually interviewing the prospect is an awesome way to find out their goals and dreams. Why do they want to join this business? What sparked their desire to join today? Have they used the product before? How are they going to sell the product and to whom? What are they going to use the extra money for? By having this type of information, you can tailor their training and follow up to their personal situation.

People come and go and that is a natural occurrence. Some find the business not to their liking. Some people’s expectations are large and they may not make money right away. Some just get tired and leave. Whatever the reason, it happens.

But as you add to your team, they will need your continued support and training. You must continually build your team with people and then build your team with knowledge.

Train your team to be just like you. Show them how to duplicate yourself. Are you great in sales? Share all of your tips with them. Are you awesome are growing your team? Show them what you do. Teach them what makes You awesome and they too will become that way. Show them how you explode your business and they will do it as well. Make yourself duplicatable and they too will show their team the same. Now you are growing!

The more you build your team with knowledge, the more you build your team’s moral and keep the excitement in place. If we could all stay as excited as we were when we first joined our company, think how awesome your team would be today. So spark their interest and get them excited again about the business. Use their goals and dreams!! Remind them why they got into this business. Be excited when you talk to them. Let them know that you Love your job!

Never forget that people are in the business for a multitude of reasons. Some only want personal sales. Some want part time work to pay a few bills and very few are full timers. Watch how you spend your valuable time. 80% of your time should be spent on the top 20% of your producers. Don’t neglect any one, but realize that you want your time best spent where you are going to get a return. If someone is only in the business for personal sales, don’t spend days with them showing them how to recruit. The chances of that are slim. Instead, show them how to grow their customer base and save the other stuff for those that want the information on recruiting. Spend your time wisely.

Keep tabs on all of your reps, because things do change and some day they will be asking for your help with a different portion of the job. Use the information you gathered when you interviewed them to identify their goals and inspire them. As they grow their business, you too will be successful and efficient in your own business and your business will have come full circle.
You inspire them and they inspire you!

Congratulations! You are awesome and successful!

**********Copyright 2004-2006 by Chris Carroll. All Rights Reserved. Chris is a work at home mom that has been in sales for 20+ years. She has a BS in Business Management and is the host of DirectSalesTalk.com as well as her business she enjoys with her son at www.JoyWithSoy.com