I love doing thoughts for the day when I find a good one that pertains to our business acumin. They kinda make you, well, think!

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The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.

Mark Twain

It is a well known fact that personal and business coaching as well as having a mentor does really help with business. But price can be a factor for some. There are some really well known direct sales coaches and speakers that you can benefit from for little to no cost.

Ilene Meckley is one of my favorites. Her newletters are full of great information for all sides of your business. I encourage you to stop by her website Ilene Meckley.com and sign up for her news letter. She also does speaking engagements for teams. If you have a large group of direct sales people in your area, she will do a private chat, just for you.

You can check out her calendar and see if she is close to your town this year. If so, make a point of seeing her. Also her books, cd’s and other info are top notch.

And no, I do not get a kick back. I just love her info and heart!

Since it is mid year, now would be a good time to update and check your progress on your yearly goals.

What tweaks do you need to make?
What things do you need to start working on to complete by year end?
What have you accomplished already?

Those of us that are our own boss know that the best part about that IS that we are our own boss!

The worst part about being our own boss, is that we are our own boss!

HUH

Working at home and/or being our own boss means we have to motivate ourselves. We have to set our own goals and we have to be responsible to ourselves.

Unless you have a spouse that asks you every day,

How much did you make today?
What did you sell?
How many contacts and appointments did you get?

Need motivation? Get a spouse!

Most sales people are very good at promoting their products and getting potential customers to their doors or their site, whatever the case may be. But a great percentage of salespeople are not good at closing the sale. They think they are asking for the sale, but in fact are not conveying the “ask” properly.

The question is, are you good at closing your sales? Do you clearly ask for the sale, either in person or in print when you are showing your products?

What can you do better?

Do you track your closing ratio or have a very good idea of how well you ASK for the sale?

Communicate your close concisely and clearly and make no doubt that you are asking for the sale. We are here to do that. That is how we make money!

Expenses are such an important aspect of our business. If you are not careful, you could be spending way more than you make. When we work at home, sometimes it is easy to justify that extra few items we buy for ourselves or the extra gifts that we give out to the hostess or the customer. Discounts can really bite us in a big way.

Tracking your expenses is critical to your bottom line just like any other business. You have to look at everything and see how you can make good desicions about your spending. For instance, if you can get a break on your catalogs buy purchasing in bulk, maybe that is a better way to go.

Every expense is taking away from your profit. If you feel inclined to give someone free shipping because you want the sale, guess what? You paid for that. You better really like her or know that she is a really good customer.

Direct Sellers often feel like they have to compete with the next partier and in order to secure a booking may over do it on gifts or discounts. I have talked about the hostess gift issues before on this post Free or Discount. Remembering that everything comes out of your pocket may help to watch your bottom line. You might as well be writing the customer a check instead of the other way around.

If you don’t have a system in yet, start one today and get control of your income!

Independant can be a lonely termL’?l?gance unique et le professionnalisme extraordinaire du d?cor, vous approchera au climat des salons d’un poker regle classique. at times. If you have a home based business, you are an independant owner. For some people that is a large concept to grasp.

What does that mean, really?

* you are responsible to yourself (no suprise there)
* you don’t have to ask any ones permission on anything
* you are responsible for your own leads in whatever method you choose
* you are the one that has to track your success rates with the methods you choose
* you are the sales person, the accountant, the shipping dept, the customer service dept, and any other dept you can think of
* you have to learn new sales methods for when the ones you are using stop working
* you have to know when they stop working
* you have to be self disciplined to work everyday
* you have to realize in order to be successful and make a lot of money, it really does take more than a few hours a day, at least in the beginning.
* you have to continue to learn and develop your craft and never get stale or lazy.
* you have to remember there is always someone on your tail wanting your customers, your business
* you can never trust anyone fully in business
* you have to learn to work smarter, not harder

So is being Independant all its cracked up to be? Some I have known have said “No Way” and quit their business not long after starting it, or their business quit them due to lack of attention or knowledge.

Some have said “Heck Yes” and have learned to embrace the difficulties, the learning curve and developed the passion for the business.

This is what sales people are made of. Ones that never give up or look for a free hand out in business. Trust me… nothing is free!

Have you embraced your business? Remember, if you are good to your business, it will be good to you!

Enjoy!

When I first started in DS, I took it so personally when they quit or went inactive. but you know what? That was their choice.

they chose the business based on their likes and dislikes.
they chose to ask questions, or not.
they chose to respond to emails or phone calls, or not.
they chose to work the business, or not.

You cannot work the business for them. They chose the business, for whatever reasons, and it is their business. We can only guide them and help when needed. If we are there when they need us, that is awesome. If we can give some tips and lend a helping hand, that is what we do best. Other than that, you can’t make them stay.

We cannot beat ourselves up for someone that chooses to leave or even that chooses to not accept help. Remember that people are at different levels in the direct sales business. Some don’t need a leader at all. Some seem to need a friend more than business help. Some can use all the help you can give.

What can we do as leaders, even for those that do not want to be “lead”? Several things.

Make sure they get the training they need.
Make sure they have access to the selling tools and infomation on the company side
Make sure that they know you are available and when.
Make sure you check with those that are silent every few weeks or months, just in case.
Be open to learning from others

Lastly, Relax and have fun meeting great new people.

>???????? ????? ????????Your ability to learn faster than your competition is your only sustainable competitive advantage

Arie de Gues

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