It’d be nice if your new direct sales business hustle came fully loaded with all of the information that you need to simply start up an "office" and immediately be a success. Unfortunately, that doesn’t tend to happen, and the reason might actually be due to the many details that most direct sales corporate offices don’t tell you! There is so much information out there, from corporate headquarters and then the person who signed you up and their upline - it can get pretty overwhelming. So, here’s a few things you may want to know to slingshot your way to success..... that your direct sales corporate office might not teach you.
Easy automated systems will work wonders
Customers want engaging, rich, visual content that really works hard at pulling them in. However, that all takes time and effort to do, though, and you’ve got lots of things to do, and hey, you are new at this.
That’s where automation is going to really help. From drag-and-drop programs to high-quality images, creating functional and engaging content is all set up for you through services like Canva. I just love Canva and do most of my visual content there, including the image for this blog! Having a means to create easy graphics that help show off your brand is totally winning!
The importance/power of understanding....conversions
Conversion is one of those “techy” terms that are really important to understand if you want to make your business work. A conversion is basically when someone completes a desired goal. A goal could be subscribing to your email list on your website, watching a video you posted on social media, completed a survey, making a purchase or even just contacting you to let you know they are interested. Whatever the goal you create, if they complete that, that would be a conversion.
So, for example, you are at a vendor event and giving out samples in exchange for their information to follow up, or they take your info. Then, your goal might be someone contacting you after that event. That is considered a conversion.
Now, your conversion rate is determined by how many people you converted (contacted you after the sample/event) divided by the total number of folks you sampled x 100, because a conversion rate is a percentage.
Conversion rate = (Total # of conversions / Total # sampled) x 100
If your conversation rate is low, it means that you may need to tweak what you are doing as it might not be working well for you. Tracking this rate, and then keeping an eye on it as it goes up and down should be a priority to help you know what’s working and what isn’t!
But, keep in mind that you have to have a process for following up with folks, who you have "touched" once, who has sampled the product, who has made their first purchase, who is still in their info gathering, etc etc etc. All this leads to the next point, a CRM!
A trustworthy and easy-to-use CRM
Standing for Customer Relationship Management, a good and usable CRM is going to be a total saving grace for your direct sales business. The whole thing is based on you having the best relationship with your customers, after all.
The right CRM is going to make your customer-related life a total breeze. It’ll put together a to-do list that will help you know who you have to contact in a day (following up on leads, answering emails to queries and questions, etc). It also helps you see details such as who has sampled, any coupons or customer-related savings (such as loyalty programs, birthdays, etc), and automation of follow-ups for certain repeating milestones (such as abandoned carts, signing up for newsletters, etc).
Be limited with your inventory
Inventory is obviously important for making sure that you can get your products to your customers, but don’t go overboard with it! Having too much inventory just for the ability to instantly deliver your goods also ties up a lot of money and puts it at risk of damage or loss that you would be responsible for covering.
If you do have inventory, no matter how limited, make sure you’ve got some way to keep track of it! Knowing how much you have, when it arrived, and other important details are all crucial for keeping yourself on track. And sane.
Your business is going to get off the ground much faster by remembering to focus on all of these important details. While it seems overwhelming right now, getting used to it is just a matter of time and limited expertise. The rest is going to be positive results that will help you get ahead of the competition the right way!
Of course, if I can help in any way, please do let me know. I offer branding services for all different direct sales businesses as well as some direct sales training which are offered as a DIY training or done-for-you option... so whichever your learning style and needs are, I'm sure I can help you. Contact me and let's chat!
