Sleeveless blouses/slogan T-shirts/Hawaiian shirts/sweatshirts/scuffed shoes and run-down heels/loose or missing buttons/stained ties/ill-fitting pants or trousers/mismatched outfits/multiple-pierced ears with an assortment of dangling earrings-any accessory or item of clothing that demands attention is fine for any occasion you so choose except for one when you're selling.
How you appear to others in the selling game will matter. Project a careless image in your dress and your prospects may not care to buy from you. Project a professional look and you'll establish credibility and trust.
You needn't overdress or overspend on wardrobe. Just be aware of assembling a neutral, neat, and stylish look for every meeting. The company you work with may also offer guidelines-Mary Kay, for one, requests that women do not wear slacks when working. Get in the habit of looking good to yourself and others. This includes being in touch with the general economic level of your prospects, too. When you appear at a trailer court with your sample kit, recruits-to-be or customers can be intimidated if you look too prosperous. Relate to them: be casually tailored in non-distracting styling and fabrics. The reverse is true, of course, when you are selling to people in the upper end of the economic scale. Wear clothing that makes you look successful. And if you sell clothing, what could be better than to wear an item from your line that is flattering to you?
Two side notes: If you've won award pins, ribbons, or jewelry, try not to wear more than one at a time. I've seen some salespeople who go out in the field decorated with clusters of glittery pins given out for some sort of achievement, high sales figures, large numbers of recruits within a short amount of time and so on. Decorations like these are distracting to customers. Better yet, don't wear any of them when you're out selling. Second, it's also a good idea for women to carry an extra pair of pantyhose with them and for men to take along an extra tie.
As a salesperson, your purpose is to uncover the real reason people might want to buy your product. In direct selling you also want the product to interest the person enough for him to want to sell it too. How do we know what people will buy? How do customers make a decision?
"A man generally has two reasons for doing a thing-one that sounds good, and a real one." This axiom, attributed to the late banking genius, J. P. Morgan, is familiar to those of us in sales and is proved true repeatedly in the field. Why do people buy or why do they pass you buy? The answer is found in how the product meets the individual needs of each person. Product "needs" fall into the following categories:
- The product enriches life, making it more comfortable.
- The product makes tasks easier or promotes efficiency.
- The product satisfies a need for status.
- The product makes someone feel good when it's used.
There's a definite wisdom in Duncan's thinking: no one likes to be pressed into buying what the salesperson is selling but people like the feeling of being served. Customers may not even know what they need (or want) when you first begin your presentation, but that's okay. Or a customer may want your product, even want it desperately, but if you push it too vigorously, she may back off and buy elsewhere. Remember, a sale is made in the mind of a customer first. People buy because they decide to buy. The right reason came up for them.
Barbara Hammond, now a vice president of Home Interiors, also promotes the concept of sales as service. "To succeed in sales," she told me." you have to be in love with serving people. Building a career is truly loving to serve. You may be selling products, but you also wind up getting involved with customers, too and you have to care."
Barbara, who has commuted monthly from her Fresno, California home to her Dallas-based office for fifteen of her twenty-six years with the company, specializes in training management and giving inspirational and motivational talks. "I think one big mistake salespeople make is in deciding they're imposing on customers-that is, imposing on them to buy or hold a show or be recruited. It's not an imposition, but a marvelous service that cannot be bought in a store. Once you accept the idea of service, it shades your outlook. You will tend to have a more positive, giving outlook. To me, then, the winning combination is finding the company you respect that makes a product you can relate to, falling in love with what you're doing, and serving others."
Putting Together a Presentation
Over one hundred direct sales companies represent products from dust mops to faux-pearl jewelry, diet-food supplements to custom-made clothing, bubble bath to vacuum cleaners. But all of these products have one thing in common-all need to be sold.
What then, is the best way to sell them?
Most companies will train you to sell their products to best effect. This training is based on the experience of successful salespeople who have discovered techniques that best handle the particular objections that are unique to each product. Usually each company will recommend a personal style and approach, and teach you what has worked best for their products. Whether your company operates on a party plan through "classes" or on a one-to-one basis, you'll need to master the company's script, as well as the basics of successful selling.
The components of every good presentation are detailed below. They are:
Getting Attention
Since you've put a lot of effort into learning your selling lines (prepared by the company or improvised by you) and more effort into making the call to get the appointment in the first place, make every second count now that you're face to face with your prospect. I can guarantee that your customer hasn't been anxiously waiting for this opportunity, even though you may think it's a great one. In fact, she may not be in the mood to hear about your wonderful spot removers or cream blushers at all.
In a group of six or more at a party plan or class, some women might be distracted, irritated, or generally turned off for one reason or another, and not be really interested in the purpose of the evening's meeting. Whoever she is wherever she is, at her own home or that of the party-plan hostess- you'll need to get her attention and hold it. You can do this in two simple ways. The first is small talk.
Learning the art of small talk will earn you great rewards. Small talk is opening, easygoing chatter that reduces any tension and allows a chance for interaction before you make a sales presentation. Essentially, you're establishing rapport. Tell an amusing anecdote, ask a question about the person's hobby, give a compliment (to her about her husband/children/dog/home), introduce a non-argumentative comment about a sports event, or whatever seems appropriate. Small talk, no matter the topic, begins selling dynamics.
In her excellent book, Winning by Negotiation, Tessa Albert Warschaw wrote, “for most of us small talk is the social lubricant to get us working smoothly with one another. It's not simply a form of mutual courtesy by which we help one another relax. It's a means to gain important knowledge." One key to mastering small talk is to phrase questions or comments in a form that requires a more descriptive answer, not just a yes or no. An example: "Joan. I understand you've taken up tennis. What got you interested in it?" Joan will most likely reveal information about her in response and feel more connected to you personally.
Keep small talk small-no personal crisis and devote only a few minutes to it so the subject doesn't become distracting.
You'll want to make a smooth transition from small talk to talking business-the purpose of your appointment. When you're selling a product that could tie in with the subject of your introductory chat, it's a natural transition. For example: You learned Joan plays tennis. If you're selling cosmetics or skin care products, suggest a sun-blocker or soothing foot cream; if your product is health foods or diet programs, mention how it can supply the nutrients she needs while providing energy; if detergents are your line, suggest a whitener. Two ways you might approach it: "You're spending much more time in the sun now. Joan, and that's got to be a little hard on your skin. I know you'll be interested in a great sun-blocker like ours. It's very popular. Women tell me that their husbands use it too when they're outdoors for long periods. You'll love it when you try it." OR, "You mentioned that you start losing energy midway into your game. I know just what you mean. I used to fade out during my exercise classes and found it was because of how I was eating beforehand. ABC Health Food Supplements, though, changed my energy level enough to make a big difference. I'd love for you to try the basic supplement for two weeks. I'll call you in a week to check how you're doing with it. You'll like how good this product makes you feel."
You'll hold a customer's interest when you introduce a benefit and stress it. Joan wants to know what will help her look and feel better. Tell her how and then show her how by demonstrating the product, if that's a practical part of your presentation. Many companies have visuals to accompany presentations, such as Shaklee salespeople who show film strips. Visual aids tend to help customers connect more immediately with what the products or the career can do for them.
Wrap up this segment of your presentation by giving Joan a briskly paced summation of your product. Don't speed-speak but list the relevant benefits, details, and prices in an enthusiastic tone. This reminds her why she should buy from you! Finally, guarantee your product if you can. Stress the product's advantages, positive values, popularity, why it's a time-saver (if that's the case), how it's economical (if that's a true feature), why she'll be pleased with this discovery (she didn't know your company made this product until now), how it's been scientifically tested or that it's the company's most up-to-date product.
Ask For the Order
Joan must believe in you and your product, yet she wants to sell herself on it and not to be sold by you. At this point in the example you want to steer Joan toward taking action and giving you the order. There's only one way to do that: Ask for it! "Is there any reason why we can't start you on the ABC supplements today?" However, Joan may not be ready to buy, and in this case you must be prepared with such a "trial closing" statement. This allows loan to voice any objections not yet satisfactorily answered. Trial closings are an exchange of opinions and diplomatic rebuttals that do not make the customer "wrong" or argue her point. If you do, you'll then have her decision: NO. The skilled salesperson views doubts and objections as a way to strengthen one's selling position to get the order. How do you do this?
Anticipate objections. By doing so you'll learn how to turn them around to your advantage. By thinking on them through beforehand, you can have an answer ready. Let's take a closer look.
Listen to Customer Response
What's holding Joan back from making an immediate decision? Unless you probe with leading questions and personalize the sales presentation to focus on her needs and insure her interest, she'll get up and bid you good day. Always remain in good humor. "You mustn't let the objection strike you as a rejection of you or the company." advises Marlys Skillings, a National Sales Director with Mary Kay based in Larkspur. Colorado. "Instead, look at the objection as if it were a question and then answer it with a solution or an idea. When you learn how to overcome objections I think you'll hit upon one of the key reasons for success in direct sales."
Marlys believes that people can get stuck in objections and make them ponderous, impenetrable problems like trying to walk a mile through wet cement. It's her positive attitude toward the word no or even maybe that's made her one of the top people in our company.
Marlys who shares a similar work history to mine (first modeling, then working as a talk-show hostess in Sioux City. Iowa), came from a broken home where, because of circumstances she was obliged to move from friend's house to friend's house for a few months at a time. "When I was four-teen years old and until I was seventeen. I had to be resourceful just to live." she said. "I learned a lot about how to fit in. what I had to do to adjust and most of all how not to feel rejected. I think I may have been fortunate in dealing with rejection at an early age and developing a positive attitude about moving on." Marlys married at eighteen and was a grandmother at thirty-eight. Family has always been important to her but so is her career. Marlys has set her sights to earning $20,000 a month, within the next three years, up from her 1986 total of $11.000 a month and she believes no objections can dissuade her. She's committed to positive reinforcement of her strong points, and a constant growth process to keep handling objections constructively.
I strongly agree on this point. Success depends on not taking objections personally! Objection tends to weaken some of us and we back off. The pity is. the second we agree with a customer's objection, we've generally lost the sale. The problem is in recognizing that "rejection" is sometimes only the customers' way of asking if they're making a right decision. They just need reassurance. They want to feel they understand everything about the product and how it will benefit them. It's just that the "questions" are often phrased in a negative manner and so we may flinch. If we don't learn to overcome objections without taking them personally, we begin to back off and get intimidated. Some people who aren't ready to buy will just keep digging up one objection after the other to discourage us. But you can win the sale! Take the opportunity to resell your customers by listening to their objections. Remember, rejection may be nothing but a request for more information.
Let's return to Joan now who is posing an objection she thinks is a real one. You're selling ABC Health Food Supplements. She says: "I don't see how ABC Supplements are any better than the XYZ Protein Tabs I pick up at the store."
Since you're selling food supplements, you'll have this marketing information for Joan. The issue of comparisons will always be raised no matter what you sell-vitamins, cosmetics, vacuum cleaners, jewelry, or package tours to Brazil. Joan was informed earlier in your sales pitch about how ABC Supplements are a superior product and she wants to hear it again or she may not have quite understood the subtle difference between ABC's formula and the commercial variety she finds at the supermarket.
You have already told Joan, but tell her again: "It's an interesting story, as you know. Joan. ABC's were formulated by a team of Swiss doctors who wanted to pack the most nutrition in the most convenient form-the tablet. ABC's are concentrated foods, like ones the astronauts take on their trips to outer space, not just clever chemistry. The great thing about ABC's , Joan, is that you'll feel the difference in your energy level immediately. You'll love ABC's and I also have a feeling that you're a woman who'd want the best product for her money, wouldn't you?"
This response answers Joan's question and restates a benefit. Asking her a question she will most likely agree with placed at the end of your statement, draws her back in. Of course, Joan could raise another objection following agreement with you: "Sure. I want the best for my money, but. . ."
This is okay. As long as Joan brings up objections that you feel aren't time wasters, but are sincere efforts to be sold, hear her out. Joan may return to the issue of price, or real need for the product, wanting to know who else has taken ABC's and how they felt about them. Answer each objection so that it brings Joan closer to saying YES. Stay in control of the meeting and in control of your emotions. Persist! I read of one great salesman who declared to a prospect: "I'll stay here all night to answer your questions and I won't leave until I have the order." You may not be so openly confident in word, but be so in deed.
It is true that objections sometimes do try your patience and test your skill at salesmanship. Instead, soften your disagreement by posing your statement positively, then provide the information. "I know just why you'd believe that and why you'd bring that point up again. ABC's have . . ." (Don't say, "Really, Joan. I already told you why three times. It still comes out the same answer.") Some objections can introduce another slant on the product that doesn't relate to it at all. Handle these by saying, "That's an interesting approach, Joan, and you'll find that ABC's are the perfect food supplement to take all year long. . . ." (Don't say, "I never heard of weather having an effect on ABC's.")
All roads, cleared of objections, lead to "closing" the sale. This will be the moment of truth. You're going to ask Joan for the sale by being direct, positive, and clear in your intention. This is where many people trip over their own feet. Few sales close themselves. You'll have to take some risks and get the order*.
Closing Strategies
You may have won a friend in Joan, charmed her, helped her spend a pleasant half hour or so in an otherwise dreary day, but if she still says. "I'll think about it. Call me in a few weeks." you haven't fulfilled your purpose-getting Joan to sign on the dotted line. You haven't closed the sale yet but you will.
Closing strategies are subtle and require attention and practice. Through experience you'll sense when to coax the customer into action and when to pull back a bit and not close prematurely. There is a lot of psychology involved. You want to be positive, expressive, and direct. Think in terms of winning the sale and then do something that gets it.
Experts have examined the process of closing in minute detail, from practitioners of the mystical approach (knowing what someone wants before they even acknowledge it and how to sell them) to the more insistent, hard-boiled hard sell
("You're not leaving until you buy this!") and all manner of grace, intuition, and skillful salesmanship between the two extremes. Experience has taught me that closing a sale successfully relies on these final points most of all:
Positive reinforcement
Making a sale is great but making a sale once doesn't insure ongoing business. Therefore, unless the customer feels good about the product and how will benefit her she's not going to buy and continue buying. And the continued sale is the most important one. Remind her of how your products benefit her and how they will make her life better: she'll look radiant after a facial and with new make-up. The jewelry is flattering and makes unique gifts, the products she needs are conveniently shipped to her door, her children deserve the finest educational reference books.
Let's close a sale with Mary Kay Cosmetics. I'd tell my customer. Veronica: "You look wonderful, don't you think?" Veronica will agree. "This is what you've tried today. Everything is formulated for your skin type and is perfect for you. So let's look over these items and decide what you'll need." I will take out an order form and begin to fill it out. Then I like to add. "Veronica, you deserve it all. I know you agree."
Assume, use emotion, or ask: Closing a sale works on a number of levels of assertiveness. Which one you opt for depends on the tenor of your sales meeting and with whom you are dealing.
Assumption implies that you reveal no doubts to the customer that she'll buy. Your attitude is positive. Let's assume a close with Veronica again: "These are the products you've tried today, Veronica, and they're perfect for you. Is there any reason why we can't start you with the complete set? You'll love it." I would remind her again that she's making a correct decision and that she deserves the pleasure and compliments she'll get from using these cosmetics.
Direct sellers know that people will often buy more on emotion than logic, so you'll need to introduce subtle emotional arguments that will help persuade the sale to happen. Sum up for her why your products are superior. To make the sale: Be her friend to the end. Make it simple for her to buy.
I'll illustrate by closing a sale, using Mary Kay products. Suppose my customer brings up an objection at zero hour- an objection she hadn't mentioned earlier-price, spending the money at all. She doesn't really need makeup, whatever. Use the objection to close the sale. Let's take expenditure: "I know how you feel. Veronica. We women tend to think, well, we've got a few extra dollars and baby needs shoes, or as you said, your kitchen could use new curtains. Veronica, you work so hard, you deserve a little pampering. You deserve to feel and look good too. You'll get those curtains, you know you will, but do something nice for you. Tell me how much you'd feel comfortable spending today and we can go with that for now."
Relieve her of feeling pressured by suggesting a few products to start. Let her make a minor decision and feel right. Whatever the compromise, you can be sure that when you next contact Veronica, you'll get a larger order.
Finally, asking. Superstars of closing are known for their candid ability to openly, assertively, and neatly ask for the sale. If you're of this hardier persuasion, go to it and ask for the sale: "I'm putting you down for the set, Veronica. I know you're going to love our skin care products." Order forms create a sense of finality. Produce the form as you ask for the sale, never taking your eyes off the customer. Hand her the pen and show her where to sign. Ask for the money: "You choose how you'd like to pay-check, cash, or credit card."
Points to remember about closing:
- Summarize the benefits of the product.
- Listen to the customer.
- Continue with the feeling of confidence, trust, and friendship that you established during the meeting. Don't become cooler, colder, or more "business-like" because you're nearing the end of the sale.
- Let the customer buy from you.
- Ask for the sale in whatever way most suits you but ask!
Any effort put into a sale hasn't much value without follow-up. What a pity it would be to lose what you've worked so hard to gain. Follow-up implies ongoing communication with a customer or recruit; it indicates courtesy, interest in a customer's needs; it allows for problem solving and even establishes friendship. Follow-up keeps you attentive and on your toes to how you're running your business. Thorough follow-up helps you sustain the relationship. The payoff is just good business, and the reward is a successful career in direct sales.
Follow-up applies to these situations:
Thank-you notes or calls: Graciousness is never inappropriate or old-fashioned. Thank your customer for the order.
Confirming appointments: Many salespeople worry about cancelations, but since they are typical to the business, be prepared. The initial booking process varies from company to company as does the manner of confirming an appointment at the time it is made. You might be told to follow up with a reminder card, but almost under no circumstance would I suggest you call. This can give them an easy enough chance to cancel.
Orders, reorders:
Your business depends on new and ongoing trade. A customer might have passed something by because of a limited budget. Call and ask if she'd like to place the order for that item now. Remind her how much she liked it and how it suited her, or how she can win it free if that's part of your company policy.
Sometimes, living in a smaller community allows for a more informal approach to selling. You can ask people to pick up orders at your house (rather than having you deliver them) and while they're there, suggest they take a look at the rest of your line again. If you've got new products to show, or if the company is having a sale on certain items, take the opportunity of a customer's visit to increase business beyond her just reordering. Never forget the "power of suggestion."
Recruiting: Perhaps you met someone the previous night, a week ago, a month ago, someone you thought right for a direct sales career. She/he may have turned you down. said "maybe," or suggested you try again. Follow-up calls remind them that you're thinking of them as potential business partners. Use this call to make an appointment to discuss a sales career.
Four of my strongest people were all eventually recruited by me because I persisted with follow-up calls. Each woman said the career didn't seem quite right but she didn't actually say no. I had a good feeling that Mona Holte, Marlys Skillings, Fern Hendricks, and Maureen Yantzer were each perfect for this business and I told them so. Not one of these women was living in Minneapolis, so I sent notes or called, especially if I was driving through or near their home cities. Finally, one by one, each said in her own way, "I'm ready!"
Without these follow-up calls I would have lost them to either another recruiter or another profession. Now these women are my top producers and without them. I would have a much, much smaller business.
Ask for referrals:
Very few customers volunteer names when they buy from you. It's up to you to scout people. Ask for referrals from satisfied customers. Most direct sales companies provide incentives for referrals-small cash awards or percentages of the sale made, or gifts. In fact, the four above mentioned women who are my top producers were all referrals.
Points to Remember About Sales
Once in a while, history is made by someone who does everything right the first time out and never has a moment of self-doubt ever after. The rest of us need experience, practice, an upbeat attitude, and persistence. Give yourself time to achieve your goals.
We all make mistakes. We all have disappointing days. But subsequent good days will make up for those lapses. Give yourself permission to flop now and then-you don't have to ) be perfect! Connect to those errors and don't deny them. Then set them straight as gracefully as you can.
Take your business seriously, but keep a sense of humor about yourself.
We may be tempted to want to have the person who has recruited us-or a manager of a company-along with us and actually have him/her transact the sale instead of doing it ourselves. I've always felt that confidence is weakened when you delay honing your skills by letting others do for you what you should be doing for yourself. If you're deeply worried about what to do and say the first few times out. Perhaps your recruiter or manager can invite you to watch him or her in action. Don't shortchange yourself from getting the experience you need. Do it yourself.
Keep a goal in sight. Nothing is more motivating than inching (or bounding) toward the kind of success you design yourself.
The measure of your rewards will be the quality of your involvement. I can't tell you how much money you're going to earn in sales, but if you describe your plan of action to me and tell me how many hours a week you're willing to invest, I'll know exactly where you'll be in two years . . . three years ... ten years. And so will you! Think about it!
Attend weekly sales meetings. This is imperative for all direct sales people-especially those who don't have a clearly structured day. Meetings keep you on target, let you share ideas and clarify solutions to common problems. It’s your support group. When you're down, you need the meeting. When you're up the meeting needs you!
