Direct Sales Marketing & Mentoring- Nancy Sutherland

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Technorati Tags: attitude, Belief, Direct Sales Mentors, Jacque Schumacher, Nancy Sutherland, Talkin Turkey teleseminar

When I started my direct sales business in January of 1986, my three boys were 4 to 9 years old. That first year in business, I really didn’t comprehend all that was possible my business. I was an at-home mom by choice, but needed “something more”.

Since I had been using the products since I was 20 years old, my decision to start a home business in direct sales was an easy one. Working around my boys’ very active schedules, I earned my first Career Car in December 1987, became a Sales Director in March 1988 and earned my first Pink Car in June 1988.

Was my journey without complications or drama in my life? Certainly not! I worked my business as a reason, not an excuse to get through all of life’s dramas including a bitter divorce, severe car accident, and major personal injury while I was a single mom. Although I had survived all these obstacles, somewhere along the way I lost my abundant thinking in an effort to get through each day.

The life that I wanted was within reach for me now! Within a few years, I married the love of my life, and was blessed with a stepdaughter, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters! Our life was comfortable and happy.

After 23 years in the US Army, my husband Alex retired, just weeks before his unit was deployed to Iraq in 2003. After working a year as a civilian, I convinced him to take a leap of faith and join me working behind the scenes in my business.

That decision created a goal to be Queen of Personal Sales and we achieved that on Awards Night, 2005! “I was just an ordinary woman, with extraordinary determination!” How did I change my mindset from just surviving to believing that I could reach such a huge goal? It started by taking massive action. I was willing to try new ideas, allowing myself to fail often. But the momentum grew exponentially when God provided me with a Power Partner!

Halfway through the year, our Company had a Leadership Conference for Sales Directors. As always, it was great. I had been recognized for being on-target for reaching my goal! We were in the airport returning home when our flight was delayed. It was there that I met Jacque Schumacher. We connected instantly! She had already been Queen before and was so excited about my goal. We exchanged business cards and agreed to keep in touch. That is how our relationship started.

Jacque and I started communicating daily, through phone and email. We shared strategies, successes and even failures. Then a week later I received an unexpected package in the mail. Jacque had sent me her tiara to take a photo in my Seminar dress to start visualizing reaching that goal. She also sent me the video of her on stage. I began to watch that every day, imagining that I was there in my gold dress receiving that award!

Can you imagine the thrill of setting and achieving a huge goal like that? It was amazing, but it really felt as though I had already been there. I had created such a vivid picture in my mind of what it would feel like being Queen! Since then, Jacque and I have mentored other women who were willing to run at that same pace, reaching for a huge goal. Last year I coached one of my consultants to the position of First Runner up in the National Court of Personal Sales!

I have never seen this business not work when you are willing to put in the effort. Following a proven plan with values of God first, family second and career third your success is guaranteed! Jacque and I will be doing a special FREE gratitude teleseminar tomorrow night. Join us and learn more about how you can turn your dreams into a reality!

Technorati Tags: coach, goal setting, mentor, power partner, visualization

When you have a home business in Direct Sales, one of the biggest challenges that you have to deal with is motivation. In this Direct Sales Blog I want to cover how to be your own boss and still manage to get the job done without someone looking over your shoulder.

1. Have a clear and concise goal and share it with others. There is no such thing as a “secret goal”. The first time that I made a decision to attain Court of Sales in my business I started by announcing it to my unit. I had a consultant who set that goal and the year was half over and she was way off track. I picked up her goal and decided to run with it.

2. Find someone who will hold you accountable, not listen to your excuses. As women, we always have drama in our life. If you make a decision to allow those dramas to stop you, failure is lurking around the corner. There is always a way to work around any obstacle.

3. Be clear on your “why”. I have never seen a goal with a reason behind it not become a reality. The year that my youngest son started school, I made a decision to move into leadership in my company. My reason was simple- I wanted to be a WAHM. I wanted to be there when they got home from school, attend field trips with them, and spend summers at the pool with my children. A home business allowed me to do that.

4. Set a deadline for your goals. A goal without a deadline is just a dream. Even the most audacious goal must have an end time. The worst that can happen is that you need to extend the deadline. But be clear on when you want the goal to happen.

5. Use your experiences, both good and bad to train others. I give myself permission to make mistakes along the way, and document it. The year that I was first runner up in personal sales, it was not my goal. It was a result of massive effort and documentation for one of my consultants who had that goal. Every action was scripted, recorded and shared with her. Whenever you have the ability to take others to places that they have never been before as a result of your efforts, it motivates you to give more.

The challenges of a home business can easily be overcome with a network of support. Make sure that you surround yourself with positive people who understand the entrepreneurial lifestyle. In today’s economy, there is more control over your results than any job out there! So what is holding you back?

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Technorati Tags: goal setting, home business motivation, work at home challenges

Keeping your FOCUS to just a few simple aspects of your direct sales business is one of the most powerful strategies you can use. It’s amazing the more people do not do it. I find many women get overwhelmed with the amount of marketing tips and find themselves paralyzed. Remember, a confused mind does nothing.

The year that I set my goal to be Queen of Personal Sales in my Direct Sales Company, I knew that in order to maintain focus for an entire year I had to keep it simple. This is what I learned. For me, it has always been better to keep my focus on just a few things. When I have too many things to focus on, it is more difficult for me to maintain that level of focus over an extended period of time. Since this goal was a year long one, I knew that keeping it simple was absolutely necessary

These are the Top 5 Areas to focus on for Maximum Sales

1. One a Day- My focus was on being face to face with at least one person every day, showing the product. Some days it would be as many as 10 people, other days, only one. That consistency helped create the momentum. This allowed me to reach my sales goal of $500 per day all year.
2. Build Your Customer Base Wide and Deep- It is so rewarding to work with customers who are actually excited about the product and wanting to use more and more of it. The second thing to focus on is broadening the usage of your customers. This can be accomplished by scheduling regular updates with your customers to show them the new products.
3. Look for New Customers within Your Chosen Niche or Demographics- For example,I focused on finding new customers in the 25-35 year age range. That year my biggest growth in my customer base was from those women. I did this by encouraging mother/daughter appointments with existing customers and handing out web coupons. We handed out over 1,000 web coupons that year. Our goal was 10 a day, 5 days a week. Having the discipline to do this really built our customer base
4. Provide Excellent Customer Service Creating Loyalty to You- When a consultant decides to leave her business I always ask permission to take care of her customers.(This rarely happens in my unit because I train them how to build a reorder business and most stay with me for decades!) I have a passion to serve every customer the way by “making them feel important”. Even customers who previously “died of neglect”, I sometimes have been able to revive and that too is exciting!! I was taught to lead by example and by doing this I got my unit’s attention (and also some of my customers who became consultants!)
5. “Hitch Your Wagon to a Star” The power of a coach or a Mastermind group will make all the difference! Although we can learn something from anyone in this business, when reaching for a big goal, it is important to follow only those who have gone before you. When I was reaching for this goal that very few in my Company had reached, I found someone who had already done it, to become my Power Partner, and strategize on a daily basis. We both accomplished more than ever before because of the growth that our brainstorming accomplished!

In addition to my own retail business and the leadership position that I hold within my Company, I also do mentoring. If you are interested in taking your business to the next level, be sure to subscribe to my e-newsletter above. My subscribers are the first to be notified of any of my FREE WEBINARS. I have a really exciting one coming up soon with my Power Partner, Jacque Schumacher who has also achieved Queen of Personal Sales multiple times in my Company! You don’t want to miss this! What do you think? K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Sweetie)

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Technorati Tags: direct selling tips, focus and prioritize, increase sales, mastermind, power partner, time management

My favorite social media platform is Twitter, which is a micro blog. Within the parameters of 140 characters, you build relationships, share information, and sometimes even entertain. As it’s popularity increases, there are more “tools” to help you enjoy your Twitter experience even more. One of those is a site called “Quitter”. This will show you when people stopped following you and your most recent tweet. (with the assumption that the two are connected)

Here in my Direct Sales Blog, I would like to share the connections between “Quitter” and your home party plan business. Before I begin, I want to say that I don’t use “Quitter”. My presence on Twitter is authentic. I try to reach out and encourage, inform, and amuse my followers at all times. There is no value to me to know who stopped following me and when. Nothing at all would change as a result of knowing that. Perhaps they just don’t enjoy me, and that is fine. Sometimes it’s even a Twitter technical glitch that causes us to lose followers. So why waste time with this application? The only time that I have stopped following someone, it was because of either extreme negativity or continued bad language. It’s my choice. I don’t like to be around either.

In Direct Sales, we have the opportunity to try different marketing ideas. The year that I reached my goal of Queen of Sales, (number one nationally in my company) I tried more strategies than most do in a lifetime in business. In doing that I had my share of failures as well as successes. That year I found myself a “Power Partner”- someone who had already achieved that goal in the past. Even though some ideas worked for her, they didn’t work for me, while others were almost an immediate success for both of us. So how do you know when to quit?

Sometimes success is just around the corner. In my opinion many people quit too soon, missing out on the joy of reaching a goal. For example, if you are using a success strategy to book parties in your direct sales company, how long do you continue to use the current approach? Do you change course after just one or two tries, or do you continue? This is one of the things that experience will dictate, or having your own direct sales business coach.

Have you ever tried a marketing strategy that worked really well for someone else in your company, but didn’t work for you? How soon do you allow yourself to adjust, adapt, modify or change direction? Sometimes there are many deciding factors that make a difference in the results. For example, if you take an idea from someone who has an established business and try it with your new business, the results will be different. Some strategies work differently with different regions of the country or world because of local customs, traditions, or even demographics.

If you are new in Direct Sales, I recommend that you give it a year of honest effort before you give it up. If you don’t have the leadership above you to help you to reach your goals, find it somewhere else. Look for someone who has not only accomplished what you want in your business, but is still active in the field. Some leaders sit in their office creating “ideas” and document to support them with no practical experience following through with them.

When trying a new script for booking or team building, be sure to “test” it on more than just one or two people. When I create a script for the consultants who need that tool, I give myself permission to make many calls or presentations before I get it right. Everything is a constant controlled testing process, making the results better and better!

So what lesson can we learn from all of this? Stay the course. Find leadership and direction from those who have proven success is possible. Obtain your own success strategies, and follow through with enough time to evaluate the results.

Look for motivation and inspiration when you need it, and pass it on to others. Most important of all, persist, Don’t be a quitter. Fail often because success is often the result of those lessons learn along the way.

Be sure to sign up for my email newsletter! I am planning a FREE teleseminar in the near future with my “Power Partner”, Jacque Schumacher, who has also achieved National Queen more than once herself! An invitation to join us will go out to my subscribers first before we promote it anywhere else!

Technorati Tags: booking parties, direct sales leadership, make more money in direct sales, party plan success strategies

There are some elements of greatness in everyone. Find your passion! Do you have someone who can breathe belief into you until you have the ability to discover how great you really are? I’d love to help you with my Monthly Mentoring program!

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Technorati Tags: motivation, personal growth, self improvement

One of the things that I love about having a direct sales blog is the ability to connect things that are relevant in our business to things that are happening around us. Last night I watched one of my favorite all time classics- “The Wizard of Oz”. It’s been on my mind this weekend so I decided to write a post about it.

How can we use the Wizard’s wisdom in our business? He said that he was “a good man, but not a very good wizard.” I would have to agree with him on that, but his people skills were excellent. He had the ability to understand what each person was searching for and help them to discover that they already had it.

In coaching women in direct sales, I frequently see that they too are searching for something that they already have. It sometimes appears that others have a better job, more money, thinner hips, and so on. When you compare yourselves to others, most of the time it appears that you are not as good, or qualified.

Why not look within and try to find what makes you unique and celebrate who you are, instead of trying to be like someone else. The greatest discovery is when you find out how great you really are, and how you can impact others lives!

It takes head (brains), heart, and courage to run a business. All three of these are necessary. Leaving out even one of them is like baking a cake without eggs. It’s just not enough! The good news is you have all of these already! Belief is what changes everything!

Once the scarecrow was told that he had the brains, suddenly he realized that he did! The lion continued to help Dorothy, even though he was afraid. The Wizard helped him to discover that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to “do it anyway”! My favorite quote from the Wizard was given to the tinman. I thought that it was so profound. “Heart is not judged by how much you love, but how much you are loved by others.” Isn’t that something that we can all strive for?

Tell me what lessons YOU can learn from the Wizard of Oz?

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Technorati Tags: attitude, Direct Sales Inspiration, dreams, positive thinking, think and grow rich, Wizard of Oz

When asking what kind of content to put on my Direct Sales Blog, I frequently get requests to share the secrets of recruiting new team members. Every Company is different, but this usually is another avenue of income. During difficult economic times more women (and men) than ever are considering Direct Sales for a home business to add another stream of income to the family.

Here are some tips on how to attract others to your Direct Sales Home Business:

1. Get out of yourself and into what you can offer others. You must be willing to ask without fear. What do you have to lose? Sometimes there are people in your path that are praying for an answer to financial problems.
2. ALWAYS demonstrate your product with your prospective recruit first. She must be sold on how great your product is before she tries to sell it.
3. Prequalify your prospective team member on three things- she likes the product, has a need that you can fill with this business, and can find the means to purchase a starter kit.
4. Don’t give snippets of career information. Take the time to go over the business and how it can benefit HER in detail.
5. Expect an objection when you first offer to share career information. Do not try to overcome her objection at this point. You only want her to be open minded enough to listen to what you have to say. For example- if she says “I’m too busy’. I would say, “you may be right, Suzy, you might not have the time for this business, but I would like to give you all the information before you decide whether it is for you or not.”
6. Don’t give her too much information and overwhelm her. Customize what you share based on her needs and personality style.
7. When interviewing your prospective team member start out by asking her to pretend that you only have five minutes to share information with her. What is most important for her to know before starting a business? Address her needs and concerns, from her perspective, not hers.
8. Ask lots of questions to determine her needs. Allow yourself to realize that it might not be the right choice for her at this time. Asking questions will allow you to determine not only her needs, but her potential as well!
9. Close the interview. Here is an example of what to say-“ At this point you probably know whether this business interests you or not. I’m not going to ask for your decision now because you may want to go home and think about it. Here is some help in making that decision. I call it the shower test. If you find yourself thinking about the possibilities in unusual and frequent times like while driving, cooking, taking a shower, that usually means that decision is a heart decision and you need to take action! On the other hand, if you don’t think about this business at all in the next 24 hours, maybe it is not for you or the right time. I have found that the best decisions are heart decisions and they are made right away. When you postpone making a decision longer than a day, it becomes a head decision and fear enters in and influences you. Do I have permission to reconnect with you tomorrow to find out your heart decision?
10. MOST IMPORTANT- Call her the next day no matter what. Don’t be afraid of what she has to say. A home business is not for everyone and there are lots of choices in direct sales. If you wait two days or more to reconnect, then her decision is no longer a heart decision. If you are in Direct Sales and you are reading this right now, aren’t you glad that your recruiter didn’t forget about calling you back? You have the ability to help others and sometimes even change lives. How powerful is that?

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Technorati Tags: direct sales leadership, direct sales recruiting, MLM recruiting, team building

With tonight’s CMA Awards in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to share the importance of what happens behind the scenes with every “star” in Direct Sales. What you see on stage or outwardly, has usually quite a bit going on backstage! In my business, I could never have accomplished my biggest goals without my husband, Alex working behind the scenes. He frequently is asked “How can I best help my wife in direct sales?”

The easy answer to that question would be to do anything that he can to free up time for her to do the tasks that only the direct sales superstar can do! Here are some ideas on how you can do this.

• Be the head of the house making sure that your superstar reaches her full potential, handling the mondane, but necessary tasks.
• Praise her to success. Learn all about positive attitude, and motivation. Listen and then encourage her.
• Stay informed on all aspects of her business by watching videos, attending meetings, reading Company literature.
• Pass out her business cards, literature, and invitations to events.
• Learn that building people takes time. Be patient through belief in her and the company that she represents.
• Help her with establishing family and business goals.
• Learn all that you can about her company, it’s compensation, and history
• Treat her direct sales business like a real job from the beginning, not a hobby.
• Assist her in creating and maintaing a business expense accounting system
• Coordinate logistics and transportation arrangements.
• Maintain her office equipment.
• Coordinate and manage her audio-visual requirements for events ( music, photos, videos,and posters)
• Assist in office management as she leads you.
• Ensure adequate office supplies and materials
• Make product deliveries for her.
• Help with managing her inventory (if applicable. Some direct sales companies don’t stock products)
• Answer the phone and handle anything that does not require her personal attention.
• Be her hero! Carry bags in and out of the car for her without her asking!

• Develop financial strategies

  o Personal strategies

  o Tax-reduction strategies

  o Investment strategies

  o Manage investments

• Help out at home in any way you can to free up time for her to do what only she can do

  o Cleaners

  o Car up keep

  o Groceries

  o Chauffeuring kids

  o Household Chores

  o Preparing Meals

  o “Parenting “ (Formerly known as Baby Sitting)

Although your backstage contributions are not a guarantee of her success, it is a benefit that may someday put you in the limelight when she achieves her goals.

Technorati Tags: direct sales husbands, logistics and support, tips for spouses in direct sales

This video exemplifies the power of a mastermind or mentor in your direct sales business. Are you looking for an opportunity to work at home as a mom? Are you not getting the desired results in your direct sales business? Maybe you are ready to take your business to the next level and achieve more success than ever before. During the month of November, I am offering a FREE 15 minute strategy call for anyone who is interested in private or group coaching and mentoring. If that is something that you are considering, fill out the contact form including your phone number and the best time to call. This can be your best holiday season ever!

Technorati Tags: business coaching, Inspiration, video