Three Skills for Direct Sales Success
One of the appeals of direct sales is that it doesn’t require any specialty skills to get started. You don’t need any technical aptitude. You don’t need a degree. The only real thing you need to succeed at direct sales is motivation. The remainder of the skills can be built over time. However, before you get into direct sales or as you grow your business, some skills will help you succeed. They include:
Sales Skills
Sales are 90% enthusiasm and 10% know-how. If you’re enthusiastic about your products, then you’re most of the way there. The rest may come naturally. You’ll want to be able to position your products to solve your customer’s problems. You’ll also want to be able to demonstrate the benefits of the products you’re representing.
Benefits are different than features. Features are things that the product has. Benefits are what the product does for your customer. For example, if you’re selling a candle then a feature may be that it burns for 100 hours. The benefit is that you don’t have to replace it often. It saves money over time.
If you’re comfortable talking to strangers (and groups of strangers) about your products, then direct sales is perfect. If you love to meet new people, share ideas and help them solve their problems, then direct sales is for you. If you love helping people, laughing, celebrating, and of course making money by promoting your products, then direct sales is for you.
Leadership Skills
As a direct sales consultant you may have the opportunity to build a team. This offers you the chance to earn a lot more money. If you’re building a team you’ll want to be able to not only recruit good team members, you’ll also need to lead them. The more successful they are, the more successful you are.
Business and Organizational Skills
There are a number of support responsibilities you’ll need to manage. They include:
- Maintaining an inventory
- Tracking sales
- Organizing parties
- Taking orders
- Marketing your business and website
- Planning parties
- Managing cash
- Bookkeeping
- Budgeting
- Building and maintaining your website
- Shipping
- Communicating with customers, party hosts, vendors, and direct sales team members
As you grow your business, you may also learn copywriting and website design skills. You may be creating your own advertisements, catalogs, flyers and promotional materials. Some companies provide these materials so you may not need to learn copywriting or website design. However, if they do not, that’s okay. You can learn and master these skills in no time.
Many of these skills are trained or covered by your company. You may also have a mentor to help guide you. The remaining skills you’ll most certainly learn over time. The faster you learn and master them, the faster you reach your goals.
