More and more direct selling companies now handle shipping products to customers, so those of us out in the field don't need any purchase requirement or any stock sitting at home. That in turn means we can focus on learning the material and becoming good presenters.
When you build a business in direct selling, you need to master the cornerstones the whole business model rests on. This is something anyone can learn. I don't think any of my teachers would have bet on me becoming some big leader. Anyone can develop the ability as long as the will is there.
Cornerstone 1: Your own customers
All business is built on finding customers. If you don't know how to get a customer, you've got nothing to teach. This is the most important step, because without customers there's nothing. Already here I'd like to highlight ”Be the messenger, not the message”. If you have a particular education, good for you. Stick to the material and the approved claims. We're communicators, not experts. It's great that you believe in what you're talking about, but you don't need to be Jesus.
Cornerstone 2: Your own partners
This is about meeting people you'd like to work with, together with someone who has more experience of what you're doing. You have the relationship with the person you want to show it to, and you have confidence in the one presenting, which creates respect between the person presenting and the person receiving the presentation.
”The goal is education and understanding. The goal is never to sign someone up.” Ray Higdon
You're there to present the business model and the company. Whatever decision the person makes is up to them. Remember that your friends (potential travel companions) may not be meant to come along on your journey. It's simply not meant for everyone to join. Leave every person you meet feeling a little better, a little more appreciated, because the relationship matters more than anything else.
”Networking is farming, not hunting. It's about investing time in building relationships.” Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI.
Cornerstone 3: The team's customers
Now it's your turn to be the presenter. You've probably been to 10 meetings where you brought someone along and heard all the questions and concerns people have, so now you can go through the information for one of your new partners. Help them to 5 or 10 customers and they can surely get to 25 customers on their own.
Cornerstone 4: The team's partners
You've sat in a dozen or so meetings with potential partners and listened to your mentor present the idea, and you've probably brought in a couple of partners to work with. You've helped them with their first customers, so now you're the one doing the partner presentation with them (the recruiting meeting).
Cornerstone 5: Your own leadership
This is about stepping into responsibility. Starting to educate yourself more. Reading and listening for the sake of your personal growth. Some see themselves as leaders, others don't. Some people come into the organisation and want to ”work with leadership”, and then it's important to explain that we all need to go through the first four cornerstones first.
Your personal development might be about reading 100 pages in a book, while your professional development might be about reading 10 pages and then booking a meeting. Someone who doesn't do anything with what they've learned hasn't got any further than someone who never learned it. Knowledge without action is meaningless.
Cornerstone 6: The team's leadership
Leadership means creating leaders. This is the final step, and here we need to lead and duplicate. Inspire leaders in the team to read and listen, take responsibility and take action. Something that really is about leadership in direct selling is not letting people come with ”good looking excuses”. Get really good at helping people find solutions in different forms. A leader makes sure to create the conditions for doing what they promised themselves they'd do.
This is what makes leaders leaders:
If they don't have the money to go to an event, they sort out the money.
If they don't have time for meetings, they sort out time for meetings.
If they don't have a babysitter, they sort out a babysitter.
If they don't have the resources, they sort out the resources.
There's a start up manual in most direct selling companies that many people never read. It's time to really study the basics of how new direct sellers learn to take on their training and build an organisation. If an industrial worker from Tidaholm, together with his team, can build a customer base of 10,000 customers in a few years with these cornerstones behind him, then anyone can create really big results.
