Direct selling is an effective business model for getting products out on the market. It creates big opportunities for anyone to take part in building an organisation. The market has moved more and more towards a product focus, so that commission money comes from customers who buy products because they want the products. Concepts where customers have become distributors and buy things home in the hope of making money won't survive the regulators' rules.
If you meet someone who has worked in direct selling before and who is looking for something, they may not be looking at the product range first of all. More likely they're looking for the right kind of mentorship and a healthy culture in an organisation they can stand behind. They're looking for leaders with integrity and character. Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. A leader is the person people choose to follow.
Kevin Thompson argues that the serious companies are doing what they can when it comes to a healthy balance between product sales and recruiting. They'll be even more careful about paying out money for the right things. There will be even more focus on producing training in the form of material such as books, audio and video to raise the competence of the organisation. Companies will look more closely at their products and invest in product development to create more value in the market. You as a distributor need to take new steps in your development, or rather go back to basics, depending on how you look at it.
Investing in more training in the organisation leads to better behaviour, more customers, higher trust in the market and the attraction of the right kind of distributors. The recurring income we talk so much about means you don't have to start over. If you're going to pledge your entire capital of trust to a brand you're going to represent, it's a good idea to be really sure you've chosen right. You can't make a quick run during a building phase and then not take care of the organisation. It's about relationships. It's about building a business over many years. That's what you're here for. You know this is your life's work.
Are you interested in building the organisation once and getting paid forever? That's done by building the organisation through relationships, with your heart. It's the only way. The heart has to be there, otherwise there's no point. Not everyone understands that in the beginning, but they realise it in time. Randy Gage often talks about wanting to create a culture in your organisation that others want to be part of. You who work in direct selling work with attraction marketing. If you're honest and you care about people, you'll attract like minded people and then you can go all the way.
Your brand is about how people perceive you. Who you are and what you stand for. How you'll be remembered has everything to do with how you act today. Think about how you want people to perceive you. Think about who you are and who you want to be. Your actions create your brand. Your mental business card. How do you want people to remember you in 50 years?
Do what you've said you'll do. One of my first mentors, Mr. George Zalucki, said: ”Commitment is doing the things you promised yourself you'd do long after the feeling you had when you made that promise has left you”. Discipline is no more mysterious than saying you'll do something and then doing it. Decide on something, write it in the calendar on a day and at a time, and then when the day comes you do what it says there. Simple to do, but easy not to do. A good habit is hard to create but easy to live with. A bad habit is easy to create but hard to live with. It depends on how you want your life to look tomorrow, what visions you have and what lifestyle you want in the future.
People want you in their life if you build with your heart. Dale Carnegie writes in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People: ”People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care about them”. Build your organisation the way you build your circle of friends, because that's what you're doing. Your organisational culture should be so strong that if the company disappeared, you'd still have friends for life.
Follow the system. Your company has a well developed system that anyone can follow. Use the material the company provides. Randy Gage says that if there's something you feel you can't stand behind, you should quit. Change company or change organisation. How will you feel in 10 years if you keep going against your gut? You have to be honest with yourself and with others. You have to have the system and the support with you to be able to go all the way. You have to be able to work with the people who are there.
He also says that some people don't want to take the ego out of the equation. They always want to decide that they themselves should stand at the front of the conference room like a guru and inspire others. They want to create their own presentation material. They want to show the whole world that they can succeed better than everyone else at this, but it's a big mistake. The basic idea of direct selling is to build an organisation that can copy and duplicate the same approach as those who walked the path before them.
If you're the one standing up front every time, nobody else will dare to step forward. If you produce your own material and encourage people to use it, you're also telling them that the company's own material isn't good enough. You're shooting yourself in the foot. You're not even allowed to create your own material, and you probably don't know all the marketing rules you have to follow, which can create even more problems for you and the people around you.
If direct selling is going to take the last step to general acceptance as a powerful business model, leaders in our profession have to stand up for it. They have to believe in the principles of integrity and honesty. Build your personal brand on the right values. There are no shortcuts to doing the right thing.
