52 Tasks for Direct Sales Success in the New Year

The New Year is time for resolutions and action. What better time to lay out goals and activities for your direct sales business than right now? Here are 52 tasks for home party plan success this next year.

Find an opportunity that aligns with your personal values and offers a product you love.
Become a product of the product. Order your starter kit and become familiar with the product. The more you use them in daily life the more conversations that will arise naturally.
Order business cards and marketing materials. These will come in handy when strangers ask you what you do for a living or where you got that fabulous company product you’re sporting.
Write down your business plan and short-term/long-term goals. Use the SMART system for clarity.
Host your first open house. Invite your friends and family and introduce them to your new business.
Ask a few people at work to host a home party.
Get your business books in order. Establish a system and stick with it. Look into an online recordkeeping software like Quickbooks.
Sign up for alternate means of payment for customer convenience. PayPal and GoPayment are two popular options.
If your workplace allows, hold a coworker catalog show. Have a drawing for the hostess credits.
Talk to church or school organizations about your fundraiser opportunity.
Get active online in social media and forums. Share your expertise. Don’t spam.
Guest post on a popular blog in your industry. Share your knowledge and encourage readers to visit your consultant site in your author byline.
Remember, people that say you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” make money in direct sales are really talking about themselves. The “99.9% of direct sellers fail” myth is a myth. *
Follow-up with customers that have placed an order recently. Ask them how they are enjoying the products and if they have any questions. Encourage them to host their own show or learn more about the business opportunity.
Check into local trade shows.
Host a virtual party on Google+ or Facebook. Hold a drawing from the attendees for the hostess benefits.
Invest in a memorable domain for redirecting your consultant URL.
Meet your team members in person or online once per month to offer support and training.
Create a Secret Group on Facebook where team members can share tips and successes and ask questions.
Hold a contest for your downline. The winner receives business-building materials (team jacket, marketing supplies, etc) for the most sales, sponsored consultants, etc.
Call the person that is “this close” to joining your team and invite her to coffee. Genuinely listen to her reservations and offer words of encouragement. Don’t pressure her.
Offer customers a small discount or prize for referring new customers your way. Only pay out with a new sale.
Know that those that don’t make it in this industry aren’t failing because of the business model but because of their efforts. Direct selling is dependent on the relationships you form. Meet people. Get to know them. Offer hope and happiness. Don’t sell.
Get new customers’ birthdays and schedule a card to be sent on that date.
Carry business cards, brochures and hostess folders with you everywhere. You never know when an opportunity will arise. Don’t be unprepared.
Strive to hold two parties per week. Always include your opportunity. You never know who is looking for a little (or a lot of) extra money.
Follow up. Follow up. Follow up on those leads.
Have a customer or team member MIA? Take some time this week to call them. Don’t pressure for purchases or activity, just find out what’s going on. Maybe it is something you can help with. Maybe not. Either way, they will appreciate the outreach.
When printing new return address labels, include your consultant URL. A stranger is far more likely to head to your website than pick up the phone initially.
Go big or go home! Challenge yourself to hold 8 shows in the next 30 days. You may be surprised at the long-term ripple effect this will create for your business. Do you really want to miss out on it?
Create an automatic email signature that is included on all outgoing emails. Include your consultant URL and links to any social media profiles. You can do this with a program like Wise Stamp or My eSig.
Sign up for a service like Carbonite that will automatically backup your computer files for safekeeping. Don’t lose all of those customer contacts and business information should your computer crash, there’s a fire, etc.
Consider hiring a virtual assistant to help with those day-to-day marketing and customer service tasks. They can handle your bookkeeping, mailing postcards, schedule meetings, etc.
Attend a local networking meeting. Look on Meetup or your local Chamber of Commerce website for opportunities.
Does your company regularly introduce and retire products? Hold a clearance sale to move the old and introduce the new.
Do at least one thing every day to build your business. If you aren’t working your business, your business won’t work for you.
Don’t waste your time trying to change the mind of others. If someone is argumentative or negative, move along. It’s their loss not yours.
Educate yourself on the direct selling industry. Direct Selling 411 is a great place to start.
Educate yourself on online marketing. Follow a few blogs that offer social networking tips and information.
Revisit your goals. What’s working? What isn’t? Adjust your plans accordingly.
Hosted an open house recently?
Take advantage of holidays. Create gift baskets of popular products at different price points. Offer gift wrapping and free shipping.
Stop being too embarrassed to tell people what you do. Why would anyone be embarrassed of providing a good life for their family?
Invest in online advertising. Stick with targeted, relevant opportunities for best results.
You can build a successful direct sales business part-time but not sometime.
The holiday season is a time for gatherings. Make sure your business cards and marketing materials are up to date and you have plenty.
There are three main pillars to successful direct selling; home parties, person-to-person sales and sponsoring. Focus one day per week to each pillar and you’ll be set.
With tax time around the corner, this is a good time to speak with your tax preparer about your bookkeeping and business deductions.
Practice your elevator speech.
Create a survey with Google Docs or Survey Monkey where customers and team members can leave anonymous feedback about your customer service. Maybe they would like more or less frequent messages, etc.
When making follow-up calls always have something to offer. Be excited about the big discounts and new booking bonuses available to hostesses. Be excited about the new signup offer and fast start program available to new consultants. When you are excited, they will be excited. When you sound like you are simply going through the motions, they will go through the motions…of saying “not now.”
Get motivated through the action and words of others. Ask anyone who has attended a leadership conference or networking how they feel when they leave and they will tell you “motivated.” They go home and they take action. You can feel this same way year-round. Attend online webinars. Read industry-related and home business books. Never stop growing your business!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions expressed are my own.