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Are you a direct sales consultant who's struggling to get your business off the ground? These tips and strategies can help.
You’ve signed up as a direct sales agent for a company whose product or service you love, but believing in a product isn’t enough to generate sales. You need a marketing plan that gets interested eyes on your business. The good news is that even consultants without a sizable marketing budget can build an incredibly profitable business.
A direct sales business sells products or services outside a retail environment. Representatives often work from home and online, making connections, hosting parties and building a client base.
A direct sales business differs from a retail sales model, in which consumers walk into a store to learn about and buy products. Generally, consumers seek out retail establishments when they need something. Direct sales representatives must build credibility and trust to have consumers see them as a go-to source for specific products and services.
The company you signed up with probably has training programs and resources to help you start your business. However, to get a head start on your training and set yourself up for success, implement these tips.
What makes you different? With thousands of consultants nationwide selling the same products or services, differentiation is essential. Create a list of reasons you’re unique in the market.
Ask yourself these questions:
Remember the answers to these questions as you craft your sales and marketing messages and build social engagement with your audience.
Small business blogs can boost engagement and add value for direct sales customers. If you haven’t done so already, start a blog that complements your direct sales business and link it to your website. Check your consultant agreement’s terms and conditions for rules about doing this. For example, many companies don’t allow you to use their name in your domain. Choose a business domain name that relates to the product but doesn’t violate your contract.
To be effective, the blog must stand on its own as a valuable supplementary marketing tool. Write high-quality posts that include tips and tricks to enhance the customer experience. Adding value for your customers is a way to generate even more sales. [Read related article: How to Gain Blog Subscribers]
For example, if you’re a direct sales consultant for an organic makeup company, your blog topics could include “How to Create a Smoky Eye,” “The Benefits of All-Natural Makeup” and “How to Choose the Right Color Palettes for Your Face.”
Your blog should demonstrate that you understand what your customers want and establish yourself as the solution.
One of the first lessons you’ll learn as a direct sales consultant is to use social media marketing to promote your business. Consider the following platforms:
Your social media presence requires content, and your customers and followers can help with meaningful contributions. Effective user-generated content (UGC) includes photos, videos and customer stories about your products and services. When people see typical users enjoying and benefiting from a product or service, it gives them the validation and confidence they need to purchase that product or service.
UGC is a popular and effective content strategy with impressive performance statistics:
Many customers, especially Gen Zers, are willing to create content to support the brands they are loyal to. Consider running campaign-specific hashtags to promote your direct sales business, and encourage participation by offering a prize for the best contribution.
Thanks to tools like Canva, you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to look like one. Your direct sales company will likely supply approved marketing graphics for you, but you can personalize your sales approach by creating your own eye-catching marketing materials. There may be rules about making your own graphics, so pay close attention to your consultant agreement.
Compelling graphics will complement your blog posts and website content, and Canva makes it easy to create them. With a variety of free image elements and a simple web-based tool, you can make a professional-quality graphic in minutes.
Content marketing is crucial to direct sales businesses because many parent companies don’t allow paid search advertising. With this strategy, you provide customers with information without asking them to spend money.
Your content marketing strategy should include posting compelling content on your social media accounts, website or blog. For a content marketing strategy to work, it’s crucial to improve your social media presence with the right tools, content and engagement levels. Your goal is to entice loyal customers to share your content and help create a word-of-mouth marketing campaign.
When you’re developing your content marketing strategy, don’t make everything you write or share about the sale. Though there’s no golden rule, experts recommend following the 5:3:2 rule for social media. For every 10 posts, consider this category distribution:
Consider using third-party tools to make things easier. Here are two examples:
It’s challenging to persuade consumers to switch from a trusted brand. However, offering free samples is an effective way to get them to try your product. Here are some strategies for giving out free samples:
While building a substantial social media following is crucial for a direct sales business, email marketing campaigns provide a more direct way to reach customers and prospects.
The best email marketing services, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, make it easy and affordable to build an email marketing list and share updates, send newsletters, promote new content, and send special offers to keep your followers engaged. You can collect email addresses through your website, social media and in-person events.
At any given time, hundreds of companies are competing for your customers’ disposable income. You can boost revenue by giving your clients and prospects a reason to buy from you now.
Create a sense of urgency by using limited-time offers, flash sales or exclusive deals, and highlight scarcity with taglines such as “only a few left in stock,” which can induce the fear of missing out.
Consider working with other local businesses with complementary — but not competing — products or services and similar target audiences.
Here are some examples:
You and your partner business can promote your collaboration in several ways, including shared social media campaigns, cohosted events, bundled offers and joint loyalty programs.
Before you work with a partner, ensure that there’s a natural fit in your target audience’s minds and that the partner’s product quality and after-sales support are excellent.
“Buy X, get Y free” promotions can increase sales and move inventory. These offers boost revenue and encourage customers to experiment with different products. A client may order the X product in addition to their usual Y product to enjoy an excellent value and try something new that may become a new favorite.
For example, if you sell hair care products, offer a free conditioner with the purchase of a shampoo. Similarly, if you sell coffee, offer a free bag of specialty beans when a customer buys an espresso machine.
As a bonus, these promotions give you a reason to get in touch with customers outside your normal contact cycle. Monitor the performance of these campaigns over time to determine which product pairings work best.
People want to feel that the companies they patronize care about them and their needs. For example, you can start building customer loyalty immediately after someone purchases by sending personalized thank-you emails and asking for product feedback.
However, you’ll have a chance to shine when customers have questions or concerns. Make yourself as available as possible to gather customer feedback and respond to inquiries and complaints. According to Hiver, U.S. consumers like to contact customer support teams by email, live chat and phone, so offer all three if you can and prioritize quick response times.
Positive customer reviews on sites like Google, Facebook and Trustpilot are another form of UGC that can be essential to boosting your business’s reputation and promoting your direct sales business. Encouraging and responding to reviews can significantly improve your bottom line. According to Brightlocal, 75 percent of consumers consult reviews before purchasing, and 89 percent are more likely to buy from local businesses that proactively respond to online reviews.
Gathering and responding to reviews are great for small business SEO, particularly for businesses that operate within a specific geographic area. Reviews also improve your chance of finishing in Google’s “Local Pack” — the three companies listed with a map when potential customers search for a term that’s relevant to your business.
To understand how well your direct sales business is doing, you must set and track key performance indicators and targets and measure your performance against them.
Define specific goals that target monthly improvements. For example, strive to increase monthly sales by a specific percentage, grow your customer base, or improve your social media engagement. Success is never linear, and there will be times when you don’t reach your goals. However, setting targets is crucial for growth and development.
Sometimes, consumers put up a wall if you mention direct sales because of past experience with pushy consultants. It’s important to avoid these industry pitfalls:
Lucinda Watrous contributed to this article.