“To
understand another, you must first walk in his
shoes.”
Imagine that you are someone else, looking for something
new in your life.
It could be a part-time income opportunity, or perhaps
to replace or exceed the income from your job. It
could be the chance to belong to an organization
that champions a cause that you can believe in. Or
it could be the opportunity to become a leader to
help others achieve their goals.
If you are in a transitional state of mind, you
might consider becoming a consultant with a direct
selling, party plan, or multilevel marketing company.
There are hundreds of these kinds of companies in
the United States. Which one would you join and how
would you make the decision?
If you are launching or growing one of these companies,
these are important questions to think about as you
build your business.
Image
First impressions leave lasting memories.
When I was seventeen years old, I worked for a company
that sold vending machines to people looking to start
their own businesses. While the company was young
and lean on staff, they portrayed an image of sophistication
with their gold leaf stationery, prestigious Beverly
Hills address, and full-page advertisements in the
Sunday Los Angeles Times. Prospective customers were
given the impression that this was a business run
by professionals. The company’s image was a
key factor in attracting customers.
Today, as we consult with companies of all sizes,
I have the opportunity to review the websites of
many companies. The level of sophistication in presentation
and the quality of the content varies widely. Companies
that place a high priority on their image tend to
grow faster and to attract more sophisticated consultants
and customers than those that don’t have this
focus.
Whether you have an unlimited budget to promote
your company or you are in bootstrap mode,
invest the time to create your image. Focus on both
content and presentation. Ask yourself, “If
I was a successful person, would I consider joining
this company?”
If you’re new to direct selling, consider
investing in the services of a consulting firm with
expertise in this area. The image you present of
your company is significant in your ability to attract
and to retain sales representatives.
Culture
Every company has a culture, direct selling companies
included. They have their customs and rules for acceptable
behavior.
Most direct selling companies have policies and
procedures that are typically presented in a distributor
kit. The same information may appear on the company’s
website.
As you prepare your collateral materials, work hard
to communicate clearly your views of the business
and your outlook on consultant performance. Ask yourself, “Would
I join a company with these rules?”
If the answer isn’t “absolutely yes”,
serious consider changing the rules so that you can
answer “yes.”
Some of the consultants interested in your business
opportunity will have worked previously for other
similar companies. They’ll come to your company
with a set of expectations that you may or may not
meet. If you’re too far off course, you may
push away some of these “experienced” people
who will go elsewhere to meet their needs.
If you’re new to direct selling and you want
your culture to not drift too far from those of other
companies, you may wish to consider obtaining guidance
from experts in reviewing or in writing your policies
and procedures.
Differentiation
It’s unusual to find a direct
selling company that is first to market with
its type of product
or service.
If you were to look over a list of active
direct selling companies, it would be easy to conclude
that many are selling nutritional products, skincare,
specialty foods or home décor items.
If you plan to sell any of these types of products,
does this mean there isn’t room for you? Of
course not.
What it does mean, however, is that you have an
additional task to add to your “to do list” for
your company and that task is product differentiation.
“Why should consumers buy your products instead
of the products of that other company?” This
is another one of those questions that you should
ask as you walk in the shoes of your customer. As
you form your business model and develop your collateral
materials, you’ll want to answer this question
early and often.
It may be difficult to find a unique selling proposition,
but it’s not impossible. Every product or service
can be described or packaged in a special way.
Conclusion
Image, culture and differentiation are three of
the important ingredients in building a successful
direct selling company. Spend the time to make sure
that these three are as strong as they can be.
___________ Jay Leisner is President of Sylvina Consulting,
a business and software consulting firm with more
than 16 years of experience working with over 100
direct selling, party plan and multilevel marketing
companies.
The firm provides a wide range of
services to both new companies and established
firms. Sylvina’s
business consulting services include business plan
review, budget planning ,strategic planning, development
of marketing strategies, compensation plan evaluation,
business evaluation, industry and software training
and management mentoring.
Their software consulting services include software
and vendor evaluation, preparation of Request for
Proposal (RFP) documents, business analysis, gap
analysis, software design, data and system migration,
and project management.
For more information on Sylvina Consulting, please
contact Jay at 503.244.8787 or visit www.sylvina.com.
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