For those of us in a Direct Sales type business, a natural way to grow your income and business is through building a team. A lot of companies preach that this is the only way to make real money. That may be true, but only the people that are already successful in their business and are prepared will be successful at building a team.
Building a team is hard work. Yes, it may be joyful and fun, but it is work! You must work at it all of the time. Talking to people and being excited about your business is the best way to start, grow and maintain your team.
Some direct sales reps are successful at newspaper ads; some at planting seeds at parties; some at chatting with people, but any way that you handle the function of recruiting still means a maintenance of the team by continuing to recruit each day.
Talking and actually interviewing the prospect is a wonderful way to find out their goals and dreams. Why do they want to join this business? What sparked their desire to join today? Have they used the product before? How are they going to sell the product and to whom? What are they going to use the extra money for? By having this type of information, you can tailor their training and follow up to their personal situation.
Interviewing the prospect also helps you determine if you are going to be a good fit for that person and they for you. Not everyone works well together and its OK to pass on someone that you think will not work well with you or does not want to put in the effort to succeed. If you are spending hours training and mentoring, you want to make sure they will be there to grow and achieve.
People come and go and that is a natural occurrence. Some find the business not to their liking. Some people’s expectations are large and they may not make money right away. Some just get tired and leave. Whatever the reason, it happens.
But as you add to your team, they will need your continued support and training. You must continually build your team with people and then build your team with knowledge.
Train your team to be just like you. Show them how to duplicate yourself. Are you great in sales? Share all of your tips with them. Are you awesome at growing your team? Show them what you do. Teach them what makes You successful and they too will become that way. Make yourself duplicatable and they too will show their team the same. Now you are growing!
The more you build your team with knowledge, the more you build your team’s morale and keep the excitement in place. If we could all stay as excited as we were when we first joined our company, think how awesome your team would be today. So spark their interest and get them excited again about the business. Use their goals and dreams!! Remind them of why they got into this business. Be excited when you talk to them. Let them know that you Love your job!
Never forget that people are in the business for a multitude of reasons. Some only want personal sales. Some want part time work to pay a few bills and very few are full timers. Watch how you spend your valuable time. 80% of your time should be spent on the top 20% of your producers. Don’t neglect any one, but realize that you want your time best spent where you are going to get a return. If someone is only in the business for personal sales, don’t spend days with them showing them how to recruit. The chances of that are slim. Instead, show them how to grow their customer base and save the other stuff for those that want the information on recruiting. Spend your time wisely.
Keep tabs on all of your reps, because things do change and some day they will be asking for your help with a different portion of the job. Use the information you gathered when you interviewed them to identify their goals and inspire them. As they grow their business, you too will be successful and efficient in your own business and your business will have come full circle.
You inspire them and they in turn will inspire you!
Copyright Chris Carroll All Rights Reserved
Chris Carroll is a sales professional that has made direct sales her business of choice and enjoys sharing with others. Blogger, article writer and ghostwriter round out her profession. Find her at http://www.DirectSalesTalk.com and http://www.TwoClassyChics.com
Article Source: Building Your Team and Team Building