Saturday, February 6, 2016

Why the Direct Sales Model Is Not Working For You

This blog post inspired by an article in the latest Success Magazine entitled "Better Together". The actual article, while good, had nothing to do with what I am about to write about here. However, the theme of teamwork got me to thinking about my own business and why the struggle to make it successful continues.

You see, I am a serial entrepreneur in the direct sales industry. I have been an independent consultant for many companies, beginning with Melaleuca and investing in others such as Genewise, Mary Kay, Nerium, WineShop At Home and finally viaONEHOPE. These are all great companies with amazing products. So, why did I continue to hop from one opportunity to another? And why is it that success still eluded me? It's because people in direct sales have to do the work of six people.

The motto for direct sales that attracted me was "Work FOR yourself, but not BY yourself." Hey, who wouldn't want a job that only you can fire yourself from? Job security! Flexible schedule! Scaleable income! Choose the people you want to work with! Sounds really good, right?

What would it be like if you and a team of talented people could work on a direct sales business together? What if you could join a team and leverage the skills that you were gifted with and were able to contribute to a larger cause, all while making scaleable income and still have a flexible schedule? Here's what the revised direct sales model would look like:

  1. One person maintains social media and marketing efforts
  2. One person goes to networking events to collect leads and develop relationships
  3. One person follows up with leads and sets up appointments/parties
  4. One person conducts recruiting appointments and team meetings
  5. One person organizes and executes home parties
  6. One person enters all the orders and follows up with customers

Can it be done? Six people to run one direct sales business - I wonder how successful this team would be.


1 comment:

  1. I would love being part of such a team if it supports my lifestyle!

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