New Year’s Resolutions to Boost Your Direct Sales Business

Can you believe that the festive period is almost upon us already? It seems just a few weeks since we were sitting down planning for 2017 and looking at ways we could grow our businesses in the coming months. Now, we’re suddenly looking at what we can do to make sure our direct sales businesses do well over Christmas, a season where sales can skyrocket, and looking to the future.

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This is a great time to have a detailed look at how well you’ve done with your 2017 targets if you made them. What’s gone well? Which targets have you hit? Which have you still got the chance to meet if you focus your efforts and which do you need to take another look at next year?

If something hasn’t gone well, don’t worry. Sometimes at the start of a year, it’s tough to have realistic expectations and one reason that many new year’s resolutions fail, both in business and life, is that the goals simply aren’t attainable, or, they don’t have in-depth plans to back them up. Many of us on January 1st announce that we’re going to lose weight, or save money and leave it at that. Then a few months into the year, we’ve failed or forgotten, because we had absolutely no plan to achieve our goal.

So, looking now, you should be able to see what, if anything, has gone wrong. In some cases, changes in the market or your business mean this is no longer a required goal anyway, so forget about it. It’s not a failure; it just doesn’t matter. But, in other cases, you may want to take that goal forward into 2018. Then, looking at what went well, you may find there is still room to improve or build upon your success, in which case, add it to 2018’s list of targets.

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The key to success with your New Year’s resolutions is planning. So, let’s take a good look at things that you can do in 2018 to boost your direct sales business.

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Improve Your Security

Online security has become a big talking point over the last year, with even vast organizations becoming the victims of cybercrime. This means regular people are thinking twice about handing over sensitive information online. Most direct sales businesses today rely on online sales, through social media, websites and blogs to be successful. So, you need to make sure that your systems are 100% secure. Use identity verification services and plugins to keep your website safe and keep hackers out. Make sure you’ve also got an SSL certificate and that your passwords are well protected.

Become a Brand

Most direct sales businesses start with people selling to their family and friends either in real life or on social media. But, to be truly successful, you need to do more than this. People trust brands. They look to them for quality products as well as advice and assurance. So, create a brand to boost your sales.

This can be easily done by creating a simple logo online, finding a color scheme that suits you and then setting up accounts and profiles for your business. This allows you to reach a much wider audience and stop annoying the people you know.

Focus on Customer Service

Direct sales businesses are all about customer service. It’s all about you, and how well you can sell a product. Many direct sellers go wrong by being pushy and sometimes aggressive. To do well, you need to develop your customer service skills. Be friendly and approachable. Chat with potential customers, be personal and try to remember as much about them as you can. Write notes to help you. Then, use this information for future conversations. Building trusting and loyal relationships with your customers will mean they spend more money and recommend you to their friends.

Give More Back

Selling online gives you the opportunity to give back to your client base, instead of just asking them to buy all of the time. Use your blog and social media accounts to help them. Film informative “how to” videos, and write posts showing them how to use the products that you are selling. Offer advice, give tips and entertainingly highlight key features.

This content will help to build your relationship with current customers, but it will also mean that you attract new customers via search engines and social media advertising.

The difference between people that make a little extra income with direct sales and those that earn a full-time income is whether or not they treat it as a business. If you want to do well, you need to change your mindset and start pushing for success. These 2018 resolutions should help.