Direct Sales Incentives

In the business of direct sales when you're out of bookings, you're out of business. How much money you make, what company incentives you earn, the recruits you have, all depend upon having bookings. Even your future bookings depend upon your current bookings. Everything in direct sales depends upon bookings.

There are as many reasons to book a presentation as there are hostesses. Some book to get free and reduced products. Some book to invite people in and show off their home. Some book to find out more about the company because they are thinking about recruiting. When women were surveyed as to why they book a home-party presentation the top two reasons were to learn more about the products and to have fun.

Most consultants attempt to get bookings by presenting, in detail, their hostess program. When you realize most people book a presentation to learn and have fun it becomes a paradigm shift in how you do your presentation and how you look at getting bookings. With this vital information your emphasis will shift from what they get to what they learn, from hostess plan to having fun. This doesn't mean you don't mention your hostess plan. It does mean that you don't have to go into detail about your hostess plan.

To activate the paradigm shift, review your products and consider how else, besides the obvious, can they be used? What are unique uses of your products? What tips can you give your audience? How can guests use your products in combination with items they already have and how can you assist them in doing this? The more ideas you provide them for multiple uses of products the more sales you'll make and the more bookings you'll receive.

Having fun at your presentation can be as easy as not being concerned about being perfect. Relax and enjoy your hostess, guests, products, and yourself. Telling stories about mistakes you've made while learning your products will get them laughing. Tell bloopers and stories you've heard from other consultants. Having fun at your presentation doesn't mean being a stand-up comic, but it does mean adding humor.

People learn best when they are laughing. By leaving them laughing, learning, and wanting more, your date book will be filled to the level you've been yearning for.

Rebates and incentives are two of the most common methods used to increase your company’s sales. Unlike other advertising strategies, rebates and incentives speak for themselves. Thus, as long as they’re done properly, rebates and incentives are one of the most cost-efficient marketing solutions you can use for your company.

How to Make Rebates Work for Your Company
Rebates may either be offered by the manufacturer or retailer but in either case, rebates usually offer products or services at a seemingly lower rate.

Tip #1 Calculate Carefully
Don’t just lower the price of your product and offer rebates without showing any serious thought about it. Carefully calculate just how much you can afford reducing the price without getting bankrupt.

Tip #2 Women Respond Better than Men to Rebates
If you really want to make the rebates you’re offering work, do your best to target female customers with your advertisements. Women are more patient than men when it comes to shopping. Secondly, women are more patient with keeping rebate coupons in their pockets until they finally find an opportunity to use them.

Tip #3 Keeping It Simple
Don’t give out rebates if you’re only intention is to deceive your customer into buying your product at its original price. If you’re offering rebates, but there’s a procedure to follow before you can claim the promised reward, make sure that the process is kept short and simple. Don’t ask them to photocopy their receipt in triplicate, sign tons of paperwork, and do other things to discourage them from claiming the rebate.

How to Make Incentives Work for Your Company
Incentives take various forms but all of them generally work by rewarding people for taking the desired action.

Tip #1 Reward Customer Loyalty
If your company has long-time customers – those who keep coming back to you no matter what’s dangled in front them by your competitors – do make sure that you reward them appropriately. You can identify who your loyal customers are by giving out loyalty cards. It’s important to give them preferential treatment because this kills two birds with one stones: it encourages new customers to act in the desired fashion to get similar V.I.P. treatment, and secondly, it rewards old customers and gives them reason to keep coming back.

Tip #2 Reward Customers Who Give You the Information You Want
One way of increasing sales is by building your knowledge of your target market, and there are various ways to achieve that such as giving away survey forms or encouraging customers to join your opt-in list. To ensure that they’ll continue giving you precious data about your customer base, reward the people who have kindly taken the time and effort to give you what you need.

Tip #3 Bumps and Burdens are Always Welcome

Customers always like it when they receive something for free. When you’re using direct mail marketing, prospective customers are more likely to open and read your letter if you enclose something with it. The bigger or more noticeable the bump, the heavier the package, the better!

The most important thing to remember is to be ethical when dealing your customers. Just as long as you have no intentions to cheat or deceive when using rebates and incentives, they’re sure to work in the long run and ultimately cause your sales to increase.

If you're already in direct sales, you know that it's not always easy to keep the priorities straight. Particularly when your business is just starting, but also when you get things going at a good clip in your business, direct sales can take on a life of its own and quickly cross the boundaries of happy home life. Here are 10 quick tips for helping to keep the Mom part of your life at the forefront while still running a successful Direct Sales business.

1. Plan - Sit down with your calendar and write out everything non-direct sales business related first. Decide which of those things are non-negotiable no matter how many people want to do parties on that day. And then keep them non-negotiable! Write in kids events, date nights with hubby, vacations, birthdays and birthday parties and plain old "just because" family time.

2. Power Hour - One of my favorite speakers in the direct sales field is Belinda Ellsworth. Her power hour is a tremendous way to manage your business life. It's simple too! Here's the quick rundown: Take 4 manila folders. Mark 1 as recruiting, 1 as booking, 1 as customer service and 1 as downline management. Decide on an hour in your day when you are going to work the phones for your business. Take your folders, set a timer and work each folder for 15 minutes only. When the 15 minutes is up, move to the next folder. As you interact with customers, recruits and downline put the information in these folders until the next time you sit down for your power hour. You will be amazed at how much work you can really accomplish when you are focused for that hour of time.

3. Office door - Use it! After you are done with your power hour or email time or whatever, walk out of the room and CLOSE the door! Or if you're working with the laptop (see below) turn it off and close the laptop.

4. Get a laptop. A laptop with wireless Internet is a great tool for moms. You can get them pretty inexpensively now too. While the kids are doing their homework, pop open the laptop, sit WITH them and do your emails then. When they're done with the homework, close the laptop and be done with your work as well.

5. Freedom Friday - Decide on one day in each week where you will be "off". This can be Friday or any day, but decide on it and then actually do it. Commit to it with your kids, put it on your calendar and enjoy it. You'll love it and the emails can wait! Once your customers and downline understand that this is your day off, they will respect it.

6. Use the "open date card "concept. Determine which days of the weeks you'll be doing parties and write those down on a separate booking calendar or individual party date cards. When you are at your parties and getting future bookings only book parties on the dates that you set in advance on that calendar or on the cards. If someone needs a different date than you have available, find her another consultant (preferable in your downline!) to take the party.

7. Automate - Use the tools of the Internet to automate as much of your business as you can. Use an auto-responder for your recruit email packets and your downline training. Have a voicemail message available with a 10-minute presentation on your business that potential recruits can call before they call you with questions. Do conference calls with your downline so that you can address issues with the whole group rather than one on one with each of them, etc.

8. Involve your kids - Make your direct sales business a family affair. Employ your children to help with putting labels on catalogs, filing your paperwork, packing up your supplies for your parties, making the bank deposits, etc. As they get older their work responsibilities can increase too. You can even pay them tax-free and write it off as a legitimate business expense. Talk to your accountant about this great home business benefit.

9. Hire a maid. If your business is really on a roll and you need to spend more time on business, don't take that time away from your family, take it away from other parts of your life, like the housecleaning instead. Hire a maid to do the big housecleaning jobs and use the time you'd normally be doing that to hang with the kids. It'll be worth every penny.

10. Have fun - remember that your kids are only young once. They need you to be mommy FIRST and businesswoman second, even if your family does need the extra money your Direct Sales business brings in. Work smarter, not harder and enjoy your kids while you can.

Your company’s sales team is arguably the most exposed and hardworking group in your workforce, and that’s just one reason why they need to be given the RIGHT incentives REGULARLY. And so yes, not just any incentive will do. What works for one company may not work for yours so it’s important that you take the time to know your sales team well and determine as well just what you’re capable of giving them.

Factors to Consider When Determining What Sales Incentives to Give

AGE – People’s likes and dislikes as well as their goals tend to differ as they age, and thus, it’s important to give sales incentives that will suit your sales team’s age range. If, however, they’re composed of different generations, then you need to choose something that will be ubiquitously desirable.

GENDER – Gender-specific sales incentives are tricky because you could be sued for discrimination, but they’re arguably more effective as well since you’re giving your sales team – man or woman – what they really desire. One way of solving the discrimination problem is by giving them the option to choose.

BUDGET – Naturally, giving away sales incentives shouldn’t bankrupt you. Evaluate your finances then determine just how much you’re able to spend. Having a budget will also challenge your mind and imagination to think out of the box and be resourceful.

Tips on How to Create Effective Programs for Sales Incentives

Sales Incentives Have Two Faces – And they’re called cash and non-cash incentives. It’s important that you offer both. Like it or not, people are generally easier to motivate if you’re offering both money and recognition in exchange of showing better job performance.

Motivation Comes from Within – Before creating any sales incentive program, you must also understand that no matter how hard you work on setting goals and determining prizes for employees, there won’t be any changes made if the employees themselves aren’t ready, willing, and able to change. Thus, be ready to be confronted once in a while with a few bad apples here and there. And when you do, don’t blame yourself: it’s those people – and not your program – that’s at fault.

Separate Sales Incentives for Short-Term and Long-Term Goals – You must prepare separate and appropriate sales incentives for your short-term and long-term goals. Cash and similar monetary incentives work better for short-term goals because they work like confectionaries by providing employees with a temporary boost of physical and mental energy. Stimulants for intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, will definitely work better for long-term goals because it gives your employees a reason to continue working the way you want them to.

3 S’s for Sales Incentives – When creating a sales incentive program, always make sure that it adheres to the 3 S’s rule: short, sweet, and simple. Anything complicated can discourage your sales workforce from bothering to change. And if you offer something sour instead of sweet, who’d want to work for it?

Take Advantage of Your Affiliations – If you only rely on your own resources to provide for sales incentives for your workforce, your options may be greatly limited. Thus, consider taking advantage of your affiliations. Negotiate with them for mutually beneficial contracts. Exchange favors.

Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate – And lastly, don’t stop monitoring the results of your sales incentive program. If you notice something that seems to have lost effectiveness, determine its causes then modify, eliminate, or replace it with something better.

Rebates and incentives are two of the most common methods used to increase your company’s sales. Unlike other advertising strategies, rebates and incentives speak for themselves. Thus, as long as they’re done properly, rebates and incentives are one of the most cost-efficient marketing solutions you can use for your company.

How to Make Rebates Work for Your Company
Rebates may either be offered by the manufacturer or retailer but in either case, rebates usually offer products or services at a seemingly lower rate.

Tip #1 Calculate Carefully
Don’t just lower the price of your product and offer rebates without showing any serious thought about it. Carefully calculate just how much you can afford reducing the price without getting bankrupt.

Tip #2 Women Respond Better than Men to Rebates
If you really want to make the rebates you’re offering work, do your best to target female customers with your advertisements. Women are more patient than men when it comes to shopping. Secondly, women are more patient with keeping rebate coupons in their pockets until they finally find an opportunity to use them.

Tip #3 Keeping It Simple
Don’t give out rebates if you’re only intention is to deceive your customer into buying your product at its original price. If you’re offering rebates, but there’s a procedure to follow before you can claim the promised reward, make sure that the process is kept short and simple. Don’t ask them to photocopy their receipt in triplicate, sign tons of paperwork, and do other things to discourage them from claiming the rebate.

How to Make Incentives Work for Your Company
Incentives take various forms but all of them generally work by rewarding people for taking the desired action.

Tip #1 Reward Customer Loyalty
If your company has long-time customers – those who keep coming back to you no matter what’s dangled in front them by your competitors – do make sure that you reward them appropriately. You can identify who your loyal customers are by giving out loyalty cards. It’s important to give them preferential treatment because this kills two birds with one stones: it encourages new customers to act in the desired fashion to get similar V.I.P. treatment, and secondly, it rewards old customers and gives them reason to keep coming back.

Tip #2 Reward Customers Who Give You the Information You Want
One way of increasing sales is by building your knowledge of your target market, and there are various ways to achieve that such as giving away survey forms or encouraging customers to join your opt-in list. To ensure that they’ll continue giving you precious data about your customer base, reward the people who have kindly taken the time and effort to give you what you need.

Tip #3 Bumps and Burdens are Always Welcome

Customers always like it when they receive something for free. When you’re using direct mail marketing, prospective customers are more likely to open and read your letter if you enclose something with it. The bigger or more noticeable the bump, the heavier the package, the better!

The most important thing to remember is to be ethical when dealing your customers. Just as long as you have no intentions to cheat or deceive when using rebates and incentives, they’re sure to work in the long run and ultimately cause your sales to increase.

In the business of direct sales when you're out of bookings, you're out of business. How much money you make, what company incentives you earn, the recruits you have, all depend upon having bookings. Even your future bookings depend upon your current bookings. Everything in direct sales depends upon bookings.

There are as many reasons to book a presentation as there are hostesses. Some book to get free and reduced products. Some book to invite people in and show off their home. Some book to find out more about the company because they are thinking about recruiting. When women were surveyed as to why they book a home-party presentation the top two reasons were to learn more about the products and to have fun.

Most consultants attempt to get bookings by presenting, in detail, their hostess program. When you realize most people book a presentation to learn and have fun it becomes a paradigm shift in how you do your presentation and how you look at getting bookings. With this vital information your emphasis will shift from what they get to what they learn, from hostess plan to having fun. This doesn't mean you don't mention your hostess plan. It does mean that you don't have to go into detail about your hostess plan.

To activate the paradigm shift, review your products and consider how else, besides the obvious, can they be used? What are unique uses of your products? What tips can you give your audience? How can guests use your products in combination with items they already have and how can you assist them in doing this? The more ideas you provide them for multiple uses of products the more sales you'll make and the more bookings you'll receive.

Having fun at your presentation can be as easy as not being concerned about being perfect. Relax and enjoy your hostess, guests, products, and yourself. Telling stories about mistakes you've made while learning your products will get them laughing. Tell bloopers and stories you've heard from other consultants. Having fun at your presentation doesn't mean being a stand-up comic, but it does mean adding humor.

People learn best when they are laughing. By leaving them laughing, learning, and wanting more, your date book will be filled to the level you've been yearning for.

Rebates and incentives are two of the most common methods used to increase your company's sales. Unlike other advertising strategies, rebates and incentives speak for themselves. Thus, as long as they're done properly, rebates and incentives are one of the most cost-efficient marketing solutions you can use for your company.

How to Make Rebates Work for Your Company
Rebates may either be offered by the manufacturer or retailer but in either case, rebates usually offer products or services at a seemingly lower rate.

Tip #1 Calculate Carefully
Don't just lower the price of your product and offer rebates without showing any serious thought about it. Carefully calculate just how much you can afford reducing the price without getting bankrupt.

Tip #2 Women Respond Better than Men to Rebates
If you really want to make the rebates you're offering work, do your best to target female customers with your advertisements. Women are more patient than men when it comes to shopping. Secondly, women are more patient with keeping rebate coupons in their pockets until they finally find an opportunity to use them.

Tip #3 Keeping It Simple
Don't give out rebates if you're only intention is to deceive your customer into buying your product at its original price. If you're offering rebates, but there's a procedure to follow before you can claim the promised reward, make sure that the process is kept short and simple. Don't ask them to photocopy their receipt in triplicate, sign tons of paperwork, and do other things to discourage them from claiming the rebate.

How to Make Incentives Work for Your Company
Incentives take various forms but all of them generally work by rewarding people for taking the desired action.

Tip #1 Reward Customer Loyalty
If your company has long-time customers - those who keep coming back to you no matter what's dangled in front them by your competitors - do make sure that you reward them appropriately. You can identify who your loyal customers are by giving out loyalty cards. It's important to give them preferential treatment because this kills two birds with one stones: it encourages new customers to act in the desired fashion to get similar V.I.P. treatment, and secondly, it rewards old customers and gives them reason to keep coming back.

Tip #2 Reward Customers Who Give You the Information You Want
One way of increasing sales is by building your knowledge of your target market, and there are various ways to achieve that such as giving away survey forms or encouraging customers to join your opt-in list. To ensure that they'll continue giving you precious data about your customer base, reward the people who have kindly taken the time and effort to give you what you need.

Tip #3 Bumps and Burdens are Always Welcome

Customers always like it when they receive something for free. When you're using direct mail marketing, prospective customers are more likely to open and read your letter if you enclose something with it. The bigger or more noticeable the bump, the heavier the package, the better!

The most important thing to remember is to be ethical when dealing your customers. Just as long as you have no intentions to cheat or deceive when using rebates and incentives, they're sure to work in the long run and ultimately cause your sales to increase.