There are very few of us who has a child were running around pretending to be salesmen. We may have pretended to be cops, robbers, doctors, cowboys, etc but not a sales person. Furthermore there were very few of us that sitting in a high school counselor’s office exclaiming that we wanted to become sales professionals. To make matters worse, many of us grew up with the perception that being in sales was somehow a bad thing, or that sales people could not be trusted.
The real truth of the matter is that many of the things you have today you would not have if not for a sales professional. While like any profession there are those in sales that act in less than a professional manner. Additionally, there are many skills that while meant for good can be turned to the dark-side and used to manipulate people into buying things that they don’t want, don’t need or simply cannot afford. These are the people that give true sales professionals a bad name.
While this is true of the sales professional we could name any number of professions that have suffered the same: network marketing (multi-level marketing), attorneys, and while the list could go on I prefer to not dwell on the negative. The truth of the matter is that if you have chosen to participate in the Network Marketing profession, you are now in sales. If that comes as some kind of shock to you, I am sorry, but please stick with me before throwing in the towel.
The overall concept of Network Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing, Direct Sales or whatever you may want to call it is a tremendously ingenious business model. Built on the concept of building a business based on relationships, word of mouth and can be carried out part-time to create significant long term wealth. To make things even better your success is dependent upon you and only you! Where else can you get a conventional job where you will make more money than your boss?
Often you will hear someone refer to MLM as a pyramid scheme and while there are a number of what I call pyramid scams around, legitimate MLM companies provide true wealth building potential, very impressive products/services and the infrastructure to support you in your business. However, the common thread throughout is that you are now engaged in a sales profession and as such you need to improve your sales skills.
While there is not nearly enough time for me to help you completely get your arms around the sales profession there are a few things that I would like to point out. First and foremost, selling is the highest paid profession that you can find anywhere. However, selling is also the lowest paid easy work you will ever find. And the food news is that the choice is totally up to you. What you achieve or do not achieve rests entirely with you.
Now I will concede that there are some exceptions to this, for example when companies go out of business or the business owners themselves are corrupt. The good news is that if you have been a professional in building your business, building the relationships required for success and maintain those connections, you will probably recover in record time. The problems really bite hard when you have missed some of these points, which brings us to the recommendations that I want to cover.
There are a vast number of sales techniques and I will cover more of these later, I want to focus on the act of relationship selling, which is what we are really all about. Being in the sales profession, one of the biggest challenges you will ever face is where to find more prospects. Even the worse sales person in the world can be successful if they have enough prospects in the sales funnel. Selling is purely a function of numbers. If you want more sales increase your closing rate or increase the number of prospects that you have in the sales funnel.
Personally, I am a huge fan of a soft sell because prospects are everywhere and many times where you least expect them. I always use my signature block as a way for people to find out more about me. In everything I do I try my best to add value to others by helping in some small way and in the hopes that those positive actions spark an interest my signature provides a way in which they learn more about me. If someone has a need and as a result of that need they think that I may be able to help them, there is a strong possibility that becomes a win-win situation.
Finding ways to build relationships with others by providing information, support or some form of help is one of the best ways to build a business in a very professional and ethical manner. I never want to sell something to someone that they do not need and especially if they don’t want it. Likewise, in the daily pursuit of building my Network Marketing businesses I never want to partner with someone who has NO desire to participate in sales. Regardless of what methods you use to get your prospects, start new business partners, etc, you will have to participate in a sales process and your MUST build relationships. For someone that is not a people person this can be a huge hurdle. If you are not a people person, chances are Network Marketing is not for you.
The truth of the matter is the Network Marketing (or whatever you call it) provides a very solid business model where professionals can build sustainable wealth. If you like that idea and you can get past the fact that you are now engaged in a Sales profession, I would be glad to help you achieve the success that I believe everyone deserves. To Your Success!!
Chase Your Passion: Personally, I enjoy working w/ Small Biz Owners & Independent Business Professionals to attract new clients. 
