Dear Archive Visitor, I want to express sincere gratitude to the select individuals who responded to my request and sent me a testimonial about The Sales Refinery Insights ezine or one of my products Ñ Emily Amparan from AZ, Denise Gallagher from AZ, Evelyn Herrington from CO, Sally McFarland from NY, Marijane Realth from CA, Shirley Westbury from VA, and Meredith Yost from CA. Each of you took the time to put the most powerful marketing tool in my hands Ñ testimonials! Thank you so much. Also,to those of you who took a few seconds to go to BestEzines.com and give my ezine a rating, thank you very much. Unfortunately there's no way for me to know who did that and thank you personally. It's not too late to vote. Click here! So far, most people are giving my ezine an "excellent" rating, but not 100 percent of them. It just goes to show that even when you give 100 percent to provide good training and charge absolutely nothing for it, you still have critics. As you build a business in direct sales you will experience the utter truth of that. Some of your team members will think you're "da BOMB," while others think you do nothing but bomb. The winning game plan? Remember good ol' Guiseppe Verdi from my feature article back in Volume 1, Issue 6? (You can find it here for a limited time!) I suggest following his example when it comes to your critics. Focus on your strengths and keep those feet moving.

Capture the Customer! By Tammy Stanley Ever play Capture the Flag? The objective is straightforward Ñ get the other team's flag when they're not completely guarding it. About 11 years ago another married couple and my husband and I all went with 10 kids on a camping trip. There are two things every one of us remember Ñ the rain (it was in Oregon after all) and Capture the Flag (kids against the adults). So, what if it was 4 adults against 10 kids? Was I concerned? Ha! The oldest kid there was only 13. It was going to be a piece of cake. You've probably already figured out that it wasn't "a piece of cake" after all. And here's something I HATE to admit Ñ we adults, we lost. REMATCH! We couldn't possibly lose twice in a row Ñ WRONG. We lost again. Grrrr! Seriously now, it just canÕt be that difficult... Just go get the other team's flag when they're not completely guarding it. That sounds similar to the mentality I often observe by watching or listening to direct sales consultants and my coaching clients, namely Ñ any noticed person is considered a prospect and the goal of a sales person is to capture an appointment or a sale when the prospect isn't completely guarded. Guess we could call that Capture the Customer. Or can we? Is that really the most effective way to capture a customer and GROW your business? This business is often called Network Marketing because the distributors use the power in their network, people they know, to market their products and services. The power in any network is the potential of referrals, or as it's commonly called, word-of-mouth advertising. So the real question to ask is, "How can you most effectively capture a customer who will be excited to continue buying and refer you to others?" Most direct sales entrepreneurs think they need to capture more customers. But it's not enough to capture a customer. If a customer purchases a product from you once, but never buys from you again, and never refers you to anyone, that customer will contribute little to growing your business. The goal is to capture loyal customers Ñ customers who continually buy from you and recommend you to others. Manipulating conversations to get people to buy your product might result in you capturing the appointment or sale, but the game will abruptly come to an end. I assure you, the most rewarding part of Capture the Flag is not the time the game ends, it's the time the game is going on. Likewise, the most rewarding part of capturing a customer isn't when they buy; it's when they continue to buy and when they refer you to others. Am I saying you shouldn't try to make strangers your friends? Nope. I'm saying don't make strangers your enemies! Last week one of my coaching clients confessed that every time she sees another woman in the store, she feels like she needs to have the confidence to go up to that person, start a conversation, and convert that person into an interested prospect. My question was, "Why?" Just because I can be found shopping at Whole Foods Market doesn't mean that I want the clerk in the nutritional isle coming up to me and artificially starting a conversation so he can tell me about a certain brand's nutritional products. Put yourself in your prospect's shoes! That's truly the best way to capture them, to keep them buying from you and referring you to others. Prospects don't care about your products, your business opportunity, or you, until you give them a reason to care. And that reason almost always concerns THEM, not you. Maybe you've heard the recent song that goes, "ItÕs all about ME, hey, hey, ah ha!" Prospects tune into the radio station that plays that song. If you want to turn strangers into prospects, tune into the radio station that plays the song they most like to hear. Listen very carefully to what your prospects are saying in order to learn what they desire, what they fear, and what they need. Only then will you be able to learn if you even have the solution to help them get what they desire, to overcome what they fear, or to fulfill what they need. Years ago a woman called my office wanting information about the product I sold. After I answered her questions, she sounded very enthusiastic and expressed that she wanted to place an order once she received a catalog. Then, through some twisted maneuvering, she was telling me about her acupuncture business. Suddenly without warning, I was asked if I'd be willing to trade some of my product for her service. Although I felt tricked and manipulated, I agreed that we could do that. Swift as a sword she pinpointed me for an appointment time. Take a wild guess what happened when I showed up for the appointment. Oh Geez, she didn't feel like trading her service for my product any longer, and she handed me a bill. I'm ashamed to admit that I paid that bill. I hadn't learned yet how to stand up for myself and tell people like her that manipulation of that sort was totally unacceptable behavior. Of course, I never did business with her again and I never referred her to a soul. In fact the one time someone asked me about her services, I shared the whole story and recommended doing business with anyone but her. KEY POINT: She lost my business long before I showed up for "her service" (I had to put that in quotes, since it was anything but). She ruined her chances of truly doing business with me once she manipulated me into using her for an acupuncture treatment. Prospects know the difference between manipulation and sincerity. They might feel cornered into giving you a sale (as I did that time), but they'll avoid you like the plague from that point on, and they'll make a point of telling others to do the same. That can't possibly be what you want. How do you effectively capture new prospects and have fun at the same time? Keep the game going by remembering your prospects favorite song Ñ It's all about ME, hey, hey, ah, ha. If you go after the flag, or in this case, the sale too quickly, you might get one sale, but that's often all you get. Truly capturing a customer means that you generate sale after sale and referral after referral. To learn how to capture loyal customers and speak so that your prospects listen, click here to order my CD set, Irresistible Vocal Marketing for the Direct Sales Entrepreneur. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Author, Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker Tammy Stanley publishes the propelling 'Sales Refinery Insights' weekly ezine for direct sales professionals. If you're ready to jump-start your direct sales business, make more money, and create more value, get your FREE tips now at www.tammystanley.com/ezine/ezine_offer_ds.htm

When my article, How to Move From Call Reluctance to Call Willingness was nominated on top10salesarticles.com, I was contacted by one of the panel experts, Jonathan Farrington. Once I became familiar with his name, I started seeing it everywhere in articles on the web. I've was so impressed with his articles that I wrote and told him so. Recently I discovered that he has a blog on leadership that he updates every couple of days. Some of the blogs are written by him and some are by guest authors. One of my recent favorites was about his son's first year at Cambridge, "A Fresher's Reflections." It's really an interesting read. Jonathan devotes a tremendous amount of time to making it easier for sales professionals to get the information they need and want. I'd greatly appreciate you visiting the following site and giving his Leadership blog a vote! Farrington's Leadership Blog

Tammy Stanley, founded and directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training company that assists direct sales consultants to generate more business and build long-lasting sales teams through powerful marketing, selling and leadership strategies.

Tammy has been coaching and training since 1994 and has a deep understanding of the challenges and needs of the independent sales consultant. While raising four children, Tammy built a multi-million dollar direct sales organization, reaching her company's Circle of Excellence 7 consecutive years in a row. She earned numerous sales and leadership awards, world travel, and promoted 11 offspring managers.

The Tammy Stanley Sales Refinery
Tempe, AZ 85283
Call Today: 480-775-4866
tammy@TammyStanley.com