Dear Archive Visitor, About this time of year most direct sales consultants decide that prospects are too busy to be bothered by sales people. Consequently, they give up trying to connect with their prospects and customers and set their sights on contacting them in the New Year. If most of your prospects are on vacation, it's not a bad decision to take a vacation yourself. However, before you shut down your office for the holiday season, I highly encourage you to take the advice in this week's article, which can greatly assist you in building a solid foundation from which to launch your business in 2008. And speaking of vacation.. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, So I won't be here. When my insights don't show up next week, Don't lose any sleep! You won't see another edition until next year!

How to Increase Customer Loyalty By Tammy Stanley This week I received a holiday card from a direct sales consultant because IÕm one of her customers. The day it arrived in the mail it was the first thing that I opened. On the outside of the card it said, ÒYou are the greatest gift of all!Ó On the inside of the card, she went into detail about the things for which she is grateful, how excited she gets whenever I place an order, and how much she appreciates my loyalty. It was really much better than how IÕm describing it, but a major point is that itÕs still sitting on my desk. The interesting thing is that IÕm not even one of her best customers. I buy a little something every once in a while. Yet she took the time and energy to send me a card with a really detailed and special message. About nine years ago, most Americans received seven personal letters out of every 100 that were delivered. Currently, Americans receive only one personal letter for every 350 delivered! Is it any wonder now that I opened the card she sent me before I opened any other mail that day? When it comes to selling your product or service, here is a list of possible delivery systems from the most effective to the least effective: 1. Face to face (Most effective) 2. Telephone (Considering how effective this delivery system is, now is the time to get my program to overcome sales call reluctance, if you aren't calling your prospects) 3. Direct Mail 4. Television, radio, sky-writing, etc. 5. Email It might be tough to go visit everyone of your prospects and/or customers in the next couple of weeks. It might even be too time consuming to call each of them. However, it is possible to put together a nice letter, or a fun and memorable letter, that you can send each of your prospects and customers. This is the one time of year that people probably get more than 1 personal card for every 350 pieces of mail they receive. But they still open up the personal mail first. Take this opportunity to build value with your customers and prospects. The internet has changed the way most of us communicate. We love email because it's so easy. All we have to do is write a message and click on the send button. We don't have to get in the car and drive anywhere to email someone. We don't have to look up a number, dial it, wait for someone to pick up, or deal with someone who won't let us get back to what we were doing in less than one minute. Email seduces us with its ease of delivering a message, and its gentle touch on the budget. In fact, email is so seductive that instead of getting 7 personal letters out of every 100 that arrive in your mailbox (NOT your mail INbox), you get only 1 out of 350. Hmm... Good ol' snail mail may be slow, but it just might be more effective for sales professionals today than ever before! If you want your prospects and customers to treasure your products or service, it behooves you to demonstrate that you treasure their business. Instead of completely closing shop this holiday season, take a few moments everyday to let a few prospects know how much you would enjoy doing business with them, and let a few customers know how much you appreciate their business. Get out your list and figure out how many people you need to send a card to each day, and then choose that less seductive delivery system and really stand out from the crowd in your prospects' and your customers' eyes. 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

One of the most common themes I hear when I speak with direct sales consultants is, "If I'd follow-up with my customers, my business would probably be fine." Those same people also tell me how much they love their business and want to make it a success. It sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? If you want your business to be a success, why not pick up the phone and follow-up with your customers? When I ask that very question, I hear various responses. Most of the responses don't really answer the question. Instead, they're more like this: I know I should. I don't know why I don't. There's really only one reason why you don't call your prospects and customers. You're focusing on previous or possible future failures. So instead of coming up with reasons why you want to call your prospects and customers, you're thinking of reasons why you can't. One of the easiest ways to get a loan is to have more than enough collateral to cover the cost of the loan. Guess what? One of the easiest ways to get yourself to pick up the 200lb telephone is to have more than enough reasons (collateral) to do so. When I have to make cold calls (Yes, you read that correctly, I don't always get the convenience of calling acquaintances and customers. When I want to generate new business, I'm cold calling [brrrr] CEOs of small and large corporations), I set a copy of my book out in plain sight to remind me that the only way I can have the business I desire is to "Carpe Phonum" - SEIZE THE PHONE!

Tammy Stanley, founded and directs The Sales Refinery, a sales training company that assists sales professionals 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