For every entrepreneur, having an effective sales marketing plan is essential
. Without a plan, you will not be able to reap maximum profits from your direct sales business. Even though you will be signing up with a company to sell their products, you cannot expect the products to sell by themselves. The company will also not make a marketing strategy for you. It is your own business so you are responsible for making it work.
Where Do I Start?
The most important and basic thing you should start with in your sales plan is a good advertising strategy. You could start your direct sales business by selling to friends and family at first but your business can not sustain on them alone. You will have to reach out to strangers who will be interested in buying your products. You could advertise in a few simple ways.
You could print several flyers and have them posted in your neighborhood. Take permission before doing so! You could possible hire the help of your kids and their friends to hand deliver them for you as well.
Some companies provide you with brochures highlighting the products you are going to sell. You can give those to prospective customers. You could make the brochures at home on your computer, provided the company allows it.
If you are willing to spend a little more money then you can have promotional products such as t-shirts and pens with your direct sales business information on them.
Some companies have their websites on which you can advertise your business. This may not always be the case so you should check with the company before signing up with them. This would help you reach hundreds of customers in your area as you will provide your contact details.
Another way to publicize your business is by placing ads in the Yellow Pages. People who are interested in buying your products will contact you directly. You will of course have to make sure this is allowed by your company.
With advertising, you can reach out to a large number of people who may be interested in your products. Another aspect of a good plan is to identify a niche group of customers. You should be able to target people who want your product. If you are selling toys or books, your niche group will be young parents. If you are selling skin care products then your target group becomes bigger and can range from teenagers to grandmothers. The wider your customer range, the more products you can hope to sell.
To sum it all up, you need to make a good direct sales marketing plan if you want to run a successful and profitable direct sales business.