— November 25, 2017
Tiffany Noel Taylor is among the top 1% of all Mary Kay earners. Every day, she is working her way through her contacts, making sure each one them feels as fabulous as she can. More than just selling makeup, Tiffany is a master at making sure everyone she comes into contact with leaves inspired and ready to go after their goals.
Beth Holden Graves is crushing it with her LeVel business. She is constantly meeting new people, and she is dedicated to helping them feel better and have more energy every day so they can live their best lives. And based on her consistent 5-figure monthly earnings, she’s doing a solid job of it.
So what is it that these top earning direct sellers have that others don’t?
Systems that set them up for success.
Direct sales is all about relationships – and relationships take time to manage well. But it’s more than just time. You’re still in business, after all. To have the kind of direct sales business that achieves the heights of success Tiffany and Beth have, you need to have the kind of high-touch service your customers expect to receive as a result of interacting with you.
That’s exactly why you need to be using CRM software.
CRM stands for customer relationship management, and it’s the secret sauce that helps sales professionals manage more contacts at a time, allowing them to maximize the potential of their pipeline.
We’ve already written about why small businesses need CRM, how to leverage CRM, and how a CRM dashboard can help you stay on top of sales, but if you’ve never used one, it can be intimidating.
SalesForce is the leading CRM tool, and to say it has a learning curve would be an understatement. In addition to learning how to use the software, you have to train yourself to log your client interactions, handle your followup, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks to make sure your data is correct.
At Prialto, this is precisely what our virtual sales assistants do. You’re busy, and your priority is getting in front of more people. Your assistant’s job is to maximize that time and amplify every interaction you have with your people.
This is the life changing magic a VA can perform for you.
Just imagine it.
You meet someone in a Starbucks line, and you start a conversation about how great her outfit looks. She compliments your makeup, and you get her contact information to get her a coupon for the eyeshadow she said loved.
Makeup not your thing? Maybe you’re more of a fitness buff.
You notice your waiter looks a little tired, but he’s still trying to make sure you have a great experience. When you take the time to tell him so, he tells you thank you and says he’s felt really low energy for a while now. You get his information to send him a sample of the supplements you’ve been taking.
Normally, you’d probably followup with what you mentioned, possibly pursue it for a week or two, and then if they aren’t really motivated, you forget about them.
That’s not how top performers work, though.
A top performer never forgets.
A top performer takes this new lead’s information and adds it to their CRM. From there, their VA begins to move them through an already mapped out pipeline while customizing their communications to reflect the growing relationship between you and your now customer. Every call, every email, every Facebook message is logged in your CRM so you are always up to date with each and every one of your contacts.
A top performer makes sure they are sending out birthday cards and a little something special, because they know how hard someone has been working lately. They mark the milestones, notice the details, and make sure their people know they are there for them.
A top performer does what works, and what works is making people feel like they matter.
Interested in learning how a virtual sales assistant can help you build your business? Take our needs assessment today and discover what a VA can do for you.
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