If you answered yes to this question, then congratulations you also know one of the greatest secrets to creating lasting success in Direct Sales. Growing your business the “smart” way is very much like rowing a boat.

Let me explain. First, when rowing a boat, it is vital that you have both oars in the water and you are rowing them simultaneously. What happens if you have only one oar in the water? No matter how fast you row, you will simply spin around in circles. Here in lies the connection between rowing a boat and building your business. You simply must have the oars of both sales and sponsoring at work in your business before you can truly make any progress toward your destination or goal.

Secondly, when rowing, the speed of the boat is determined by the personal strength of the person doing the rowing. Just like the athlete who wants to move swiftly through the water, you must also develop the “mental muscle” by continuing to fine-tune your skills and putting what you learn into practice every day.

Lastly, isn’t it true that any boat ride, whether you are racing toward the finish line or meandering through a lovely lake is much more fun when you have others along for the ride? When you share your business opportunity with someone special, you extend an invitation to join you on a journey. As the time tested saying goes, “The more the merrier!”

Take a look at your business to see if you have been “rowing with both oars in the water.” If you are not making the progress you want, chances are you are not balancing your daily activity with both sales and sponsoring. So make the commitment, cast off the line, and row toward your goal with strong, consistent strokes. Before you know it – you will arrive at your destination!

First, manufacturers are able to save a tremendous amount of cash by alleviating the expense of health & retirement benefits that comes with hiring employees. For example, the median annual salary for a full-time sales representative employee in New York State is $60,000. In comparison, the average cost of an employee’s health and retirement benefits in New York State is an additional $15,000, roughly 25% of the employee’s actual salary. Even if your company has only one sales rep for each state within the U.S., it does not take long for these expenses to add up. When retaining the services of independent sales reps, manufacturers don’t pay for their health and retirement benefits.

Second, independent reps work on commission. And they are only paid a commission when they complete a sale. This eliminates the expenses incurred by employed sales personnel who may be underachieving as they’ve grown comfortable with their salary, but lost their motivation. Simply put, if independent sales representatives want to support themselves, they need to make sales – many sales. That is the best type of motivation sales reps have to perform or even, over achieve.

Third, recruiting independent reps costs you, the manufacturer, a fraction of what it costs to recruit and train your full-time employees. Many companies spend thousands of dollars advertising in local newspapers, on radio and expensive web sites such as Monster.com. Maybe you’re one of them. If you are, you probably discovered that these employment ads — buried among thousands of other job postings — are only seen in one specified city. Then, you are left with the time-consuming task of weeding through endless applicants that, many times, do not even meet your job requirements.

In contrast, there’s a Web site called http://www.manufacturers-representatives.com . It provides its manufacturer clients with one nationwide resource (that includes over 200 clearly defined industry categories) where they can list their sales opportunities. The Web site also goes a step further by pre-qualifying applicants for you. You select the minimum requirements for your sales opportunity. If an interested sales rep does not meet your minimum requirements, they are not able to submit their online profile (or resumé) to you.

Calculating the revenue produced with the existing sales department is simple. It’s a mathematical calculation. But, by drilling down in the key performance indicators for the sales department, you begin to get a better picture of the effectiveness of the sales department. For example, if the only performance indicator used for the sales department is the revenue for the company, the changes in revenue may have nothing to do with the sales department at all. It could be the effectiveness of the marketing campaign, or it could be the fact that the only other supplier of the product just went out of business. Perhaps the niche group that you’re selling the product to just became much larger, such as a product which targets people over the age of retirement.

The point here is that measuring the revenue is not a complete nor necessarily accurate measurement of the performance of the sales department.

However, if you were to measure the number of new leads developed by the sales department during as specific time period, or the ratio of leads to sales, then you begin to get a more accurate picture of how well the sales department is doing. Once you have developed measurement tools to help you define such statistics, then it is a fairly easy step to defining how effective the sales department is in doing the job of selling.

While isolating performance indicators so that you’re measuring performance in the person or department where the responsibility lies is critical, the company can’t lose sight of the fact that many elements may operate to make a successful overall business.

In setting key performance indicators to measure the company’s progress toward reaching its goal, it is the process which is as important as the results. Using concepts such as the Balanced Scorecard process especially the modified versions which have become popular in the last decade is an excellent tool to first define and agree on goals and objective, then to define the measurement tools which will be used to determine if the objective is being met.

In the above example, the marketing department may be responsible for increasing the visibility of the product by a marketing campaign, but it is up to the sales department to take those leads and convert them to sales. Neither department would be effective without the expertise of the other, but at the same time, each must be measured by the effectiveness of what they contribute to the mix.

A magazine used this strategy to double sales in 15 months flat. Here’s what they did:

They took a database of 2200 advertisers and sent promo-pieces to them each month. After learning this strategy, they did an analysis and found that 167 of those 2200 advertisers bought 95% of the advertising in their competitor’s magazine.

This concept is called "The Dream 100 Sell," a concept where you go after your "Dream" prospects with a vengeance. This magazine sent the 167 (best buyers) a letter every two weeks and called them four times per month.

Since these were the biggest buyers, the first four months of intensive marketing and selling brought no actual reward. In the fifth month, only ONE of these Dream clients bought advertising in the magazine.

In the sixth month, 28 of the 167 largest advertisers in the country came into the magazine all at once.

And since these are the biggest advertisers, they don’t take quarter pages and fractional ads, they take full pages and full color spreads. These 28 advertisers alone, were enough to double the sales over the previous year. The magazine went from number 15 in the industry to number one in just over a year.

Lesson learned: Market to your best buyers

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, who are my best buyers? If you sell to the business-to-consumer market, chances are, your best buyers live in the best neighborhoods.If you are a dentist, accountant, chiropractor, R.E. Broker, financial advisor, restaurant, or even a MLM professional you should consistently go after the folks who live in the best neighborhoods.

I firmly believe that, to improve our skills and the relationships we have with our prospects and clients, it’s just as important to know what not to do as it is to know what to do. In that spirit, I decided to recount and dissect these painful experiences, in the hope of sharing with you where these sales people went so wrong - and what they could’ve done instead!

One word of warning: while I’ve chosen not to use any names in order to protect the potentially innocent companies who may be employing these sales reps (and may not be aware of the "techniques" they are using), the stories you’re about to read are, unfortunately, all true. Viewer discretion is definitely advised…

#1: The case of the anonymous acquaintance

First, a couple of weeks ago, I received a magazine article in the mail that detailed the benefits to sales people of taking a public speaking course. On second look, I saw that the article was actually an advertorial, complete with a registration form for the course at the end.

Attached to the piece was a post-it with a handwritten note which read: “Colleen, I thought you would find this interesting.” It was signed with an illegible initial - maybe a J? Maybe an I? - I couldn’t be sure. I had no idea who had sent me this "highly informative article," but because of the handwritten note, I assumed I must know them. I looked at the envelope it had come in, and, sure enough, found no return address and an automated bulk mail stamp - sure signs of unsolicited mail.

I’d never heard of the company offering the seminar, nor anyone they were associated with. Clearly, they were trying to hide behind their anonymity because they knew, that I knew, that they did not know me.

Why is this crossing the line?

Because by trying to pretend that they know and have a relationship with me even though they don’t, they are lying. To me, an approach that is based on a lie is the worst kind of mistake - and the absolute worst first impression - that any sales professional can make.

This lie is being used in the hope that I’ll feel guilty enough about not remembering who they are that I will call the company to find out, at which point they can try to sell me on their seminar. Will I be in the mood to be sold anything once I figure out their game? Will I ever buy anything from this company, or recommend them to my colleagues and associates? Am I likely to respond warmly to any follow-up call that might happen to come along?

The answer is NO! So if you’ve ever been tempted to try to lure new customers with a lie, first ask yourself this: if the customer or prospect finds out what I’m really up to, will they be mad, or will I be embarrassed? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then find yourself a different tactic - fast!

This may sound very cliché and optimistic but you really have to start giving the much needed focus on your job. After all, you need the money to survive. And you don;t want to be fired even before you have another job right? The main concern here is more or less attitude. Your ATTITUDE.

Lets start why you are not liking your job. Is it because of your boss, pay or because you believe you deserve to receive a better salary? Or is it about the fact that you are having personal problems or marital problems perhaps? Maybe you are so irritated with the fact that you can only afford a discount landau scrubs while your colleagues have their expensive and very stylish scrubs. Knowing why you are unable to focus your job can help you address your problems. Learning how to handle these things minimizes your stress. So you don’t like your job but you don’t have any other option. Here is the thing, you can enjoy and like your job if you will desire to enjoy it. It is a state of mind. Appreciate the fact that you have a job that keeps you surviving from all the economic crisis you’ve been through. If you think that you deserve a better position, then the more that you should be focusing on your job to prove that you are a workaholic and trustworthy employee clad in landau mens scrubs worthy of a promotion. And if you really don’t belong to this field, then find other suitable occupation that you like but keep in mind that you need this current job to stay afloat. Survive on the thought that you will sooner find your niche in the world.

Many unhappy workers wind up feeling frustrated and defeated by their jobs, when in fact the real reason they dread work, is that they’re working way under their potential.

Ask yourself-–

1) Do you feel unfulfilled in your current job?

2) Are you bored and stressed at work?

3) Do you find it difficult to be passionate about your work?

4) Are you tired of your day-to-day work routine?

5) Is there anything you do in your job that fascinates you?

Whether you’ve been working for one or 20-years, the key to finding the right place for you is in first determining your own natural genius. Don’t stop and say you’re not a genius – everyone has a natural genius, but many of us simply don’t know what it is.

Genius is the expression of our unique set of exceptional abilities. The trouble is that we don’t always take the time — or have the encouragement — to find out what those genius abilities really are. Often, we are drawn to a particular area of work that somehow helps us bring out our genius, but unless we intentionally dial in, we remain on the periphery of our genius and never hit the bull’s-eye.

If you are one of the many who doesn’t really know your unique set of exceptional abilities, review the following list of five clues for natural genius. Think about what you do that fits any of these criteria, and you can start glimpsing what your genius might be.

The Job Interview Booboos

During job interviews, job applicants commit deadly slip-ups. Some go to the job interview inappropriately garbed, chew gum to calm their nerves, and sometimes project that self-assurance verging on the brazen. Others are so petrified that they barely squeak out their replies and cannot make eye-contact.

Some interview snafus to avoid are not knowing the interviewer’s name, not knowing anything about the company, smoking, arriving late for the interview, answering the question before it is completed, sitting down before you are offered to take a seat, using too much hand gestures, bad mouthing previous employers – the list goes on and on.

The Job Interview

The interview is handled by the company’s Human Resource division. In small or medium-sized businesses, the business owner usually tackles the job. Whether you are applying for a job at McDonalds’ or at the neighborhood’s Mom ‘n Pop grocery, be prepared.

The job interview determines the applicant’s potential and ability to work well with a team, to cope under stress, and to understand written and oral instructions.

The interviewer has a set of questions, which are followed up with inquiries adapted to each interviewee’s unique circumstance. These may be innocuous, but these are actually probing queries designed to check out the applicants’ capabilities for the vacant slot in the company or establishment. Hence, you have to be ready for these questions, so do your homework before the big day.

1. Am I going to a good place to work?

2. Are there chances for growth?

3. Is the remuneration fair?

4. What other good benefits?

A candidate should design a measuring tool for evaluating job offers, whether its a career inception or intending a career switch. Information about the company can help you to make a decision whether it is a desirable place for work. Other factors to think contain the company routine work, economic condition, age, size & location. You generally gather this type of info via different resources “internet, annual reports released by stock exchange or word of mouth”. Though, the more you excavate facts about the job, before accepting or rejecting the offer, the chances will be high that you are going for the right choice.

In order for a person to be an effective "work at home" employee, they must have certain aspects of their personal life in order. To begin with, they must have a designated workplace within their home. A corner or a room specifically allocated as a work space is absolutely necessary. The area to work from needs to be free of noise and distraction

As a "work at home" employee, you cannot have children or neighbors disturbing your work process. Your friends or children would not be distracting you if you were "in" the office and you cannot let them affect you in your "work at home office".

Depending on your employee-employer contract will determine how you perform your job duties at home. There are several ways that employers determine a pay scale for work at home employees.

By the Piece:

Piece work means that you, the employee with have to produce X number of pieces in order to get paid and you are paid by the piece. Many small manufacturing companies outsource "assembly" type jobs to work at home employees. As an example, circuit board assembly is usually paid for by the finished piece. So if you are paid $1.00 for each completed piece, you would need to complete at least 10 or more per hour to get a decent wage for yourself.

By the Project:

Some companies will outsource projects that can take anywhere from a week to a month to complete. The employer usually has a price in mind for this project and will have you sing a contract stating that you will accept a predetermined fee for completing this project. The time it takes you to complete the project will determine how much money you really are making.