Over the years I have heard Zig Ziglar say over and over again, “Most people are as committed as a kamikaze pilot on his 99’th mission.” I tend to agree with him, especially when it comes to direct selling. What is commitment anyway? The American Heritage dictionary says the commitment means “to do or perform, to pledge oneself to a position.” You can be committed to your spouse, your family, your company, your goals, your exercise program or just about anything. But are you? Commitment means that even if it gets tough you are going to stay the course.
Committed people are tough! They would rather fight than give up! Committed direct sellers are on the phone making calls to generate new business. Committed Direct Sellers understand the need to work the business EVERY DAY, not just when it strikes them . They schedule business building activities into their calendar instead of just waiting to see if there is time to work the business today, tomorrow, this week or this month. Committed direct sellers treat their business like a job and commit to “go to work every day.” It’s not always easy to be committed but it is always rewarding.
A while ago I committed to working out with a personal trainer 3 days a week at 6:00 a.m. Until this time I had forgotten that there was a 6:00 a.m.! Even though I had been walking daily for over 25 years I began to realize that I need to build up my muscles. Since I was clueless in how to work any of the machines at the gym that I joined I hired a personal trainer to not only show me how to work the machines but also to commit myself to show up each day! (When you pay someone to teach you I guarantee you will show up!) The first day was torture! During this one hour I completed 60 lunges, (he did have to help me get up after the first 10!) 45 squats, plus other leg, arm and stomach exercises. During this first hour of exercise I set a simple goal for myself; to get to the car without falling down in the parking lot! There was no way I wanted all the fitness buffs on the treadmills in the window to see how weak and wobbly my legs were. At the end of the class my trainer said to me, “so are you coming back for more?” My body was telling me to give up right then and there but my mind was telling me that I had committed to this by pre-paying him for a month (what was I thinking?) and I didn’t want to throw money away so I showed up again the following scheduled day. I went home and looked in the mirror because I was sure I left most of my rear end at the gym that day! No such luck it was still there! I knew I’d have to go back! After the first day’s workout it took my body about 3-4 days for my body to quit hurting! After the second time it took about 2-3 days to quit hurting every time I moved! Each time I went my body became stronger and more used to the exercise and now I continue to workout 3 days a week and I feel GREAT, but it wasn’t easy! It is worth it! It was the repetition of the exercise that helped get my body into condition.
That’s what commitment will do for you! It will keep you doing what you know you need to do even when the results might not be immediate! It’s what makes you dial the 10th person even after hearing the previous 9 people tell you NO! It’s what keeps you focused on the end result not the bumpy ride! The repetition of Direct Selling activities will get your business conditioned for success. Here are some ways you can commit yourself to your Direct Selling Business!
- Take time when you begin to learn how to do things right! When you begin an exercise program if you don’t learn how to lift weights properly you can tear your muscles and injure your body. The same is true of your direct selling business. If you don’t take time to learn about the company, products and how to offer the opportunity when you begin you could exhaust your warm market without creating any business for yourself. Your company offers training, meetings and literature explaining what you need to know. Take the time to learn everything you can as soon as you join!
- Prepare your calling agenda and have our scripts ready . When you are in an exercise program, each time you begin to exercise you need to warm up and stretch before you begin the weight lifting part of the program. Before you pick up the phone to make your calls for the day get prepared. Make a list of who you are going to call. Jot down next to their name what you are calling about. (Example, are you calling to follow up on a product order, calling to book a party, or following up on the business opportunity?) Also, make sure you have practiced your phone scripts before you begin making your calls. Make sure you check
- Have and Keep a Consistent Schedule . When you begin exercising it will become easier on your body when you keep a consistent exercise schedule. You remember how to do the exercise from day to day and pretty soon the exercise program becomes second nature to you. The same is true of your Direct Selling business. Keeping a consistent schedule for your parties and your phone calls will help you to make your business easy for you to do! Your choice of words, the presentation at your party, your “I Story” and everything you do will become second nature to you when you keep repeating the pattern over and over again. Most people that struggle with their phone calls and/or party presentations do so because they never do enough to get “really good” at it. Getting on the phone once or twice a month or only holding one or two parties a month makes it hard for anyone to master the techniques. So be consistently working your business EVERY WEEK!
- Don’t be afraid to try new things . During your exercise program you will notice that there are a lot of other people in the gym that are doing a variety of different exercises. I discovered that it was good for me and my body to keep variety in my workout. When approached with a new idea are you one who tries it our right away or do you shy away from it because it’s different. I have to confess, when I first heard about the “sponsoring game” (you can learn how to do this in the It’s a Party Out There program) at a meeting I came home and didn’t do anything about it. But, I did tell a new consultant about the game and she went out and played the sponsoring game that very night and called me the next morning with three people to talk to about coming into the business. She wasn’t afraid to try something new and it paid off with 7 new recruits within her first two months in the business. I learned a valuable lesson too! Don’t be afraid to try something because someone else is going to pass you by while you are waiting!
- Constantly remind yourself of your why . Busy schedules make it easy for us to skip our exercise routine. We rush to cram in a few more minutes of checking emails, watching television and endless things that cause us to waste our precious hours. Pretty soon, we have come up with a million reasons why we don’t have the time to exercise. I keep a picture handy of the body I had a few years ago and it reminds me that I need to keep up the exercise if I want to get it back again. As a consultant with a Direct Selling company it will become very easy for you to lose track of time and skip making calls one week and deliberately take a week or two off from holding parties because you are just too busy! Think back about why you are doing this business, what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. Keep your why in front of you all the time. Continually remind yourself that you can do anything as long as it keeps you close to your reason for doing the business. It was never hard for me to book and hold three to four parties per week for twenty two years because all I had to do was look at my sons and knew that I was fulfilling “my why” of staying home with them!
Yes commitment is a very funny thing! It helps to keep you focused on the good things you can have in your life. You can and will make anything happen when you really want to! You are an incredible individual and you can be successful in Direct Selling as soon as you become committed to yourself and your business!
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| Here’s to your Success | ||
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| Karen Phelps, The Leading Authority in Direct Selling | ||