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Preconceived Notions and Direct Sales Business

November 01, 2010 By: Yvonne A Jones Category: Direct Sales

Featured “Monday Writer” – Heather Amy Price

I read an article about a man who wanted to buy a particular television model so he researched which store carried the model he wanted.  He found out that the local store carrying the model on which he decided was a store he'd previously had bad dealings with.  So he went but he made his transaction with caution.  He didn't believe the store when they said they'd be able to deliver tomorrow morning.  True to their word, they delivered on time.  His preconceived notions of that particular store have changed.

The same gentleman stayed at a Ritz Carlton with whom he'd had a good relationship in the past (his preconceived notions were all good) but didn't care for being nickled and dimed or having to walk to the elevator to pick up a newspaper.  Now the Ritz has left a bad taste in his mouth.

We in the direct sales industry are constantly battling preconceived notions.  I have potential customers who won't try my product because they tried a similar product once eight years ago and broke out from it, so they assume they are allergic.  I have potential team members who won't listen to the facts about my opportunity because they heard that direct sales is the same as MLM, and MLM is a “pyramid scheme”.

I've learned that to be a good marketer in the direct sales industry, you need to be specific about who your perfect fit customer is.  I need to know what type of person will be a good customer for me, and what type of person will be a good team member for me.  Without pre-judging too much, it's a delicate balance.

The trait I now look most for is open-mindedness.  I don't care if you know nothing about sales and you only have one friend in the world.  Are you open minded to hearing my training and to making some friends?  Then my business might be for you.  I don't care if you have tried my product in the past and have broken out from it.  Are you willing to try a new formulation of the product, with the understanding that if you have a problem again, you are not obligated to keep the product?  Are you willing to work with a consultant who will endeavor to make sure that the product I sell you is right for YOUR needs?  Be willing, be open-minded, and we can work together.

I find that's true in general in not only the direct selling industry, but in the general work-at-home/ mom-at-home business circle.  We need to set aside our previous beliefs about people and about companies and be willing to listen to facts.

I was in an MLM about 15 years ago.  I absolutely HATED it and made no money.  My upline didn't train me well, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  Had I not been willing and open minded to hear the facts about my current opportunity (which is NOTHING like the previous one!), I would have missed out on many years of friendship, training, money, leadership, and the opportunity to be the stay at home mom I've always wanted to be.  I am now in the top 2% of my direct sales company and enjoying training others.

Preconceived notion is defined as an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence.  Always make sure you're gathering sufficient evidence before you make a judgement!

If you are in a direct sales skin care/color company (Mary Kay, Avon, Beauticontrol, Jafra) and would like an affordable e-Course which helps busy moms fit their business into their lives, I have a solution for you at http://busymomskincarebiz.com

If you want to read more about relationship marketing in direct sales, I blog at http://directsalesrelationshipmarketing.com My skin care blog is at http://freeskincarehelp.com and finally, you can read about me at http://heatheramyprice.com Thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you!

–Heather Price

0 Comments to “Preconceived Notions and Direct Sales Business”


  1. The truth – you speak it well. My own personal pre-conceived notions dealt with the fact I could not write good copy (because I utterly abhorred sales ‘way back when).

    It was only when I gave myself permission to consider things might be different…that they changed. It was definitely a good lesson to experience.

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  2. Sheila Atwood says:

    I really like the definition- ‘Preconceived notion is defined as an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence.’

    The interesting thing is that we live in a fast paced environment, where it is easy to move on to the next vendor if we are not happy with what we want or get. It does not take much in the way of bad service or delivery to send your customers looking elsewhere.

    For example, I found a great product online that I wanted to sell to my readers. The author is well known and I would make good commissions. But the delivery of the product has way too many bugs in it. So I did not promote it, instead I notified the author and told him of the problems and let him know I would love to promote the product when the delivery lines are cleaned up.

    I have plenty of choices and do not like to waste my time on unnecessary problems.

    There is no doubt that looking for customers that are willing to work with you is key. And so is putting out great product with out glitches.

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  3. Barbara,
    I like that phrase “when I gave myself permission.” It’s amazing how we can lock ourselves into our world by preconceived notions and we can only be free to expand when we allow ourselves to be open-minded and be receptive to be new ideas. Of course, we’ll always need to be selective 🙂

    Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
    Yvonne
    Yvonne

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  4. Great points, Kathy. It’s said that we live in a ‘microwave society.’ We want it and we want it now without any hiccups and there’s nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, some persons do not even allow themselves the opportunity to become an informed customer or prospect.

    I had an experience similar to yours recently. I try to purchase most of what I promote and in this case I’m so glad I did as I’ve written twice to the vendor and still have not received the e-book so I’m going to cancel the transaction. Now that’s poor customer service that I would not want to share with anyone!

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  5. Barbara, it’s true– we need to be careful with preconceived notions about OURSELVES and not just about other people and other businesses! I know I have many about myself I need to work on.

    Sheila, so true—- people tend to spend only a few seconds on a website or an email before moving on. It’s our job to hook them in those few seconds. 🙂

    Have a great day everyone!

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