A Leaders Club Consultative Approach To Retailing Your Network Marketing Products

by Steve Sakal

Knowing how to effectively retail your Products and Services to your Customer Base is something that will dramatically increase your monthly as well as annual volume and profits.

Once you have identified your Target Market, begin a Consultative Dialogue. Here are 5 G's to get you on the right path...

1. Give: Give some information regarding your intent to provide "only" Affordable Personalized Long-Term Quality Expert Customer Service Year-Long!
    
2. Gather: We begin to Gather sufficient or relevant Information, that enables us to start walking through the Qualification Process in order to see if they Qualify for our Personalized Customer Expert Service on an ongoing basis.
    
3. Give & Gather: This is a natural 2-way back and forth Dialogue. This is specifically for the purpose of knowing what to introduce as the features & benefits of our Product & Service. As well as how it will save them time, effort & money in the long run.
    
4. Get: Get a Commitment from them to provide you with the information necessary to identify the Products or Services that suits their needs. This begins with the Customer choosing their first order. This is done on the phone, online, or offline. This starts the entire process. If they don't want to take part in it, don't push it and it's business as usual with appropriate follow-up from then on.
    
5. Goodbye: Always end the call politely and professionally. Whether they qualify or not... End the call on a happy note indicating that you look forward to providing them with the Personalized Money Saving Service they want and deserve as your Preferred Customer.

Know where to begin

Get to know your Customers on a personal basis (Points of interest)

• Married, Spouse, Children, relatives, close friends etc.
• Ages, Birthdays, Anniversaries, other Special Occasions, Graduations, etc.
• Hobbies, special interests, etc.
• Their spending budget or their fun money they allot for themselves each payday and/or month.
• What is it they like to award their self or spoil their self with?

Get to know your Products & Services (Shelf-Life ~ Life-Span ~ Boundaries)

• Consumables
• Nutritional
• Household
• Seasonal
• Clothing
• Sports Related
• Specialty
• Personal Hygiene
• Beauty Care
• Pet Care
• Rest & Relaxation
• Travel
• Leisure
• Day & Night Comfort Wear
• Fitness
• Exercise/Workout Apparel
• Energy enhancers
• Recovery enhancers
• Weight control
• Appetite control
• Environmental
• Water (purifiers, oxygenators, enhancers, etc)
• Air (cleaners. Purifiers)
• Aroma Therapy
• Services (Personal – Business)
• Autoship
• Reordering Discounts and Perks
• Telephone
• Internet
• Contact manager
• Online – Offline Follow-Up/Reminders

In order to get to know your Products & Services you must invest time and effort in familiarizing yourself with your Product Line and Services and then break them down in manageable groups. Think like a Customer and ask yourself what you would like to see if you were the Customer.

Use your products and services

Use the ones that make sense for you, but don't allow yourself to be pressured into buying things you cannot afford, or every single new product or service that comes down the pike. You don't need to order or try every product you have! It is your responsibility to work within the constraints of your budget. Determine to stay within it! In order to insure that you do - Decide ahead of time what your budget is to insure that you will limit impulse buying. Realize and recognize that there are also many products that will not need to be ordered every month too.

Strive to keep it a Win-Win Scenario between you and your Customer

Look at the complete picture – You and your Customer having a Long-Term mutually beneficial relationship. This means that if you have certain minimum PV, or BV requirements for Commissions, Rebates, Overrides, etc. Qualifications… Then you have to get creative in your Retailing and the best way is to make a Year-Long Time-Line that allows you to appropriately Leverage and capitalize on what you have to offer.

Your Customer has the answers you're looking for

Your Customer is the one that lets you know how your long-term retail plan will suit their needs. It requires a dialogue to do so in a way that the Customer is getting exactly what it is that he/she wants. And, you're the one that is the Provider. You're Promoting Yourself First as the one that is going to be on their side in getting what they want - when they want - and you let them know that you will settle for nothing less. [If you're not familiar with LC's Promote Yourself First Concept listen to the Audio: Promote Yourself First When Prospecting (02/23/2005)]

Do your homework from a Customer's Perspective

In marketing your products from a monthly consumption basis you'll want to get familiar with your product line as it relates to typical usage, or consumption. Make a Time-Line on the average usage for each one. The nutritionals are pretty cut and dry. The other product lines are where the variables and your own creativity come in to play.

Things to Consider:

• Different products have a different life span or shelf life as far as consumption is concerned. Get creative and you will find some commonalities that you can Leverage within your Product and Service Lines.
   
• Most of the nutritional products can be consumed in a month’s time, however, the other lines of products (Cleaning products, cosmetics, etc.) on average may last 2 or 3 months or so depending upon usage.
   
• You can get very creative with what you have to work with if you spread out your product line and start to see how you can mix it up and drip specific product features and benefits year round.

Make a Flexible Plan:

• Highlight and introduce different products at different times. Even though they may all be found on one web site or in one catalogue; you the marketer can leverage the unique features and benefits of your product line at different cycles throughout the year.
   
• Learn to stagger the product introduction as well as the features and benefits apart from the others. This is the way you can have year-long consumption as well as help your customers stay to their budget year long. [Listen to LC's Audio - Features vs. Benefits: The key to marketing success (8/14/2002)]

Customize the Plan to suite the Customer’s wants and needs:

• Once you've gathered the information you need from your Customer; pick one or two at the most from your Products and/or Services to highlight depending on the consumption factor for the product/service.

Use your Calendar:

• There are usually some that may not be consumable in nature or as a rule either. They may just wear out in time and then need to be replaced.
   
• Capitalize on those types of products by featuring them around holidays, and/or special occasions that you're aware of with your Customer. (This is the reason you would ask for family information like spouses birthdays etc.)
   
• Send special incentives at those times to create a sense of urgency in the customer's mind.

Have the necessary Tools on hand – Be Prepared for Success!

• Typical Tools
• Catalogues
• Brochures
• Personalized and Customized Tools
• Flyers
• Newsletters
• Phone messages (Special occasion messages i.e. "I remembered...")
• Post Cards
• 6"x9" Envelopes with a "Stamped" Jumbo Post Card with a Personal Profile Checklist on the back relating to Personal Info & Special Interests. Your Customer fillis it out and drops it in the mail right back to you.
• Leaders Club Marketing Material Reviews for your Ad Copy etc.

Yes there's a lot to choose form and it will take effort and some expenditures on your part. However, you will end up with a Year-Long Retail Retention Plan that will make a difference in your Business Volume and Profits, as well as build a solid Retail Customer base of those that appreciate you offering them a customized Year-Long Service. One that is within their own preferred budget!

It boils down to this:

1. Get to know your Customers on a personal basis (Points of interest)

2. Get to know your Products & Services (Shelf-Life ~ Life-Span ~ Boundaries)

3. Keep it a Win-Win Scenario – Look at the complete picture – You and your Customer having a mutually beneficial relationship.

4. Do your homework from a Customer’s Perspective (Flexible –Customized – Spread Out)

5. Have the necessary Tools on hand – Be Prepared for Success!

Recommended Related Leaders Club Training Audios:

• How To Generate Year Round Retail Sales and Triple Your Earnings:
  Retail sales are ultimately the backbone of any network marketing company – of the entire industry even. It’s funny then how few co-called training companies even talk about retailing products and services to end customers. In many audios you'll hear us talk about how the basic fundamentals of rapport, posture, benefits and such can be applied to retail as much as it can to recruiting business builders. In this training program you’ll learn how to tie everything you learn into a simple consultative strategy for generating year round retail profits.
   
• Collateral Marketing Tips For You And Your Business:
  Part 3 in our Collateral Marketing Series involves knowing the difference between features and benefits and how they lead to a mutually beneficial end result between the marketer and the prospect or customer. This isn’t “rocket science” however it is something that many Network Marketers fail to notice and then to invest $1,000’s of dollars into their own businesses only to leave them with empty pockets and no profits. In this training you’ll learn the 5 basic rules you must be aware of in order to leverage your companies existing collateral marketing, develop your own or maybe both! Great examples are given for retail, face to face marketing, expos, fairs and more Learn how to effectively pick collateral and use it in your company.

About the author: Steve Sakal, is a Leaders Club Certified Marketing Consultant and Leaders Club Certified Coach. He is a regular contributor to Leaders Club Audio’s and MasterMind Forum.

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