Picture your favorite direct sales consultant. What qualities immediately come to mind when you think of this person? What makes you call her when you run out of your favorite product? Do you continue to hold shows for her over and over? Why? You can be just like her. Yes, you can learn to be a consultant that is as good as, or even better than, she is.
Below you’ll find a list of the five most important traits one needs to in order to become a great consultant. Some of these may already be a natural part of your personality or you may need to put forth some effort in order have these traits. The goal is to not just possess them, but to make them become second nature.
Honesty - First and foremost, a great consultant is honest. A successful consultant is honest in every area of her life. It’s obvious this person did not join the direct sales company just to make a buck. She is a consultant for a specific organization or company because she truly loves the product she is selling and honestly believes in it. The consultant’s integrity shines through in everything she does. Her customers never feel “snowed” by this type of consultant and they can rest assured she will always tell the truth in every situation.
In Depth Knowledge & Understanding of the Product - Extensive product knowledge is a must for every great consultant. She must be able to answer any questions that arise during shows or a consultation. If you don’t know your product, get to know it. Get sample sizes if possible and try everything out; feel it, touch it, smell it, taste it, read about it or whatever is appropriate in order for you to know your product inside and out. If you are asked a question about a new product that you don’t know the answer to yet, find out. Don’t waste any time in getting the answer to your customer either. If you hesitate too long, you risk losing the customer’s confidence in you, not to mention potential sales!
Organizational Skills – A great consultant is one who is organized. This is a trait that can be learned by those who were not born with the gift of organization in their genes. Organization is important no matter what type of business you are in because it helps you become more efficient. You don’t want to appear in disarray to your customers. They will lose confidence in you if you can’t find a sales order form or don’t have your catalogs organized and ready for a show. Getting organized does take time, but once you get there it actually saves you time! If you find it difficult to get things in order, find someone who enjoys organizational tasks to help you get organized. This can be a friend, family member or even a professional organizer, whatever it takes to get things in order. This person can help you organize your business files, products, brochures, customer files and receipts. Getting yourself organized is the hardest part of the battle. It’s much easier to keep yourself organized once you get that way first. Don’t be afraid to ask your helper to teach you how to STAY organized too. It won’t do you any good to become organized just to make a mess of everything again in a week or two.
Manage Your Time Wisely – Time management is a skill every great consultant must own. Again, if you are not good at time management take some courses or have someone you know teach you how to manage your time effectively. Time management is so important in direct sales because you need to be punctual to your shows, when interviewing potential new recruits and so on. If you are continually late to shows, or worse, cancel shows because you’ve double booked your clients will lose their confidence in you and in turn, you’ll lose business.
Enthusiasm & Motivation – And the final trait every great consultant will possess is excitement and motivation. Have you ever been to a show where the consultant was dull and boring? Did you want to buy anything? Being excited about what you’re doing and selling is one of the greatest “sales tools” you can possess. Your excitement will bubble over into your show and to your guests and they will be more likely to buy from you if you appear happy and excited about what you’re doing. If you are not a naturally outgoing person, you can learn to overcome shyness by practicing being enthusiastic. You read right; you can learn to be enthusiastic about what you do. Think about what you do, what you sell. What really motivates you about the product, what do you love about it? Think about those things when you are showing the product and the enthusiasm will naturally come out. As I said in number two, knowing your product is important and goes hand in hand with being excited about it.
You can be a great consultant by learning these traits and putting them into practice in every area of your life. By doing so, they will become natural to you and your clients will trust and love you. This in turn will lead them to you over and over again when they need something. Not only that they will also recommend friends and family to you, helping grow your business.
