Throw Out Your List of 100

Call me a rebel, but I encourage new direct sales consultants not to fill out that old familiar “List of 100 People You Know.”  Any DS company I’ve ever been with or have heard about encourages new people to spam the beegeebers out of their friends, family and acquaintances.  It goes against the entire concept of target marketing and finding a niche.

They claim it’s your first networking contact list and that is the list that will help launch your new direct sales career. Although, whether you’re selling candles, jewelry, kitchenware, makeup, home décor or any other product offering, wouldn’t you have better results if you presented your new product line to the people whom you believe could benefit from and enjoy your goods?

Instead of investing precious time trying to list and then contact all of the people you know such as: Family, Friends, Neighbors, Your friends’ parents, Your parents’ friends, Your parents’ colleagues, Your children’s friends’ parents, Classmates, Alumni of any school you attended, including high school, Members of the local chamber of commerce, Members of your church, temple, or other faith-based groups, Professors, Teachers, Mentors, Former Bosses, Former or current colleagues, Former or current customers, Former employees whom you managed, Members of the YMCA, YWCA, or other clubs, Members of professional groups to which you belong, Members of a service organization (e.g. the Rotary), School committee members, Counselors, Friends from military service, Coaches (in sports, arts, hobbies, etc.), Your doctor, Your lawyer, Your insurance agent, Your accountant or tax preparer, Your auto mechanic, The manager of your favorite coffee shop, The bartender at your favorite watering hole, The owner of maitre d’ of your favorite restaurant, Your barber/hairstylist, Your mortgage broker, Your real estate broker, Your veterinarian, Your dry cleaner, Any shop or business owners who know you by name (especially in ‘high touch’ businesses like art dealers, florists, dress shop managers, wedding planners, wine dealers—people who have long conversations with others), Any acquaintance who owes you a favor, spend some time defining your target market.

The likely results of spamming the above list:

• You’ll ostracize yourself from them so that in the future they’ll be forced to check Caller-ID before taking your call or find themselves suddenly running late for an appointment and need to promptly depart your presence.
• You may get a few mercy purchases from those who have a hard time saying no because they don’t want you to feel discouraged.
• If you stumble upon someone who is genuinely interested in what you’re offering, it is mere statistics.  If you spray enough bullets you’re bound to eventually hit something.

If you’ve signed up for a company that has a fantastic product line, don’t you think you should be able to find others who enjoy and benefit from it as much as you do?  No need to approach your auntie who has severe allergies to buy your candles or your sweet bald mechanic about your organic shampoo.  Just because you may know 100 people, doesn’t mean they’d be good customers.

My advice: Throw out your “List of 100 People You Know.”