Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game. Tony Alessandra (source: customerservicepoint.com)

I don’t know any direct seller or network marketer that doesn’t think their company has the best products. We get it. Let’s focus on something that’s more important than products and that is your customers and potential customers.

Here’s a recent experience of mine …

I emailed a consultant inquiring about her company product and it took five days, yes five days, for her to respond. Unfortunately for her, it was just easier to head on down to my local store to get what I needed. You see, it’s not about the products, because products are everywhere.

I wasn’t just buying products because truthfully, when it comes to products, there are more places that offer what I need than I could possibly do business with. My goal was to support another direct seller’s business because being in the business, it’s good karma. 

Not to mention, you generally (with the exception of this one), tend to get great service when you work with a direct seller. Most consultants are grateful for the opportunity to send you samples, a catalog, or whatever else you need to earn your business. But five days for a response? Enough said.

But it’s not about the products. It’s the experience you offer your prospects or valued customers, that keeps them loyal.

One of the reasons I love the direct sales business is the personal service you get. I love Target but there’s no one in the beauty area  to answer my questions or send me sample after sample to try.  The “personal service” is your unique selling position.

You need quality products at a reasonable price. You also need to go above and beyond because you’re a small direct seller.

There’s a reason people love Zappos, not because of their ”shoes” selection or thousands of other products they sell. People love Zappos because of their outstanding attention to personal service. I recall mentioning “Zappos” on Twitter and within seconds someone responded to my tweet.

If you don’t deliver outstanding, personal service and in a timely manner, you’re dispensable, as Seth Godin would say. You’re NOT going to be able to compete with millions of other companies that will be happy to take your customer’s business.

Instead of focusing on the products and how scientifically superior your products are, focus on your customers. Be responsive,  put a smile in your email, don’t send out a canned product script, be original, be you.

Your thoughts?

’til next time,

Janette Stoll

P.S. On a positive note, I have several friends that offer excellent service in skin care, beauty, home decor, if you need a referral. I’m not affiliated with their businesses or get anything for it, just pointing out some great ladies in direct sales .

If you’re not familiar with article marketing, it’s one of the best traffic building techniques for your blog or website. With hundreds of article directories to submit articles to, article marketing has the potential to reach thousands of readers and another marketing stream to attract potential prospects. Every network marketer needs new leads.

Start with Ezine because it’s established, high PageRank, lots of traffic which benefits your blog. You’re leveraging Ezine’s higher authority site. And if you’re using the right target keywords in your article, your article can easily be ranked on the 1^st page of Google.

Purpose of article marketing
The purpose of article marketing  is to drive traffic to your blog or landing page to capture leads.There’s a saying: “the money is in the list” and it’s true J . Newbies are always selling while professionals focus on building a hot list of prospects.

In order to accomplish this, think about what you’re going to write. If you’re reviewing a new ground floor business opportunity, do a keyword search and check to see if there’s enough searches for that particular company. If there are a few hundred searches for that particular opportunity then write a review about that company.

Whatever topic you choose to write about, if you want people to check out your blog and opt-in, your article must demonstrate that you know your topic well enough. Write with authority and do a research on that company first to get your facts straight. Be objective and provide enough value in the article to help that person find their answers.

For example, if someone is looking for a juice company and comes across your article about the pros and cons of joining the juice company- will she/he find value in the article?

Make the article intriguing so that the readers want to learn more about you which will lead them to your blog or landing page.

Be sure to offer a free report or gift containing value-added information that they can use and put this in your author’s resource box with an anchor text link as your blog’s url.

What people care about is what’s in it for them. What attracts people to article directories is the ability to search thousands of articles and get information. They’re searching for how to make money, how to find the best business opportunity, how to make jewelry, find a book review, and so forth.

They’re looking for information. And your goal is to write a compelling article that offers the information they’re looking for with the end goal of driving traffic to your blog.

Article marketing when done right not only increases traffic to your blog, build backlinks, position yourself as an expert in your business, but also a great recruiting tool to attract leads and start building a list of potentially hot prospects.

‘til next time,

If you find this post helpful, be sure to share with your pals on Twitter, Facebook, Digg it, whatever suits your mood … thanks a bunch!

photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net