What is the purpose of a business? Every time I ask this question during a business seminar, the immediate answer that I get back is, “To make a profit.”

But this answer is wrong. The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. If a business successfully creates and keeps customers in a cost-effective way, it will make a profit while continuing to survive and thrive. If, for any reason, a business fails to attract or sustain a sufficient number of customers, it will experience losses. Too many losses will lead to the demise of the enterprise.

According to Dun and Bradstreet, the single, most important reason for the failure of businesses in America is lack of sales. And, of course, this refers to resales as well as initial sales.

So your company’s job is to create and keep a customer, and your job is exactly the same. Remember, no matter what your official title is, you are a salesperson for yourself and your company. And the best way to increase your value as a salesperson is to build your customer base. The two most important words to keep in mind in developing a successful customer base are Positioning and Differentiation.

Positioning refers to the way your customers think and talk about you and your company when you are not there. The position that you hold in the customer’s mind determines all of his reactions and interactions with you. Your position determines whether or not your customer buys, whether he buys again and whether he refers others to you. Everything that you do with regard to your customer affects the way your customer thinks about you.

Differentiation refers to your ability to separate yourself and your product or service from that of your competitors. And it is the key to building and maintaining a competitive advantage. This is the advantage that you and your company have over your competitors in the same marketplace the unique and special benefits that no one else can give your customer.

There are three keys to keeping customers for life: relationship selling, partnering for profit, and consultative selling. These are all methods for differentiating yourself from anyone else who is offering the same product or service. They are ways to get customers and keep them. I will explain each of these in detail.

Relationship Selling is the core of all modern selling strategies. Your ability to develop and maintain long-term customer relationships is the foundation for your success as a salesperson and your success in business.

For your customer, a buying decision usually means a decision to enter into a long-term relationship with you and your company. It is very much like a “business marriage.” Before the customer decides to buy, he can take you or leave you.

He doesn’t need you or your company. He has a variety of options and choices open to him, including not buying anything at all. But when your customer makes a decision to buy from you, he becomes dependent on you. And since he has probably had bad buying experiences in the past, he is very uneasy and uncertain about getting into this kind of dependency relationship.

What if you let this customer down? What if your product does not work as you promised? What if you don’t service it and support it as you promised? What if it breaks down and he can’t get it replaced? These are real dilemmas that go through the mind of every customer when it comes time to make the critical buying decision.

Because of the complexity of most products and services today, especially high-tech products, the relationship is actually more important than the product.

The customer doesn’t know the ingredients or components of your product, or how your company functions, or how he will be treated after he has given you his money, but he can make an assessment about you and about the relationship that has developed between the two of you over the course of the selling process. So in reality, the customer’s decision is based on the fact that he has come to trust you and believe in what you say. In many cases, the quality of your relationship with the customer is the competitive advantage that enables you to edge out others who may have similar products and services.

The single biggest mistake that causes salespeople to lose customers is taking those customers for granted. Almost 70 percent of customers who walked away from their existing suppliers later replied that they made the change primarily because of a lack of attention from the company.

Beyond relationship selling, the second key to keeping customers for life is the “partnering for profit” approach to business sales. When you deal with a businessperson, you can be sure of one thing: that person thinks about his business day and night. It is very close to him. It is dear to his heart. And if you come in and talk to him and ask him questions about his business, looking for ways to help him run his business better, the customer is going to warm up to you and want to be associated with you and your company.


As a partner, you should always be looking to help your customer to cut costs and improve results in his or her area of responsibility. You should look for ways to help your customer in non-business areas as well. You should position yourself as someone who cares more about the success of your customer than anything else, even more than you care about selling your product or service. This approach to partnering in profit with your customer is a key way to differentiate yourself and to keep your customer for the indefinite future.

There is a principle of reciprocity in business that is extremely powerful. It is simply this: If you do something nice for someone else, they will feel obligated to do something nice for you. You should be looking for opportunities to go the extra mile, to do more than you are paid for, to put in more than you take out. By extending yourself, you improve your positioning in the customer’s mind and increasingly differentiate yourself and your company from your competitors who are after the same business. If you do this long enough and strong enough, you will eventually develop the partnership to the point where your competitors don’t have a chance against you.

The third part of keeping customers for life is the consulting approach to your customer, or what is called consultative selling. When you position yourself as a consultant, you are really positioning yourself to serve your customer as a problem solver. Instead of trying to sell something to your customer, you concentrate all of your efforts and attention on helping your customer solve his problems, achieve his goals, or satisfy his needs. You ask excellent questions that help your customer think through his situation in greater depth. And you listen carefully to the answers, knowing that listening builds trust.

When customers are asked why they decided to buy from a particular salesperson or company, they invariably give these reasons: the reputation of the company, the level of service and support that the company offers, the reliability of the company and the salesperson, the responsiveness of the organization to complaints and requests, and the quality of the individual salesperson with whom they have been dealing. Price ranks at number seven or eight, if it comes up at all in the surveys. This is important for you to know because it is amazing how many salespeople get sidetracked into negotiating on the basis of price and then they can’t understand why they failed to get the sale.

84 percent of all sales in America originate from the recommendations of satisfied customers. A referral to a new customer is worth ten times more than a cold call. And it is 16 times easier to sell a satisfied customer something new than it is to sell something to a brand new prospect. In the final analysis, dedicating yourself to serving your customers in such a way that you keep them for life is one of the smartest and most profitable things that you can ever do.

About The Author:
Brian Tracy is legendary in sales, addressing more than 250,000 men and women each year on the subjects of management, leadership, and sales effectiveness. He has produced more than 300 audio/video programs and has written 36 books, including his just-released books “TurboStrategy” and “Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life.” He can be reached at (858) 481-2977 or www.briantracy.com

It is often said that it not about who you know that matters, it’s who knows you. Well I wanted to convey this statement by saying that not just whom you know and who know you, but how well you know them and they with you too.

Business networking is the final form of promotion. This can help you to get new clients, new jobs, or even help you move up the corporate ladder. This is the exact same process it takes to build relationships. Every time you attend meetings, trade shows, or social functions, you are networking and that’s a fact whether you know it or not. This is your relationships with people, prospects or clients who make the difference between success and failure.

Often we have to realize the reason we have to make business an individual or company. In the case of products that we regularly buy, what helps us to make a buying decision? There is a need to buy a particular brand because they trust brand of high quality or durability. There are other people who make purchasing decisions based on price, though it is not often that happens. We often only do business because we feel good about it. Even most of the purchases or decisions to make final business is based on two things. Confidence and comfort. Trust is a very simple emotion or feeling. How are you achieving your desired results?

Trust was measured with the emotions and generated by the process of letting someone get to know more about you, not just product features and price. I know a woman who gives seminars on selling to high level ceo’s. She said selling to the high level ceo’s, you have more than one salesperson to sell products or services. To sell to the ceo’s, you have more than a mentor. You have to find other terms then you can meet and help them to meet those needs. In doing so, you become a mentor and is trusted. They feel “comfortable” that you have their interests in mind more than make quick sales and commissions.

In the process of day-to-day we find prospective clients. We do not tend to just find someone to pitch. Should we spend more time getting to know them before we try to sell?

When we take the time to know one’s wishes, dreams, and needs, and make honest efforts to help them realize that it is important to us. We are building trust, confidence, comfort level, and more importantly the relationship needed to not only make sales, but to make us an unlimited resources for reference.

While we are the people in the community meeting with prospective clients, we must continue to follow in mind. Picture your customers in the same way you would yourself. Customers have needs, so you need to help each customer fulfill that need. Until you understand what the main goal or a dream prospect, you can not meet the need via product or service.

Sales and networking is about relationships. You sell everything you do, whether you realize it or not. The time is now for sellers to build relationships more effectively. Change the way you think about the prospects and outlook will change the way they think about you.

Every year there are many men and women all over the world signing up with direct selling businesses. Just to name a few you may be familiar with Melaleuca, Amway, or Ardyss hoping to make money enough for a new car,a new house, or maybe even some new clothes. They sell a little products or merchandises to a few relatives and close friends.

Then they are quick to say ok I’m done now.Before they even give themselves the ability to learn the basic skills of success in business. No one is born a salesperson, any more than one is born a doctor or born a lawyer.

Sales is a profession. To be successful in any profession one must learn not only the basic techniques, but also how to apply the right techniques. Success in sales makes use of all the abilities one is born with, plus all those acquired through the law of education and experience.

If you are looking for an opportunity to help with your family budget, direct selling offers you unlimited possibilities. However, you must give yourself time to learn the techniques of business overall. Ask yourself. “How long does it take a doctor,cosmetologist, or lawyer has to study to be the best in their profession?”

WHAT IS DIRECT SELLING?

Direct selling is marketing a product directly to the consumer with no middleman involved. Most reliable firms are members of the National Association of Direct Selling Companies. They bring to the public fine products that are modestly priced in order to insure mass consumption.

Most direct selling companies furnish their representatives with a starter kit and essential supplies below-cost prices. In many instances the investment is under $300.

Rewards For Direct Sales Professionals:

1. You are the boss
2. You set your own hours.
3. You own your own businesses with little or no investment.
4. You write your own paychecks.

It is only fair to tell you that there are failures in direct sales too.
There are people who will not work for themselves as hard as they work for others. When working for a boss, they rise early, are well-groomed, and get to the office on time. However, when they are their own boss, they are still in PJ’s.

If you can be your own boss and discipline yourself to do what has to be done when it has to be done, direct selling offers a most unusual earning opportunity.

YOUR TEN STEPS FOR SUCCESS:

1. BE A GOAL SETTER. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to save for college education for your children? A new car? You can have whatever you want, but you must want it enough to do the things that have to be done to get it. Whatever your goal, write it down and set a target date for reaching it. Divide the time period into blocks of achievement that are reachable. Work consistently toward accomplishing each day, each week, each month what you set out to do. Goal-setting is a must in every area of life. Little is ever accomplished without definite goals.

2. BE A LIST MAKER. Each evening list all the things you want to get done the following day. That gives you an organized approach to each day. As each task is finished, mark it off your list. It is amazing how much gets done when one works with a “things-to-do” list. Also, have a notebook listing appointments, potential clients, repeat clients, and referrals, and keep it with you at all times. You will be adding to it constantly.

3. BE ENTHUSIASTIC. Enthusiasm is the high-octane “fuel” that salespeople run on. Enthusiasm generates its own energy. Energy and good health are synonymous with busy, happy people, people who are achieving.

4. RECOGNIZE THAT THE MAGIC WORD IN SALES IS “ASK.” In direct sales we don’t have to wait for business to come to us. We create our own business by asking for it. Ask for appointments, then you can do business. Ask for business, then you will close sales. Ask for referrals, then you always have a full list of potential clients. Be quietly, yet firmly aggressive.

5. EXPECT NO’S. Realize that no’s are not personal. In sales, as perhaps nowhere else, the law of averages works. Every no gets you closer to a yes. Keep track of your ratio. It will help improve your techniques. Are you getting ten no’s to one yes? Is your ratio five to one? Remember, the yes’s are your income. Also remember that “no” does not necessarily mean “no.” Often a “no” is simply a stall for more time to think. It may be a request for more information about your product or your service. What your client is actually buying is assurance. Assure here by your helpful attitude and your complete honesty, that you want what is best for her. She will most likely respect you and do business with you.

6. SCHEDULE TIME WISELY. A schedule is the road map by which salespeople travel. It takes the frustration out of the day. It assures that the necessary things get done and get done on time. Plan your work then work your plan.

7. BE POSITIVE IN YOUR ATTITUDE. Success in sales, as in all areas of life is 90 percent attitude and 10 percent aptitude. All of us must work at developing habits of constructive thinking. I am proud to be a salesperson. Sales make the wheels of our economy turn. Bernard Baruch, advisor to several presidents, is quoted as saying, “If every salesperson sat down and took no orders for twenty-four hours, it would bankrupt our country!” Every company that manufactures any kind of product depends upon salespeople to move that product. Without salespeople business would be paralyzed.

Remember, sales is one of the highest paid of all professions. Statistics show that good salespeople enjoy incomes far above the average.

8. HAVE AN OFFICE AREA. Most direct salespeople work from their own homes, but it is essential to have a place where you can work in a organized and efficient manner. An office plus a strict working schedule gives you dignity. Both are absolutely essential for efficient operation and accurate record keeping, so important to the success of any business.

9. BE INVOLVED. Most sales organization offer contests to stimulate production. Include winning contests as part of your business goals. Contests make your business fun as well as adding considerable dollar value to your income.

10. LEARN TO HANDLE MONEY INTELLIGENTLY. A regular nine-to-five job usually means a paycheck at the end of the second week. Direct sales “reps” handle money constantly. Direct sales is instant income and constant income. Therefore. it is absolutely necessary to become an efficient money manager.

Deposit every penny collected from clients into a checking account set up especially for its business. Since bank statements show an exact record of all monies collected, and business expenses can be verified by canceled checks, record keeping becomes simple and accurate. Everything except a few “petty cash” transactions can be directly
taken from bank statements.

Money saved regularly and put at interest, soon develops a second
income in addition to earned income. A long-term goal, which is realistic in direct sales, is to be able to live in retirement off the interest earned on savings.

Would financial security mean a lot to you? If so, ask yourself
these questions:

* Am I honest?
* Do I really like people?
* Am I willing to learn?
* Am I willing to work?
* Am I capable of being my own boss?

If your answers are yes,find a good product for the direct sales market, one that you like, one that fills the need of a lot of people, and go to work for yourself. It’s time to make your dream a reality!

About the Author:

Charlotte Howard is a Business Consultant and Founder of Charlotte Howard Consulting LLC. Grab Charlotte’s FREE click by click training for Traditional Business Owners and Home-Based Business Owners.

Copyright © 2009 Charlotte Howard Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.