Spring is the time for rebirth, renewal, and more importantly, new products for your direct sales business! Sure, the birds are singing, bees are buzzing, flowers are blooming, yadda yadda yadda. But when that new direct sales catalog hits your mailbox, there’s a sudden state of excitement and good old fashioned giddiness that can’t be beat.
I know you’re excited to tell all the people about all the things, but before you go bombard your friends, family, and social peeps with all the new goods, here are a few tips to ensure you’re going about it the right way! Make sure you read all the way to the bottom. I’ll tell you what to do with your old product catalogs besides filling up your recycle bin.
Want a proven plan for growing your direct sales business without feeling like you're chasing your tail? The Direct Sellers Business Blueprint explains the 4 key areas you must master to build a simplified, systematic business. It will even tell you which area to tackle first, so you can stop feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next. The best part? It's completely FREE!
BE PURPOSEFUL AND STRATEGIC ABOUT WHAT YOU SHARE
We don’t want to go posting willy nilly and spamming the world, because that’s a good way to lose friends and followers. Have a plan and nail down the following
- Find out what products have been discontinued. This goes without saying, but it’s pretty embarrassing when you share about a long-gone product, and someone wants to purchase one, and then you have to tell them that it’s no longer available. Take some time and sharpie up an old catalog to have a reference for later. If one of your favorites is leaving the product line, you’ll also want to have a similar product suggestion at the ready, just in case you get asked.
- Find out what the new products are. This is the super fun part! Get to know the shiny new toys, er, products, so you can share about them with enthusiasm and confidence. Go through your catalog and make some notes about key features and benefits. A warning here – it’s okay to share a quick round-up or unboxing of your new spring products, but don’t go binge posting about all the things. Take some time and get to know your products first before you start sharing a lot of info about them.
- Focus your time on 2-3 key products. If you had a product launch that included many products, it’s going to be tough to know all the things about each one. Start with just a few key products that you think will be big hits this season and educate yourself about them. Share that with your people when you learn something new or have an aha moment.
GIVE YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS SOME LOVE
- Personally reach out to your VIP customers. See if they’re interested in seeing a sneak peek of the new catalog before it hits the presses. If your company isn’t cool with that, reach out ahead of time and let them know when they can expect their shiny new catalog in their mailboxes. They’ll appreciate the heads up and the loyalty perks!
- Use a Google Form to capture information. This one is super simple and a quick way to gather info for putting catalogs in the mail. Post some fun teasers with you holding the new catalog, ask who wants one, and include an easy form where they can drop their mailing address.
- Offer an exclusive discount. Build excitement by offering a special discount or include a “golden ticket” in some of your catalogs. No one knows who will get the golden ticket. Ooh, the anticipation!!!
- Include information on upcoming hosting and joining specials. This info should be in everything you mail, but with a new catalog, it’s super important. What if they see something they want? Reminding them of those hosting perks is a great way to get some parties on your calendar. Some people may love the new catalog so much they’ll want to get started with their own direct sales business!
- Follow up. If you’ve been around for a hot minute, you know I love to talk about follow-up. There’s no point in mailing out many catalogs if you don’t do any follow-up. They asked to see the new goodies, so we need to follow up and make sure they got the info. Am I right? Check in to see if they received the catalog and had time to review it. Ask if they’re interested in getting some friends together so you can show them even more!
REPURPOSE YOUR OLD CATALOGS
- Leave them out and about. You can leave them at doctors’ and dentists’ offices (with permission) for patients to flip through while waiting for their appointment. Think about all the places you have to sit and wait. Everyone else is sitting and waiting, too! By the time they get seen, they could have a bunch of pages dog-eared.
- Hand them out at vendor events. Let’s be real for a second. Catalogs can get pricey, so you don’t want to hand them out to every Sally, Sue, and Sammy that walks past your table. Let people take your old catalogs with them instead. You can’t use them anymore, but they will have your contact info and how to get a new catalog.
- Label them! Make sure every old catalog has a fun label that lets people know how to contact you to see what’s new.
Happy New Catalog Launch! Go out there and rock it!
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Want a proven plan for growing your direct sales business without feeling like you're chasing your tail? The Direct Sellers Business Blueprint explains the 4 key areas you must master to build a simplified, systematic business. It will even tell you which area to tackle first, so you can stop feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next. The best part? It's completely FREE!
Mary Haynes is a highly successful direct sales leader turned strategist and coach. Her passion is helping party plan people streamline and scale their businesses using simple, proven strategies. Her goal is to eliminate business overwhelm so direct sellers know exactly what to do and when to do it. Mary is also a homeschooling mama that lives in sunny Florida with her husband, 4 kiddos, 2 dogs, and various other backyard animals.
