Imagine this scenario and picture yourself in it…

You are a fairly new direct sales representative with your company and you are more than just a little bit excited. This is a new business. It’s a chance for some good income. Plus what a great way to meet new people. The potential with this is fabulous on all fronts. You received your start up kit and you have attended your initial training sessions with your company and your upline leader. You probably even had your first party, vendor fair or open house. You are raring to go and make your dreams come true.

Oh look, it’s an email that just came in from your home office manager. She has a lead who called in and is looking to host a party in your area. “Could you please follow up”, they ask? Um, sure, yeah … uh… gulp. Now you are paralyzed.

Chances are you, like most people in any type of sales job (and make no mistake about it, direct sales of any kind is sales. Don’t believe it if someone told you it isn’t) are paralyzed with fear. Fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, fear of that monster commonly known as … the telephone. Some of the above or probably, like everyone else, all of the above.

Get over it. Now.

There, I said it. The only way to conquer fear is to, well, conquer it. And that means you have to attack it head on. Realize that is why you won’t pick up the phone, own it and then overcome it. Here are some points to help you get over your fear of follow up and make the call using the dreaded monster. I promise – it won’t bite! And it won’t hurt either. In fact, once you start, you’ll laugh at yourself for being so fearful!

1) Nine times out of ten the leads that you are getting for your business are already qualified leads. A qualified lead is someone who has already gone through some sort of screening process to ensure they’re getting the right person to answer their questions. Your home office will, for the most part, make sure that this is a legitimate request before forwarding it on.

2) Your leads have initiated the contact. They’ve voluntarily called or emailed your home office to ask for information. No one forced them to sign up or did some type of bait and switch to get on some list.

3) They have given you permission to call. They are expecting you to call. They are looking forward to your call.

4) All of the above should make it clear that what you should be fearing (if anything) is your reputation if you don’t make the call to them. If they’re sitting and waiting to be contacted and you don’t do it, it’ll not only look bad for you but for your company as well.

In our next article we’ll talk about some ways that you can set up a lead follow up system to stay organized and make sure none of your active leads slip through the cracks!

Author Bio: Annette Yen is a direct sales veteran of over 25 years. She loves helping other women explore and flourish in the direct sales business of their choice. Read more of her articles and tips at her website http://www.DirectSalesMentoring.com

Category: Business Management
Keywords: direct sales lead follow up