The new year has begun, so it’s an excellent time for direct sellers and entrepreneurs to take lessons from 2022 and see how they may apply to 2023 business trends. 

Perhaps you scored big product sales wins and charted impressive growth. If so, well done.

But, despite your best efforts, if you didn’t, don’t be disheartened as it’s all in the past.

What is essential is that direct sellers fine-tune their approaches by analysing what worked and didn’t and by paying particular attention to predicted trends.

Of course, sales is an ever-evolving field, and many other factors could have an impact over the coming months. Even so, the five expert recommendations below should help you consider lessons from the past year and give you and your team a head start for the next. 

1. Focus on customer needs

One of the key recommendations for 2022 was to sell products or services that focus on solutions. Unfortunately, many sales professionals took that advice to mean pitching the unique selling points of products and services to customers. 

The thing is, that is anything but the objective of solution selling.

To be clear, some customers do want to learn about the bells and whistles and how QNET offerings are different from everything else in the market. Yet, most are eager to hear how their unique lifestyle requirements can be addressed.

This doesn’t mean that direct sellers shouldn’t be product experts. Far from it. But what you should strive to do, first and foremost, over the coming 12 months is zero in on your customer’s needs.

2. Increase your interactions

How often did you meet and/or interact with prospects or customers in 2022 before you either made a sale or cut your losses?

Stats reveal that many sales professionals make only two attempts to interact with clients, which means sales are not only being lost, but that effort is not being made to bring valuable customer connections.

With that in mind, thus, look to focus on more meaningful interactions in 2023 via physical meetings as well as voice and video calls, live chats, and social media messages.

The bottom line here should be relationship-building. And that can only be achieved with constant engagement.

3. Prioritise existing clients

While growing a network involves meeting new prospects and clients, you should look to devote as much time and focus to existing customers.

One of the main reasons for this strategy is that long-term customers already trust you. So, not only are you likely to notch repeat sales by nurturing existing relationships, but you also have a ready and reliable customer base guaranteed to be receptive to new offerings.

Consider also that long-term supporters are your best influencers and brand ambassadors and can work wonders in engaging prospects.

4. Play the social media long game

If you’re a QNET entrepreneur, chances are you’re already well-versed in social selling and have been using online channels to promote offerings and connect with customers. That’s great! 

Nevertheless, look to change things up in 2023, and instead of selling, try utilising social media to, well, not sell.

Yes, you read that right! 

The past 12 months have taught us that customers don’t want to be bombarded by multiple “adverts” on new offerings. Instead, they gravitate towards value postings. As such, look to use your social media channels to initiate conversation, tell stories and showcase your expertise. 

The goal here is that you should come to mind whenever customers think of addressing certain needs.

5. Sharpen your team’s skills 

Like in 2022, success will require better digital literacy, creative thinking and interpersonal skills. So, leaders ought to ensure that their teams are equipped for the demands of the new year.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to incorporate data into your team’s development and to have regular engagement sessions to go over the numbers and measure performance. Yet even more effective might be pencilling in training and skills development programmes in your 2023 sales calendar.

In fact, given how they’re easily accessible to anyone everywhere and not rigid, why not consider the numerous entrepreneur-focussed training programmes offered by our digital learning platform qLearn? 

Remember, your team can break through the sales stratosphere next year. But they need the right guidance, something courses like Certified Network Marketer+ can readily provide.

6. Observe a schedule

Time management is crucial to any entrepreneur, especially with how tumultuous events beyond our control can be, as we have seen during the recent global pandemic. A sales calendar is essential in running a direct selling business because it can help you align your efforts with key industry events and deadlines. This can increase the likelihood of closing sales by allowing you to understand the context and timing of your prospects’ decision-making processes.

The QNET Sales Calendar lets you plan ahead in the year so that you can make the best of your direct selling journey with QNET.

The Sales Calendar Terms Explained

• Sales Week: QNET offers weekly commission payments and divides the year into sales weeks. A typical sales week begins every Saturday at midnight HKST and ends every Friday at 11:59 PM HKST.
• Sales Month: A sales month in QNET closely resembles a calendar month and contains either 4 or 5 sales weeks. There are a total of 12 sales months in a QNET year.
• Covered Sales Dates: The specific dates included in your sales week are indicated. This allows you to plan for a successful 2023 with the exact dates in mind.

By being aware of the sales cycle, IRs can schedule follow-ups and pitches to coincide with critical moments when prospects are most receptive to new products or services. Additionally, keeping track of a sales calendar can help prioritise and manage a sales pipeline, ensuring that the right resources are dedicated to each prospect at the right time.

Ultimately, observing a sales calendar is a strategic approach to sales that can lead to more efficient and effective results.

Starting right

A point to note is that the above recommendations do not guarantee success and/or profits. Direct selling, after all, doesn’t work like that.

Nevertheless, what they do offer is a chance to begin 2023 on the right footing and with the right focus and the right attitude.