Two Ideas to Streamline Your Direct Sales Business

 

How are things going with your business?  Like, how are they really going?  Might you need to streamline your direct sales business? Are you:

  • Finding balance with your work life and personal life?
  • Getting those business building activities done consistently?
  • Creatively pumping out content left and right?
  • Do you have systems down that streamline your direct sales business?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of the above questions, then this may not be the blog for you!

But, if you are like the rest of us and have struggled to find ways to simplify your business, then this is for you.  We are about to drop some knowledge about delegation and automation that have the potential to give you absolute freedom within your direct sales business.

Quote block for Streamline Your Direct Sales Business. It reads: Delegation - noun - The Transfer of responsibility for specific tasks from one person to another. The act or process of delegating or prioritizing tasks for delegation. Chic Influencer.

Let’s talk about delegation.

Delegation is the act of taking the more mundane business tasks on your load and handing them over to someone else to complete.  This person could be someone that you pay, like a virtual assistant (VA) or an administrative assistant.  Or, it could be an unpaid position like asking your partner or your friend’s cousin who is looking for experience in marketing.

Whoever you choose, it’s important that the person be someone that you trust and who pays great attention to detail.  You also want someone who is strong in areas where you may struggle.  If you’re a creative person, you might want someone who is more of a black-and-white thinker that has great organizational skills.

In the end, the goal is to streamline your direct sales business, not make things more complicated.

Quote block for Streamline Your Direct Sales Business. It reads: So often we keep things to ourselves because we think, "nobody else can do it better than me." What ends up happening is that we run into this brick wall because we only have so much bandwidth as a human. Melanie Mitro.

What might be holding you back?

You might be thinking:

  • I’m not worthy of an assistant.
  • I’m not making enough money yet to hire someone.
  • I don’t trust anyone else to do what only I can do.
  • I don’t have the time to teach someone how to do things the way that I like them done.

So often we keep things to ourselves because we think, “nobody else can do it better than me.”  What ends up happening is that we run into this brick wall because we only have so much bandwidth as a human.

The truth of the matter is, no one wins when you become a martyr to your business.  There’s no badge of honor for burning out.  However, there is freedom in admitting that help might be actually helpful!  There is room to breathe when you check your ego and realize that someone else can help you streamline your business and help you succeed.

But what do you delegate?

We love this question!  Here’s what we want you to do.  First, take some time to write out all of the tasks that you do.  We want you to spend a week taking notice of your activities.  There are some things that you do daily and some that you do weekly.  Make sure you write a comprehensive list of your business activities down to the most mundane of tasks.

Next, we want you to divide the list into three columns:

  • Things only I can do
  • Business activities that I like to do
  • All of the things that I wish someone else would do

For the “things only I can do,” for example, only you can show up as you on social media.  Only you can create your personal video content.  You are the only one who can meet with prospective teammates.  When it comes to serving your customers 1:1,  your face is the one they want to see.

Next, for the “things I like to do,” write down what brings you happiness in your business.  What’s in your “joy zone” and what inspires you?  Do you love recruitment? How about shouting out your teammates?  Thrive off of creating Reels?  Great!  You don’t have to give these things up in order to streamline your business.

Finally, when it comes to the “things I wish someone else would do” section, write down all of the activities that waste your time and quite frankly, annoy you.  Scheduling events for team calls, writing emails, scheduling appointments, creating images, etc.

Ok, do you have your list?

How do you actually hire someone?

Once you have your list, look at the section that you wish someone else would do for you.  Estimate the time that it takes you to complete those tasks within your business.  Now, figure out your personal hourly rate.  Calculate the money that you bring in and the hours a week that you work.  Chances are, your hourly rate is pretty high!

But, a VA or admin assistant could be paid a lower rate to complete those tasks, which streamlines your business activities and gives you the freedom to work in your joy zone.  Delegation prevents burnout.  It also makes you money because you’re able to build your business quickly when you’re not bogged down in every last detail.

Where do you find the right person?

At Chic, we have used Indeed for our hiring, but there are a lot of options out here.  LinkedIn is a great way to find prospective help, too.

Truthfully, we have also had a lot of luck simply posting to our social media accounts that we are hiring.  Getting the word out to your network of people who already know you might lead the right person to your virtual doorstep sooner than later!

In the end, delegation is meant to streamline your business and grow your bottomline.  While we know it can be work up front, the payoff in the end is more than worth the time investment!

Quote block for Streamline Your Direct Sales Business. It reads: Automation - noun - The act of converting a manual process to an automatic system that requires less hands-on-intervention. Chic Influencer.

Let’s chat about automation.

Automation is taking something that you do manually within your business and using a program or feature that makes it automatic.

Here are a few examples:

  • Having a thank you message auto-populate every time that a customer purchases from you.
  • Someone fills out an interest form and it triggers a nurture sequence of emails right to their inbox.
  • An individual gives their email in exchange for an automatic coupon saving 10% off of their first purchase.
  • Segmented email lists based off of customer needs and interests.

Quote block for Streamline Your Direct Sales Business. It reads: If you're not automating parts of your business, you're basically throwing money away. There's so much opportunity to really reach people, to clarify your messaging beyond what you can do on the surface. Automation allows for that. Katy Ursta.

How do you decide what to automate?

First, we suggest thinking about the biggest pain point in your business in terms of what is taking you the most time.  Second, ask yourself, “What can I do to automate that process a little bit more?”  If you can’t think of how to streamline the process, we suggest even googling to see how others are dealing with the issue.  (You know you are rarely the only one with a problem, right?!) Finally, do the work to automate the process.

We understand that it can be a lot of work up front to automate a process.  That you may even think to yourself, “It’s just easier if I take care of it manually.”  But here’s the thing: you can keep wasting precious minutes doing everything by hand, or you can set aside a few hours to put a system in place that will free up hours of time later for you to work and create income.  We suggest the latter!

If you’re not automating parts of your business, you’re basically throwing money away.  There’s so much opportunity to really reach more people, to clarify your messaging beyond what you can do on the surface. Automation allows for that.

What do you think?

Are your wheels turning?  Have you identified items that you can delegate or a person that you would trust to delegate to?  What about automation: has anything come to mind that you might want to take the manual labor out of and put on autopilot?

We really challenge you to look closely at your business and the areas that could be better organized or more efficiently run.  You are only one person and a successful business has so many facets to it.  Automating and delegating are two of the biggest hacks to streamlining for success!

streamline your direct sales business

If you’re a network marketer who is sweating the upcoming schedule changes that inevitably come with summer, we have a solution for you! Our “How to Get Your Business Summer-Ready” Masterclass is happening TODAY, May 12th! You can choose from three different times to accommodate your busy schedule. In addition to the class, you will walk away with access to three additional mini-trainings to get your business prepped and polished for summer. You can sign-up for the Masterclass here: https://chicinfluencer.com/summer-ready-business/

We have another special announcement! The Chic Community is officially open for enrollment and we are saving you a spot inside! But act fast because enrollment closes on May 23rd. You in? https://chicinfluencer.com/membership/

Follow the Make Chic Happen Podcast over on Instagram @makechichappenpodcast and follow Chic Influencer @chicinfluencer for more tips on how to streamline your direct sales business!