Internal Education Fallacy In Direct Sales
Within the direct selling industry, there are certain companies that opt to provide all their education and inspiration from within the organization. It’s a defensible position.
After all, there are unscrupulous sales trainers out there who might try to co-opt the attention and patronage of the enthusiastic group sitting before them. Who hasn’t heard stories of teams being spirited away to other companies or concerns by charismatic speakers?
Then there’s the problem of congruence. Each direct selling company has its own culture and set of processes, and they don’t want to muddy the waters by introducing potentially conflicting information.
A third argument is that “we’ve already got plenty of winners within our group who can provide our people with all the education and inspiration they need. And they know our special circumstances.”
While these are valid concerns, and using home business industry speakers is very important, operating from the “inside-only paradigm” creates powerful limitations. Besides, all the concerns can be overcome with proper preparation.
Have you ever been inside a really beautiful, stylish home? Have you noticed how everything coordinates beautifully with everything else? The furniture and decorations work well with one another. The lighting is soothing and uniform. And the walls all match…or do they? What’s that one wall there painted a different color? It’s called an “accent wall.”
Use Accents In Your Direct Selling Training
An accent wall is different, but in its difference provides a powerful psychological effect. It draws your eye and creates an esthetic which makes all the rest even more beautiful. A splash of “different” makes “same” better. This works the same way at direct selling training events.
This is how it is with education. I remember in my days as a chiropractor, hearing the great speaker Joe Charbonneau. Although the conference I was attending was dominated by chiropractic speakers, it was just a few words from Joe that turned my business around. I’d been struggling with a common self-esteem issue shared by many new practitioners called “impostor phenomenon.” It made me feel the need to get everyone’s approval; the only way I could prove to myself that I deserved to be called “doctor.”
Joe’s famous line, “Of all the people who will never leave me…I am the only one,” shook something deep in my soul. I woke to the fact that it was my own approval I was seeking, and that if I didn’t accept myself, all the appreciation in the world from patients would never sooth my fear of inadequacy. That was years ago, but I never forgot the lesson. And I got it from someone OUTSIDE my industry.
Years later, as an aspiring magician, I’d already attended many magic conventions and learned from some of the best magicians in the world. But I still didn’t have the necessary perspective to launch a successful career. My friend and I chipped in to hire a Broadway director to come up to Vermont and coach us for a weekend. His theatrical perspective, which I never would have found within the magic world, helped me distinguish myself as a unique and desirable magician performer, and launched a six-figure career.
Einstein said, “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.”
Similarly, the problems facing individuals in direct sales can only be addressed to a certain extent from within that world, but to find genuine solutions, industry leaders must have the humility to accept that an outside perspective might offer solutions they can’t.
You, dear reader, may be an direct sales industry leader in a position to select educational resources for your sales team. If so, I strongly urge you to open your mind to an outside perspective. Bring your people a smattering of what exists beyond your walls. Find a speaker (or an experience) they wouldn’t find in your company alone. Take the necessary precautions, but do it! Paint your sales team an accent wall.
If you’re not a leader in your industry, I encourage you to look for opportunities to learn from people outside your home business business. Magicians learn from actors. Athletes learn from dancers. Sales people can learn from singers, jugglers, hypnotists, or who-knows-what. Broaden your horizons, and you’ll soon become a thought leader in your own industry.
Dr. Steve Taubman; Accent Wall Motivation
Why have a speaker when you can have an motivational experience!
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