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Selling Mary Kay products can be the perfect career choice, especially for people who prefer flexible hours and enjoy connecting with customers. But to move your business from a sideline hobby to a profitable career requires attention to some key factors. This article provides fundamental guidelines that can make the difference between success and failure, from why Mary Kay products are a good choice to effective customer service techniques.

Your business success starts with the company and products you represent.

When you choose selling Mary Kay products as a career, you are choosing a reputable, high-quality product line from a stable, ethical, and successful company. Mary Kay has been providing high quality skin care and cosmetic products since 1963, and is a well-respected global leader in direct sales. Mary Kay as a company and Mary Kay executives have been directly involved with the Direct Selling Association (DSA), an established trade association that requires its member companies to follow best business practices and adhere to a strict code of ethics. And Mary Kay products stand on solid scientific research in collaboration with dermatologists and medical experts worldwide.

Selling products you use and love makes your job easier and much more fun!

Unless youre a good actor, its hard to fake enthusiasm. But its easy to be genuine and passionate about products you use and love. If you have been using Mary Kay products for any time, youre an excellent candidate for a successful career selling Mary Kay. Your knowledge and experience with the products as well as your passion for them is infectious, and will give your customers confidence that theyre buying tried and true products.

Treat your business with professionalism right from the start.

Success as an Independent Beauty Consultant requires you to keep track of myriad details regarding customers, inventory, time, and money. Computers have streamlined such tasks, and a professional-level software program that tracks the details for you is worth its weight in gold. Find out what software tools are available, especially programs that are designed for the Mary Kay industry. Then pick the right one, not the cheapest. Look at the reputation of the company, the software features, the frequency of upgrades and improvements, and customer service. A professional business management software program with excellent customer support puts a winning team on your side right from the start.

Get to know your customers as individuals.

Find out when their birthday and anniversary is. Pay attention to their likes and dislikes, what products they buy and how often. Then keep track of all these details meticulously in your software program. Personal service is one of the reasons customers like to buy from you rather than a department store, and the key to great personal service is anticipating your customers needs before they know they have them.

Manage your inventory effectively.

Besides your customers, your Mary Kay inventory is the next most important aspect of your business. Carry too much and youll tie up too much money on your shelf. But carrying too little means you may not have what your customers need when they need them. If youre tracking your customers buying preferences, youll notice trends. This helps you set the right inventory levels and decide which products to stock. A good software program should allow you to look at your inventory and your customers product usage and give you the exact information you need.

Automate as many aspects of your business as you can.

You make money by servicing your customers, not by figuring out what you should be doing with your time or counting the products on your shelf over and over again. Notice the amount of time you spend on each aspect of your business and look for ways to streamline by using your computer and mobile device. Does the Mary Kay software program you chose have a calendar feature? Does it sync with a PDA? Can you generate invoices electronically? How can you better use web tools? Let your computer and PDA do their job so that you can concentrate on what you do best: interact with your customers.

Follow up with leads and customers.

You never know when youll meet a potential customer. Carry your marketing material with you and develop a way of recording information about each meeting or interaction. Remembering and recounting details about your first meeting and all subsequent interactions with a person tells them they are important to you, and indicates your dedication to customer service right from the start. Follow up on samples and, later, purchases to see how they like your products. Send them birthday cards and offer special discounts during their birthday month. From lead to customer, show them they are special. Chances are, they dont get that kind of treatment from a department store.

Master the foundation for cold calling success

Sometimes the finest solutions are the simplest. Focusing on relationships when making cold calls is one of them. It keeps us genuine, and eliminates our dread of making cold calls. Were real people talking about real things. Were interested in the conversation, and it shows.

Most of us dislike putting on our “salesperson persona” when we make cold calls. We think its needed, however, because weve been trained to make the sale. And yet were interacting with a live, breathing person without having any real connection to him or her. It often feels fake, and it often is.

This artificial role puts a great stress on us, and sabotages our cold calling conversations. When we arent genuine, its a red flag to the other person that we have a sales agenda. This puts nearly everyone “on guard.” Theyve never met us and are wary of possibly being manipulated.

Have you ever noticed that most cold calls break down the moment we try to “move” things along towards a sale? Its as if were getting ready for battle, and the tension pushes us along.

But the person weve called doesnt know us. The momentum were trying to impose puts him or her in a defensive position. Theyre protecting themselves from a potential “intruder” who might have a self-serving agenda.

So how can we to shift into something more positive? We begin by focusing on the relationship rather than salesmanship. We call with the anticipation of meeting someone new, and looking forward to a pleasant conversation to find out whether we can be of service. This mindset is subtle but powerfully felt by the other person.

Building relationships humanize our cold calling conversations — and ourselves. We are less artificial. Cold calling conversations become more natural. And people tend to respond with more warmth and interest.

The point is not to use the “technique of building relationship” to improve sales. Thats having a hidden agenda rather than a relationship. Our goal is to see if we can provide something that will benefit the other person. If it doesnt, then we prefer not to continue interrupting their day. Thats a real relationship, even if brief.

When were being real people treating others as real people, the difference is amazing. Both people are both more at ease. We anticipate talking with someone who may possibly have an interest in what we have to offer. And if they dont, weve enjoyed our time with him or her.

When others feel this relaxed mindset from you, they are much more likely to welcome you into their day. But if you rigidly follow a script or launch into a mini-presentation, then your call is immediately pegged as something initiated primarily for your own gain. And that puts most people into resistance.

Here are 8 keys to building relationships in cold calling:

1. Focus on the other persons needs rather than on securing a sale