Stop Selling Me On…..
At some point in my life, I spent a decent amount of time in direct sales. Do not worry, this share is not about recruiting anyone into anything. I would venture to say most people find their way into entrepreneurship and small business through direct sales and either determine it is not for them or they move on to create other business ideas or models. This is not about bashing multi-level marketing companies or direct sales but me sharing about pieces of information that have stuck with me from my experience with direct sales that I find applicable today. I have supported my share of direct sales companies from essential oils, to skin care, tupperware, candles, scrapbooks, erotic gifts and house goods.
When I was fairly new in direct sales and trying to figure out how it fit my super-introverted personality, I would go through all of the work or opportunity and not even bother to ask for the sale. I was coached over and over on how to close the sale and reminded often,
“no profit can be made until you sell something.”
It did not matter if I were to sell a product or sell the person on a feeling. Yeah, just as nasty as it felt to read those words it felt the same trying to use those tactics to sell something to others. It did not matter if the person only had $150 left for the month or if their partner really did not want them to take on something else. If I got in front of them, I could use guilt, pressure, even annoying them until they gave in to make the sell. Now, in all fairness I am not 100% sure if all direct sales companies use these tactics but when you really think about it, does it matter? These same tactics and marketing psychology is used on people outside of multi-level marketing plans except now it has gotten even more invasive through algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
“Stop trying to sell me on…….
I know I am not the only person that has an inbox full of messages that would be easier to just hit delete all on then to actually scroll through and determine which is actually worth the little attention we have available to us. There are days I feel like screaming, “Stop trying to sell me on buying your stuff!” And I mean all of the stuff. From health programs convinced they have and know what is best for me, to reminders of BOGOs for children’s clothing and “invest in yourself and register for another online conference”. NO! In theory is selling anything inherently wrong, not at all. So what are you saying?
We are constantly functioning in a world where dominant culture wakes us up everyday reminding us to buy something. Are we making these purchases because our hearts deepest desire is to have it? Is this item something we can share in community and benefit more than just ourselves? Or are we making an additional purchase because our phones are programmed to remind us to purchase that thing we googled about three days ago? Are we following an influencer that has shown us portions of their life on social media and then we have become convinced we need to have that item they use to be sort of cool or ‘in’ like them? Are we making these purchases to seek value outside of ourselves through things or status?
I decided years ago, I do not want to participate in consumerism in the way dominant culture wants us to. And I have privilege and lack of privilege to opt out. So I have been unsubscribing from email list that are sending me content that no longer aligns with my spirit and the way I want to live my life. I have un-enrolled in receiving texts from companies I have made previous purchases from. I turned all of my notifications, well almost all of my notifications off on my phone because for me life feels more liberating and free by not constantly being sold something. I want to be whole and able to choose whether I purchase something because I intentionally went to it and made the choice to purchase it.