Direct Sales – Taking Breaks During Your Day

Each of us has a unique business. Some people work strictly from home, while others work part time out of the home and part time in home. No matter what your work schedule, it’s so important that you take breaks during your working day so that you don’t develop burn out.

When you run a direct sales business, your phone and your email will receive message 7 days a week, twenty-four hours per day. Your customers and your potential customers will expect an answer. Since it’s unrealistic to be available around the clock, consider setting up an auto-response to emails. Your auto-response can be updated every day, or even multiple times per day. If you let your customers know when they can expect to hear from you, they’ll often appreciate you setting the expectation instead of feeling frustrated when they don’t hear back in an hour.

Your auto-response might say, “I’ll be answering emails after 5:00 p.m. eastern time today.” Or your auto-response might say, “I’m spending tonight with my family, loving the flexibility. I will answer your email by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

I admit, once in a while someone will want an immediate answer and will shop elsewhere, but most often, you’ll find that customers appreciate this email and are happy when you meet your commitment to them.

Telephone voice mails are equally as easy to alter each day. While I do try to answer my phone during the day, I also have been known to say to someone, “I’m out in the city right now, can I call you back on this number in 2 hours?” I then make sure I call back as promised, within that 2 hour time frame.

I have always taken breaks not only each day but I’ve also taken vacations. I let people know weeks in advance that I’ll be gone for the one week. My auto-response and voice mail let callers know that I’ll have sporadic access to phone and voice mail and that it might be a few days before I can answer them.

When you run a direct sales business, it’s important to feel you have control. Take the time you need to be with family, watch a television show, be a room parent or head out to the gym. By putting an auto-response on your email and a detailed voice mail on your phone you can take the breaks that you need for your physical and mental well being.

Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant

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