Gaining Customers By Bartering in Direct Sales

If you are in direct sales, you should not be making purchases without first checking to see if there is anyone who might want to barter with you.

For example, if I want to purchase makeup, instead of ordering through a direct sales representative’s website, I’ll first see if there is a makeup distributor out there who needs/wants what I sell. This allows a few things to happen. It gives me additional sales in my own direct sales business. I am ordering products from my business but with money that I was going to have spent somewhere else. In addition, I’ve found a new customer. I’ve found someone who I know needs/wants my products.

There are other examples of bartering in direct sales. Who cuts your hair? Is it someone who might use your products? Ask about an exchange. If the hair cut is $30, is the stylist willing to trade the haircut for $30 worth of your products? Remember, you were going to spend the $30 anyway. Now you’ll spend it on your own business. Keep in mind that $30 worth of products will cost you less than the $30 once you apply your discount. So, that $30 haircut could end up costing you $20 in products. The stylist is happy because she got her products without any out of pocket expense.

What about getting a massage a couple of times a year? If you sell products that the masseuse uses you might be able to barter products for a massage.

There are a couple of “rules” you might want to consider before bartering:

1. Are the products equal in value? If you want to barter again, both parties must be happy with the value. I’m very supportive of trading dollar for dollar, $50 worth of products for $50 worth of products or services.

2. Make sure to keep receipts and records. When I mail something, I invest the money to require a signature so that I know the person on the other end has received what I sent.

3. Make sure both parties understand what they will be receiving. Bartering can be a wonderful long lasting means of doing business as long as both parties feel they got exactly what they had expected and feel that they received the value they believe they sent.

The possibilities of what you can barter for are endless. Think of the places you are already spending money and then see if you can spend that same money on products from your own business, trading those products for the product or services being offered by the other person. Enjoy the benefits of bartering while building your own customer base and business.

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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