TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

Long gone are the days when HHES was our employer, offering retirement, education and vacation perks for the full-time qualifying LE.  We are not alone in this change as most salesmen these days are in the same boat.  Companies find it more cost efficient to contract independent sales staff rather than carrying a team of salespeople offering various perks. 

CUSTOMER INFORMATION

As basic as this may sound, the LE needs to know who they sold the books to and where they live.  This is your shipping information.  I have found a blessing in returning to primitive Godliness, where the LE actually delivers their own books rather than relying on the press to do so.  Its an excellent way to keep in touch with the customer, get referrals as friends and family see their books, and to draw closer to the buyer for eventual missionary purposes.  Its also a positive to be delivering books and making people happy - it seems to pick up your day. Customers are less inclined to cancel as well with hands-on personalized service.

GETTING PAID

                          The very best thing about being an independent agent is how we get paid.  We are our own                                 paymaster.  In the old days of HHES the salesman would generally try to secure the lowest                                 downpayment and stretch it out at the minimum payment.  Thats just the way it was.  Under                            the independent system, the LE attempts to secure the largest downpayment and shorten it                              to the maximum payment.  Payment by check in full is best, followed by payment in full by                                 credit card.  Many customers don't possess these resources so we resort to a downpayment                                and monthly installments.  It is the call of the LE whether the customer can be trusted for their payments as to how many books we leave behind.  If the downpayment doesn't cover the cost of the books then we are carrying the debt out of pocket.  This is the formula that ruined HHES programs over the years so be careful.  Let the Lord inspire you.  I don't have any problems asking the customers if they are good for their payments, especially if they will be mailing them.  In spite of the fact that some areas of the country frown on post-dated checks, this is the best way to go.  Now the customer must trust you that their checks will not be cashed in advance of the date.  This eliminates you returning each month to pick up a payment.  If there is no money and no checking account, then you must rely on the customer to mail you payment or pick it up.  Be prepared to drive the customer to their bank to make a withdrawl but if they are to mail it, then have a postage-paid envelope ready with your mailing address on it.  I can't tell you how many times I go the mail and see my handwritten address on an envelope knowing there is a payment inside, it brightens my day. 

If the customer insists on receiving the books before he pays, then mailing C.O.D. is an option.  Have the customer pay the C.O.D. fee in advance and ship him the books on the arranged day.  He pays the post office, who in turn pays you.  This works best when the client is too far to deliver the books. Its about a 50% success rate. 

You will note on my contract, that the monthly payments are laid out very clear for both the customer and the LE to keep track.  Also, when depositing checks, write down on a sheet of paper the names and dates of each deposit in case one of them is NSF or STOP PAYMENT.  If you don't, it could take weeks for the bank to let you know who the customer was.  In the case                            of a bad check, go back and re-sell the customer a smaller package.  If a check is NSF, then                          the customer tried his best but just couldn't make it.  His bank has already charged him                           a hefty penalty and it may have thrown him into additional penalties for being overdrawn.  This rip-off by the banking establishment will put your customer into a foul, cancellation-thinking mood, so I have initiated a program that when I show up at the door, I bring a mega book gift item for the customer to offset any penalties incurred by his bank.  It works wonders in customer relations.  Deal with a bank that does not charge you a penalty for customer NSF's.  On post-dated checks, I have a file with 12 dividers, one for each month.  I tell the customer that if there is a problem with the upcoming check, to phone in advance with an alert so that I can pull the check and place it ahead in the file.  The beauty of this system is that these future residuals are a blessing.  Before each month begins, I can pull out the month and count all the post-dated checks.  That way, if I have a bad week, I may still have earned $500 or more in post-dated checks from previous sales.  It makes it hard to quit the work when you have built up residuals.  Never, never charge interest.  Make it part of your close, "charge no usuary, as per Bible instructions.  The former HHES operations, which relied on interest payments, customer late fees, and NSF charges, to maintain the office,  need look no further than this transgression to explain their demise.  Our books actually point out, CHARGE NO INTEREST TO BELIEVERS!

CUSTOMER CANCELLATIONS

                                    I never refer to the contract because it really is nothing more than an agreement.  I                                             hated the HHES contracts because on the front page as big as life was the                                                                cancellation agreement, spelled out in great detail.  It was inviting the customer to                                                cancel immediately.  Who needed this aggravation other than lawyers and                                                               accountants?  In my years of independent selling that there has never been a legal dispute regarding a cancellation.  If the customer wants to cancel, he will cancel anyway.  Its very organic not legalistic.  I have included a notation on the bottom of my agreement that "under special circumstances the customer may exchange merchandise for goods of equal value."  Sometimes the children buy the books and grandma says to cancel because she is going to give them her set of books.  Because you showed the customer all kinds of books which they liked, you simply substitute another set.  In the case where a customer is insistent upon getting his money back, I have found the truth works best.  "Mr. Prospect, if I had it to give you, I would do so, but the truth of the matter is that I am only a missionary and the Lord provides for me day-to-day."  Once the customer realizes that you are in as bad a shape, if not worse, than he is financially, then he must come to grips with the matter.  In most cases, he can absorb the hit better than you.  A partial refund may be in order, but if they have already opened the books with tell-tale signs of use then you are in the driver's seat, explaining how you will have to resell them as "seconds" at a reduction.  The best way to handle this situation, is that if he has already paid a portion, then leave him behind what he has paid for.  I like to tell those who falter  that we will keep his information on file and as soon as he can pay up the balance we will return the books.

"Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle?  Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? ... He that putteth not out His money to usuary, nor taketh reward against the innocent ... He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.  He that doeth these things shall never be moved." [Ps 15:1,4,5]

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