Prior to becoming a direct sales representative, I was an investigator for our county’s child protection agency where I spent my days interviewing people non-stop. “What happened to your child?” “What are your housing plans?” “How is your marriage?” When I wasn’t being nosey, I was busy making often feeble attempts to fix people.
Needless to say, it was quite refreshing to leave my social services job and work with people that didn’t have the same issues as my “customers” from my previous job. I was ready for a change of pace.
Within the first few months of my business, I was worn out and struggling but couldn’t figure out why. I was signing up new consultants, and I was swamped with calls from my existing team members. However, I wasn’t making any money. My phone rang almost non-stop and I was drained. Why was everyone so “needy”?
One evening, I sat down with my husband and told him how taxing my new business had become and he replied, “well..it’s simple – just quit chit-chatting with everyone”. How dare he suggest that my business communication was nothing more than idle “chit-chat”. Needless to say, I shrugged off his advice, stomped off and made a few more calls.
“So, how are your kids?” I asked one of my business team members. She proceeded to tell me about her son’s tonsillitis, her daughter’s upcoming pre-school pageant along with a detailed account of her new dog’s potty training problem. I responded by telling her about my new jeans, my son’s first tooth and the argument I had just had with my husband.
An hour later, we both laughed when we realized that we hadn’t talked at all about business. Perhaps that was the “chit-chat” my husband was talking about.
I hate to admit it, but he was right. I had spent so much time in my previous profession getting to know people, that I simply didn’t know how to separate the personal, from the professional. My calls were taking twice as much time as they needed to, and my team members were viewing me more as a “buddy” than a helpful leader (which did little to help my paycheck, or theirs).
You do not have to be a former social worker to face the same problem I had in your own home business. In fact, the majority of women I’ve worked with have forced themselves to make a conscious effort not to engage in endless “chit-chat” with the people they work with.
If you’ve worked at home for a long period of time, sometimes nothing sounds better than the phone ringing. “Yippie….I get to talk with someone over three feet tall”. Just remember that the more you enjoy chatting, the less are probably working (and earning).
Have you struggled with mixing business with pleasure? Do you have any tips to share with our readers? Post them in the comments section and enjoy reading these related articles…
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