For many people, careers in direct sales are an attractive side-hustle. They’re seen as a way to earn a bit of extra income, whether you’re a student, part-time worker, or stay-at-home parent. This alone is a valid reason to consider multi-level marketing (MLM) as a career.

However, working in direct sales can also boost your career prospects substantially by providing you with crucial skills that will serve you well. So let’s take a closer look at how direct sales can prepare you for any real career opportunities you want to pursue. 

In direct sales, you are your own boss — much like any entrepreneur or business leader in many ways. You can no longer be just another team member at a desk to succeed. You’ll need to take action and lead to see the income you want.

To find success and be a leader, you need to learn that there will always be obstacles in your path. But if you tackle these goals within your MLM company, you can take these lessons on the entrepreneurial spirit anywhere:

• Time. When your paycheck comes from sales rather than hours worked, you’ll find yourself sometimes taking calls at odd hours or with too much time on your hands when sales are slow. But you’ll learn how to manage time effectively, which is essential to any leader’s skill set.
• Motivation. When you determine your success through your sales, you won’t have a boss looking over your shoulder, ensuring you do your job. You’ll soon discover that the best leaders always find the inspiration to push a little harder and be consistent.

And there are more than enough success stories out there to show how leaders can succeed. For example, a UK-based “Avon lady” became a millionaire in 2010. Leaders in the MLM space can truly make their mark.

Learning from every positive and negative experience is what makes a salesperson. In your time as an MLM representative, you’ll witness every spark of interest in a customer’s eye and every time someone’s face glazes over. You’ll notice correlations between these emotional responses, what you’re talking about, and how you’re talking about it.

You’ll realize that, for the most part, customers aren’t interested in products. They’re interested in their lives being easier or better. The product is simply what enables them to get there.

Let’s go with a classic example: vacuum cleaners. The customer is interested in buying the idea of their home appearing spotless with minimal effort required. The customer is interested in changing how their current vacuum cleaner gets clogged with hair and needs its bag changing so often. You sell them on this image rather than the product’s technical specifications.

Understanding how to sell a vision for a client is a requirement of any profession, and knowing what people want will help you succeed.

You’re missing out if you’re trying to sell every customer on the same angle. When you’re regularly talking about products with different customers, you’ll learn to read people and adapt your pitch accordingly.  

Everyone in direct sales lives or dies by whether they can deliver their closing pitch at the right time, in the right way. People find themselves making pitches and needing to close deals throughout any career. Having insight into how people think allows you to act in your best interests and understand how people respond. 

This skill doesn’t just help you succeed in a new career path but in getting yourself on that career path in the first place. In a job interview, you’re selling your skills and abilities. Knowing how to make that closing pitch can help you create a new beginning in an exciting career.

When you first start with an MLM, you need to build a customer base to make sales. You might start with friends and move on to their friends, and as you continue, you’re suddenly speaking with people who would be strangers without this business. After all, some people call MLM models “social selling” for a reason. 

Building good, professional relationships with everyone you sell a product to means that you’ve got a vast network of people who work in diverse professions. If you decide to switch to a different full-time career in the future, they could be your foot in the door. It’s another excellent reason to learn about the people you’re selling to in direct sales.

Nobody ever bought something from someone who didn’t seem to want to sell it. And to make sales with an MLM, you’ll need to be assertive. 

Being assertive has benefits for any job. It allows you to take the lead on projects and recommend yourself to your superiors. It helps you build workplace relationships rather than hiding in a corner when you start a new job. It gives your customers confidence that you know what you’re doing.

People who have worked in MLM companies never lose the skill set they build up. They learn how to apply it to different fields. This can help you find new career opportunities and flourish.

Failure is a matter of perspective. In one sense, failure is a way of life for people in direct sales. The simple fact is (especially if you’re cold selling) that more people won’t want to buy your product than those who will. However, you can be a successful salesperson with a small portion of critical conversions. It’s all about the right “yes” rather than avoiding a “no.” 

The direct sales model changes the way you perceive failure. You learn to see outcomes as more important than perfectionism. This is always true in business. You’ll learn to keep the endgame in your sights and understand what’s needed to get there. You’ll have the grit and experience of overcoming setbacks to support you in any business career.

Going into a sales opportunity without a plan is a recipe for disaster. You can have a good idea of your product and who you’re meeting. Still, unless you’ve mapped out the entire journey from discovery to conversion, you’ll struggle. 

Ideas need to be polished, honed, and put to work to achieve your goals. This skill is invaluable in any career path.

During your time in an MLM company, you’ll come to know your products inside-out. You’ll understand their benefits and what makes them better (or worse!) than the competition. Particularly, if you work with a diverse inventory, soon you’ll have expert-level knowledge of your niche.

Let’s say you’ve worked in direct sales as a representative for beauty products. This knowledge will make you a fantastic asset if you choose to work as a beautician or beauty products company in the future. It could even help you set up your own business — expert product knowledge is something that customers always value.

There’s a reason that shampoo ads on TV constantly say “recommended by hairdressers.” Having the expertise to confidently recommend and sell products to your customers while providing a related service could mean you keep up your direct sales career while running a successful business.

Direct sales representatives need to have an eagle eye for the opportune moment. Spotting that the time is right to close the deal is how you turn a conversation into a sale. This is the same intuition that helps you realize when a career opportunity is staring you in the face.

Most people don’t get promotions without asking for them. They don’t know when or how to ask for career advancements. As someone with experience in MLM selling, you’ll be able to spot the opportune moment a mile off. This intuition will pay dividends for your entire professional life.

Endless studies show that communication is one of the most critical factors in doing business. In direct sales, communication is vital for success. You quickly learn when to listen to your customer or take control of the conversation. You know how to address doubts and offer reassurance. You understand how to write compelling social media posts that bring attention to your products. 

The skills that you’ll gain through working in an MLM environment will furnish you with the ability to succeed anywhere and in any profession. Communication is foremost among these skills.

Working within an MLM business model can feel like a trial by fire. While your first few sales to family and friends are comfortable, widening your audience takes steely nerves and a practiced, well-honed pitch. However, the skills you’ll learn as you progress are skills that can help you in virtually any career path.

If you are afraid that joining a company as an MLM consultant is a dead-end, you’re sorely mistaken. As you work in direct sales, you’ll learn many skills that will seamlessly translate to the profession of your choosing in the future.