The Excuse Of Market Saturation

I just received a very interesting question from Davida Roth. You might remember her; she’s the Mary Kay Consultant whose blog comment I used in my last article. Unfortunately, like far too many people these days, Davida finds herself surrounded by the worst kind of people: negative excuse makers.

However, I’m absolutely shocked that she is still able to see the real truth so clearly. If you don’t believe me, just check out her latest correspondence.

Mr. Greshes,

I was wondering if you could address the idea of "market saturation". In a Co. such as mine (Mary Kay) where we have no territories is this a valid issue?

The Internet has given many failed MK Consultants and Consultants from other Direct Sales companies a new platform to express their skewed views on why they failed. It is NEVER their fault or responsibility and the main idea that is repeated over and over again, like a mantra is that the "market is saturated". So instead of owning up to the fact that they WON"T do what it takes to build a customer base, they say it CAN’T be done. Drives me crazy because I’m starting to hear higher- ups voice this same idea to justify their lack of success! Are their a lot of Consultants in the US?. .. You betcha!…. Do we have competition from other companies?… Certainly! But my feeling is that the term "market saturation" is the crutch of the lazy salesperson. But I am not the expert,

So I’m asking you- Am I the one off track here, is it possible for a market to be saturated? I’d love to get your opinion and if it’s okay, I’d love to share what you tell me on a WAHM forum that I participate in. I’ve already directed the women who post there to your website on another occasion and will do so again. Thanks for you help with this question and for your kind response to my blog posting.

D.M.R

Davida, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Of course it’s an excuse. Remember, most people in sales look for any excuse NOT to sell.

Now is there such a thing as market saturation? Of course! One of the many problems of the airline industry was over capacity; there were far more seats than passengers. Of course, when the government keeps giving out taxpayer money to failed companies you end up with more airlines than you need. But now, through mergers, consolidations and streamlined schedules that problem is going away.

Is there market saturation among Mary Kay and other Direct Sales consultants? I’m not sure, but I doubt it. And I very much doubt whether any of those people who claim the market is saturated know what they’re talking about. Do you think any of them commissioned a study by a market research firm in their area? What do you think?

You all know as well as I do what happened. This is standard operating procedure for all excuse makers. They ask one or two people to buy. The first prospect says, “Oh, I really don’t have any money right now, and besides, with the economy the way it is, I’ll probably be cutting back.” The second person they talk to says, “You’re the third person who’s approached me about this in the last month. Boy, there seem to be an awful lot of you.”

That’s all the excuse maker needs to hear. After an exhaustive study of two people, the excuse maker is now convinced that a) Nobody is buying and, b) There are more consultants than customers, so why bother. They have the excuse they wanted. What, you thought they were looking for sales? Remember, excuse makers are more interested in “Not failing,” than in succeeding.

You see the excuse maker always needs a reason or a scapegoat. It’s a heck of a lot easier than looking in the mirror at the real culprit. But the excuse makers can be very useful. After all, as long as they’re around there really is no competition.

So Davida, distance yourself from the excuse makers. Surround yourself with people who think like you do. Oh and by the way, find out the areas where the excuse makers claim there’s no business and go there, because I’ll guarantee you there’s money to be made and there’s NOOOOOOO competition.