Most of my 35-plus years in direct selling have been spent building and managing new or established companies, either as a senior executive or an outside consultant. While the companies changed, one thing did not: They were almost always party plan companies.

This is an exciting time for the average direct seller to embrace new technologies and the multitude of offerings for communicating. To share a product in seconds with 1,097 Facebook friends or tweet to more than 500 prospective customers instantaneously is something none of us imagined even five years ago.

Most salespeople understand that they need to get on the phone, yet days, months, even years go by (yes, years!) without them following up with their customers. Why? The challenge is that they do not know how to do it and they do not truly understand why. As an expert in the field of sales training and having worked with CEOs and thousands of direct sellers, I believe that the answer to improving sales, decreasing attrition and increasing profits is found in an often-overlooked success recipe all great marketers implement: follow up.

Building millions of customer relationships, one sales leader at a time. It would be difficult to find a company that didn’t believe it had its customers’ best interests at heart. In an age of “consumer centricity” and customer relationship management (CRM), most companies have incredible amounts of data on their customers and prospective customers. We have the ability to reach out to finely honed segments of the population to acquire new customers, form relationships with them and nurture those relationships. Social networking, blogging and all forms of online interaction lead to even more data segmentation and strategizing, so it’s no wonder companies believe they have their customers’ needs and wants front and center.

I’ve been saying it for years: Take responsibility for your finances or take orders for the rest of your life. That pretty much sums up your economic choice. Taking responsibility is the difference between being rich and being poor. You’re either a master of money or a slave to money.

Today’s marketplace is tough. It’s competitive, faster than ever and the stakes are high. In today’s ultracompetitive world, getting superior results faster is absolutely critical to success! So many want it! However, this hectic speed of life makes it easy to become sidetracked by things that steal priorities and make leaders less effective. People are hungry for ways to get ahead, to win and to accelerate results, both personally and professionally.