Direct Sales Success: Resurrect Your Biz This Spring

I know it sounds like a bad Easter joke (and it probably is), but has your direct sales business been languishing this year?

After a busy holiday season, many consultants often go on hiatus, letting their business suffer in the interim, until the snow melts, the roads dry up, and the grass is green again. If you're one who schleps product from home to car and back, that can be a good reason to slow down. No one likes hauling stuff in the snow, but when business slows down, so does your income.

Few people leave direct sales because of a full calendar. The number one reason I hear is because they can't find bookings, can't close the sales - in short, there's nothing on their calendar!

So as we enter the second quarter of the year, take a moment to examine your goals. With the year 25% of the way behind us, are you 25% of the way towards your goals? For the average consultant (if they even have goals), the answer is not quite. And most of that is due to the fact that they let their business "slip" during the first few months of the year.

Well, now's the time to get crackin' and breathe some life back into your business.

Last week at our Small Biz Super Summit, Lisa Sasevich revealed a great technique to close more business without being salesy or pushy. Lisa is the author of "The Invisible Close" and she gave some great tips about using irresistible offers to encourage your audience to make a decision sooner, rather than later. Just yesterday, Daphne Bousquet shared with us the best strategies to make more money by hosting your own events. Here are just a few ideas you can implement to resurrect your business this spring:

• Make a time-sensitive offer. Most of our companies provide us with a monthly special. That gives your hosts and guests all month to make up their mind. Give them something special for taking action on the day of the show.
• Close the party AT the party. If you hostess coach in advance, you can remind your host that you are closing the show the night of the party. Make sure she has her catalogs, samples, and outside order forms well in advance so that she can get them out and get them back to you the night of her show.
• Host your own event. In your own home, or rent a small conference room. Be your own host. If you're using social media, make it a more informal "tweetup" kind of an event so that more people will come, try your products, etc. Then have a time-sensitive offer for people that book, buy or set up a recruiting appointment with you that night.

Time sensitive offers are just one great strategy to increase sales, bookings and recruit leads. Your company can't possibly offer a new special every day - but you can. It requires a bit of planning and forethought, but if you're running a real business, you need to be planning ahead anyway. 

Breathing life into your business can be as simple as a few tweaks to what you're already doing, or completely revitalizing the art of doing business. Either way, a resurrection will give you the forward momentum you need to have a powerhouse Summer. And as we roll into conference season, it's even more important to be hitting those goals!

You can do it!

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"Time-sensitive offer" is just one of the strategies I taught in my last Direct Sales 101 class, and here's what one of our first graduates had to say:

Well, I promoted to Team Leader, went from $300 in sales in January to $2700 in sales in February and $2000 in sales in March, and have 9 new shows on my calendar.  I want to take the early graduation discount :> 

You are, by far, the best direct sales/life coach I have ever had (and I have had quite a few!).  You have helped me to cut through my fear, my husband is now on board with my "hobby" business (as he called it!) and wants me to go full throttle, and I have been able to do things for my family that I haven't in the past.... I can't wait to see what you have in store for the rest of the year. 

Also, looking forward to the Small Biz Super Summit - what a lineup!

Lara Hall
Independent Passion Parties Consultant
www.LaraBHall.com

Direct Sales 101 will be re-opening soon. Look for more information in upcoming issues of "PartyOn!".

Direct Sales Leadership: Lead to Succeed

We're hot and heavy into the Small Biz Super Summit (formerly the Direct Sales Super Summit) and I'm excited to share the stage tonight with Nicki Keohohou from the Direct Selling Women's Alliance (DSWA). Our conversation looks at the traits that are so necessary to build a successful organization in direct sales. But it's a conversation suited to anyone looking to assume a leadership role in their business.

Whether you're an army of one or a seasoned leader with thousands of people in your organization, in my opinion, there are commonalities that all successful leaders share:

• The ability to engage the emotions of their team. It's not enough to know the "why" that encourages people to join your team in the first place, you also need to understand the "what" that almost FORCES them to stick around. When you engage with your team at this deep emotional level, your entire organization will thrive and achieve more.
• The ability to ask the right questions. Throw out the "yes/no" questions, and spend time digging into the heart of any issue your team faces: recruiting, bookings, sales. "How can I get more bookings on my calendar?" The answer often lies in the very questions your team asks. "Well, what are you presently doing, and what HAVEN'T you tried?"
• Being accountable, but not responsible. As a leader, it's your job to provide tools and resources - to lead a horse to water, so to speak. It's not your responsibility to "make them drink". You can't want their success more than they do.You have to remain committed to helping them, without being attached to the outcome of the effort they invest in their business. You are accountable to your entire team to provide help. THEY are responsible for taking advantage of the help you provide.
• Not having all the answers. Leaders aren't charged with knowing everything - they are charged with knowing enough. Leaders need to know enough to point team members in the right direction. They are to serve as a resource or connecting point and to help empower others on the team to fulfill their areas of expertise and share them with the organization. No one person can know everything, and to expect that of yourself as a leader will only slow you down.

When you explore leadership, what kind of emotions come up for you? Some people feel their stomach tighten at the very thought to leading a team, others will salivate at even the smallest opportunity to be in the spotlight. Neither is the mark of a true leader. Leaders aren't know-it-alls. They know enough to track, train and keep an open mind about new things that they themselves can learn. Leadership isn't about the number of people subordinate to you, but how you serve others on your team.

But Nicki says there are 6 skills that every leader must possess. I'm anxious to learn more tonight and share her thoughts at the Super Summit. If you'd like to hear from Nicki, there's still time.

http://www.smallbizsupersummit.com/

We'd love to have you on the call!

Direct Sales Mentoring: The Super Summit Shortens Your Learning Curve

Last year, I had a wild idea as I sat in my dining room on a Thursday night.

I fantasized about how cool it would be if someone would put together a teleseminar series for direct sellers who wanted to grow a real business, instead of an expensive hobby. There were a few live events targeted at leaders, and most companies have a national conference, but there was so much information regurgitation, that not much new was being shared in terms of what really works now.

And then I heard that voice.

"Why not you? Why not now?"

Oh, I got all kinds of internal resistance. 'But I don't know anyone. Who could I find to speak at this event?' And on and on.

I seriously didn't think I was qualified to do something like this. And several other more established direct sales trainers seemed to agree. I hit wall after wall trying to connect with some of the more well-known trainers in direct sales. They were either too busy, or unimpressed by what I was trying to accomplish.

They didn't understand online marketing, JV partnerships, or cross promoting to help one another. Frankly, their fear of competition prevented them from sharing this info with their own lists because they were afraid someone might steal their clients away.

But by Sunday night, I had secured 8 of the 15 speakers for my first event. I give a lot of the credit to twitter for that, because I was able to cut through the clutter and talk straight to several of the people I wanted to work with. In fact, I still do a lot of my connecting there.

And so it began. More than a thousand people participated in that first event. The response was so overwhelming that I was able to put together a second summit in the fall. In 2009, more than two thousand people registered for the summits.

It became clear to me that working with mentors from other business sectors was appealing not just to direct sales pros, but for all kinds of entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Why Work With Mentors?
Our third summit begins March 28, and the line-up is so powerful, that I know everyone that participates will walk away with at least one business building tool or strategy they can use right away to improve their business. That's the big reason I believe in mentoring so much. It helps you shorten your learning curve.


In direct sales especially, we can easily get stuck in a rut. We're learning from our up-line, or from other successful consultants and leaders within our company - and maybe from another direct sales coach or trainer. Often, though, the rut becomes 'incestuous'. We start copying each other, doing the same things, and not being as effective as we could be. Mentors break us out of those ruts, offering fresh perspectives, sometimes completely out of your original knowledge base.

Why Teleseminars?
The beauty of a teleseminar is that you don't even need to leave home, take off your slippers or comb your hair! It would cost a pretty penny to attend a live event that brings together a roster of experienced business professionals to speak at a 2 week event. The travel, day care and costs for room and board alone would prevent most direct sellers from participating. Plus, you'd be hard pressed to all these folks at the same event. It would just be too expensive! Teleseminars are truly the best of all worlds - expert advice that you can take action on right away, no travel required, and a minimal time investment to get on the call.

Mentors are experts in their given field. Mari Smith is an undisputed expert when it comes to Facebook Marketing. Lisa Sasevich is the champion of selling without being pushy - and you're not likely to see these folks at your national convention. The Super Summit gives you an opportunity to learn from the best minds in business for a very minimal investment. In fact, you can listen to all the live broadcasts for just $3.

We've got more than a dozen people sharing their genius at this summit - and they're not selling anything. You can take it all in, apply it to your business and go with a smile - for less than the cost of a kid's meal. Where else can you learn from so many mentors for such a small investment?

If you're serious about building a real business - not an expensive hobby - you'll want to develop a mindset of continually learning from mentors and experts that can help you grow your business successfully.

Direct Sales Success: Do You Feel Lucky?

With St. Patty's Day just around the corner, I thought it fitting to talk about being 'lucky' in your direct sales business. In truth, there's relatively little about direct sales that happens because of luck - specifically when it comes to being a leader.

In direct sales, there are all kinds of leaders, but nothing bugs me more than an 'accidental leader'.

These are the people that don't have a clue how they managed to achieve leadership. And leadership doesn't mean a title or a rank. It means anytime the consultant excels and is recognized for setting the pace. They can't tell you what they did to become successful, or share with you the secrets to their success.

It doesn't bother me that they have secrets. What bothers me is that they think they somehow got 'lucky' and success just fell into their lap.

Luck doesn't just happen. Seneca said "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Indeed. There's a lot of preparation that goes on while we're waiting for that lucky break. We're putting together host packets, attending training meetings, learning about our products, and sharing that knowledge and enthusiasm with others.

So it always kind of irks me when a leader is asked how they won that prize, or how they achieved a goal and the answer comes back "I really don't know", or my favorite "I just talked to everybody."

The problem is that these accidental leaders are misinterpreting the question. They think people are looking for some ancient Chinese secret to success - when in reality, they were just being consistent in their business.

I know, that's about as sexy as quarterly planning, but hear me out on this. I recently sat down with Nicki Keohohou from the DSWA, and we talked a bit about the qualities of a leader. There's no magic pill here, it's about consistency, quality, and a commitment to excellence that permeates your entire organization.

The correct answer may not be glamorous, but there's nothing wrong with telling the truth:

"I held nine shows and booked three shows from each of those shows. I hostess coached like I was trained, and my shows averaged $550. So I was selling about $5000 a month, which just happened to be more than what everyone else did last month. If there's any luck, it's because no one else had a $5000 month, but you guys could all do what I just did. It's not magic. I don't have a lucky charm or anything like that."

People may not think it's a sexy answer, but there's nothing wrong with sharing the fact that direct sales is a business, and you have to work it like a business if you want to get paid like a business.

If more consultants and leaders were transparent about the work that was involved in being successful, we'd probably have fewer recruits looking for a magic pill. The recruits we DID have, would probably be more productive.


© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

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Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):
Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

The Super Summit is coming!

I would be remiss if I didn't share this exciting news with my blog peeps. Each Spring and Fall, I host a telesummit with some of the most amazing minds in direct sales and business today. So here's my shameless plug for our Super Summit event.

This Spring, I think it's safe to say I've outdone myself. Here are just a few of the instructors scheduled to appear:

* Mari Smith - Facebook Marketing in an Hour a Day
* Paula Antonini - An Energized YOU
* Scott Lovingood - It's Your Money, Keep More of It
* Jimmy Vee & Travis Miller - Online Video to Grow Your Business in 9 Minutes a Day
* Lisa Sasevich - Boost Yoour Sales with the Invisible Close
* Jonathan Fields - The REAL Upside of Being an Entrepreneur
* Nicki Keohohou - The 6 Qualities of REAL Leadership

I've got people sharing info about books that haven't even been released yet - AND a ton more great stuff up my sleeve.

Now I can't reveal everything, but you'll definitely want to get pre-registered before March 28:
http://www.smallbizsupersummit.com/

In the past, we've called this the Direct Sales Super Summit, but we have so much valuable information for anyone looking to grow their business, we thought a name change would be appropriate. You'll be happy to note that we STILL have a track of content designed with direct sales pros in mind. That will not change.

We're hammering out the call schedule right now, but you'll want to be on as many of the live calls as you can - starting with the LIVE kickoff call on Sunday March 28 at 6pm ET.

If you can't make it, you'll have the option of purchasing the audios after you register. If you've been to any of our past events, you KNOW that this is the event of the year. I hope you'll join us!

Direct Sales Success: Incentivizing Hosts

As I coach  my hosts, one of the things I often do is include incentives for the actions I want them to take.

Frankly, if my host and I are a partnership, it's important to me that she keeps up her end of the partnership. My job is to help her have the most successful show possible: happy guests that spend lots of money so she gets tons of free and half priced products.

In my experience, there are a few things that help make a show successful right from the get-go:
1. plenty of guests
2. outside orders
3. bookings before the show

If those things are in place, the show is a success before I even arrive. Plus, it helps me to know I'm already making money on this show before I even head out to do the party.

The best way to encourage your hosts to demonstrate this kind of behavior is to incentivize their actions.
I use a special business card sized "cheat sheet" (that I share with my Direct Sales 101 clients) that outlines exactly how I will reward my host for helping me make the event successful.

But you don't need to be a client to do the same thing. Here's what I recommend:
1. decide what are the most important outcomes from your show (bookings, sales, recruits, etc)
2. decide what actions are required to get those results (calls to make, guests at the show, etc)
3. figure out how much of that burden should fall on your hostess (creating a guest list, making RSVP calls, etc)
4. decide what kind of incentives you can give your hostess for completing those actions.

It can be as simple or as complex as you'd like. My primary focus is always on the guest list. That's my insurance policy for a successful party. The better the guest list the more successful the show, almost across the board. I would offer a small gift to my hostess when her guest list contained 40 or more different names and addresses.

Gifts don't need to be big or fancy, but they should be commensurate with the reward you're getting in return. For example, if I had a host that collected $500 in outisde orders, I might give her a $10-20 gift on top of her host bonus rewards. That's $500 I didn't really have to work for, and that's my way of thanking her for making our partnership successful. On the other hand, if she collected $20 in outside orders, I might offer her a free sample product or an extra draw from my mystery gift grab bag. Think about your gifts as if you were the one receiving them. Would you feel special or truly appreciated? If not, it's probably not a gift worth offering.

When you incentivize your hosts, you train them to perform their duties and "keep up their end" of the business relationship. Set the expectation for success. You are not a slave. You are a partner in a successful business endeavor. Train your hosts so that they know what it takes to have a successful show.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

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USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!
Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

Direct Sales Success: Know Your Averages

In baseball, one of the key metrics used to determine a player's ability is their batting average.

The league leaders have an average around .350, which means for every 10 times at the plate, they hit the ball and get on base 3.5 times. Sixty-five times out of a hundred, they don't make it to first base.

And those are the league leaders!

Pitchers have a comparable measurement - the Earned Run Average (ERA). This statistic measures the number of runs in a game that are "credited" to the pitcher. In essence, these are the runs he gave up as a pitcher. The lower the number, the better the pitcher.

The league leaders fall in the 2.1-3.5 range. That means that even the best pitchers are giving up a few runs each time they take the field.

What about you? In the game (and business) of direct sales, you need to be tracking your own averages. In fact, there are 3 critical averages that you must track if you want to improve your business on a consistent basis - regardless of the economy. They are:

1. Your Show Sales Average (SSA). This metric tells you exactly what you can expect from every show you do. If you know that you're averaging about $350 in sales at each show you do, you can predict with a fair amount of certainty how much income you'll earn in a given month. You'll also be able to strategize ways to improve your show income. If you don't know your SSA, however, you'll always be guessing from one month to the next about how your income will look.

The SSA is an easy number to calculate. Take the total show sales you've had in a given period of time (a year is best) and divide it by the total number of shows you held to get those sales. Don't count individual sales or online income unless they are part of a show you can track. Just sales from shows and the total number of shows. If fifteen shows resulted in $15,000, you have a $1,000 show average. If fifteen shows resulted in $1500, you have a $100 show average. Your results will likely fall somewhere in the middle of hose two extremes. If you don't do shows, calculate your one-on-one's. Same math, different figures.

2. Your Bookings Per Show (BPS). This metric indicates the longevity of your business. If you consistently get 2-3 bookings per show, you have a healthy business that will continue to propagate itself with new parties. If you consistently book 1-2 parties per show, you're going to have a more difficult time keeping your calendar full. When you know this metric, you can start to take a look at the reasons for your booking success (or challenges). Sometimes, it's a matter of changing your verbiage at the party. Sometimes you realize you haven't been giving a booking talk at all. Sometimes, you hit on just the right combination of fun and education that gets people excited to want to book a show with you.

You can calculate your BPS almot as simply as your SSA. Simply add up the total number of bookings you've gotten in the past year (or 6 months), and divide by the number of shows from which they came. You are counting totals, not JUST the shows that held. Be honest with yourself. If you booked 10 shows and only 4 held, that's a different metric. We want to track the total number of bookings from each show.

This does bring up an interesting discovery. If you find you're booking a lot of shows but they aren't holding, chances are good there's a problem with hostess coaching or follow up. Or you're working with flaky people. Both problems can be easily solved with a little coaching. But you can't solve either problem if you don't know your BPS.

3. Your Recruiting Interview Percentage (RIP). This metric tells you how many recruits youll be adding to your team. This metric is a little more complex, because it's actually made up of TWO mathematical equations. First, you need the total number of guests/clients you've worked with in a given period of time. This can be a challenge, so when you first start tracking this metric, begin with the total number of guests at your shows. Over time you'll need to add in all the other people you share recruiting info with, but for now, stick with something a little easier to track. How many recruiting interviews are you scheduling from each show? Divide the number of recruiting appointments by the number of guests. This is your scheduling rate. Save that number for the next step.

Now look at your recruiting appointments. How many of them actually result in a new consultant joining the team? Take the scheduling rate from step one and divide it by this number. Now you have a percentage you can work with. For every hundred people you meet, that's the number of people that will likely join your team on average.

Let's look at an example. If you have 150 guests in a given month, and schedule 10 recruit interviews, you have a 6.6% scheduling rate. Of those 10 interviews, only 3 join the team. That means you have a 2.2% Recruiting Interview Percentage. For every 100 people you meet at shows, etc, 2.2 of them are likely to join your team.

Once you know these numbers, you can begin to see how easy it is to stay motivated. If you knew with a fair amount of certainty that you could turn 2 out of every 100 people into new recruits, you're much more likely to approach those 100 people in the first place. You're also much more inspired to want to IMPROVE that percentage so that you're not working quite as hard from the get-go.

When you keep close tabs on what I call "the BIG 3" in your business, you'll have a more consistent, stable income, with the power and ability to keep it growing, right at your fingertips.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

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If you're interested in hearing more about the BIG 3, I will be chatting with Carrie Wilkerson on this topic during her Barefoot Bootcamp 2.0 happening this month. Yes, that's my affiliate link, but the videos are free, and very informative. I hope you'll check it out. Plus, if you sign up through my link for the event, you'll also get free access to my OWN Direct Sales Super Summit coming up in March!


USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!

Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):
Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

Direct Sales: It's Playing, Not The Game, That Matters

I lost count at the number of emails I got asking me what game we played in our booth. I'm actually planning on doing an entire call for my Marketing Mentor coaching group next month about Expos and Events. But for you, dear readers, I will reveal the game we played in our booth.

But here's the thing. At different events, we played different games:

We played black jack.
We rolled giant dice and played craps.
We played "Where's the Queen?" (like the shell game, but with cards)
We played bingo.

The booth theme was "casino night". And it wasn't the game we played that mattered, it was the fact that we engaged our audience in a unique way that allowed them to see we were about more than just our product and our comp plan.

The games were pretty short - so we weren't spending more than a minute or so with each person. The games were also engaging. Participants had to participate and talk with us.

And that, dear readers, is what makes the difference. When people walk away from the booth, we'd slap the "I got lucky" sticker on them so that we knew they'd already played the game. But they were also advertising for us. So when someone asked "Hey, how'd you get that sticker?" people could say "I just played this really fun game over at that booth" and point in our general direction.

Woo hoo! They were driving traffic for us, advertising for us, and creating buzz for us. It was kind of an offline viral marketing technique.

But honestly, it didn't matter which game we played, the results were the same. People were excited about what we offered, we got to talk with people for more than two seconds, and we were able to have a memorable cue for follow-up calls ("you played craps at our booth at the expo...").

In big events, it's hard to stand out, hard to be remarkable. It's even more challenging when you have to compete with dozens of other direct sellers - even if they offer different products. People will likely only book one show, and you want it to be with you. You have to be very compelling. But that's another post for another day.

So now you know my "secret game". It's no secret. It's all in how you play the game, not what game you play.


© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!

Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

Direct Sales Tips: 3 Must Haves for Successful Events

As a direct sales consultant, I was party to more than my share of horrible events.

You know the kind: five consultants standing around in a mostly empty booth, while the crowds of passersby pass you by.

You look on, longingly hoping that someone, anyone, will enter the booth to talk to you.
But people keep walking by, afraid you'll all descend like vultures.

Yeah. I've been there. Thousands of people, no leads to speak of.

Then I had the opportunity to set up my own booth at a 2-day event, instead of "buying in" to someone else's.

I had complete control over how things were "supposed" to go (more on that in a minute).

I learned there were three critical factors to a successful event booth:

1. Traffic
2. Leads
3. Buzz

If you do it right, it's like a circle. Traffic generates leads, which creates buzz, which stimulates traffic.

But you can't get those three things to work if you haven't done your homework BEFORE the event. Here are the three MUST HAVES for any successful expo-type vendor event.

1. Know the desired outcome. What is it you're looking for from this event? More bookings? More recruits? More sales? A combination of the three? Be very clear on what it is you want from the leads that enter your booth.

2. Know the special offer. The best events I've ever had included some kind of incentive for creating the desired outcome AT the event. A special incentive for booking your party at the expo, for example.

3. An eye-catching display and sticky collateral. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be vertical. Something tall and easy to spot across a crowded expo center, or takeaways that have your visitors advertising for you, are both effective means of generating buzz once people have made it to your booth.

There's one more thing you need to plan for before the event - time to follow up with leads. If you're too busy to follow up with contacts you've made at the event, don't bother going. It's the equivalent of flushing your money down the toilet. Before the big day, block out time in your calendar AFTER the big event to be sure you can reach out to as many of your prospects as possible. If you've made a plan for the three must-haves, you'll need that time after the event to connect and close your leads.

Done properly, these three items are the biggest determining factors of your event success. If you handle yourself well and stick to the plan, you'll likely come out with more leads than you can handle.

If you opt to do things the old-school way (as did some of the consultants that joined me in my booth), you'll drive people away.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. I set up my booth, told the other consultants how we we're going to handle the event, and left to speak on the main stage at the event. When I returned, two of the consultants were out in the aisles, passing out business cards and begging for bookings.

These two ladies were not on my team, but were part of my leader's team. They had paid to share the booth with us, so I wanted them to be successful. I politely explained to them that they needed to be in the booth, following the outline we had created to make the event successful for everyone.

"But that's too distracting. We aren't talking to as many people that way. Out in the aisle, we're talking to eveyone that comes by."

"My point exactly." I said, as I motioned for my team mate to join us in the aisle.

She was finishing up scheduling a booking on her calendar and I asked her to report out her results.

"I've booked a show and scheduled one recruiting appointment, but I've only talked to about 15 people since you left."

I then turned my attention to the ladies in the aisle.

"We've passed out about 50 business cards. I've got one lady that said she'd come back later to talk about booking a party. She's a friend of mine from work."

She did book that party. But at the end of the evening, when we were sorting out the leads, those two women had decidedly fewer leads than my team. They also had fewer booked appointments, and fewer business cards in their hands.

They didn't come back the next day. On their way out for the evening, they grumbled about how poorly the event fared for them, and how I must have somehow cheated to get nearly twice as many leads for my team.

Ladies! It's about quality, not quantity. Those women were forcing themselves on anyone that stood still long enough to take a card, instead of getting people to be excited about what they offered, and sharing that excitement with everyone they came in contact with.

Who's going to keep a business card? Not very many people. Who's going to wear a sticker that says "I got lucky!" and then tell other people at the event where they can go to get a sticker of their own?

Now you see my point. My team was engaging people in a game and putting the sticker on these people so that we would know who'd already played the game. People were coming to our table to play the game, walking away with a sticker and doing the advertising for us about our booth. We didn't have to go out into the aisle. They were coming to us.

But playing the game takes about 45 seconds per guest. That means you won't talk to as many people. BUT the ones you DO talk to are engaged, excited about what you're offering, and more likely to book, buy, or consider joining your team.

So I guess you could say we cheated. We used the power of the crowd on itself. We created a viral marketing campaign right there in the event. We created buzz, which drew traffic, which generated leads...

...And we had more leads than we could handle at the end of the night - and looked forward to even more on the next day.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.



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Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

Direct Sales Success: From Strategy to Plan

Planning for direct sales success can be as simple as turning on a light switch, or as challenging as digging ditches. It all depends on your outlook.

My husband thinks 'plan' is a four-letter word. So I have to come up with "action items" instead of a plan. It's the only way to get anything done around my house.

But before I lay out my "honey-do" list, I have to envision my desired outcome. Then, I need to understand the important pillars of getting the job done.

The same hold true in your direct sales business.

Once you've laid a vision for your direct sales business, identified the goals and created a strategy around what the key areas of accomplishment are, we then get to "the brass tacks" of bringing that vision to life - creating the plan.

Once you've laid out you annual objectives, you've got to break that down into meaningful, manageable "chunks". For example, if your goal is to add 12 new personal recruits to your team, that breaks down to approximately 1 recruit each month.

But this kind of thinking is not likely to be accurate.

Consultants are trained to average their numbers out over the course of the year, which is a detriment. In reality, the bulk of our sales - the bulk of our business, really - comes during the last quarter of the year.

Now that doesn't mean to sit on your laurels until October. Far from it.

What it means is that you should plan appropriately and project reasonably for the year.

For example, if you look at your sales history and 50% of your sales happens from October to December, don't expect that you'll have an even time of things from January to June.

Forecast higher numbers in the fall and lower numbers in the winter.

This does two things:

1. It paints a realistic picture for your business
2. It shows you where your real opportunities lie

So if you've NEVER added a single recruit in February, you can choose to focus on that objective, or to play to your strengths instead.

This is how your business truly becomes your own.

If in March, you know there's a big bridal event that you're planning for, lay the groundwork NOW and know what your desired outcomes are. They may look something like this:

1. collect contact info for 300 leads
2. connect with 30 brides (preferably at the show)
3. book 10 parties/events from the bridal show
4. schedule 2 recruit interviews
5. sign one recruit

If there is a commandment in direct sales it should be "Thou shalt know thy numbers." You can't plan a realistic business year without knowing your numbers. How many interviews must you hold (on average) before you sign a recruit? How many people do you need to talk to before you can schedule an interview? How many leads do you need to make 30 contacts?

If you know these numbers, you can look at last year's data to break it all down. Here's a hypothetical example:

2009 Results:
Jan - 2 shows, 16 people, 1 recruit interview (did not sign)
Feb - 8 shows, 80 people, 3 recruit interviews (1 signed)
Mar - 10 shows, 85 people, 5 recruit interviews (2 signed)
Apr - 7 shows, 80 people, 4 recruit interviews (1 signed)
May - 16 shows, 150 people, 10 recruit interviews (3 signed)
Jun - 7 shows, 81 people, 5 recruit interviews (3 signed)
Jul - 4 shows, 55 people, 3 recruit interviews (2 signed)
Aug - 4 shows, 42 people, 1 recruit interview (1 signed)
Sep - 6 shows, 55 people, 2 recruit interviews (0 signed)
Oct - 11 shows, 140 people, 12 recruit interviews (5 signed)
nov - 16 shows, 225 people, 20 recruit interviews (10 signed)
Dec - 8 shows, 150 people, 10 recruit interviews (3 signed)

2009 - 99 shows, 1159 people, 76 recruiting interviews, 31 signed

These numbers reveal that for every 3 shows you hold, about 1 person will sign up. It also tells you that only aout 6% of your customers and guests will hold an interview with you, but that once you DO get them to schedule an interview, you will sign up about 40% of them.

It also shows you that June, July and January are your slowest months. this tells you that you can either take a vacation (if you're certain you'll not do any business during those months), or plan some new ideas for those months to boost business.

It also shows you that you're bringing a lot of team members on in the fall. How can you prepare yourself to have an eqally spectacular spring, and still be ready to bring on so many new recruits during the busy season?

Armed with your own numbers, you can plan a course for your entire year - without waiting to see what your home office will do in terms of incentives, prizes, bonuses or rewards.

You can also find the holes in your armor and fix them. If January is always slow, is it because you're so bogged down in December that you can't get things moving? If so, now you have ammunition to create a strategy to prevent this kind of problem at the end of this year.

You don't need a coach to tell you all of this. You can crunch these numbers on your own. But crunch them one way or another so that you can have a powerfully productive 2010!

© 2009 Lisa Robbin Young.

USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!
Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com

Direct Sales Success: What's Your 2010 Vision?

[Editor's note: Now that I'm migrating the "off topic" posts to my new blog, this blog will be almost entirely focused on Direct Sales Marketing Strategies - primarily online, but offline as well. - Lisa]

Every good business starts with a vision. Actually, there's some other stuff that comes before the vision. It's the foundational, "what makes you tick" kind of stuff that is a bit beyond the confines of this blog. Frankly, in order to build a business you can be passionate about, you have to do that work first. But once you've hammered that identity stuff out, you need to look to your vision.

Some people have an overarching vision for what they anticipate will be the life of their business, and that's important. Equally important is the vision for each year - those things you need to really hone in on to achieve success on your terms.

So what's your vision?

Most direct sales companies only feed you their promotional materials a couple of months at a time. It's a great way to keep you focused on "bookingin tight". But as my Sales Diva mentor, Kim Duke, loves to remind me - you need to be planning at least 90 days out*.

Suffice it to say that unless you're a higher up leader in your company, you can't possibly know what the company has planned.

A typical vision has got to have some kind of scope - who you're going to impact/reach - as well as what you want to accomplish.

For example, to sell $10,000 in XYZ product and teach 500 guests about proper skin care techniques.

A vision can't be one-sided. There has to be a quid-pro-quo (Latin for "this for that"), that is, a service being provided for the compensation being received.

Compensation isn't always monetary either. It can be money you earn, a position or title you attain, a level of prestige or recognition.

In essence, it's something you GET for something you GIVE.

Your vision should be inspiring, and a bit of a stretch. There's no vision in saying I want to keep everything in 2010 the same as it was in 2009. There's no growth in a business that's stagnant. Only decay.

So while a lot of you have started laying out strategies and ideas for what you'd like to earn, creating plans for the beginning of the year, how will you know what success looks like?

That's where your vision comes into play.

© 2009 Lisa Robbin Young.

USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE!
Please do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com



* - Full disclosure: that's my affiliate link. I love Kim so much I recommend her to others and get compensated when I do.

Income Producing Activites for Direct Sellers

In a previous post, I discussed Pareto's Law, the 80/20 Rule. And often, as was this case with this post, the comments come back like this:

"I *know* this. It's just hard to put into practice."

So I wanted to take a closer look at Income Producing Activities for Direct Sellers, as I research your most burning questions for an upcoming free teleclass for my subscribers.

Many direct sellers don't even know what their income producing activities (IPA) really are. Simply defined, IPA are any activities that directly generate income for you.

Most consultants think of this as booking, selling and recruiting. Most consultants would be wrong.

Let's look more closely at each of these activities and see if they meet our simple definition.

Booking parties is time-consuming. Even at the show, we're dropping 3-10 booking seeds to get 3-4 shows added to our calendar. When we look at industry statistics, 20% of your shows will cancel or reschedule. But in reality, it's not the booking that generates the income. Any consultant who's failed to follow up with a hostess, or forgotten to mail the invitations, or didn't confirm the booking has invariably lost a show (or had a mostly unprofitable one). Therefore it's not the act of BOOKING the party that produces the income, but rather hostess coaching and follow up that produce the income.

Dozens of industry trainers will offer you host coaching programs. The best one I've ever seen - and use myself, is Deb Bixler's Create a Cash Flow Show - which virtually guarantees you'll have a $1,000 show every time you do a party. And yes, out of full disclosure, that's my affiliate link. It give me credit for referring you to her website. I only recommend products I use and love. Deb's is one of the best on the market in terms of content and delivery. Her no-nonsense, build it like a real business approach is in complete alignment with the way I run my business, and she's a trainer of integrity.

So booking is NOT an income producing activity, per se. Hostess Coaching is. And often, this is the area in which we suffer most.

Selling is quite obviously an IPA, since the result of selling is that you earn income. Whether you're doing custmer care follow-up, reorder calls, or the show itself, I think that IPA is fairly self-explanatory.

Recruiting can be an IPA, but you need to check your company rule book. In nearly all direct selling companies, no one is paid for recruiting someone, but rather, is paid when that recruit meets a performance goal - selling a certain amount, getting "qualified" or some other performance based measurement.

In fact, many companies have strict rules AGAINST compensating a person for adding recruits to their team to avoid being considered a "pyramid/ponzi scheme". Ponzi was notorious for paying people in the pyramid a portion of the recruiting fee and there was no real product to sell - which ultimately meant the pyramid would crumble when people stopped signing up. The DSA and the federal government have some pretty strict rules about this.

So recruiting in and of itself is not an income producing activity, rather the income is produced based on team performance. But how do you encourage consultants to perform? Coaching. Thus COACHING your team is the income producing activity.

So aside from the actual sales process, the bulk of your income is derived fom your coaching activities - either with your hostess or with your team.

But where are we told to spent the bulk of your time? Booking, Selling and Recruiting.

Don't get me wrong, these are important activities, but when it comes to the 80/20 rule, Booking and Recruiting (also known as prospecting) shouldn't take more than 20% of your business time (they likely take up 80% of your time now). The remaining 80% of your business time should be focused on actual Income Producing Activities: SELLING and COACHING your hostesss and teams.

Yet this is the very complaint I hear over and over again: I don't have the TIME. Thus the need to streamline, automate, delegate and eliminate activities that don't fall into the most productive parts of our business.

Freeing yourself to focus on IPA isn't an overnight task. It takes time, but is critical to the overall success of your business. Top Direct Sales Leaders don't try to do it all themselves. Neither should you. Begin today by looking at what you could delegate, or things you know you're not good at that you could have someone else handle for you.

Take time to develop the list. Eventually, put a plan in place to start delegating. You'll free up your time to focus on making more money, which will eventually turn into freeing up more time because you won't need to work so much!

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Want more help understanding IPA and how to apply it to your business? Use this form to Ask Lisa your questions for an upcoming free teleclass about Income Producing Activities for Direct Sellers. The only certified Direct Sales Marketing Coach in the WORLD, Lisa Robbin Young can help demystify the business side of running your direct sales business. Visit her free online community for direct sellers today.

Another Sales Tip from Vilfredo Pareto

Vilfredo Pareto, that fabulous Italian Sconomist and educator I spoke of in a previous post, also made some astute observations about society beyond the 80/20 rule.

For example, he was one of the first to recognize that people assess and decide with their emotions (heart) and rationalize with their logic.

Which basically explains why we go after things we want (like a million dollar palace or a shiny new car) and ignore the things we need (like a clean home or 6 months' living expenses in our savings account).

Humans are in a constant state of assessment. We're constantly looking at what we want, versus what we truly need, and weighing the risks of putting off the need to have the want.

If we think the risk of losing the want outweighs the risk of putting off the need, we put off the need.

However, if we feel that it's too risky to give up the need, we forego the want instead.

Back in elementary school, my teacher talked about opportunity costs: the idea that every choice comes with a sacrifce - usually time, energy, or money - or a combination of all three.

In order to attain item A, we may have to give up on item B - or at least delay it a while.

Opportunity costs are all around us: when we choose to eat the frosty at Wendy's instead of ordering a salad. When we choose to buy the high end MP3 player to keep up with the Joneses, instead of buying the generic MP3 player and saving the difference for the college trust fund.

When we opt to call our hostess the day before the party instead of doing proper hostess coaching. When we don't do the upsell because we think we're "being pushy."

There are costs to every choice we make. Pareto just explained the human mechanism that allows us to make the determination.

So when you're talking with your prospects - whether you're booking, selling, or sharing the business opportunity with them, you need to uncover the wants AND the needs. Because some needs are greatr than others. They're non-negotiable. Other needs are mutable, transient and can meet oppsition when the want is stronger.

Then, simply show your prospect how your solution meets the want AND the need for best success. If you can't do both, always go for whichever is stronger - the want or the need.

It takes practice, but once you get familiar with understanding needs versus wants, you will quickly get a feel for how this works.

Some people call it "finding their pain", but whatever you call it, understand Pareto's discovery and put it to work for you.

People decide with their heart (emotions) and reationalize with their brain (logic). You are most persuasive when you can appeal to both.

Deb Bixler's Only Half Right: Boost Your Power in Your Home Party Business

Party Plan coach Deb Bixler has a great quote that she uses in her direct sales articles and live home party training events:

"Smile like a tiger and show your teeth."

According to Deb's direct sales training article, tigers show their teeth as a menas of intimidation and a show of power. The tiger could just as easily pounce first, but by 'showing his teeth', he's displaying control, confidence and power.

Thus, Deb says direct sales consultants/party plan reps should smile to increase their power in any situation.

I think Deb's only half right.
Home Party Consultants SHOULD Smile
Smiling is very important. In fact, a good smile goes a long way toward helping a home party consultant feel more confident and in control at parties. It's a great way to express a little intimidation: Smile, people will wonder what you're up to!

But we can take Deb's Tiger example even further.

Direct Sales Consultants should dress for success
I'm not saying a home party consultant should throw on her husband's hunting clothes before she heads out to her next party - although that's definitely BOLD! But having "power clothes" - clothes in which you feel fantastic - no, UNSTOPPABLE - also adds to your level of confidence and self esteem. Find good fitting clothes that look attractive and make you feel attractive. The way yo feelis psychologically linked to your confidence level as a home party consultant.

Home Party Reps should 'put on their face'
The "eye of the tiger" is symbolic of the fire and drive - the passion - burning in the tiger's heart. What's your passion? Are you working from your passion? This could be your "why", but in direct sales, it can also be a love of the product, enjoying doing home parties, etc. The point is to find the element that you are most passionate about, and work from that space. That way, at each of your parties, you'll find that you're "on fire" for the work you're doing.

"Eyes on the side are animals that hide; eyes in front are animals that hunt". You have to not only keep your eyes focused ahead (on your goals), but also be aware and ready for opportunities as they arise. The home party guest complaining about her job is potential "prey" for recruiting. The home party guest that's having a blast is a potential hostess. Be alert to these possibilities.

Home Party Consultants should be seen!
Further, you want to look your "prey" in the eye. In the wild, tigers rarely attack from behind (unless they're in a chase). They always face their prey, look them in the eye and show their teeth to convey power. They make a point of being seen.

Be a home party tiger! Show your direct sales power by not just showing your teeth (smiling), but also by putting on your best colors, looking prey (prospects) in the eye, and keeping the fire (passion) alive in your eyes.

THEN you'll be sharing your REAL power with all your home party guests - and your profits, bookings and recruits will soar.

Home Party Success: The 80/20 Rule Revisited

80 percent of the results are produced by 20 percent of the people.

That staggering (and surprisingly accurate) statistic is the very same philosophy Jack Welch used when he stripped down GE to become one of the powerhouse companies of his day during his tenure as Head Man In Charge of Getting Things Done around there. Jack understood the need to "trim the fat" as it were, to keep his organization lean and prosperous.

The same holds true in nearly every enterprise. Specifically, look at your direct sales business. Are there people in your company that rise to the top because they consistently have more sales, more recruits and more shows on their calendar than anyone else? Of course! Are you wondering how you can be one of them? Read on!

As a consultant, there are two ares of your personal business you must address to be one of these "20 percenters". First look at your time. 20 percent of your activities are going to produce 80 percent of your results. There are always activities you can't avoid doing - it's human nature to occasionally get sucked into a conversation or activity that distracts you from your daily goals. Become aware of what your 20 percent activities are, and spend your time more effectively in those areas. Eliminate distractions as much as possible. I've got kids at home, too, and I know from distractions. There's nothing more distracting than a 2 year old pouring his own glass of juice just out of arm's reach when you're trying to handle a sales call! But the baby won't drown, and you can clean up the mess (and the baby) when the call's over - no need to get upset on the phone.

The second area to address is your customer base. 20 percent of your customers will provide 80 percent of your business and the remaining 80 percent are likely to have a few "headaches" hiding in there. Be very selective and protective over these 20 percenters. I would even suggest going the extra mile and doing something special to celebrate them as your top 20 percenters. Building customer loyalty (not satisfaction) is key in this business age. It's important to stay in front of your most valuable customers so that they become even more loyal and provide you with even more value. But that means providing more value to them in return.

Tip: Many consultants use some sort of "preferred customer" or "VIP" program. Look closely at who those people are, and find ways to connect with them more often.

As a leader, you'll also need to look at your training and recruiting efforts. 20 percent of the training topics produce 80 percent of the results on a team. Sometimes they are the easy areas like order entry. Sometimes, they are more difficult areas like overcoming objections. Take a look at your training topics and compare it to the performance of your team on a month-to-month basis. there should be a correlation. Listen to your consultants. When they indicate a training need, fill it whenever possible. People don't usually ask for help, and if they are, chances are good they're not the only ones that need it!

Lastly, as a leader, you have to look at your team. 20 percent of your team will provide 80 percent of your headaches. Just know that upfront. Identify those people and create ways to handle them - before they become a distraction to the remainder of your team - and your personal business. Remember those "time suck" conversations I was talking about earlier? This is one of those kinds of activities. Make a plan.

And, I'm sure you've already figured out that 20% of your team will provide you with 80% of the results. These are your super stars - and yes, you may be one of your own super stars. Especially if your team is small. I strongly encourage special recognition for these folks - to help insure loyalty to your company - but I also encourage recognition at LEVELS. That way, it's not JUST your top 20% that are producing results. Everyone on a team serves a purpose. As a leader you need to focus on the top 20%, but be accessible to everyone in your organization. Because you never know when there'll be a newcomer to your top 20%.

Ultimately, it comes down to being AWARE of what's going on in your business, whether you're brand new, or a long time veteran. Some companies like to keep things very "hush hush" in the organization, and that's something I can't handle. I use programs like Mark Joyner's Free Simpleology System to help me get a handle on my daily tasks. I know exactly what my top 20% issues are each day, and I can target them immediately when I start my morning.

I pull reports (or create them if I have to), and know who my top producers are, who my top customers are, and then I can take action to say thanks and keep them loyal.

Take a close look at your business. Know who's putting food on your table, and who's making it harder to get your job done. Then act accordingly!
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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE?

I'd be honored - so long as you include this complete blurb with it: Lisa Robbin Young is Editor and Founder of "PartyOn!", a free newsletter for party plan professionals. A personal branding coach, Lisa is on a mission to educate consultants on big business ideas they can apply to their small business enterprise for stellar success. Get your free tips at http://www.homepartysolution.com.

Kim Duke Says: Quit Being A Cheeseball!

I love Kim Duke, aka The Sales Diva. She's smart, sassy, and a boatload of fun.
She appeared recently on a teleclass for my mastermind group, and I've been a fan of her newsletter for months. Anywho, I've only recently discovered her blog, and Kim's recent post on conventions really got me going.

I just completed a Women's Expo in my local market - it's one of the big events I used to attract new customers each year. It keeps me out of my family and friends, puts me in front of new people, and grows my business handsomely - and for a minimal investment, it's DEFINITELY worth the time.

But you have to do it right. And Kim's post is dead on the money.

For almost a year now, I've been doing a particular type of activity at my booth that draws in attendees - and sends them out advertising for my booth. It works well, and every consultant that works with me walks away with warm leads they can use - and new shows on their calendar. All in a no pressure, fun and inventive way.

But as I walked around the event, there were other consultants not so savvy.

I walked into a candle booth, and within 60 seconds of starting a conversation, she had asked me to book a party, asked me why I wouldn't book a party, and shoved her information in my face. I stepped into her booth admiring her display. I wanted to compliment her and even offer to email her a picture of it (It was REALLY nice and I had my camera with me), but I changed my mind and made a bee-line for the aisle.

This is what most consultants dread: being pushy. This girl did it in spades.

A better approach? Try asking me if I've heard of the company. Ask questions about what I like from your display? THEN tell me if that item's on special. ENGAGE me BEFORE you try to sell me.

Then it's not being pushy, it's being helpful. Only AFTER you've tried to help me do you offer to book a show or take an order - or recruit me.

Seriously. I went to another booth, and within seconds, the lady was telling me that for only $250 I could sign up that very minute and become a consultant - for a product I didn't even understand. I stopped because the sign said lose 3-4 inches in 45 minutes. Heck - who wouldn't stop for that? But she didn't even give me a chance to ask about the sign until AFTER she tried (poorly, I might add) to recruit me.

Give me a chance to know what the product is about, people! Let me know how it works. Get me as excited as YOU are about it, THEN try to sign me up. People join opportunities for two primary reasons (and a third reason that should be primary):

1. they LOVE the product
2. they LOVE the way you work and believe you can help them be successful
3. they believe they can make money as a consultant, or that they'll at least get a return on their investment.

It's not always in that order - in fact, many times, it's YOU they sign up for, not the money or the product. They want to work with YOU.

But when I returned to my booth - I was witnessing the same thing!

GADZOOKS!

Two consultants from another team had signed up to work the event with me. And there they were out in the aisle asking people to book before they had even gotten into the booth! Don't get me wrong, if someone knows your product and is ready to book a show right on the spot, then by all means go for it, but these ladies had deviated from the plan... then they started to complain that people weren't as responsive as they had hoped.

So I suggested moving back into the booth and inviting people in to try our incredibly wonderful products.

Funny... things started to turn around.

Yes it's a little more work on the front end to invite, encourage and engage potential customers, but the rewards are far greater, too. I walked out with 5 recruit leads, 3 parties confirmed and 12 more to pass to my team for follow up. I had so many leads I couldn't handle them all!

And people were coming back to our booth because of the other visitors to our booth wearing free advertising for us!

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but then you don't need a chainsaw to sift through hundreds of leads.

In Direct Sales: 5 Secrets to Fill Your Calendar Without Overcoming Ojections

With the grim economic outlook, some direct sales consultants are pulling out their hair trying to secure bookings and keep their calendar full. Some of the most experienced consultants are scrambling, buckling down, and "getting back to basics" in an effort to fortify their fading calendar.

But the savvy consultants are still holding a consistent book of shows, with calendars that are full and steady. As a business coach, I work with consultants with many different companies, and the successful consultants are revealing their dirty little secrets to massive success - even during the economic slump we're facing today. At first blush, these "secrets" are common sense ideas that will make you roll your eyes into the back of your head. Before you get dizzy, however, ask yourself how well you are implementing these secrets.

1. Create a schedule and stick to it. Top consultants will tell you that they work when they want to, and fill their work calendar around their life calendar. This is a critical component for any successful consultant. You need to know WHEN you want to (and are able) to work. Mark it down and do your work when you're working. By scheduling and utilizing time that is set aside to work, you'll be a million miles ahead of the consultant that prays for bookings to fill the empty white space on her calendar. When you know your next two or three available work dates at a moment's notice, people take you and your business more seriously. And if you don't have a show planned on a day you have scheduled to work? Work anyway! Practice your demo, download a teleclass, read up on product knowledge or network. Do SOMETHING to grow your business.
2. Desperation stinks. Customers and clients can smell desperation a mile away. When you need shows, and start doing "Crazy Eddie" antics to get them, people stop taking you seriously. You don't see Bill Gates jumping up and down on begging people to buy Windows. Neither should you. This is where most consultants develop their fear of "being too pushy". You should ALWAYS present the opportunity to join, host, or buy, but once a client says no, and you've answered her questions, leave it alone. I can't count the number of recruits I've signed at a later date because I was patient and didn't sit on their doorstep waiting for them to join my opportunity. Attraction marketing (aka gravitational marketing) helps you create an identity, establish yourself as an expert in your field and draws interested, like-minded people into your circle of influence. They naturally gravitate to you and, ultimately, choose to do business with you - no desperation required.
3. Touch your business daily. While you can bet that Donald Trump isn't sitting in the office every day making deals, he is touching his business in SOME way every day. Be it a public appearance, speaking engagement, television episode, or contract closing, he's busy being an entrepreneur and making sure that his delegates are tending to business in his absence. Likewise, you as a consultant need to be making contact with your business on a daily basis. Your store is essentially "closed" any day you're not working. Working doesn't mean doing parties. It means preparing hostess packets, making coaching calls, holding recruiting interviews, doing customer care and follow up. You don't have to work all day everyday, but you should make a point of doing SOMETHING connected to your business that propels you and your company forward. By the way, YOU are the CEO of your own company as an independent Direct Sales consultant. Legitimate networking, travel and mastermind groups all count as toughing your business. Organizing your desk, socializing on the phone, cleaning your stapler and vacuuming the floor do NOT count.
4. Keep in touch. Regardless of the method, hostesses, customers and recruits want (and need) to hear from us. A Hostesses number one complaint is that their consultant didn't make enough contact with them. Most coaching programs recommend ten different times to contact a hostess before, during and after a party. Customers should be contacted at least once every two months - and preferred customers at least monthly. Attraction marketing pros use ezines, conference calls, and newsletters to keep in touch, en masse, with a personal feel. These lead generating, rapport building tools are only part of the arsenal that propel the big money earners to the top of their company rankings.
5. Be "REAL" and talk to everyone. This is not exactly the same as the old-school 3-foot rule, where you would talk to anyone that would listen about your "amazing, ground floor opportunity." Rather, this is an invitation to release inhibitions and strike up conversations with anyone and everyone about anything and everything. Be friendly. People like and gravitate toward friendly. Opening channels of communication help you to discover common interests, and open doors to natural conversations about booking, sales, and recruiting. When you are likable, and easy to talk with, people enjoy your presentations more. Enjoyable presentations lead to more bookings, more sales and more recruits - without having to beg for "just one more host" at any party.

As consultants around the globe are waking up to the power of the Internet, and the potential of automating contact with their prospects, more leaders are growing into powerful, marketing savvy machines. These attraction marketing whiz-bangs are raking in recruits, selling up a storm, and breaking booking records - without ever having to overcome a single objection, because people are seeking THEM out for their expertise and professionalism. They have become the hunted, instead of the hunter. Begin implementing these five secrets today and watch your business soar. Who knows? Maybe YOU'LL be the next top achiever at your company's National Conference.

In Direct Sales: Recession-Proof Your Business

"Buyer's Market, Seller's Market - It's always a Realtor's Market"

These are the words my trainer said to me when I was studying for the Utah Real Estate Licensing Exam over 10 years ago. The same holds true in any niche where you're offering services, and that's one of the reasons I strongly encourage you to take a closer look at your business right now.

In this slowing economy, lots of folks are looking for a little extra income. Just keeping the bills paid can be a challenge - but when you throw in layoffs, rising mortgage rates, and let's not forget the ridiculous gas prices these days, it's not just about extra income - sometimes it's a complete income replacement!

Now it is the perfect time to share your business opportunity. You've heard the adage, 'buy low, sell high'? The same holds true in Direct Sales. Many companies are offering some tremendous savings and incentives for recruiting this summer. You owe it to everyone to share the benefits of your career. Now, I still maintain that Direct Sales isn't for everyone, but you'd be foolish not to share your opportunity at a time when many people are literally STARVING for an income.

Here are some great tips and facts to share with your customers to let them know what a difference a network marketing career could make in their lives:

* 96% of adults ages 25 to 44 are very interested in owning their own business.
* 21% of baby boomers need to save at least $2 million for retirement and many have not saved enough.
* 90% of women will assume total financial responsibility for herself at some time or another. Every woman owes it to herself to be prepared!
* 85% of bankruptcies could be avoided with only $300 in additional monthly income.
* More than 50% of adults in the US have purchased goods or services from a direct sales representative.
* BusinessWeek Magazine says direct selling is a growing $30-billion-a-year business.
* According to a poll conducted by the Direct Selling Association, additional income was the #1 reason people gave for becoming a direct selling representative.

When you have a passion for your work and love what you do, you will naturally be more successful. This holds true in every industry, not just Direct Sales/Network Marketing. There is a growing disillusionment with corporate America as downsizing continues, ethics scandals abound, and they are perceived as being too focused on the bottom line. Those that aren't turning to private small business (solopreneurs, etc.) are still looking for help.

You have the perfect business opportunity that will allow your customers to improve their quality of life, while having a support system (fellow consultants) around them to motivate, inspire and applaud them for their hard work. When you share that opportunity with others, you are opening the door to a world of possibilities they might not even know about!

YOU are your company's best product. You are that thing that distinguishes your products and services from every other company in the world. In this "crunch time" it is even MORE imperative that you focus on how you can 'deliver the goods' in a distinctive way that encourages repeat business, raving clients, and strong positive impact on your bottom line.

Are you sharing about your business? What are you sharing and how are you sharing it? What makes you remarkable?

Get out there and tell the world!

Want More Testimonials? BE a testimonial!

Facts tell, but stories sell.

Anyone in sales will tell you that testimonials are the cornerstone of your sales presentation. Any time you can provide social proof that your product will do what it says, people are more likely to take interest, open their wallets, and buy.

When I talk about "affirmative buying decisions", I'm talking about people that say yes to your offer - even if the offer doesn't cost a thing. It may be booking a party, joining your business or offering a referral for future business if they are not presently interested in your offer, but know someone that might be interested.

I learned a valuable lesson in the power of testimonials. Not because I got one, but because I gave one.

You've heard me cheer about Mark Joyner's re-release of MindControlMarketing, for good reason. The book is amazing, insightful and a must-read for anyone serious about understanding their client's motivations for an affirmative buying decision. Not only that, but the missing chapter alone is worth the investment of $27 for the book.

In reading the book, I made a comment about the congruency between what Mark does and what he writes about. I posted a note to Mark's blog about how fascinating it is to watch his writing unfold in the work he does on a daily basis. I ended my post by saying the book was "so exciting I can't stand it!"

Little did I know how that one comment would change my world.

Mark wrote a follow-up email to his subscriber base, and not only did my little unintentional testimonial appear in the body of the message, but it was FEATURED as part of the subject line! That's a profound nod from Mr. Joyner.

In that email, he included several short testimonials, along with links to the sites of those who wrote them. That little message changed my world.

The day that the message was delivered, I saw a 15% spike in my site traffic, as well as a 40% jump in opt-ins. The NEXT day, those results almost doubled, and sales spiked by 20%.

Would one email make a difference to you? It did for me.

So when you're collecting stories from your clients about their favorite products that you sell, think about the products that you know and love. Offer testimonials to them and you may just find that YOUR business will be booming in return.

Brainwashing: Mark Joyner Style

Since the re-release of Mark Joyner's book, MindControlMarketing, a tempest has been brewing over the controversial "missing chapter" titled, Brainwashing: Genuine Mind Control in the Extreme. Mark takes 12 little pages, and blows the lid off what it takes to create a cult-like following - in just about any setting - and how to protect yourself as well.

The chapter is the icing on the cake of an otherwise amazing book. People have been trading dog-eared copies of the original, out-of-print version on eBay and Amazon for years at upwards of $200 a piece.

Seriously, it's THAT good.

According to Mark, there are 3 elements to create a cult-like following without creating a cult:

1. Voluntary Participation

Obviously, anyone that chooses to do business with you meets the first criteria, but some might argue that autoship programs and the like are akin to coercion. The difference, I think is in the approach. Persuading participation in programs like these will help your bottom line, even out your cash flow, and stabilize your business. The key is perception. When your clients believe they are voluntarily participating in your program, your cult-like following will grow. If they feel the slightest bit of pressure to perform, you can be sure, you'll be seen as in a more negative light.

2. Love of a Product or Thing

Are your products buzz-worthy and irresistable? Does quality far surpass the price of the thing? What about service before during and after the sale? How easy is it to do business with you? All of these elements combine to determine whether people love what you have to offer - or not. When people fall in love with a product, it's exponentially easier to sell to them - and generate referral and repeat business.

3. Inclusionary, rather than exclusionary of "outsiders"
There are people that are un-initiated to your products/services, as well as a few that just aren't impressed with what you offer. Not everyone can or will use what you sell. How do you treat them? Are you "shunning" them at every turn, badmouthing the competition and their product users? Or are you respectful, open, and appreciative of the diversity that "makes the world go round" when it comes to network marketing? "A cult shuns the non-believer", says Joyner. But cult-like followings develop in a forum of acceptance, diversity and welcome.

When you implement these strategies, your public following will boom.
What are you waiting for?