New Year, New Ninja Leader? Direct Sales Coaching Resolutions

This week I’m specifically talking to my leaders, my Ninja Coaches, people who excel at a particular skill or activity (i.e., coaching their direct sales team).

I resolve to…

• Lose 50 pounds.
• Save $1,000.
• Increase my customer base by 200 people.
• Get a beach body by going to the gym every day.

As we know, January is a time for resolutions. It’s a “new day,” a New Year even, and people are out there making these wild predictions. As a psychologist (and a watcher of people in general), I always wondered why. Why now. Why not, like, oh, I don’t know, last week. I’ve talked to a lot of new direct sellers who signed on in December who said they were going to wait until January to start their businesses.

I don’t get it.

Start now. Like NOW. Go. Now. Bye. GO.

BUT here’s what I do get. A new year is almost like a new “slate” – it’s an opportunity for you to make a goal and have a start date (January 1) and we all know that goals need start dates. And assessment dates (because we have to assess progress and make changes). And end dates (or why would we have the #EOMHustle right?!).

As a leader, you can do this too.

Take an honest look at yourself last year as a leader and a coach for your team. What did you do? What didn’t you do that maybe you should have? Where did you focus the most of your time?

• Leading by example? (This is huge by the way, and it IS part of coaching).
• One on one coaching calls?
• Pop up/party prep coaching?
• Stroking egos of team members who are feeling down about their business?
• Social media posting?
• Putting out fires?
• Telling people where to find shit that they should know how to find themselves?
• Sending out team incentives?
• Creating and managing team incentives?

Be honest with yourself. Write down what you spent your time doing last year (or at least for the last two quarters because we know November and December are cray-cray and not normal).

Now the next question. And it’s a hard one.

Did what you were doing get you where you wanted your team to be?

*Pause*

Clears throat.

Now, if it did? Fantastic! Fabulous! Do more of THAT!

If it didn’t…let’s assess.

Think about your ROI (return on investment). If you spend 10 hours per week posting to your team Facebook page and nobody is working…something ain’t working. If you spend 10 hours per week trying to get your team on the phone for one-on-ones, and they aren’t calling you back or scheduling a time…something ain’t working.

Side Bar…

I have heard leaders from different companies say, “People just don’t want to work!” So wait…your team member shelled out $99/$175/$50 for…what? A kit? Maybe but probably not. Team members typically don’t work their biz for two reasons: 1) they don’t know how to, and/or 2) they can’t find the time to work it into their already busy schedule.

Remember that whole resolution bit I talked about at the beginning? THEY resolved to start a thriving business in [enter start date here] and…nothing. Maybe they didn’t do the 60-day trainings, maybe they didn’t know how to, maybe they got caught up in life. For whatever reason, they had a dream, an idea, and it came in a box (all kits come in boxes right…?). And right now it’s on the back burner. It’s fizzling. (And by the way, they probably blame their network for not supporting them or the company for not helping them because humans are typically loathe to take the blame for something themselves).

So if you’re feeling frustrated with your team not working, if you have $0s on your team, think about those two things. Do they have the tools to be successful? If so, do they have the time? Something else to think about – sales is like addictive substances. And we all know this. Once you get a sale, you want another one. So if you have lifetime $0s on your team, their goal (in your mind at least) should be 1 sale. Get that 1 sale. Get it done, get it over with, log in to your dashboard and see a sale and get The Bug. If a team member says they’re too busy (and cheers to you for getting them on the phone or getting them to text back by the way), then coach them to that one sale. If it happens like we’ve seen it happen, The Bug will bring them back to you for help with time management. I have even told team members to copy my social media posts if that’s what it takes to push them into “drive.”

Because sometimes they’re not creative (or they don’t think they are).

Sometimes they are shy or don’t want to harass their network.

This is where our jobs, as leaders, comes in to remind them that they ARE creative in their own way, and that they AREN’T harassing their network if they truly love their product. And that’s the massaging egos part of our job.

Side Bar Over.

OK so back to work on you and your team. Some questions for you.

How much time did you spend planning? Planning your own personal business month, planning your social media posts to your team, planning your emails to your team, your texts to your team, scheduling your days when you will do one-on-ones (if you’re doing them haphazardly and whenever you can, I REALLY suggest you create office hours and do them then consistently and do an outside touch base with a team member only if they aren’t available during your office hours). Work your business (of coaching) like a business. We open at X and we close at Y (although good luck with that closing at Y bit, team members will text you at all hours sometimes). Hell, even plan to plan. I plan on Sunday nights. Every week. Here’s what I’m going to do and on what days. Team Member Jane has a party on Tuesday so I need to call her Monday and do a walk through (and remind her of that constant calendar). Write these things down. Don’t have a planner (or use your phone calendar or Google Calendar)? My gosh are you kidding me? How do you stay sane and organized? Do you? Git’r done.

What does your team snapshot for the last 6 months look like? Who’s consistent? Who are your rock stars? Who’s inconsistent? Who seems to have lost interest? Now, some silly questions. Where do you make the most money? Rock stars (and consistent rock stars are like whoa I love you). Are your rock stars self-sufficient? What do they need from you? A “good job” every once in a while? A shout out on a corporate Facebook post? Now look at your lower-level team members. I break them down into consistently over $1k, $500-$999, and under $500 (and then the lifetime $0s). Push all your consistent ladies to go just a LITTLE higher every month. In your monthly planning, look at their sales average for the last 4 months (don’t count November and December), add on some bucks, and talk to them about their goal (with your goal for them in mind). No comfort zones ladies – push them outside.

Do you track your team? I use an Excel spreadsheet and created tabs for overall sales (so there’s a new column every month with their sales from Dec-15 etc.), contact info (in case my phone dies a painful death), and then there’s a tab for “focus.” Sally hasn’t had a sale in 2 months. She’s on my January list. Rhonda hasn’t responded to my Facebook posts or emails for a few weeks, what’s up with that – she’s on my January list. So the focus tab is a work in progress and is based upon the overall sales tab. I also track their pop ups/parties in a calendar and contact them 2 weeks, 1 week, 2 days before, and 2 days after to talk about the different things that need to be done (especially initially – veteran team members are like ya ya I know – and as long as they do it, I’ll leave ‘em alone).

Do you break the goals down into bite-sized bits with your team? Team goal is $50k. 50 team members. $1k/team member. 4 weeks in the month, $250/week per team member. Average party is X, that means we need XYZ numbers of parties to reach our goal. Be sure to add in a cushion of a certain number of parties that will be $0 or get cancelled. I even break it down into daily goals sometimes (especially if there’s a promo going on like a sale – “Today we want to do $50 each – that’s 2 $25 sales or 5 $10 sales”). Think about that. Every single team member has a goal of 2 $25 sales today. That is a) easy, but b) forgettable (“I’ll just do it after I get out of work” NOT). So just like I drink 20 oz of water before I can have my morning coffee (so I can reach my water goal for the day), we need to coach them to work the sales early rather than late. “Get your goal met by breakfast and then maybe, heck, double it and feel awesome for the rest of the day…”

And last of all (because this is a long post), Do you have a growth mindset? Are you encouraging your team to recruit/find their +1/whatever your company does? Most well-thought-out recruits do wayyyy better than a random who joined off the website. Are you, in your head, increasing your monthly sales goal by $1k or so per month? Are you helping your team members grow as business people who new business knowledge and suggestions? Are you growing your own business?

You're still reading! High five!

Let’s close this out because I’m on page 8 and that’s just crazy. So your team didn’t do as well as you’d hoped last year. Or they did and you want them to do even better (growth mindset). Here are the Cliff Notes:

• Planning.
• Intentional contact with team members to encourage goal setting and reaching.
• Track and break down goals.
• Think in terms of growth.

Now do two things – first, pat yourself on the back for reading all of this, and second, high five. You got this. Now go be MORE awesome. How are you planning to be more awesome? Comment below and let me know!

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!

Turn the Naysayers Around

We all have that family member who asks us why we’re doing direct sales. They ask if it’s a “pyramid scheme” (how tired are you of that question??). You also have the friends who just won’t buy from you, no matter what the sale or the promotion.

Negative people...downer (image from Psychologytoday.com/)

Today we’re going to talk about some strategies to bring those people to your side. Why is it important to do this? Well, we want to be surrounded by positivity in our business.

Negative Nancys are draining people aren’t they? You have all this energy, come bopping along, and you see them, and they’re all doom and gloom, and bam, energy sucked.

First, a couple of things to know. When I teach introduction to social psychology, these are the first things I teach so that students walk out of Day 1 with information they can use. Now YOU get to hear about it for FREE.

I call these Wright’s Rules of Social Psychology:

• I am the most important person in the world (says everyone).
• Everything related to me is important.
• I am always right (and will even say/do things that are incorrect to maintain face).
• Everyone wants to be heard (and heard out) [because they are right].
• Everything I do, say, or am involved with is right (because I wouldn’t be right if I were involved with a group that wasn’t right).
• I have great ideas (and I’m always right).
• I don’t want to be told what to do (in fact, being told what to do causes psychological reactance whereby the person starts to want to do the opposite to maintain their independence of not being told what to do).

OK so that’s a start. Think about these rules as you interact with people – why might they say and do the things that they are saying and doing? Which rule is “governing” their behavior?

So let’s apply this to our Negative Nancy’s behavior. Telling them they’re wrong (“No, actually it’s a really great company and I love my team mates”) isn’t going to get you anywhere. How can we help them to make an independent decision to change their own mind about your business or your product?

Make them feel important

Find a way to bring the person into your business to make them feel important. Start by telling them you value their opinion (which you do, you’re not lying – otherwise you wouldn’t be trying to change their mind). This can be seen as part of the Compliment Approach that Liz Ross of Chloe + Isabel advocates for.

• Asking them for their opinion and truly listening (not interrupting to answer back) will be important here. If you sell jewelry, tell them, “I’ve always enjoyed the outfits you put together – you have a good eye. I’m trying to decide between two necklaces to get for my collection – which would you suggest?”
• Ask them why someone might like your product. If you sell makeup, remind them of the benefits of your company then ask, “Which of those do you think people might find the most important part of my business? Which should I focus on?”
• Ask them about networking – “I’m trying to expand my business and I know you have lots of experience with this, so I value your opinion. I have two opportunities – a vendor event or spending the same money making flyers. Which do you think would benefit my business the best?”

Making them a partner in your business and having them help you can make their attitudes towards your business more positive. If they already have a positive opinion of you, then through getting them to think about the benefits of your business you can help them relate your business to you (and their positive thoughts of you).

What are some other ways that you can use an understanding of others’ behaviors to help them think more positively about your business?

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!

Why Passive Sales Strategies Aren’t Working

We’ve all heard that one strategy for increasing visibility of our products is to leave look books/flyers in different places (hair salons, doctors’ offices, coffee shops), and this is a great passive sales strategy.

What’s the difference between a passive and an active sales strategy? Passive strategies involve “dropping and going” – by that I mean that there is no human (you) there to talk about your products.

Leaving catalogs would be considered a passive sales strategy, and if you think about it, many of our social media posts would be considered a passive sales strategy too. In posting on social media, we’re really “posting and going,” meaning that not everyone we want to see it will see it, and they may scroll past it without activity because there’s nobody there to say, “Hey, Jennifer, LOOK AT THIS. I think you would love this particular product.”

         Passive sales strategies may help us to build brand recognition in the community (“Oh I have now heard of XYZ company”), but they may not lead to sales because there is no human interaction. Let me give you two quick examples.

Wednesday my father had in-patient surgery. I was on my way to pick my parents and take them to the hospital, so I quickly grabbed two catalogs (that I always have at the ready with my contact info) and placed them on the tables in the waiting room when patients signed in. I didn’t have a chance to make the catalogs more personal because I was running and it was a last minute idea. I observed a woman pick up a catalog, flip through it, and put it back down. It was an experiment to see what she would do. She did nothing – she didn’t take down my contact information, she didn’t take a card out of the book, she simply put it down.

         So…there’s that. Nothing happened. Now that doesn’t mean that nobody will ever pick up my book and find some things they love and take down my contact information order from my site. But it’s less likely than if there is a human attached to that book. I have had friends who booked parties off of a catalog drop, but in order to do that we need to be way more active (more about that later).

What about social media?

I posted an image of a myriad of earrings available and that the earrings were currently 25% off. I posted my link. Again, an experiment to see what happens (and example for this blog post). I boosted the post on Facebook for $5. Four hundred thirty eight people saw it. Twenty five liked it. 4 commented on it. One new like for my business page. Zero sales were made.

         Again, this is an example of a passive “drop and go” sale strategy. While they may be slightly useful, it’s a long shot. It’s a hope. And you can’t pin all your hopes for building your business on passive sales strategies. If you think you can, you’ve wasted your start up money. It may not seem nice, but it’s the truth. Passive sellers don’t make money – active sellers do.

Turning Passive to Active

         Active sales strategies are where we intentionally interact with a potential customer – we are active in the sales process. While both should be part of our sales arsenal, which do you think is going to bring you more return on investment (ROI)? Exactly – active strategies.

         When you’re leaving your look books or information at places, make it visually enticing. Include information about yourself such as a card with your picture on it. Use little sticky arrows to point out things you want customers to be drawn to. Use colorful signage on the front of your book. Make it visually enticing. Include a note in the front thanking people for looking through your book and telling them your “why.” Visually indicate your own personal favorite items.

         What about with social media? How can you best turn a passive post into an active post? Ask customers to use your website to post their favorite product and COMMENT BACK to them. Don’t simply see and like the comments. “I love that too Marsha – what would you wear that with?” “That’s a great choice Jana – let’s figure out which color foundation would look best for your skin tone. I’ll message you.” “That is currently 25% off – I’ll message you and can help you place an order!” Here you’re being active rather than simply throwing something up on social media and hoping it sticks.

The Best Active Sales Strategies

         As your sponsor/mentor/company has probably told you, home parties are where the sales are at. Now, after reading this post, you may understand why. There’s action on your part – you’re there presenting your product. There’s interaction with customers. They are seeing YOU as a human with a face and a personality and a story.

There’s also an “expectation” – if you go to a home party as a customer, it’s as if there’s this unspoken expectation that you will buy something. You, as a customer, feel obligated. I have had party attendees that came for the wine and friendship apologize to me for not buying anything. Here’s my response: “Jamie, I’m just glad that I was able to meet you. I’ve loved our conversations. And I know that if you ever need a gift, you know where I am. Tell your jewelry loving friends about me, and I’ll pour you some more wine.”

Relationship building doesn’t happen in passive sales strategies. It just doesn’t. And that’s where the building of lifelong customers starts – in the relationship.

         Your company may offer to send your customers a group email telling them about a promotion, and that’s great – the more visibility a promotion has, the better it will do. But on your end you want to be active about it (because the promo email is passive). Think about your customers/potential customers and the promo/new product launch you have going on. Who might be most interested in it? Contact them personally. Get on the phone (the phone?! Who does that? YOU DO). When you call don’t just “go for the sale.” Remember, relationships. How was their holiday? What did their 2-year-old think of Santa? How was their recent trip? During the conversation, find a way to work in your reason for your call.

         Customer: “Girl, I am STILL Christmas shopping! I have been so busy I haven’t been able to get out!”         You: “Who do you still have to shop for? Maybe I can help!”         Customer: “My sister, my aunt, and my Mom are still on my list.”         You: “What are they into? I could send you some possible pieces and we could see if we could get it all done for you. We have free 2-day shipping with a $125 purchase right now if that could help – it would be there by Christmas and you could drop it in a gift bag and voila, done!”

By listening, asking questions, and allowing the customer to do most of the talking, you’re showing them that they are important to you, not the sale. Because nobody wants to be sold to (I mean seriously, do you? Think about those people at the mall in the kiosks – you know they’re selling – and you avoid them).

So how can you turn your passive strategies into active strategies? How can you focus on active strategies instead of passive ones to increase your ROI?

Do you find my posts useful? If so, sign up to receive emails in your in box whenever I post – on the right put in your email under Follow By Email! Also, sharing is caring – share my posts with other direct sellers you know so they can check it out! Join the Direct Sales Mavens Facebook Community here and let’s help each other achieve our goals!