What’s the Difference between a Successful
Merchandiser and an Unsuccessful one?
In
December a whole bunch of people make these resolutions to make positive change
to themselves for the coming new year. They buy gym memberships, sneakers, and
exercise clothing, they buy new cookbooks full of healthier foods to cook.
January 1, a new year begins and everyone sees an opportunity to “create
themselves again,” to start over, and have a clean slate. They strap on those
sneakers, they head to the gym, and they have trouble finding a parking spot
because, man, that gym is PACKED. But by February 1? The gym is not packed. The
cookbooks are gathering dust. And you? You feel as if you failed your New
Year’s Resolutions.
How do gym resolutions
relate to your business? Well, you signed up to be a merchandiser for Chloe +
Isabel. You paid for a box of jewelry to be delivered to your door. You paid
for an opportunity. If you listen to the National Calls every week (which I
highly suggest), you see a list of ladies who are successful in their
businesses in the Top 20. And you may be wondering, “What is she doing that I’m
not doing?”
Being a successful
merchandiser isn’t a resolution. It’s not something you think you want to do
and you just do it. It’s not about buying sneakers, exercise clothes, and a gym
membership, the accoutrements of a weight loss goal. I mean, you could equate
that to buying your kit, buying business cards, and getting jewelry forms for a
pop up, right? That’s not going to make you successful. That’s not going to get
you to the Top 20 every week or bring in that amazing commission on the 5th
of the month.
 |
| Success isn't a resolution. It's a lifestyle change. |
So what is? What are
these ladies (and guys!) doing differently? Think about this – when a friend
has a weight loss goal, how well does it work out for them? It starts out
amazing but slowly, over time, it gets pushed to the back because they’re “too
busy,” “too tired to work out,” or some other reason. What do people who are
successful with their weight loss journey do? Instead of making a goal, they
make a lifestyle change. Serious
change takes, well, serious change.
This is not going to be
pretty, and it’s not going to make me popular, but I’m going to say it. If you
are not making a lifestyle change for your business, you will not be
successful. Period. If you’re not changing your mindset to think of yourself as
a business person, if you’re not focusing your efforts on growing and selling
alongside your life, if c+i has not become part of your lifestyle, you’re not
going to make the Top 20 (and if you do, you won’t stay in it for long). If
your business isn’t a regular part of your day, your life, your identity, it
will be a fluke…and your parking lot will be empty in a month, just like the
gym.
So how do you make this
lifestyle change? You commit to it, you make a plan, you implement the plan,
and you make weekly and monthly assessments to how your plan is working. When I
began as a merchandiser, I did so as a “hobbyist,” someone who thought, “Oh
that looks like fun!” I had some extra cash so I applied and signed up. My goal
for my first month was to make $60 in sales. Seriously, that was my goal,
because I didn’t expect myself to do well. Then I got a sale. And it was like a
drug, I wanted more. I wanted to see how much I could push myself (and my
network). I ended my first month with $600 in sales. That may not seem like a
lot to some, but that was amazing to me. After that my goal was to reach
incentives every month and I started being a $1k per month merchandiser. Not in
the Top 20, but consistent. And consistency is amazingly key in our business. I
wore my jewelry everywhere (even to the gas station at 10 p.m.). And people
started associating me with my brand.
How did I do it? I
started by sitting down and deciding how much I wanted to make per month. My
husband had recently bought a truck and I didn’t want to “see” that truck
payment, so my goal was to make $504 a month to cover that payment. I did the
math and realized that was $1680+ in sales per month. So that was my goal. I
committed to it because I wanted to make that payment without financial stress
on our regular budget. I broke it down and decided that if a typically in-home
party averaged $500 in orders and an online party averaged $200-$300 in orders,
then I needed to do 3 in-home parties and at least one online (or some combination)
to get me there.
As I worked that first
month, I recognized that my current network in my city wasn’t immediately
interested in in-home parties, so I looked back at my plan and made some
changes. I decided to focus on social media to engage my network, to expand my
network through online parties and networking events, and to build my brand
through marketing to professional women/family women/moms. My focus wasn’t
fashionistas, but I did bring in some fashion and beauty to my branding because
I knew that female professionals may be interested in that but not have the
time to focus on it (similarly to me). But after 3 months of consistently
wearing my jewelry, talking about my business, posting to social media, and “being
the brand,” my network expanded and people came to ME to book parties.
So long blog post short –
are you committed? Do you WANT to be successful in your business? Because if
so, it’s time to make some changes – positive changes for you and your
business. How can you do that?
1) Set
aside time to work your business. You are a business person, a business professional
– if you don’t work your business, it won’t work for you. Period. Set aside an
hour a day (and an hour on Tuesday for the National Call, or at least an hour
on Wednesday to listen to the recording). Work it like it is a job. Every day.
2) Be
consistent. Daily 5 (which you hear me preach time and again). Reach out to
five customers or potential customers per day. But don’t just text them “Hey, I
need a sale, can you help me?” Our business is about building relationships.
Find out what your customer needs or wants and help them get it. Do they tell
you they have an upcoming event? Offer to let them borrow a piece for it (and I
bet they will order it). Offer to help them style their dress/outfit.
3) Post
happy. In all seriousness, when I see people who have linked themselves with c+i
on social media and I see them post negativity, I shake my head. You don’t need
to pretend to be happy all the time, but you don’t need to be spewing
negativity all over the place and then posting a pic of jewelry and telling
people to shop your boutique. It doesn’t work. People associate you with your
brand – be our brand. Creative. Confident. Encouraging.
4) Post
a story. When you’re posting about your business, don’t just put up a picture
with your link. Post about what the jewelry has done for you, how it makes you
feel, or what makes you love it. Always post verbiage with your pictures. Give
customers a call to action, something to do.
5) Put
yourself out there. Your comfort zone, what you feel comfortable doing, is not
going to be where sales are. Going to networking events, calling photographers
and offering to style their clients, these things do not feel comfortable to
me. I hate the phone. But I do it. Because I am a business person and I own my
business. If I don’t work it, it won’t work.
6) Be
creative. It’s not just part of our tagline – if your current plan isn’t
working, change it up and think differently than you have been. Talk to others
about what they do and adapt it for your network/area if you can. Read books or
blogs about direct sales and work in some new strategies. Google “direct sales
follow up strategies” to learn more about how to follow up with potential
customers. Get into your business by learning more about what others have tried
and what could work for you.
So what were your takeaways from this post? Comment
below and let me know – I’d love to hear about what has worked (and not worked)
for your business!
XOXO,
Liz
It’s
your friendly neighborhood Chloe + Isabel MM with some business tips! Have
questions, want to set up a chat with me, or want me to talk about certain
things in these weekly emails? Let me know! Send me a text or call me at
210-465-1894, Facebook message me, or email me! I want to hear from you and
help you be successful in your business!
