Use an Icebreaker at Your Next Meeting

People rarely succeed unless they are having fun in what they are doing. ~ Dale Carnegie

 

 

 

People are Your Greatest Business Asset

I’ve always been very independent. From the day I was born (according to my mom), I’ve had no fear. I tend to plunge into projects before I even really know how I’ll actually make them happen. It has taught me to be brave, which is great. Unfortunately, it has also taught me to be somewhat of a loner because (blessedly) most people don’t work at the pace or with the same energy I do. That’s why, when I started my company, I pretty much did “it all” by myself. I was a one woman show.

• Are you thanking your hosts before, during, and after their parties?
• Are you appreciating your guests by providing them with an experience that’s fun and fulfilling at your parties?
• Do you create a team for your downline that supports their growth and learning continually?
  

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Own Your Power and Teach People How to Treat You!

I’ve noticed a mentality in the direct sales population that bothers me. It’s almost like the scene from the musical "Oliver" where Oliver goes to Fagan with his bowl in his hands, his head down, and in a timid voice asks, "Can I have some more please?" It’s like we’re constantly asking for favors, begging people to support us ("Would you book a party with me, please?").

I swear, my single-minded purpose in all my trainings is to vanquish this mentality. It doesn’t serve you! At the end of every single live event I do, I say the same thing. It sounds something like this:

"Every single one of you in this room has enormous value. As a woman (about 99.9% of my audiences consist of women. If you’re a man reading this, just insert ‘man’), as a representative for your company, as a business owner. I want you to really get your value and to own you power. When you do a party for a host, she’s getting great value from you. Not just a bunch of free products, but an opportunity (provided by you) to get together with her friends, do something for herself, and create an experience."

When you really get this concept, internalize it and truly believe it, it’s much easier to "show up for yourself" in your life and business. A great example of not owning your value I see all the time is representatives sacrificing their value with hosts. When I was doing parties for a living, I didn’t book a party with just anyone. Unless a host was willing to meet with me within a week of booking her party for about 20 minutes either over the phone or in person to plan her party, I wasn’t willing to give her a date on my calender. Why? Think about it. If a host won’t give you 20 minutes of her time within a week of booking, you have no business thinking she’ll put any effort whatsoever into the actual party she’s throwing for you!

That’s what owning your value does. It makes you think in these terms. Take a look around at your next national convention at the executives (those at the top of the compensation plan – the leaders) in your company. I can guarantee you, they’re all owning their power and being respected in return because of it. You can see it when they walk in a room. I can pick out the leaders in the room without even knowing who they are just because they have this quality, this ownership of their power.

And the beauty of this concept is this. When you start holding your own value and respecting yourself and your time and business, others magically start to do the same thing. I promise!

So own your power and understand the great value you hold and bring to those in your life and business. I think you’re amazing, you should too!

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?

You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is a success language consultant, a direct sales coach and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com.

Motivating Your Direct Sales Team with Incentives & Contests

 You know incentives work. So does your corporate office. Think about how much product you’ve sold and how many people you’ve brought onto your team in the process of earning those free trips or other incentives your home office offers. I always say at my live trainings that people will generally do something to get something for free. And the beauty of incentives in direct sales is it’s the ultimate "win-win" because while you’re earning the incentive, you’re making money and building your team. Sweet!

That being said, incentives are an excellent way to motivate your personal team as well. Not only will it get them moving toward building their businesses, but it goes a long way toward fostering a better, more supportive relationship between you and your representatives. I used to love to shower my team with gifts!

A few things to remember when offering an incentive:

• Make it clear what they’re working toward (what’s the prize?)
• Make it clear exactly what they have to do to earn it and by when
• Have a clear system in place for tracking everyone’s progress prior to announcing your incentive

Here are a few of my best ideas for incentivizing your team:

• Want to increase the number of guests at your monthly meetings (HINT: the answer is YES!!)? Why not offer your team incentives around meeting attendance and guests?
  • Bring 1 guest, receive a small prize, bring 2 guests, receive a better gift, bring the most guests, receive something really nice (as long as it’s more than 3 – I always put a minimum if I was giving away something really good.)
  • Publicize a great gift item and let your team members know they get one ticket for every guest they bring, and 10 bonus tickets if they bring 3 or more guests.
  • Offer incentives for consistent attendance at your meetings.
     
• Create incentives around those areas of your team business that are suffering. Your representatives aren’t sponsoring? Offer incentives for those who sponsor 1, 2, or more new representatives in any given month. Are bookings a problem for your team? Choose a night, host a "booking blitz" where they all get on the phone for the same hour, then give incentive gifts for those who book 1 show, more than 5 shows, or the most shows.
   
• If, as a leader, you are up for a large monetary incentive if your team performs in a certain way, consider offering to share your bonus if you reach the goal by a certain time (I have coaching clients for whom this has made the difference between earning an executive promotion and not making it). When your team gets on board to support you (and nothing speaks louder than money to get people on board), it’s much easier to achieve the volume or team numbers you need to hit your goal.

One last thing I do want to caution you about and that’s spending a lot of money on incentive gifts (even if you can afford it), This practice isn’t duplicatable. You probably earn lots of free product from your company (often as incentive gifts, while we’re on the subject), and you may also have retired items in your storage area that you can stand to part with. I also loved to give away inexpensive flowers (a dozen carnations is usually less than $10.00) as a small incentive gift. You’d be surprised at how special people feel when you hand them a flower. The bottom line, keep spending on incentives to a minimum.

So, those are a few ideas. I’m sure yours are better since you’re all actively working in the field as we speak and I haven’t been for a while. I’d love it if you all shared with each other below.

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?

You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is a success language consultant, a direct sales coach and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com.

A Crazy Simple Tool That WILL Increase Your Sponsoring Results

 I’m teaching a new group training course to a Pampered Chef group right now. It’s a four week tele-course program called "Building a Strong Direct Sales Team."  Two weeks ago we were talking about supporting your new representatives with training and coaching. I was talking about taking new recruits with you to your parties and in the middle of the training I actually said out loud, "That’s a great idea for a blog post! I’m going to write about that!"

So, here goes. When I was an active direct seller, my upline’s motto (which I happily adopted) was "never walk alone." Your parties are fertile soil for teaching a new representative through hands on, experiential learning. That, in and of itself, is reason enough to start taking people with you. What came up during our tele-training is an even better reason. It turns your party into a sponsoring environment and you’ll begin to effortlessly increase the interest in joining your team.

Think about this for a moment. You have an enthusiastic new representative with you who is excited about just beginning their business. They’re interacting with you and the guests and sharing that enthusiasm. And you’re introducing that person, making a big deal about the fact that they’re the newest person on your team, and explaining that you’re training them that evening at your party. Your guests have to be thinking, "Wow, if I started my business with this person, I’d get the same high level, quality commitment and training!" How easy is that?

Here are a few tips for incorporating this very easy tool into your current training program (and if you don’t have a training program for your new representatives, this is a great place to start).

• Inviting them to ride to and from the show together will be an effective use of your time and give you some great one-on-one training time.
• Have them practice their opportunity talk, booking talk, or their introduction with you and support them in crafting it to their satisfaction. 
• Be sure you introduce them at the party and make a big deal about them. This creates a recruiting atmosphere at your parties.
• You might even ask your representatives to actually do a portion of your party. They could actually demonstrate a few of your items. 
• Request that they take notes, notice details, and share what they learned during the ride home.

This one single tool could completely change not only the experience your new representatives are having, but also your sponsoring results. What do you think?

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE IN PRINT OR ONLINE?

You may, as long as you do not alter it and include the following information (with active links as appropriate):

Julie Anne Jones is a success language consultant, a direct sales coach and trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com.

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