Hey, It's Not About You!
November 5, 2009 by Julie
Filed under Coaching, Home Party, Sponsoring, Team Building
In coaching school they basically teach you how to listen. Sometimes I think it's comical that I spent over $4000.00 and a whole year to become a certified coach basically learning how to listen! It has got to be one of the toughest skills you'll ever attempt to perfect because we as human beings tend to be sort of self centered. We'll be quiet while the other person takes their turn to talk, but we're basically just waiting until it's our turn to talk again (because what we have to say is infinitely more interesting than what the other person is saying). So even though we may be quietly nodding, we're not really hearing what the other person is saying. We're figuring out what we're going to say once it's our turn again. And yet, if you can truly master the art of listening, your life and business will change.
One of the best ways to learn to listen is to become curious. Start asking questions. We call them powerful or open ended questions in coaching. Whether you're visiting with a host during a host coaching appointment, connecting with guests at the beginning of your parties, or coaching the representatives on your team, asking powerful questions will completely change your results. A powerful question is one that's open ended and allows the person being asked to imagine and expand their answer. Using a question like "How would your life change if you decided to join my team?" is much more powerful than "Would you like to learn more about my opportunity?" (And just FYI, if a question can be answered with a yes or no, it's not open ended).
Get it? So start listening to yourself. Are you mostly talking about yourself or asking questions about other people? And when you are asking questions, are they powerful and open ended, leading the person you're asking into greater possibility, or closed ended, yes or no questions? Believe me, the more you make it about them and forget about yourself, the more effective you'll be as a communicator.
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Reading: My Direct Sales Interview with Julie Anne Jones
October 8, 2009 by Julie
Filed under Home Party, Sponsoring
Training is my passion and next week I’m starting a four part group tele-training course with Jackie Ulmer’s team called "Designing an Amazing Party Experience." I’ll be teaching them how to maximize their party experience so they’re getting bookings, sponsoring leads, and sales from it. I love teaching these courses because they’re small groups (no more than 20 people on the calls) and I get a chance to interact and get to know everyone through the course of the four-week program.
Jackie is an amazing woman. I met here right here on this blog when she left a comment about one of my posts. She has a very successful direct sales business and is also a savvy social media user. She has leveraged the internet to build her team and has an awesome blog with tons of great information for direct sellers. (Check it out!)
Jackie interviewed me last week so that her team and readers could get to know me a little better and we had a really fun, lively discussion about the "state" of the direct sales industry, specifically why I believe that direct sales is the answer in today’s economy (just like it was for me 10 years ago).
Click on over and read her blog post and then click on the link to listen to this short interview. Then tell me what you think below. I’d love your feedback!
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 New Way to Look at Creative Sponsoring…
September 16, 2009 by Julie
Filed under Sponsoring
I’m often asked, beyond recruiting at your parties, what are some other ways to find new representatives? In my opinion, it’s all about finding a way to trigger conversations as you move through your life, interact at your kid’s school, church, shopping, etc. 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.
Back to School Means Back to Work in Direct Sales
August 26, 2009 by Julie
Filed under Bookings, Home Party, Home office, Life Balance, Party sales, Self Development, Sponsoring
If your kids didn’t start school this week (mine did), they’re getting ready to within the next two weeks or so. I’ve always loved this time of year because it feels like it’s so full of possibility. The nights start getting shorter and colder, the air is crisp, and my routine gets back to some resemblance of normal. Think about it. A brand new school year for your kids is the best time for you to grow your business. Did you know that more small business owners start their businesses in September than in any other month?
The question is, have you done what you need to do to capitalize on this very lucrative time of year in our direct sales profession? There are a few very important steps you need to take right away if you want to experience success in the next few months and into the holiday selling season. Here’s my checklist:
- Make a plan. I wrote a good post on the importance of this and how to accomplish it on Monday. Just in case you missed that, you can read it here.
- Get booked! You’ve heard it from your home office and your upline for the past month – the time to get booked for Fall is right now. Believe it or not, September is just a few days away. It’s getting late, grasshopper! You had better start planning for the upcoming season or you’re going to go hungry! There are lots of ways to accomplish this. Here are a few posts I’ve written on the subject (just click on them and they’ll open in a new window of your browser):
- Follow-up. This will help with the above as well. Getting on the phone can be a challenge and it can also pay off in a huge way once you get beyond the fear and just do it. Click here to read a post I wrote called, "Hate Creative Bookings? Read On…"
- Share your Opportunity. This one is so easy at this time of year. With kids going back to school, mom’s are looking for part time work and with the holidays coming up, many people are looking for extra income. Open your mouth and share! I created an entire month of "Tips of the Week" on this topic. Click here to check them out.
- Work smarter, not harder. You’re going to be busier than your kids once school starts, I guarantee it. Between soccer games and school events, the time just seems to fly by each week. Time for yourself can easily become a luxury that you feel you can’t afford. WRONG! Read a post I wrote on the topic back in June here. This revelation really changed my life!
So, there you have it. This post is filled with so much great content, if you take the time to access and read it, you’ll have more ideas than you know what to do with to jump start your business this fall.
And what about you? Do you have any great tips for stepping into an abundant fall? I’d love it if you shared them below.
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
August 12, 2009 by Julie
Filed under Coaching, Home Party, Leadership, Sponsoring, Team Building
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?
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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