Growing your Direct Sales Team
The number one question I am probably asked daily is how consultants should talk to people or ways for them to begin growing their direct sales team. They want the secret recipe for sponsoring and recruiting or what I do different than any other designer. The truth is I do nothing different than any other consultant. The one big change that happened for me was that I changed how I was thinking.
I would honestly have to say that the biggest way starts with your mind set. Before we apply any of the tips I list below, we really have to get out of our own way. I do list mindset below however it truly umbrellas everything you do in your business. That old quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to mind. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” So many people make growing a direct sales team more difficult than it actually is. Once that thing clicks where you understand the art of sharing what you have to offer instead of acting desperate to get people to join, everything changes.
Below are my Top 21 tips for growing your direct sales team
1. Invite every host to join your team. Hosts no how this works. Some are really good at it. Whether they are good or not, I ask every single host if she would like to earn the commission on her party and make it her own. When she gets the chance to choose free product or commission, you see the wheels start turning and possibilities flying. Ask every single host if they would want to join your team. This is probably one of my top tips.
2. Ask for Referrals. If you don’t get the feeling that the person you are talking to is interested in this business, be sure you say something like, “I am looking to grow my team in this area. If there is anyone you know that would love something like this, please let me know or get me their information.” Asking for referrals takes the pressure off both you and the potential and also allows you to ask about in anyone in her network of friends.
3. Get out of your house. When consultants first start, many want to only have Facebook parties or catalog parties or they want all the secret tips to building their business online. Those are great ways to add to your business, but nothing beats face to face relationships. I hide behind basket parties about 7 years ago. I was going at a pretty good pace until I saw how my business was doubling and tripling doing home parties. Being in front of people helps them trust you. People join teams with people that they trust. Share your opportunity when you run errands, got to your kids school or even when you go to your gym. Don’t replace that in person contact with hiding behind your computer. You will have to work 5 times harder than you would by booking home parties.
4. Use Affirmations & Mantras. Repeat what you want in the present tense. “I love growing my team by 5 people this month”, “I love promoting to director” Repeating positive mantras creates what you want in the Universe to be true. This tip alone…..changed my business. Changed my life.
5. Just ask. Its that simple. Meet someone you gravitate towards. I simply say, “Wow I just love you. You have a great positive attitude. Have you ever thought about doing something like this? You would be great at it.” They will probably say no, but plant the seed and see what they say. You never know.
6. Opportunity Nights & Your Support System. People usually feel pressured at parties to give an answer about joining. Use your team and have opportunity nights either in person or via webinar. I highly recommend your opportunity nights are conducted in a way that they can see your face and not just by phone. People feel connected when they can see you. We do 1-2 opportunity nights a month and they really help new people feel a part of our team before they even join.
7. Systems! Systems! Systems! If you plan to build a team, you must have systems in place. Things like welcoming people aboard, showing them the back office, helping them with their launch party. Ask your mentor what she has in place so that you can start setting your process up.
8. Use Social Media to Share Milestones. Earn a reward? A trip? Are you at team meeting? Share those moments on social media. Trust me, people are watching you. They want to see if you stick with it. You don’t always have to be posting sales and products. Post moments. That is what people want to see.
9. Visualization. Picture yourself where you want to be. Make vision boards. Post your title where you can see it. Fact is, you are what you think about. Picture what it looks like on stage or looking at that promotion certificate. It works.
10. Practice Recruiting Conversations. Share don’t Sell. Forget about trying to convince people to join. When you look desperate, people can tell. Share how much fun you are having and what this business has brought to you life. People want a piece of that. Get the attitude, “Some will, some won’t, so what.” and keep moving. Don’t get caught up if people join, just keep moving with a positive attitude and people will join.
11. Do not prejudge. We are all guilty of this. When it comes down to it, pre-judging people comes down to our fear of being denied. We need to get over this one or we really run the risk of losing some amazing superstars on our teams and also changing the lives of some people that we have never dreamed possible. Once we start our own direct sales business, it is our job to share the opportunity with anyone and everyone that we come in contact with. It is not our place to decide if our opportunity is a fit for them or not. It doesn’t matter is someone looks like they can afford the starter kit or not or whether they have a career or they are a stay at home mom, you never know what is going on in a person’s life where our business maybe just what they are looking for. Imagine you have a bag of unlimited gifts. Wouldn’t it be a great feeling to give every single person a pretty little box wrapped with a ribbon no matter who they are or what they have going on in their life. Well, your business opportunity is that beautifully wrapped package. Give them to everyone you meet.
12. A SEED BOOK! Starting this book probably became the biggest game changer for me. Along with no prejudging, I put every single name in this book that I shared the business with. Every single person gets their own new fresh page. On the page, I put their name and then the date and every single time I would follow up with them. The follow ups may include a phone call, text message, card in the mail or Facebook Message, but I would list every single one with the date. There are only two ways to get your name out of my seed book. They would either have to say, “Quit stalking me, I’ll never be interested ever.” or they say, “I’m signing up right now.” I take my seed book every where I go so when I have down time like doctors offices, I will take out my seed book and begin making follow up text messages or phone calls.
13. Positive Mindset. SMILE! Not only do you need to change the way you think about your business, you need to be aware of your demeanor in public at all times and that includes on Social Media. People are watching you every single day and they will gravitate towards someone who is a ray of sunshine. Smile in person and definitely smile online. It is so easy for us to run to Twitter or Facebook to vent when we have a bad day but truth be told, that only hurts your business. We all have bad days or become irritated with certain situations but your customers (who are your potential team members) should never see this. Find a buddy you can vent to or take a minute to be alone but keep the negativity out of your business if your goal is to attract new team members. This also goes for complaining about personal issues. This all tends to go together. It doesn’t really matter the topic. People want move positivity in their life so they will surely steer clear of choosing you as their mentor if the only thing they hear you doing is constantly voicing your complaints.
14. Knowledge is Power. Keep learning. Knowledge build confidence and that is who people gravitate towards. Never stop learning about your business and also outside training. Keep a library of books and always commit to finding new ideas of how to run your business.
15. Never stop. No matter how large your team gets. Never stop prospecting and adding names to your seed book. Truth be told, a direct sales life span averages about 18 months, so you should always be sharing the opportunity and adding new people to your team.
16. Act Like a Leader. Do things Like a Leader. Whether you joined yesterday or 3 years ago. Whether your title is a designer or an Executive Director, you should always be carrying yourself like a top leader and doing things a leader would do. That means, you should be staying in contact with your team, following up with customers, treating your business like a business and opening the retail doors every day. If you want to be a top leader, than you need to follow exactly what top leaders do. Ask questions. See what top people are doing that works for them and do what they do. Its that simple. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
17. Shhhhhhh! Yes zip it and be quiet. So many consultants are afraid of the silence so they keep talking and talking and talking. We are so excited about our business that we just become a dump truck of information. One of the top ways my business really turned around was when someone once told me, ” a potential team member will ASK you everything they want to know.” Besides what they ask, just be quiet and listen. Always have a few go to questions like, “What would be your biggest goal if you decided to do something like this?” or “What would you do with some extra cash?” Those go to questions will allow you to get a good idea of where their mindset is, what their fears are and how you can help. Giving someone every single detail about the business may actually scare people away. They are overwhelmed and instantly start doubting that they could do something like this. Let them ask questions, answer them and then figure out what you can do to help them get started.
18. Believe in your Company and what you have to offer. If you doubt your business, if you doubt the company, if you feel weird about being a direct sales consultant, then you will project that. You need to stay in the same zone you were in when you ordered your kit and saw yourself standing under that brightly lit success sign. You don’t need to know everything, you just need to truly believe that what you have to offer can change someone’s life. This opportunity is too good to keep it to yourself. Run around with that bag full of gifts with the idea that you can’t wait to give them all away. We all have bad days in this business. It happens to the best of us but always go back to the day your starter kit arrived and remember joining. That will reinvigorate you and get you excited to share that moment with someone else.
19. Keep it Simple. Keep displays simple. Keep your answers simple. Keep your systems simple. Don’t over think of complicate this. If your entire process looks like something that will overwhelm a person, they will start to think they can’t do it. Keep everything you do easy to duplicate.
20. Believe in Yourself. I was that girl when I first started that doubted everything I did. You must believe in yourself. You must know that you are no different than anyone else. The thing that makes us different from the girl next to us is whether or not we dare to fight our fears. You are amazing. Go For It and quit letting fear hold you back from your dreams.
21. Just reminding you again… ASK! I’ll say it again. If you don’t ask people and let them know how great you think they would do at this. They will never join. You just have to ask. Plant the seeds. Water them. Build their confidence. One thing that has stuck with me since I started my career was that people tell me, “you gave me the confidence that I never knew I had.” That became my why. If I was able to help one lady come out of her shell and do things she never dreamed imaginable, then I was doing exactly what I was suppose to be doing.
Do you have other tips I should add to this list? I would love to hear. Being authentic and sharing how this business will help others is really the recipe for success. Don’t try to over think it or make it more complicated than it has to be. Just remember the moment you joined, share that with someone else and watch the magic happen.
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