By Karen Phelps
In recessionary times, some direct sellers get hung up on the economy while others refuse to let it affect them. Right now, chances are a lot of your consultants and leaders are “allowing” the economy to influence their businesses.
I recently received an e-mail from a leader who had been with her company for eight years and said she was still not earning the money she wanted. She told me she was ready to quit. The funny thing was, she had participated in every company contest and earned every trip, but still wasn’t earning the income she wanted from her business. Soon after, I was coaching a direct selling leader, Jessie, and she shared with me that she had 20 parties scheduled for the month and she had already received the guest lists and mailed the invitations for all 20 parties. She also has nine recruits for the year and has promoted two directors. When I asked her how she was accomplishing so much in such a difficult economic environment, she said, “I realized that if I wanted to be successful I had to have a system. Now I am very persistent. When I speak to others on my team, they often complain that it’s easier for me. It’s not that it’s any easier; I am successful because I don’t give up. I don’t let things get me down. I’m diligent about working my business like a business and I don’t look for excuses.”
I’m sure your company has a few people just like Jessie but not nearly as many as you would like. I do believe these people are out there and they are looking for a company just like yours to join so they can earn an above-average income. More and more people are realizing there is no job security in corporate America. It is actually much easier for someone to get a raise with their direct selling company than it is for them to get a raise in their corporate position. Unfortunately, there are many more consultants like the first example than there are the second. According to my most recent survey, 85 percent of the respondents were not earning the income they expected to earn when they joined their direct selling company. In these times of economic stress, the more money we can put in our consultants’ pockets the happier they will be and the longer they will stay. Here’s how you can help your consultants earn more from their direct selling business.
- Run contests based on two parties per week. I’ve noticed that a lot of contests have very minimum requirements. So let me ask you, If you have a consultant who wants to earn $1,000 a month from her direct selling business (the average response for salespeople in their first year in the business), will they do so if they only need to sell $1,000 or $1,500 per month to win a contest? I don’t know of a direct selling company around that is paying 100 percent commission. How can someone earn $1,000 per month if that is all she is selling? It’s impossible. When reality does not meet expectations, your consultants will leave. Several consultants I surveyed told me they were earning prizes but weren’t earning money. In tough economic times, people need more money, so encourage them to work more, not less.
- Make sure your consultants are having fun and are creating an experience for their guests at their parties. The bottom line is that people who attend parties want to interact and have fun. Parties should be so easy to duplicate that new consultants can watch their sponsor a couple times and be able to do an identical party. Keeping it fun and simple will help your consultants get more bookings and more recruits.
Help your consultants have a calendar filled with bookings by helping them thoroughly know and understand your hostess program. The more bookings they have on their calendar, the more likely they will be to recruit. At a recent leadership training, an attendee said, “I have a hostess who wants to join, but if I sign her then I will lose all her bookings.” As soon as these words escaped her mouth I knew she wanted to take them back. Then I asked the group, “How many of you feel the same way when your booking schedule is slim? Do you feel like recruiting?” Almost everyone in the room raised their hands. If leaders don’t want to recruit when they don’t have a lot of bookings, how can we expect consultants to recruit? Sometimes you have to address the elephant in the room, and the bottom line is most consultants don’t have enough bookings. Many of them don’t have one booking on their calendar. Consultants need to understand the value of your company’s hostess program in order to get more bookings. Making sure all company training and all training done by leaders continually reinforces the value of the hostess program for hostesses will help your consultants get more bookings. Every hostess wants to know, “What’s in it for me?”
- Teach leaders how to interview prospects to discover what they want from their direct selling business and how often they are willing to work to earn their desired income. I was never afraid to let a new consultant know that, as my mom always told me, “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” If you want $250 commission each week, you’ll have to do two to three parties to earn it. Teaching leaders to set the stage for success will help them work with their consultants in the future. It all begins with asking simple questions of prospects and helping recruits create a plan to move toward their goals.
- Hold leaders accountable. I have a saying, “Some people succeed in spite of their leaders, not because of their leaders,” and I really believe this is true. Leadership is action, not position. Depending on the level of leadership, each rank should not only have an increase in compensation but an increase in responsibility. It’s easy to see the best leaders produce the best consultants. Creating training systems for entry-level leaders will help them learn how to become better leaders. As their skills increase, their bonuses will grow. It’s a winning situation for everyone involved.
This is a time when more and more people are looking for supplemental or replacement income. This recession is affecting companies and people differently than previous recessions. In the past, party sales would often dip while recruiting increased. Though sales have plummeted for some, other consultants have gone through the past year with not a care in the world. On a coaching call with several leaders a few weeks ago, many expressed their party sales were higher than they have ever been. Maybe it really is just like Jessie said: You have to have a good attitude, a system and you have to be persistent. Help your consultants feel better about themselves, help them earn more income, and watch your company soar!
Karen Phelps is the author of Ultimate Guide to Direct Selling and a professional speaker and trainer. For more information, visit http://www.karenphelps.com.
Related Entries:
