Habit #1: Remarkable Recruiters work the business consistently.
by Sue Rusch
The Core Concept:
Consistent activity in personal selling will make a greater impact on a direct seller's success than any other activity! When I think about consistency, this self-coaching message comes to mind: one party a week and I will have a business -- two parties a week and I will grow my business -- three or more parties a week, and I will hit the top of the charts! Doing less than one party a week, you're really engaging in an activity more than a business, and it's unrealistic to expect remarkable results from an occasional activity. (If your company business model is person-to-person selling instead of party-plan, you can translate this to the number of appointments it takes to create success.)
What makes consistency so powerful? When you're out there, so to speak, you're connected to the real heart of the business. You're plugged into how customers feel. You're making new contacts, keeping your pipeline healthy. Today's business will generate tomorrow's business, so you won't have to invest your emotional energy in the struggle of getting business. With consistency, business will beget more business. And, there is no doubt that a full calendar bolsters your confidence! You'll stand taller and smile wider. When you know that you don't just have business cards saying you're in business, you have the calendar to show it, the way you project yourself to others makes you like a magnet to prospective new team members.
Contemporary Challenges:
You've been telling me what makes consistency a challenge in today's environment:
Focus: You've told me that today's direct sellers are facing more distractions than ever before. Between keeping up with your email communications, staying up on all of the new training tidbits provided by your company and your teammates, and keeping up with social media, it's a challenge to stay focused. When you build your daily and weekly "to do list" -- getting parties on the calendar often feels like just one of many things to get done, and it may not feel like it's the one thing that really matters. It loses its weighting and often falls to the bottom of your list.
Rejection: You tell me that customers are harder to reach than ever before. You often feel emotionally drained when you leave an energetic, friendly voice mail and it doesn't result in a returned phone call. You feel the sting of rejection when you hear that people don't want to bring their friends together to spend money in these challenged economic times.
Doubt: You're hearing a lot of "I'm too busy to get my friends together" -- and this is causing you to wonder if you'd be better to focus on other, possibly more electronic, ways of building your business.
Actionable Steps:
I get it -- it's harder today to be consistent in selling than it may have been years ago. Yet, the path between selling consistency and recruiting success remains clear. And, many seasoned direct sellers are noticing that team members who get involved through a party contact have stronger staying power than individuals who make initial contact through a website.
Consider one of these five ideas to stretch your thinking about the consistency habit. Thinking comes first ... then, take intentional action to strengthen your recruiting success:
-- Give yourself a booking deadline.
Learning to manage yourself in the midst of distractions (whatever they may be) has always been, and always will be, a critical business skill. One technique that works well is to create your own personal deadline. Imagine your "booking deadline" is the 15th of the month - in other words, by February 15, you have your March calendar in place. So, between the first and the fifteenth of every month, you dial down your attention to the distractions, and dial up your focus on getting your calendar in place. Could that make a difference in your focus? What small reward could you give yourself for making it happen?
-- Call, then e-mail, then call again.
It's different today. The people you're aiming to reach probably have multiple phone numbers, and multiple channels of communication. You will increase the likelihood of a response when you first leave a very positive and upbeat voice mail message, followed by a friendly e-mail. People are busy. So, if you don't hear back immediately, try again a day or two later. Keep your promise to reach that person -- consistent effort reflects your confidence and your belief that you have something of value to share. What could happen if you didn't give up on yourself?
-- Use the "what people tell me" technique.
When you're reaching out to schedule more business, remember to talk about what's fun. Not just what's fun for you, but what's been fun for your past hosts and customers. "What people tell me ..." Use these words to share the feelings and experiences of your most satisfied customers. What are people enjoying about your party experience? Share it!
-- Believe in the power of the direct selling business model.
Today, you have more ways than ever before to get the words that are in your mind to appear on the computer screens of everyone you know and don't know. You may come to believe that the heart of a direct selling business is no longer in a host's living room -- or, sitting face to face with a customer -- but instead, sitting behind your computer keyboard. With fast-paced electronic communication, and constant access to ideas and information, it's easy to forget that the competitive edge of the direct selling business model is human contact. So -- be smart about how you use all of today's tools, and as you do, balance your electronic efforts with the proven human approach. Human contact is what sets direct selling apart from the rest.
There's nothing quite like consistent effort when you're
working toward a new goal.
When you're aiming to become a more remarkable recruiter,
selling consistency is the best place to start!
