Destigmatizing goals

Maybe you’re afraid to set goals because you fear they’re too daunting or challenging. Nonsense! For one thing, goals don’t have to be stupendous. People think goals need to be life-changing. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Goals are exactly what you need them to be. A goal can be creating an Instagram account, calling five people, or recruiting a new team member. You may be in this industry as a hobbyist or for some part-time income to help pay for the everyday things in your life like dance lessons, gas, groceries, and so on. That’s your vision for your business, and your goals will align with that.

If you don’t hit a goal, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. To my way of thinking, there are no failures in business or in life, until you fail to try again. If you’re driving and miss a turn, for example, or go the wrong way, you don’t just give up on reaching your destination. If you’re using GPS, it will take a moment and say, “Recalculating route.” It doesn’t say, “Okay, you’re a loser. You went the wrong way, now just turn around and go home.” You follow the recalculations and get yourself back on the route.

Goals aren’t scary. Fear paralyzes people, and most of the time, fear — fear they’ll fail and fear of what others will think — stops them from setting goals. If I said I’ve never been afraid, well, that simply wouldn’t be true. But I don’t let it stop me. I ask myself, what’s the best thing that could happen? And what’s the worst thing that could happen? If I can live with the worst, then I move forward and strive for the best. And most of the time, I land somewhere in between. Everything in life is either a blessing or a lesson, as they say.

Goals don’t need to be life-changing. They can be simple, actionable, measurable steps that will keep you on the road to your vision. And you can always reset your goals depending on your personal situations. Don’t let other people’s opinions worry you, especially if you don’t reach a goal. Most people will actually admire you for doing something because they’re still usually sitting in the same place.

Setting any goal, no matter how simple or complex it is, doesn’t have to be daunting either. Just remember these three parts:

• The vision: The purpose of why you want to reach the goal
• The task: Also referred to as the benchmark, the goal for what’s needed to achieve what you want
• The plan of action to complete it: The action steps you’ll need to take in order to achieve your goals

For example, say you want to sell $5,000 this month to remodel your kitchen. So, your vision is to do the kitchen remodel, and the task is to sell $5,000. To create a plan of action, figure out the best way to sell $5,000 in a month. If you break it down, you’ll need to make sales of $1,250 each week. You can do that in different ways: through online or in-person events, through your customer community group, or through individual follow-up. For example, you can conduct two parties at $400 each and do individual sales with follow-up as well as sell in your customer community group (VIP) for $450, totaling $1,250.

Simplifying the process of setting goals is a great way to stay motivated, reach the goals you set, and start to see success on your level of where you personally want to be.

Setting intentional goals: The five Ds

Your goals may change over time. You may need to do things differently, your goals may not work anymore, or you may find better ways to get to the end of the race. Goals help you measure your success on your way to your vision.

When you put your vision out there, or even just say it out loud to yourself, that’s when things actually begin to happen. Some call this the Law of Attraction — the idea that like attracts like, and positive thoughts bring positive things.

Regardless of whether the Law of Attraction has an effect or not, when you’re more aware of what you want, you’re more purposefully pursuing it. So, really knowing what you want from your life and from your business can only help you develop your commitment to your business and your success story.

Goals are a way to break down your vision into manageable steps. Look closely at your vision. What steps, or goals, will it take to get there? For example, if you want to take your loved ones to Disneyworld, you need to determine how much that trip will cost. After you know the dollar amount, you can easily plan how you’re going to achieve that in commission.

Think how many events do you need to book, how many trade show events you need to do, how many more products you need to sell, and how many one-on-one appointments you need to schedule. Those can become goals.

Random acts get random results. Be intentional. If you’re specific about your goals, you’re being intentional. Make things happen instead of waiting for things to happen.

Follow my Five Ds of Setting Intentional goals to help you create the steps that will lead to your vision and develop your success story.

Identifying ways you can get prepared

Here are some ways to better prepared in your business:

• Keep your leads in one easy place to find. You may look at the clock, think you have 20 minutes before your next meeting or before you have to leave to pick up the kids, and decide to make a few phone calls. But the numbers you need to make those calls are everywhere, scattered around your desk, and you don’t even know where to begin. By making sure you have a place to consistently put your leads, you can always find what you need quickly. I have mine in the back of my planner, so I easily flip to that information.

• Create a digital opportunity folder on your computer. Keep a folder with the relevant information — whether it be a compensation plan at a glance, new consultant rewards, an interest letter from you, or information about the company — so you can easily locate and send it.

  Say you post about your business and how much you love it because it provides both income and flexibility, and someone messages you and says they want to know more information. You need to be ready and respond within minutes. You don’t want to have to go digging for that document or packet.

• Have a content calendar. Social media plays a huge part in your success in today’s business world, especially in direct selling. Social media is how you reach multiple people, how you follow up in your customer community groups, how you get additional sales, and how you meet new people. A content calendar allows you to plan what you’re going to do, post, or talk about on social media ahead of time. It’s basically a blank calendar that at the beginning of every month you fill out with all the relevant information about what you’re going to do on each day.

  For example, a week in your content calendar may look like this:

  • Monday: Post the motivational quote about butterflies and caterpillars.
  • Tuesday: Go Live on Facebook with a focus on a product.
  • Wednesday: Do “Winning Wednesday” and hold a drawing for something your group has participated in.
  • Thursday: Post a “this or that” or ask a poll question (which would they prefer?). Show graphics (A, B, C, D).
  • Friday: Share fun facts, things to do with your kids around the house, or a recipe.

Without using a content calendar, you’ll get to each day without a plan and wonder what you should talk about or what you should post, and you’ll waste a lot of time trying to figure that out … or just not do it at all.

Relying on a good planner: More than just a calendar

Having a schedule is important because it keeps you organized, helps you to stay on task with both personal and professional commitments, and ensures that important things don’t fall through the cracks or get lost. What you schedule is what you’ll do. Although a basic calendar can help you to keep track of your time obligations, having a good planner system that lets you see tasks, goals, progress check-ins, your vision board, and plans of action all in one place, is a game changer.

These sections delve deeper into what a planner can do for you and how you can use one.

Focusing on how the Power Hour works

A Power Hour means you only spend 15 minutes on a single task and then move on to another one. The idea is that, because you’re focusing solely on that one task, you actually accomplish more than if you attempted to spend a full hour on that task while being distracted by other things.

For direct selling, spend a Power Hour on four activities:

• Host coaching
• Booking events or appointments
• Recruiting
• Following up with customers

To ensure that you’re able to focus on your direct selling Power Hour, remove distractions. Turn off your social media alerts, silence the ringer on your phone, and close your office door.

In the Power Hour system, you create four folders, either on your computer or using actual file folders, that correspond to the four previously mentioned activities.

If you’re like most people, you have piles on your desk, sticky notes, and scraps of paper with notes scribbled on them. During your Power Hour, put your information in one of these folders, so you can easily find it. When you’re out and about and get questions because you have on logo wear, or you happen to talk about a product or the opportunity, put these leads into the appropriate folder. Any lead you get will live in one of these folders.

In doing the Power Hour, you don’t have to do it seven days a week to get results. Four days will get amazing results, three days will get great results, two days will get good results, and one day will still get results.

If you’re looking to build your business, 15 minutes of phone calls is less daunting than spending hours on the phone trying to get bookings or repeat sales. Even if you only get a few orders, by the end of the week you have 10 to 15 additional orders — not bad for 15 minutes and a little consistency!

You don’t have to wait until you have an hour to become entrenched in what you’re doing so that you’re successfully created a habit. Take 15 minutes with each task, and it can turn into results and rewards quickly. Over time, it will become a habit of reward and success.

Your 15 minutes on host coaching

Hosts often complain that they booked a party or event, and the rep didn’t touch base until two days before the event. Make sure that doesn’t happen to you; spend 15 minutes and keep your host excited, engaged, and informed.

You can easily forget who and when you’ve reached out to your hosts when you have multiple books. I use a ten-contact time system for host coaching (see Chapter 14), which can be utilized with the Power Hour. Use folders to help you organize your pending hosts, so you can always keep an eye on who you’re reaching out to and so no one falls through the cracks.

Your 15 minutes on booking

Spend 15 minutes solely focused on contacting people to schedule an event with you. By booking during your Power Hour, you’ll soon sharpen your skills speaking the language of booking by doing multiple booking calls during a single short block of time.

Whenever you add a name to the Booking Leads (or Recruiting Leads) folders, be sure to make a note of the circumstances. For example, if your lead told you she wanted to have a party when her kitchen remodel finishes in six weeks, then make a note of those details — and mention them during your call. This shows her that not only do you remember her, but that you also care about her. She’ll view it as a friendly call and not as a sales call. And remember, the key is to build relationships with your customers and leads.

Your call to her would sound something like this:

“Hi, Ashley! This is Belinda. I hope I’ve caught you at a good time. The last time we chatted you were remodeling your kitchen. How’s that coming along? Wonderful! I’ll be so excited to see it. The reason I’m calling is you asked me to give you a call when the work on your kitchen was finished so that we could go ahead and set a date for your party. What do you think would work better, a weekday or a weekend?”

When you get a booking, immediately make another booking call. It’s not time to celebrate yet! The excitement from the previous yes will still be with you, and you’ll discover that the language you used from the last call will come easier to you. This will build your confidence, and people will notice that. People will always mirror the energy you give to them — if you sound hesitant, nervous, or desperate, they’ll pick up on that too. In fact, you can reference the prior call to show your new lead that you’re busy, energetic, and in high demand. You can say something like this:

“I just spoke with my last host, and they’re going to do a margaritas and manicures party. Do you think that’s something your friends would enjoy also?”

Your 15 minutes on recruiting

Recruiting is the one area of your business where timing is everything. When someone has expressed interest but then says no, that doesn’t mean no forever or that they don’t like you. It just means right now isn’t the right time.

People’s lives change. That’s why follow-up is so important. Previous leads showed interest about your opportunity, which is why they’re in your lead notebook. But just because the timing wasn’t right at that time doesn’t mean it won’t be right sometime in the future. If you get a no or a not right now, don’t just say, “Okay” and forget about it. Ask if you can keep them informed with specials, especially those to do with the kit. Say something like this:

I totally understand, Alex. I want you to feel confident in this business when you start. Is it okay for the time being that I keep you on my list? I’d love to keep you informed on upcoming specials we have, especially starter kit specials.

When you talk to recruit leads in a friendly and casual way, just as you do when you’re doing a customer service call, you build a relationship. That means they’ll come to know and trust you, rather than feel like you’re bugging them.

Your 15 minutes on customer service

During this 15 minutes, you simply contact people who have previously ordered from you and ask if they’re enjoying the products they purchased. After they say yes, ask if they want to add another specific product to their collection. Tell them about a current sale or special or ask if they need to reorder more of their original purchase. Make sure you know what they ordered last, and be prepared to tell them what the specials are this month.

“With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I wanted to find out if I could help you with any special ladies in your life.”

Direct sales companies say that only 1 to 3 percent of direct sellers do reservicing calls. When you don’t make these calls, you’re leaving money on the table. Someone, either another rep or competitor, will pick up that money. Great customer service is incredibly important not only to your sales, but also to your bookings and recruiting, so be sure to make these calls. The results I’ve documented are that they can increase your business as much as 50 percent!

My 2+2+2 program (see Chapter 17) explains that you should follow up two days after a purchase to thank the customer, two weeks after that to ask how they’re enjoying the product, and two months after that to see if they want to re-order. Following up with your clients and keeping in contact with them creates loyal customers.

However, don’t overdo it either! You want your customers to feel like when you call, that you’re providing a service — one that they appreciate.

The power of focus

For a lot of people, the idea of focusing on something with undivided attention seems almost impossible. There is just too much to do and there are too many interruptions.

In business, you normally find yourself in one of two situations:

• Situation 1: “Omigosh, I need to call this recruit lead, put this order in, and make coaching calls to my three hosts.” You have so much going on that you can’t focus on completing any one project. In this case, you’re not focusing on anything, and you’re not producing any results.
• Situation 2: “I have no business. I don’t know where to begin. I’m feeling so bad. I don’t even have any good leads.” You have let fear paralyze you. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to do, the end result is so stressful that you don’t even know where to begin — so you don’t.

With the Power Hour, you take each task and break it down, making it easy and well prioritized, and giving you a starting point.

Focus takes focus. Everything else in your life needs to be put away for 15 minutes, so you can focus your undivided attention on the priority at hand. It’s easier than it sounds. You can do anything for 15 minutes! Do it with the prize in mind — at the end, you’ll have achieved what you wanted. You’ll have results, and the next block of 15 minutes will be even easier.

The power of commitment

Commitment is one of the most important promises you make to everything and everyone in your life and business. You need commitment to get anywhere, and you absolutely need commitment to succeed with your direct selling business.

Commitment means saying what you’re going to do — and doing it. It means respecting your relationship with yourself, and with others, enough to follow through with what you have promised. Some days you’ll be tired, and perhaps even wish the host would call and cancel the event. You may even be tempted to cancel it yourself.

Your reputation as a businessperson is always on the line. Honoring your commitment means that your customers never have to question whether they can rely on you to provide the products and services they want to purchase.

Be in it to win it. Your commitment to your vision is a powerful thing. Your commitment to show up when you really want to give up is the secret to achieving your vision and making it a reality. Success doesn’t happen overnight in direct sales, so continue to see the people, fill in your pipeline, and keep making calls. You need to stay committed to achieving those goals.

You’re going to have bad events. Your host may not invite people. Your best recruit may quit. Are these reasons to give up on your dreams? Not a chance. You need to stay committed to your vision of why you started with direct selling. Don’t let circumstances discourage you and steal your commitment. You come back and make the next day better. Don’t talk about it for days on end. The longer you talk about it, the longer you live in that place. Remember, what you focus on is what you’ll get.

The power of consistency

Consistency is doing something again and again. It’s making your effort a habit. Consistency can help make your business successful.

Habits are consistent. Habits are just the things that you do continually. Once, probably a long time ago, you made the choice to do it consciously, liked the reward enough to do it again, and continued to do until it became part of your natural flow. Whether it’s a good or a bad habit, if you practice it consistently, you become successful at it.

Direct selling is a simple business, and you can be very successful just by learning and practicing a few basic skills and repeating them over and over until they become habits.

Whether your goal is to work your business part time or full time, you’ll have to schedule time to make phone calls, follow up with leads, and hold your events. One of the most important things you can do is create a work schedule and stick to it, just as you would a doctor or dentist appointment.

One reason I was so successful as a direct seller is that I had a regular schedule and I stuck to it just as if a boss set it for me. On Mondays I coached my team. On Tuesdays I made follow-up calls. On Wednesdays I ran errands and handled personal business. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays I held parties. My schedule was always consistent, and it helped prevent procrastination.

Don’t forget the Power Hour; refer to the section, “Understanding Productivity and the Power Hour,” earlier in this chapter. It helps you concentrate 15 minutes at a time on building your business and creating habits. Consistency is easier when you realize you don’t have to do it for the entire day. In short bursts, something can become a habit. Every time, begin with your vision and goal in mind, see the reward ahead, and give it your full focus … consistently.

I’ve had moments — even whole days — when I just didn’t feel like doing something. On those days, I have to be flat-out honest with myself. What if I did nothing today? Do I want to stay where I am, getting what I’ve always gotten — or would I rather power through and keep myself consistent so that I reach my goals and realize my vision?

Accept that you’ll have days like this. You’re human, and your brain wants to stay with the pathways it has always taken. But you’ve already decided on a new course, you have the road map, and you’re headed to your destination — if only you can stay consistent.

Here are some things you can do to be more consistent:

• Call an accountability buddy. Your best bet is to call your friend who is great at tough love and have them whip you into shape. They’re the person who will make sure you’re not listening to the part of your brain that’s trying to talk you out of doing something.
• Understand the implications of your choice. You can choose not to do it today and have to start fresh tomorrow without the reward you’d receive today — or you can power through your inconsistent feeling and just get it done, and get the reward.
• Ask yourself some questions. What would someone you admire do in this situation? What would happen if the Olympic athletes skipped their training on the days when they didn’t feel like it? Think about who admires you. Will your kids be getting a good role model if they see that you decide you “just don’t feel like it” today?
• Review. Look back at your goals and vision and at your progress so far. Are they worth putting on the shelf because you don’t feel like getting results today?

You can pay the price of discipline, or you can pay the price of regret. Yes, it’s about being consistent and doing it today and every day. But it’s not about what you get today. It’s about what you’re becoming: successful.

The power of organization, or lack thereof

Many people dread hearing this, but organization is also vital to your success in direct selling. Your lack of organization will rob you of more time than any other single thing. The good news is that organization doesn’t have to come naturally to you, and it doesn’t require sophisticated methods to work well.

How organized is organized enough? You’re sufficiently organized when you have a method for tracking what needs to be done and what has been done. You should also know what supplies you currently have, what you’re running low on, and what you need to get. And you need to be able to quickly and easily access the records of your lead contacts, your previous sales, and your previous hosts and customers.

Organization does more than help you keep track of what needs to be done. It also allows you to fully enjoy whatever you’re doing, without feeling the pull of other tasks.

The greatest way to stay organized is a calendar. I discuss how a calendar can help you keep track of everything in the section, “Relying on a good planner: More than just a calendar,” earlier in this chapter.

Direct selling is a high-touch business. While you use technology to place orders and track your business systems, your customers value the personal service and product knowledge you have. You provide much more excellent service when your office area and files are neatly organized.

Having an organized home office space will make working on your direct selling business more enjoyable. I have a simple (and it’s pretty common, I didn’t dream it up on my own) system for decluttering an area. I simply sort everything into three piles: keep, throw away, and donate.

I actually have a rule that I can only touch an item once, so I don’t allow myself to have a decide later pile — that’s how the clutter happened in the first place.

In your home office space, you should have a strict policy on organization. Phone numbers, host files, and customer records should always be in reliable, easy-to-reach places. You’ll frequently need this information, so you need to be able to quickly put your hands on it.

Your lack of organization will rob you of more time than any other single thing.