In This Chapter

Exploring the rewards of recruiting and what the opportunity could mean for others

Finding recruit leads and getting people interested in the opportunity

Understanding people’s behavior and what that could mean for your recruiting efforts

Providing excellent follow-up and customer care to leads

Using social media in your recruiting

If, as I have said in previous chapters, bookings are the heartbeat of your business, recruiting is its lifeline. As long as you have bookings, you can generate an income. But to generate a large income, you need recruiting. Recruiting means you are paid for the efforts of others, and from that you can create an amazing income that builds on itself month after month.

In addition to the financial rewards, there are very personal rewards that come from recruiting; the opportunity to help people achieve their goals and dreams and have a better lifestyle, and to know that you have helped contribute to someone else’s success is extremely rewarding. Bringing new people into your group brings a level of excitement to your business as well; each new person is on a new journey with the hope of making his or her life better.

Of all of the areas of your business, recruiting is the one that truly requires the right attitude. It’s also the area where I see many people struggle the hardest. I hear people all the time say, “I’m just not a recruiter. It’s really not for me. I’ll just focus on my personal business.” When you change your attitude to one that is confident, passionate, and positive, it’s like a switch has been turned on. Many people actually refer to it as a light bulb going off. Then suddenly recruiting becomes easy and exciting.

As I see it, there are basically three parts of recruiting:

• The basic rules
• The why
• The how

This chapter covers all three.

The Rewards of Recruiting

Many people have issues with recruiting because the focus is on them. This is understandable because you are told that you need to recruit in order to advance in the company’s career plan, or to earn a travel incentive trip, or to qualify for additional cash bonuses. It is usually a part of your company’s Fast Start program. In fact, I hear a lot of things like, “You only need to get one more and you’ll be promoted” or, “If you recruit someone this month you can earn this rolling tote bag with the company logo on it.”

We are always talking about what you, the rep, need to get. But those who are good at recruiting aren’t thinking about what they want to get; it’s all about what they can give. It’s in our nature to want to nurture others, help others, and do something nice for someone. And that’s what recruiting really is all about — what you have to give to others. You have the amazing privilege — not just opportunity, but privilege — to change the course of someone else’s life. You may think that’s an exaggeration, but it’s true. Whether it is on a small scale or a large scale, people’s lives can truly be impacted by this business, and you get to play a part in that.

That’s when the light bulb goes on for most people. For many families, an extra $600 a month could make an impact on a household budget. Anyone who comes into this business and puts forth an effort can earn an extra income every month. People have challenges. Sometimes it comes on suddenly, like a car breaks down. Or maybe it is a special camp or sport that your children want to participate in. It could be home repairs that need immediate attention, or medical bills that need to be taken care of.

That’s how I like to think of recruiting — as solutions for people’s challenges. When you start to really think of it this way, you will suddenly have an attitude change and you will be excited about sharing this amazing opportunity with others.

I once spoke at a scrapbooking conference. A lot of people do this business as a hobby because they enjoy it and it allows them to get their products at a discount. It also allows them to share this fun hobby with a group of like-minded individuals. But of course, I gave my normal recruiting speech that I always do at conferences to help them see a different side of the business.

About seven weeks later I was doing a seminar in another city, when a woman came up to me and said the following:

• “I saw you speak at our conference a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share this with you: I had never really wanted to recruit anyone — in fact, I told my leader I’m not interested in doing this as a business. This is just my fun hobby. It’s my therapy and I’m not interested in anything else. I don’t plan on recruiting.
• “I have been in the business for nearly four years and have recruited two people, and that was by accident. They just asked me if they could join. I never talked about recruiting at any of my workshops. But when I heard you talk at our conference, I realized how incredibly selfish I had been. What if another woman needed an awesome hobby, or therapy? I just changed up a bit of what I said at my workshops, and I have sponsored nine people since I saw you seven weeks ago!”

That’s what can happen when you suddenly change your attitude. She was now coming at it from her heart instead of her head. The funny thing was, she said to me, “Now I think I may want to do this as a business.”

I think we are afraid to admit that we want something for ourselves, but when we are doing something for others we generally end up benefitting in the end. That is coming from a place of giving.

Sometimes new people come into this business and recruit straight out of the gate. They are very happy with what they have found and can’t wait to tell everyone. Others are hesitant and felt like they need to know everything before they start. Often a simple approach, honesty combined with enthusiasm, will attract someone.

I would like to share my story with you because it has several learning points. I started playing the drums at the age of 10 and worked very hard throughout my school years to be the best drummer I could be. I was quite accomplished with all the school programs and lessons I’d participated in and began playing in clubs at a fairly young age.

All I really wanted to be in life was a rock star, and I was very serious. I was going to be a rock star. That’s all there was to it, and I didn’t need to do anything else. So, at the age of 18, after graduating from high school, I was in a band and I was sure I was going to make it to the top.

Meanwhile, I worked at a doctor’s office as a receptionist in order to appease my mother, which meant I had to get up at 7 a.m., which is not my favorite time of the day. One day at work, a patient approached me and said, “I’m just getting started in my new crystal business, and I need six parties. You seem like you’re fun and bubbly! You would make a good hostess. Would you host a party for me?” And I said, “Okay, sure.” She didn’t make a big, long pitch asking me to have a party. It was very simple: I need help, and I think you’re my gal.

Then I thought, I’m an 18-year-old rock-and-roll drummer. What do I need crystal for? But I did the party to help her. Remember, she was a brand-spanking new representative. She said, “If you want your party to be really good, you need to have five orders before I get there.” So I said, “Okay.” I went out and showed the catalog to anybody who wasn’t coming and then I invited all my mother’s friends as well. This was in 1979 when the party average was about $200. I had a $600 party! She said, “Wow, you’re way better at this than I am. You should just do it.” That was her entire recruiting campaign.

I said, “Okay,” because I was thinking in my 18-year-old brain, If I do two parties a week, and I’m playing in the band three nights a week, I will never have to wake up early. Avoiding mornings was the whole reason I joined.

I tell that story because one of the things I hear from people is that they don’t know enough information to recruit.

The simple, easy approach works just as well as trying to explain every aspect of the business to a potential recruit.

Initially, I worked the business for about 18 months. I did my shows, and I made money. I made more money than I could have made anywhere else. Back then, the minimum wage was $2.35, and it went up to a whopping $2.65 right after I started. Needless to say, making $75–$100 for a couple hours worth of work was extremely exciting.

In the meantime, the band I was playing in started taking off, and we were playing five to six nights a week. I began travelling, and it was a very exciting time. It seemed that there was less time for my sales business, so I all but quit having parties. Over the next several years I also got married and had a baby girl. Life had suddenly changed.

Here I am with this precious little baby, and suddenly it didn’t feel so glamorous to be at the bar until 4 in the morning and wake up at 6 to feed her. At that point I thought, I don’t think this is the life I need, so what can I do? What am I good at? I was pretty good at that direct sales thing. I’m going to go back. I’m going to call my leader and get re-started.

At this point I became fully engaged in the business and got very serious about it. We needed that income as part of our household budget. We were new homeowners and our new house suddenly needed a new roof and a new well. I was doing about four parties a week on average to make enough money to pay for all of that. I started recruiting consistently, but more importantly, I showed my recruits how to recruit and helped them bring others into the business. This is what helped me start to grow a large organization. By the age of 29, I was making a consistent six-figure income and was at the highest leadership level of my company’s career plan. My husband and I were now able to use that income on the extras outside of our household budget.

After many years of growing my direct sales business, I was being asked by others to teach them my methods. I decided to start my own training business, sharing my knowledge with others in the direct sales world. I’ve now been training and speaking on direct sales for 20 years and I’m one of the most sought-after speakers in this industry. And it all started because I wanted to sleep in.

The Rules of Recruiting

This section talks about the four basic strategies, or as I like to call them, the rules of recruiting:

• Always invite.
• Never prejudge.
• Always do the recruiting talk no matter what.
• Look for leads instead of recruits.

The “Why” of Recruiting: What’s in It for Them

There are five key benefits to this business, or five things that attract people to this business. I like to think of them as gifts. Thinking about it this way makes it easier to talk about. It’s fun to give a gift away. Every single person who comes to your show or party, or even those you come into contact with, is in need of at least one if not all five benefits:

• Financial freedom or income
• Flexibility of time
• Friendships
• Recognition
• Personal growth and self-esteem

Even when you are in conversations or planting seeds, keep these five benefits in mind. If you put a cover letter in your packets, these are the things you should be mentioning.

Remember that even with friends, or people you have talked to in the past, lives can change and suddenly they have a need or challenge. For the most part, everyone’s life shifts or changes about every six months. Always refer to the five benefits in conversations. This section goes through them one by one in detail.

Getting People Interested

Science tells us that people need to hear something roughly five times before it really sinks in. When it comes to recruiting, people tend to do the all-or-nothing approach — nothing meaning looking around the room and determining that no one is interested, and all meaning telling their entire life story at one time, usually at the beginning of the party.

Make sure you mention or plant seeds for recruiting at least five different times throughout each party.

I really like to get to know what people think about this business — customers, hosts, and people who attend parties. I’ve done many surveys that consist of two questions: “When you go to a party, do you mind if the representative does a recruiting talk?” Fifty to sixty percent say they don’t mind. For the other 40–50 percent of the population, I ask, “What don’t you like about the recruiting talk?”

This is the number one answer: “I don’t like it when representatives tell you their whole life story.”

Too many reps stand up and say something like this:

• “Hi, I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself and how I got involved with my company. I have been doing this now for five years. I was a teacher for eight years and after my third child I just really wanted to be able to stay home with my kids.
• At first, I was just doing the business part time, making a little bit of extra money and trying to supplement that income. After a year and a half, I was able to make the same money I was making as a teacher. Now I’ve been doing this five years and have doubled my income.
• I’ve been on five fabulous trips. My husband and I have been to Hawaii. We’ve been to Cancun. We’ve been on a cruise, and this past year at our national conference, I was the queen!”

That is how a lot of consultants sound. Now there are some good points in there, but too much at once is overwhelming, and people tend to tune you out. At first you may have grabbed their attention, but by the end they’ve stopped listening. You want people to relate to you, to think, Oh, that’s my situation or We have a lot in common, this could possibly work for me.

So many companies teach you to do your “I” story, where you talk about what the business has done for you. I totally agree that you need to share your “I,” but I don’t believe you should start with it. You should start with a “you” story, meaning what could this business do for you, the people at the party. This grabs their attention and will likely result in them paying more attention throughout the party.

Planting your first seed of interest would go something this:

• “Ladies, I would like you to watch me do the party this evening. You’ll see that my job is fun and it’s really quite simple; and I would like to invite you to take a look at what we offer. Maybe you’re looking for a way to add an extreme stream of income to your household budget. If you would like to take home some information with you this evening, I would be more than happy to send you home with a packet. On an average, we make between $150 and $200 in a night.”

That’s a simple way to do it. If you don’t even want to talk about the money, you can simply say this:

• “Ladies, I’d like you to watch me do the party this evening. You’ll find that I really enjoy my job. I find it fun, simple, and extremely rewarding. Maybe you’re looking for a little extra money for the extras with your family. If any of you would like to take a look at what our business has to offer, I would be happy to send you home with an information packet this evening.”

If you want to get a little more detailed, it could sound more like the following:

• “Ladies, I would like to invite you to take a look at what our business has to offer. On an average, we make between $150 and $200 in an evening, and I would like you to think about for a moment what an extra $600–$800 could do for you and your family. That could easily be a car payment or even part of a house payment. It could be an easy way to get out of credit card debt or pay for your kids’ extracurricular activities. Or even a special vacation.”

You don’t want to say something like this:

• “If you would like to join, we give you everything you need. You just pay a small amount for your kit. We give you all the training, and a personal website. We can assist you with your very first party.”

That’s like decide, decide, decide, and commit, commit, commit. They don’t want to decide right now. They don’t want to commit right now. They don’t even tell you that they’re the least bit interested. Instead say, “If you would like some information, I will gladly send it home with you.”

The next points of interest (numbers 2, 3, and 4) you should hit are part of your “I” story and should be sprinkled throughout the presentation. These will cover why you joined, how the business has benefitted you financially, and finally, how your business has benefitted you personally. You don’t want to cover these all at once.

Again, the first should be what drew you to the business, why you joined:

• “One of the things I love about this business is …”
• “One of the reasons I was drawn to this …”
• “One reason I decided to sell this was because …”
• “I fell in love with the product …”

Then you should mention something the business has done for you financially. Something along these lines:

• “I was recently able to take my family on a trip to Disney World with the income I’ve earned.”
• “I was able to pay off my student loans.”
• “My extra income pays for my son’s hockey and my daughter’s dance classes.”

And finally, talk about something personal the business has done for you:

• “My confidence in myself has grown tremendously.”
• “I love the great friends I’ve made.”
• “In addition to a really great income, the company also offers fabulous travel trips. My husband and I just returned from Hawaii.”

Sprinkle these. Don’t tell a big story about all your trips.

Toward the end, the fifth point of interest is your actual recruiting talk. It could sound something like the following:

• “Ladies, you’ve watched me do the party this evening. You’ve seen that my job is quite simple and that it’s a lot of fun. Now maybe many of you are thinking, Wow, an extra $800 a month really would be nice or But I’ve never been in sales. I’ve never done anything like this before. What if I don’t like it once I’ve started? That’s what’s really awesome about our company. They literally give you a chance to give it a try.
• It’s a pretty minimal investment, and if you give us a month to a month and a half, do a handful of parties, you will typically have your investment paid off and start to earn an income. If any one of you would like an information packet to take home with you this evening, please let me know, and I will be more than happy to send it home with you.
• If you find that it’s not for you, you can simply walk away with nothing lost. But you may find that you like it. It’s a great way to make friends, earn income, and have a more flexible schedule.”

If you have properly sprinkled these five points of interest, you are going to get people wanting more information.

How to Lose a Recruit Lead

Now let’s talk about how you are likely to blow it. Here is a perfect example. Two ladies, Rachel and Brittany, are both interested. Brittany wants a packet, but she’s not checking it off. Rachel checked Yes, I’ll take a packet. Brittany is thinking, Oh, I’m just going to watch and see how this goes down. I’m not going to say anything.

You read the sheet. Rachel has checked yes and you’re excited. What do you do? You run right over there and blurt out the following:

• “Oh, Rachel, I see here you wanted an information packet. You’re going to love this. This company is so wonderful. I’ve been in this company now for three years … me, me, me, I, I, I … In fact, we have a special kit sale that ends soon. If you sign up now, you can take advantage of that!”

And Brittany is thinking I’m so glad I didn’t check yes.

What should you do instead? If it were me, I’d walk over and say something like this:

• “Well, Rachel, I see here that you wanted an information packet, and I have one for you. You know, why don’t you take this home and look it over, and I would love to give you a call tomorrow or the next day to see if you have any questions. How does that sound? Okay. Wonderful. Does tomorrow work for you? Awesome. I’ll look forward to chatting with you then.”

Walk away. As much as it kills you, walk away — and as you’re walking away, what do you think might happen? Brittany now says, “Excuse me, do you have an extra packet I can take?”

This is where you planned ahead. You pull out another packet. Stay calm. Take it to Brittany and say this:

• “Brittany, just like I told Rachel, take this home and look it over, and I’d love to give you a call tomorrow or the next day. Does tomorrow work well for you, too? Okay. Wonderful. I look forward to chatting with you then.”

And walk away.

Recruiting is like fishing. You’ve got a line. You’ve got bait on it. You throw it out. You get a bite. What do you do? The first thing is set the hook. It’s just a little click. Then reel it in slowly. If it’s a big fish, pull back, give it a little room then reel it in. If you scream, “Wow, I got a fish! I got a fish!” You start reeling it in quickly. What’s going to happen to your fish? It’s going to break the line. With recruiting, give them a little room and then follow up.

Let’s talk about the three types of people who are at your party. As I said earlier, the statistics show that you have grabbed about 50 percent of your guests’ attention. Only 10 percent of those people are likely to check Yes, I want a packet. The rest are going to sit back and watch. They don’t want anybody bugging them. Interestingly enough, the people who check Yes, I’ll take a packet are not the most likely candidates to join.

Seventy percent of that other 50 percent are ones I call the fish. When do the fish come out to swim? At the end, when you’re packing up. This group wants a packet, but they may lack the confidence to ask for it. They want you to ask them if they would like a packet.

They even look like fish. They come over and ask you a series of questions. This group starts asking questions:

• “How long have you been doing this?”
• “How many nights a week do you work?”

The most common question, though, is: “Would you like some help packing up?” And what do reps say? “No, thank you. I’ve got a system. I’ve got a special way.”

Wrong! What is happening here is that she is trying to get you alone and you’re indicating Go away. Instead say, “Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you so much. That’s very kind of you to offer.”

She starts helping you and asking questions:

• “How long have you been doing this?”
• “How many nights a week do you work?”
• “Can you really make good money?”
• “Does your husband mind you doing this?”
• “What did your friends think when you first got into this?”

Try to answer for her, not for yourself. You’re going to say something like this:

• “Well, I try to average two a week, but you know what I love is I can do as much or as little as I want, depending on the amount of money I want to make.”

After a few more questions, say to her, like it just occurred to you:

• “How would you like to take home an information packet?”

She’ll say, “Oh, do you mind?” And Carol, sitting next to her, will say, “If you have an extra one, I wouldn’t mind one also.” You’ll usually give away two more like that if people are standing around.

These are the 70 percent, and they are the most likely to sign. They’re interested. They’re a little bit nervous. They just need some coaching from you.

The last are the ones who have no confidence. They want you to read their minds. You’ll recognize them because they’ll come up to your table and will touch everything. They’ll pick up absolutely everything and stare at it, and they’ll stare through it, like they’re not really looking at it. It’s almost like they’re thinking, Could I do this? Would anybody buy this? This is the body language you need to pay attention to.

Say someone does this. You say, “That’s a pretty piece, isn’t it?” And she answers, “It’s all nice.” When you get that answer, you know you’ve got to go easy with her and not bombard her right away with recruiting information. Instead, make small talk with her to make her more comfortable. You ask where she lives. You say, “Oh, my goodness, I haven’t done a party in that area in a long time. I would love to get back to that area.” “Really?” “Absolutely.” Then continue to pack and say, “Tell me, where do you work?” “Right now I’m between jobs and I haven’t really found anything I really want to do.” You ask, “Is this something you have ever considered?” “Oh, I don’t know.”

She doesn’t say yes and doesn’t say no.

Then you say, “How would you like to just take a packet home? I’ll put some information in there on hosting as well as our business opportunity and I’ll talk to you in a couple of days, and if nothing else we could do a party. I would love to get back in that area.” She says, “That sounds great.”

If you pay attention to these three types of people, you are going to give out your three packets, and the more interest you create, the more leads you’ll get. The more leads you get, the more people will join, and your recruiting will completely explode.

To summarize, recruiting uses three of your five senses:

• Speak with your mouth to create interest
• Listen with your ears for clues that people are interested
• Watch with your eyes for body language that people are trying to get your attention

If you work on these, you will begin to master recruiting.

Using Follow-up and Good Customer Care

When it comes to recruiting, there is probably nothing as important as follow-up. Chapter 13 talks a whole lot about follow-up and customer care, but it is important to mention when recruiting. It is vital to your business. Without good follow-up, it is quite possible to lose the leads that you worked so hard to get.

So many times I see people skip over this part of the recruiting process, when really it is easier than capturing the lead in the first place. If you have a lead from a party who is ready to sign, literally all you have to do is follow up and get her signed up. Whether that means helping her sign up over the phone or sending her the link to your website, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes.

If you have a lead from a party who is on the fence, and you told her you would be in touch within a couple of days, don’t wait a week. By then, she has already talked to someone else and signed up with a different company. Pick up the phone and call her.

If you’re new to recruiting and are unsure of some of the questions she may ask, it is a good idea to call up your upline leader for some coaching. Ask if your leader wants to be on the phone as well. In fact, I encourage this with your first recruit. That way, you’ll know what to say with your future leads.

Recruiting on Social Media

As you might imagine, social media is a great place to find leads. Many direct sellers run their entire businesses online, with their hosts becoming the perfect new recruits. (Don’t miss Chapter 11, which has detailed coverage on using social media in direct sales.)