Encouraging your new team members

Being an encourager and establishing a relationship is an important part of building self-confidence and excitement for their new business. Instead of hours of training, having quick, consistent contact with your new team member is more important.

Nowadays people want information in bite-sized chunks — they don’t want numerous guides and documents to follow. In fact, when I ask individuals why they joined a direct sales company and then never did anything with it, the top answer is: “I signed and then never heard from the person who sponsored me.” They feel abandoned. That’s why consistent, quick communication helps people feel connected.

The next most-common answer goes like this: “There was so much information that it was overwhelming. I work full time and have three kids, and there’s no way I’ll have time to learn everything.”

Being realistic

Let them know that it will take them months to get through the training in their virtual office, so it’s important and completely okay to take their time, and that you (the leader) will help them with the most important things they need to know to begin making money right away. Focus on your company’s new consultant rewards program, which is designed to help new people achieve success, earn product rewards, and generate income in their first three months of business.

Focusing on having a launch event

Whether you work with a Network Marketing model, Social Selling model, or Influencer/Affiliate model (see Chapter 2 for more on models), you want your new recruits to take advantage of having a business grand opening, usually called a launch event (see Chapter 7 for more on launch events).

Imagine how excited you’d be if most of your new recruits had a launch event that resulted in above average sales, four to five bookings or appointments, and their very own first team member. I’ve found that with a little time investment, that can often be reality. It’s how I built several million-dollar teams myself, and it’s how I’ve trained thousands of leaders to build them, too. Some of the most successful leaders I’ve trained produce millions of dollars a year in team sales.

The best way to get your new team members off to a great start is to help them with their first launch event. By allowing your recruits to learn from you in an event setting, they’ll discover how to conduct a successful event, get bookings, and secure strong recruit leads.

Obviously, if you live far apart, or if you’re recruiting several people a month and you’re trying to maintain your own business, helping with every launch event may be impossible. But if you’re adding one to three new team members a month, assisting them with their launch event is a great use of your time and will generally result in higher sales, more bookings, and a recruit, all in their first event.

Your success at holding events, securing bookings, and recruiting team members took practice for you to develop. Even though your new recruit has likely seen you do a presentation (if you recruited them from a previous event), they were viewing the event with a different set of eyes — either as a host or as a guest. They probably didn’t have the mindset of “I’d better remember what she says — I might be doing this in a few weeks, too!”

With so many people joining directly online, they may have never seen an actual event, and assisting them will be beneficial.

Helping with a launch event: The how-to

By assisting with the event — by doing the opening, closing, and recruiting talk — you’re giving your recruit the help they need to get the business off to a great start. All you’ll leave for the team member to do will likely be the product demonstration.

Many of the network marketing companies and other social sellers use sampling to garner interest in their products. Samples may be free to the new consumer or be available in a smaller supply, such as a week or two, to make pricing more attractive. Some companies provide sampling packs, whereas others allow distributors to purchase product and divide it into sampling packs.

Here are some tips you can use to help assist your new team member at their launch event. If it’s an online event, most of these same tips apply:

• Have the new team member use their starter kit: You’ve probably had the opportunity to build up your kit with additional products. However, while you’re training your new recruit, you want to show them that their kit is all they need to be successful.

  You can, however, bring a few additional items that your new recruit would like to earn from their launch event or if the guests are interested in a particular item. But your new recruit’s investment in their new starter kit should be all they need to run effective events.

• Do the opening talk. Helping your new recruit with the event opening is beneficial not only to the recruit but also to the guests. Welcome all the guests and let them know that their friend has started a new business with some great products. Talk to them about how they can help by booking their own event so that their friend gets off to a great start. Don’t forget to mention the benefits of starting their own business. See Chapter 15 for more on opening talks.
• Allow your new recruit to do the presentation. The new rep should do the “guts” of the party — the product presentation. They’ll want to share with their friends and family why they love the products. You’re there to assist if anyone has any questions the new rep can’t answer. You’ll want your new recruit’s passion for their business to shine through during the presentation.

• Do the closing talk. This is another part of the event that you’ll want to do for your new recruit. Thank the guests and let them know that everything they purchase helps their friend get started with the new business. You’ll always want to give effective booking and recruiting talks for your new recruit — especially if they’ve forgotten to.

  Tell the guests that if they have ever thought of doing something like this, now is the perfect time. They can grow their business together with their friend. Let them know that statistics show that people who join the business with a friend have a greater chance of being successful, so offer them information if they’re interested in taking a closer look. Joining with a friend can be a perfect time to give a new business a try. See Chapter 15 for more on booking and recruiting talks.

• Have the new recruit complete the order checkout. Make sure that your new recruit goes through the checkout process with their guests, which reminds them that their purchases are helping their friend and not you. You’re still be available to answer questions, encourage bookings, and create the desire for starting a business.
• Know your recruit’s schedule. Before the launch event, discuss with your new team member what their schedule is and what days they plan to work. Be sure to have a copy of the recruit’s calendar with you with highlighted dates so that you can go ahead and actually get bookings dated for the recruit.

If the event is an online event, you won’t be able to assist with checkout or actually book new events in the recruit’s calendar, but you can coach them on these things prior to the event, usually via Zoom. If they want to schedule a five-day event on Facebook or some other platform, then do the live portion of the event via Zoom where you can join in the event.

The goal of assisting your new recruit with the launch event is to

• Help them achieve above average sales
• Secure four to five bookings within 30 to 45 days of their new business
• Get at least one recruit

If you don’t live in the same area, if it’s against your company policy, or if you find you’re just too busy with your own calendar, then coach your recruit appropriately on how to do an effective launch event.

Even though the launch event may not be directly income-producing for you, it produces income in the long run because you’re setting new members up for success.

See Chapter 7 for much more on launch events.

Setting goals and building vision in others

Building vision in others is one of the most important things you’ll do as a leader. Many people don’t have a vision for their lives, let alone for their new business. The reason that’s important is because it’s difficult to set goals without a vision.

A vision is a big picture of what a person wants in life. Building vision in others is important because it helps them remember their why when they face challenges and helps them power through them. As someone who has become a leader, you know that whether it’s hearing no, adhering to a busy personal schedule, working with an unorganized calendar, or dealing with personal situations, you’ll encounter challenges when building a business. (Chapter 4 discusses vision in greater detail.)

When those challenges come, your new reps need to be able to focus on the vision, or purpose, they’re working toward so that the challenges are put in perspective. Without your help, the majority of your team members may not have a clear vision of how they want their new business to impact their lives; so when the challenges come, the challenges are what they focus on. By helping them build vision, you give them staying power!

After you help a team member clarify their vision with plenty of details, next you’ll have to help identify the goals they’ll need to reach that vision. Initially, these could be things like achieving the company’s new consultant rewards program, booking four events a month, or bringing in two new team members.

Have your recruit share their vision with three people who will be supportive — perhaps another upline leader, a family member, a friend, or a member of their team. These people can help the recruit keep an eye on the prize (the recruit’s vision) as well as hold that person accountable for doing what it takes to achieve it. I’ve found that having team members create a vision board with pictures that represent what they’re working toward is helpful.

Regardless of how big the vision is, you achieve it by breaking it down into small steps (goals) and meeting each goal until the vision is accomplished. Chapter 5 provides more specifics about meeting goals.

Becoming a trainer

For most people training others is extremely scary. In fact, it’s the fear of training that often holds people back from recruiting. Many people avoid leadership within a company because of this fear.

Being a trainer to a new representative isn’t difficult. Some people have natural abilities in this area (this has always been my strength). Even if you don’t have that ability, don’t worry. The good news is, with all the technology and multiple resources available to you, you don’t have to figure out what to train — you just have to execute a good system.

Usually, a company can provide endless resources. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You may have to pull the most important pieces of information and feed it to your new recruits in bite-size chunks. You may need to email them a cheat sheet, so to speak, telling them where to find the necessary information. But the what of training is probably already done for you.

Put together a checklist of things your recruits need to learn and where to find them. Then follow up with them. You can even post some of these trainings in your social media groups.

Table 20-1 shows you the main things your recruits need to figure out right away. This table breaks down the different direct sales models.

Coaching team members

Plenty of programs out there will let you spend thousands of dollars on becoming a certified coach. You probably don’t need those programs. This section outlines basic skills you need to coach a team member to success.

As a coach, you work with your team members to do the following:

• You help them determine a game plan based on their individual goals. You then encourage, direct, and redirect toward those goals.

  When I first began coaching, I made the mistake of assuming that all my team members wanted what I wanted — to create a full-time income with their business — so I was encouraging them to meet goals of eight parties and two recruits a month. You can imagine how overwhelming that was for representatives who only wanted to earn a part-time income.

• You ask questions and are a good listener. During an initial call with a new team member, ask what they want to achieve with their business within five years, three years, and one year. (Asking about their long-term goals first will help them to begin to think realistically about what they need to do to reach short-term goals.) Then ask what that would look like for each quarter and then for each month.

  For example, someone working their business more seriously might want to make an income of $60,000 a year. That’s $15,000 a quarter — $5,000 a month. Someone working their business as a side gig might want to earn $10,000 a year. That’s $2,500 a quarter — $833 a month. Based on each team member’s average event, you can help them determine how many events they need to have, how much product they need to sell, or how many preferred customers they need to reach that goal.

  After the goals are determined, you won’t need to discuss them in depth during each call. Instead, you’ll ask the team member how they’re doing regarding their business. When they respond, ask them if they’re happy with that. Your conversation might go something like this:

  • “So, Katie, how are you doing with your business?”
  • “Well, I’ve had three events this month, and sales were good.”
  • “Are you happy with that?”
  • “I’d really like to get more bookings.”

  Although the initial response sounded positive “sales were good,” by asking whether she was happy with that, you allow her to tell you exactly what she wants to be coached on, rather than assuming she’s satisfied because she gave you an upbeat answer.

  After you know what they want coaching on, ask more questions:

  • “Tell me, what do you say during your booking talks?” or “What booking seeds do you sprinkle throughout your events?”
  • “Tell me, what kind of response did you receive on your social media posts?” or “How many sample packs have you given out this week?”

  The more you ask about, the more you can pinpoint where they may need to do some tweaking.

• After you know their goals, you design your coaching based on what the recruit wants. Representatives who want to earn $400 a month won’t want a weekly or even bi-weekly call from you; touching base once a month is sufficient.
• You provide encouragement. What you learn during your calls will help you direct each representative to the training they need. You’ll also discover opportunities to mentor those who are interested in a closer business relationship.
• You recognize and congratulate those who are doing well. Great coaches are also cheerleaders. Cheer them on when they’re doing great, and be ready to pick them up when they’re feeling down. Offer solutions when they ask for them.
• You make everyone feel valued. You need to make each person feel that they are an important part of the team so they will stay in your organization and be productive. One of the mistakes people make is that they tend to only coach people who need help. I hear this all the time: “I’m typically one of the top sellers on our team, so I rarely hear from my leader.” I also hear: “I never hear from my leader because I’m not a top achiever.”
• You hold people accountable. Your coaching allows your team members the benefit of being accountable to someone — some people actually work harder because they know they’ll have to “account for their ability” to you. For some people, being self-employed is difficult; knowing that they’ll be accountable to you makes them achieve more.

As a leader in direct sales, you’ll wear your coach’s hat most frequently during individual coaching calls to team members. Coaching calls shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes long but can take as little as 10.

Here are a couple of things not to do as a coach:

• You don’t always need to have a solution or fix problems. Sometimes people just need to be heard. If you’re offering advice, always start with a compliment first — mention something they do well. Then offer advice on what they may need to improve on.
• You don’t instruct and teach. Instruction and teaching are done when you’re wearing your trainer hat. Coaches also don’t work alongside people, allowing them to gain from observing a more seasoned professional — that’s mentoring. (I discuss mentoring in greater detail in the next section.)

Mentoring team members

I’m glad “mentoring” is becoming a more commonly used term, because I’ve discovered that mentoring is a powerful tool and creates an incredibly effective relationship. No matter where you are in life, you should have a mentor and also be a mentor. Your mentor should be someone who is where you want to be professionally. Try to choose someone who is at least two levels above you.

The following sections examine what mentoring is and how you can mentor people on your team.

Electronic/digital communication

Email and texting are quick and efficient, and they can be incredibly effective to use as reminders or for giving quick information. Send texts and emails to your team so that they have a record of information, such as when and where a meeting is and so on.

What electronic communication simply can’t do is build relationships well. The reason is obvious: It’s so easy for the receiver to mistake your tone.

Facebook Groups are an excellent way to share information, recognition, and encouragement with your team. You can have one group where you share all your information or multiple groups for your team for different purposes — for example, photo and marketing images, new representative training, rising stars, and leaders. You don’t want to share time-sensitive information with your team on Facebook. Not everyone checks their Facebook daily or keeps up with all of their notifications.

You should also encourage each new team member to set up a Facebook Business Page — separate from their personal page. Point them to Chapter 10 where I discuss what you need to know about Facebook.

Phone calls and video-conference calls

Phone calls and video-conference calls are great for coaching team members. Video conferencing on platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Project Broadcast is a wonderful way to support your team, provide training, and hold monthly meetings.

They’re both effective because they allow you to share your tone of voice and let the listener hear and understand what you’re saying. Even if you aren’t using video, it’s important to remain excited because your listeners can hear it in your voice.

When using the phone or video conferencing to coach a team member, keep the difference between coaching and training in mind: Coaches encourage and ask questions so that the team member discovers good answers. Trainers give instructions on how to do a task or activity well.

Happy mail (previously known as snail mail)

Is there anything you love more than being surprised by a card in the mail? Okay, perhaps a check in the mail is better, but everyone loves getting a card or handwritten note from someone special. Happy mail is a wonderful way to brighten someone’s day, congratulate them on a promotion or for earning an incentive, and encourage them or let them know you’re thinking about them.

People tend to hang onto cards and thus be reminded of their special accomplishment. Facebook posts get buried quickly and emails get deleted. But a card is a special extension of yourself, showing you care, that has lasting meaning. To make this easy for you, keep a little basket of cards handy so they’re within reach after a conference or coaching call. You can write a personal note and drop it in the mail. People will appreciate that you took the time.

Face-to-face meetings

Whether it’s one-on-one or as a group, there’s no substitute for the energy and enthusiasm generated by a face-to-face meeting. It’s the best way to build relationships and create a team spirit or culture. They don’t have to be formal meetings either. The options are endless: You can do a team picnic, organize several team members going to a play or a show, or host an event at your home. Doing meetings at a fun place such as a restaurant often creates more engagement. On occasion, encourage people to bring guests, which could encourage others to join the business when they see how much fun it is.

Whether in person or online, make your meetings enjoyable. Play energetic music before starting and after finishing. Make announcements fun, and allow as many people as possible to actively participate because communication is always best when it’s interactive. When people quit coming to meetings, in a way, they quit their business. So add some energy and fun into your meetings.

Building camaraderie helps people have a more positive feeling about their business. Often people learn more from fun side conversations than from official business meetings.

Challenge: Announce your business to the world

This challenge is the first to growing your recruit’s business online. The day you join, you post on your Facebook wall announcing to your friends and family that you just joined [your company]. You don’t want to wait to do this because it keeps your momentum going and your level of excitement up.

Here is a great example to use, or you can create your own:

• FAMILY & FRIENDS! I’m so excited to announce that I’ve started my very own business.
• When I heard about [company], I knew it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up! [company] is famous for their _______________. I went to an event, had an amazing time with my friends, and learned that I could make some extra money doing the same thing.
• You know that I’d never promote anything I didn’t back 100 percent. I love the product! You’re going to be seeing a lot of posts from me. If you take the time to read them, I know you’ll be intrigued! I’m so excited to start my own business, and I’d love your support. PM me to be one of my first hosts or one of my first new team members. I appreciate all of you!

When finished, comment with DONE!

Challenge: Explore your virtual office

Today’s challenge is to get to know your office. Focus on the following:

• Learn how to place an order.
• Learn how to enroll your first team member.
• Familiarize yourself with the layout.
• Watch any training videos or calls that are located in the virtual office.
• Learn where to order business supplies.
• Learn how to keep track of your monthly sales and commissions.

Having trouble? Contact your leader!

When finished, comment with DONE!

Challenge: Get organized

Part of doing your business outside of events is to set a schedule. It’s absolutely vital to your business that you treat it like a business. Being organized will help you become confident and savvy. When you’re confident, you create a great business image, which will lead to more sales, as well as sponsoring more reps.

Be sure to set aside a space to make your office. This can be an actual office, a desk, or even the kitchen or dining room table. Whatever you choose for your workspace, make sure that it’s filled with the essentials. You’ll need a filing system, a telephone, and a board (bulletin board or dry erase/magnetic) for goal tracking. A goal is a dream until you put it in writing!

A calendar/planner is your intent to be successful. Make sure to keep your calendar/planner visible and filled with events. Plan your events, office time, family time, and so on to keep you on target to reach your goals. See Chapter 5 for more on organizing with a planner.

This is a fun business. When you work a fun business, it’s easy to spend hours on Facebook, texting and talking about your business without a lot of productivity — meaning, without making any money. Therefore, be intentional with your time and your schedule. You can get a lot accomplished in 15-minute or 30-minute increments if you block them out and assign specific tasks to the time! Remember, always make sure that your tasks are income-producing activities. Don’t waste time on the things that won’t grow your business! (See Chapter 5 for how to use my Power Hour system to do this.)

When finished, comment with DONE!

Challenge: Make a graphic

Graphics and images are not only visually appealing, they work! Experts say that people are more likely to interact with your post on social media if it has a photo attached to it.

Play around with some graphic apps and start to create your own. You can take photos, upload them, and add text and other images to them. Or you can create graphics right from scratch.

Play with www.picmonkey.com and www.canva.com for simple graphic design. If you want or need free photos, www.unsplash.com and www.pixabay.com are great resources. And check out the application WordSwag. These sites and applications are made for beginners and nongraphic designers. They’re extremely easy and effective.

Make sure that your graphics that use photos aren’t copyrighted. Although you want to be creative, you don’t want to use celebrity images or even logos from your company’s business. Using copyrighted images to promote your business can result in you landing in Facebook jail, where you aren’t allowed to post any images. In extreme cases, it can result in a fine. Check your company’s policies and procedures as well. Most of the time, your company has an image bank with images that you’re able to use.

When finished, comment with DONE!

Challenge: Your why story

Your why story is the most important story you’ll ever tell. It tells people why you joined the company and what the business has done for you and your family. For example, maybe the business has helped you pay off school debt or pay for your child’s dance lessons or sports activities. Maybe it has allowed you and your family to take that much-needed vacation, save for a new car, or stay home with your kids.

Even if you’re new in the business, you still have a why story. Share what your goals are or what you plan to do. Remember, nothing is too small. If your commissions paid for your tank of gas this week or your groceries, that’s pretty awesome.

Why stories help create sponsoring leads. People will become interested in your story and start to wonder if they could also do it, so share your why story with everyone.

When finished, comment with DONE! And feel free to share.

Challenge: Invite some friends

So many people believe you need to be in the business for a while to start sponsoring. That is completely untrue! There is no better time to sponsor than right at the beginning of your journey.

Studies show that people who sign up with a friend are more likely to work the business and be successful at it — not to mention how fun it is to share the excitement of this opportunity with someone else, share ideas, and have someone to brainstorm with. Your challenge this week is to reach out to ten friends and say, “I would love for you to do this with me!”

Here are some scripts you can use:

• “Hey Brandi, I just started this new business, and I think it would be really fun for us to do it together!”

• or

  “I’m so excited about my new business! In fact, I’ve been so impressed with what the company has to offer as a business, I wondered if you’ve ever thought about doing something like this? I would love to share more about it. When can we get together?”

Sponsoring is merely having a positive attitude and expectancy. You have so much to offer — make a difference in someone’s life today! Take the focus off yourself and share with others to help them with their needs. You’ll also benefit through personal growth, additional income, and team building.

When finished, comment with DONE!

Challenge: Fortune is in the follow-up

You’re becoming comfortable with events and are learning the ins and outs of your new business. You have probably also met some amazing people along the way. When you build relationships with your customers and team members, your success will go to a whole new level.

This week’s challenge is to follow up!

Don’t forget you’re in the relationship business! Keep a steady, positive relationship with all your customers, so that when they’re out of product, they think of you.

Start on the 2+2+2 Service Plan. As soon as your event is over, set up a customer care card or file with the customer’s information and what they ordered. Follow up using 2+2+2, which stands for the following:

• Two days to thank them.
• Two weeks to see how they’re enjoying their product.
• Two months to see if they need to replenish their stock or add to their collection.

A great way to accomplish this is through your online customer community group. Also don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. Customers won’t often call you; it’s up to you to build the relationship. Following up is a great investment in long-term success.

When finished, comment with DONE!