Do you give up too easily on your follow-ups?

Far too many people in direct sales or party plan businesses are afraid of rejection. They’re afraid of hearing the word “no“.

And I get it. I used to be afraid of rejection too.

In the first 2 years of my business, I did not sponsor anybody. At all!

I was afraid to ask, and by avoiding the ask, I rejected myself in advance.

I was saying “no” to myself before anybody else had a chance to.

So how do you change this?

You need to change your outlook on asking and following up. Because there’s nothing to lose by asking.

Thought exercise

Imagine you ask a friend to host a party for your or join your team. Imagine she says, “no,”. There it is, the dreaded no…

But what actually happened? In reality, nothing happened because before you asked, she wasn’t on your team, and she wasn’t hosting a party.

And after asking, that’s still the situation.

And you’ve spent your whole life without her on your team, so you know how to deal with that!

How to ask for what you want

There’s an art (or science) to asking and getting what you want. I found some great tips in the book The Alladin Factor by Marc Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield.

Ask your sales lead to join as if you expect them to. Ask with a positive expectation, as if you expect to get a “yes.”
Assume that you are able to get new team members (or bookings). Assume you can get a “yes.”
Ask repeatedly. One of the most important traits of success is persistence. So don’t give up.

Are you persistent?

Do you give up too easily on your follow-up? Direct sales requires persistence...

You want to keep asking your leads (without annoying them!) because they might say YES…

on a different day
when she’s in a different mood
when her circumstances have changed
when your company has a different offer
when you’ve learned to ask better

The statistics that have most inspired me to persistent came from research by a marketing specialist at Notre Dame University:

94% of all sales people quit after the 4th call. However, 60% of all sales are made after the 4th call!

I didn’t want to keep missing out on 60% of my bookings or recruits because I wasn’t asking and following up enough. Read this article for more on using a leads book to ensure you have a system for following up.

You need to get used to the idea that there’s going to be a lot of rejection along the way to your goals. Don’t take the rejection personally – they are not rejecting you as a person.

Don’t give up. Develop tenacity and persistence. When someone says “no”, you ask someone else. It’s that simple.

Want to learn all my secrets to growing a direct sales team? This book has everything I have learned from the industry in the last 20 years. I’ve tried and tested many methods to arrive at my winning formula!

Order your copy here

What to do when you have zero bookings in your diary?

What to do when your diary is empty, and you have zero bookings? The first thing is not to panic. The second thing is not to give up because this situation is temporary!

How you deal with a zero bookings situation depends on how long you’ve been in your direct sales business. I’ve got two options, and if you do the first option, nothing stops you from moving on to the second option to boost your business even further!

The Re-Launch Option

The re-launch works well if you’ve been in business for a while. The first thing to do is to get excited because it’s a fresh start!

Now, in your diary, set two party dates within three days of each other—for example, a Friday night and a Sunday afternoon in the same week. Next, grab a FRANK worksheet and think of anybody and everybody you can call.

When you call the people on your list, ask them to host a party for you. If they can’t do that or are uncomfortable doing that, only invite them to attend one of your parties. (“That’s okay, I have a party at my place. Which is better for you, Friday night or Sunday afternoon next week?”). If they can’t host a party and they can’t attend your party, ask if you can send them a catalog. Always start with the biggest ask (hosting a party), not with the catalog option!

Ensure all your party dates are close to getting momentum and your business going again. Also, don’t invite people hosting a party for you to your party because they will stop the booking momentum. When one or two people say, “I’ve already booked a party with you…” other guests are less likely to book with you thinking you’ve already got a full diary.

Also, you don’t want to drive your friends and family crazy with your business 🙂

Find New Networks

Perhaps you’ve only recently hosted your party. Or maybe you’re new in your party plan business and launched not long ago. If the Re-Launch Option doesn’t work, you must find new networks with new people!

The trick with branching out into new networks is to cast your net wide and try many different things. Don’t pre-judge the ideas. Start trying them out.

Survey Boxes

Use surveys to get fresh leads for bookings or recruits. Create a survey related to your type of direct sales business (e.g., health, fashion, home decor). Ask a couple of questions and collect details to follow people up. Anybody who fills out a survey goes in the draw for a prize.

You can leave your surveys at businesses in your town.

Read this article for more details on using surveys to get new leads, and grab the two survey examples to get started.

Letterbox Drop

Create a special promotion for party bookings and staple a bright flyer to your catalog. When planning your letterbox, drop it’s better to target the same house three times than to deliver as many catalogs as you can in your town. People need to see something more than once before they take action (that’s why TV ads get repeated so often). For example, if you can afford 60 catalogs or flyers, deliver them to the same 20 houses over ten days rather than to 60 houses. My results from letterbox drops have been mixed. Sometimes it worked well, and I had no phone calls other times. But it’s about casting that wide net!

Posters

In most neighborhoods, you can find a noticeboard to put up a poster to advertise your business. I use posters with tear-off tabs with my contact details. Put at least five posters in different locations such as your local library, university, cafe, laundromat, supermarket, lunch rooms at large offices, community notice boards, etc. Don’t forget to check back and replace posters if needed. This is a tremendously low-effort method.

Party Swap

Do you know a consultant in a different party plan business? Arrange a party swap: you’ll be hosting a party for her, and she’ll be hosting a party for you. It’s a fun way to get a booking as you’ll have an evening of fun with your friends and you’ll have a chance to watch another consultant at work and see if you can pick up some ideas from them.

Business Box

If you have spare products or testers gathering dust at home, put them together in a nice box or basket and drop them at a local business. Ensure to include some catalogs, order forms, and the host offers for parties. It’s a good idea to have a special gift or incentive to bribe someone to be ‘in charge’ of the box at the business (e.g., the receptionist). Leave the box at the company for a few days, and then retrieve your box or basket and any orders.

Market or Fete

Are there any markets or events coming up in your local area? Booking a site at a local event is a great way to spread the word about what you offer and pick up new bookings. Also, consider creating a special booking incentive to entice people to book a party with you.

Read this article to learn more about these ideas.

Maximizing Bookings Once you Have a Party

Once you’ve cast that wide net, you’ll get at least a few bookings.

Now you need to make the most of those parties to get more bookings and get your business rolling again.

Here are some ideas to do just that:

Use referral vouchers. This is an easy and low-effort method, so add it to your repertoire! Please read this article on how to do it well and grab the free printables.
Check this article to learn about booking boxes, party bags, star dates, and wish lists.
And for three more booking enticements check this article too.

Order your copy here

5 Ways to Maximize Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a fabulous opportunity for your party plan or direct sales business.

I’ve listed five ideas that you can swipe to maximize your February!

Shower your customers with love

Declare February “The Month Of Love.” This month, pamper your customers and show them how much you appreciate them. Perhaps you can offer a gift with every order, free shipping, or a discount.

The gift doesn’t have to be big or expensive. For example, I recently made an online purchase and received a small heart-shaped soap as a gift. How cute is that for February? Another option is adding chocolates to every order to make your customers feel special.

Declaring February as your “Month of Love” allows you to promote your special deal all month, not just for Valentine’s Day.

I’ve created some tiles you can use to promote your Month of Love on Social Media. Please scroll down to grab them.

Shower your leaders with love

If you have a party plan or direct sales team, you can use Valentine’s Day as the inspiration for a “Share the Love” recruiting incentive.

Encourage your team to focus on promoting the business opportunity during February by sharing their love for their business. For example, leaders can offer heart-shaped jewelry, luxury gift boxes of chocolates, or other Valentine’s Day-appropriate incentives to teamies who recruit.

Bonus tip: wait until after Valentine’s Day to buy your incentive prizes when they’re on sale!

The direct sales opportunity is a gift. Please share it with as many people as possible in February.

Make Buying Easy

Make buying gifts super easy for your customers by creating gift bundles.

Gather a few of your products that make an excellent set, and add a gift that complements your bundle. Think of gift items like a bottle of wine, a tea towel, a candle, etc.

The best way to promote this is to buy some nice boxes or baskets and create a few different bundles at various prices. Use gift wrap, cellophane, and ribbons to make your gift look stunningly attractive.

The benefit of pre-purchasing and preparing your gift bundles is that you can offer last-minute gifts (as you don’t have to wait for the stock to arrive) and have something physical and pretty to promote.

Start taking them to your in-home parties a few weeks before Valentine’s Day to promote your bundles. Also, take some photographs and share your bundles on social media focusing on the men in your customers’ lives.

Depending on your products, you could even take these gifts to workplaces and offer men these gift packs for their loved ones.

Add Valentine’s to your display.

A great way to promote Valentine’s Day and spark the gift-purchasing impulse at your in-home parties or vendor events is to add some Valentine’s Day-themed items to your display.

Just as a window display is designed to entice people to enter the shop, your display attracts people to purchase products or book an event.

In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, add some lovely heart-themed props to your display to promote gifts.

Don’t forget Self-Love.

I want to expand the meaning of Valentine’s Day to include self-love. At your events and on your social media, encourage your customers to treat themselves to something special.

Self-care is vital for our mental health, so let’s make sure that people treat themselves in February, so they feel fabulous!

I hope these ideas sparked your creativity to make the most of Valentine’s Day. And I’m curious to hear what you’re doing in February to maximize the special occasion!

How to kickstart your direct sales business in the new year

If you plan ahead during the busy Christmas season, you can ensure an awesome start to your direct sales or party plan business in the New Year.

To get you off to a great start, you want to fill your January diary with bookings. And to help you with that, I have two tips and a kick-ass printable you can grab by filling in the form below.

Simply ask

The first way you can plan ahead for an awesome January is to re-book parties with your hosts from the holiday trade season. Simply put, you ask for another booking!

Most direct sales companies have either a new range released or extra special deals for January that you can use as a draw card for a new party. I encourage all my hosts from October to December to host another gathering in January.

I remind hosts that it’s a more relaxed time in January to catch up with friends after the silly season. And to help with that, I offer some party themes that work well with relaxing and catching up. I usually get a good response by asking that way, coupled with the new products or January specials.

Offer January coupons

The second method you can use to fill your January diary is by offering coupons or discount certificates.

You give these coupons to every customer you meet during the Christmas selling season! Make sure that the offer is only valid during January – this creates some urgency and helps you to fill your diary! (I have some samples for you to download below.)

Kickstart your direct sales biz in the New Year

To really make this work for you, create a list with every person you’ve given a coupon. At the start of January, you send them an SMS or Facebook message to remind them of the offer.

A great way to encourage your customers to use their vouchers in time is to invite them to an open home or an online party hosted by you.

Never fear if you didn’t get organized with coupons during the Christmas season! You can create the coupons in January and contact your customers and hosts with the offer as a belated thank you for shopping with you during the Christmas season. It’s the perfect reason to get back in touch!

Are you missing out on bookings?

For my entire first year in direct sales, I missed many opportunities to get bookings at my parties… With this article, I want to save you from making the same mistakes as I did!

Assumptions can cost you bookings

The big mistake I made was that I made an assumption. I assumed that someone would only want to book a party or event to qualify for free and discounted products.

This led me to only focus on this when promoting future bookings.

Later I realized that I was missing out on a huge opportunity. There are lots of people who aren’t only interested in the host rewards. For many people, the host rewards are a nice extra but not their main reason for booking.

It took me a while to learn that many hosts book for fun, the connections, or simply because they like you.

Connection & Themes Are Key

When I started to relax more, connect better with the guests, and talk about all the reasons for having a party, my business exploded.

Some of the things you might want to highlight when talking about bookings are the opportunity to catch up with friends, how easy it is to shop for gifts (especially around Christmas), and the different themes you offer.

You do offer themed parties or events, right?

One of the best things I ever did for my business was to start offering distinctly themed events and parties. The more thematic your parties are, the better. You’ll get more repeat business, and guests will enjoy coming to party after party because each one is different.

Offering themes also helps you to cater to a variety of different interests and personality types, which expands the appeal of your business.

Don’t be a product dumper

Avoid being a “product dumper” – don’t show every single product at every party. You want to keep something up your sleeve for different themes. You want people to return to you repeatedly, and if you show all you’ve got at a party, there’s no reason to return. Well, other than the host rewards, that is!

I’ve written the kind of book I would have loved someone to give me when I started out —it’s the HOW-TO OF RECRUITING.

Choctober Theme

Almost everyone loves chocolate.

I love a good bit of chocolate, but I love “Choctober” even more. Choctober is my secret weapon to fill the October month with parties.

And the best part is that the Choctober theme works with almost any direct sales business. That, and chocolate, of course.

I want to fill my October month with parties to set myself up for a profitable holiday trade.

Run your own Choctober month

I promote special chocolate dates for October, where anyone who books a party on those particular dates will receive a box of chocolates from me as a special gift.

That way I can control my diary to suit me.

I take 3 or 4 varieties of gift boxes with chocolates to my parties, so there’s bound to be at least one that appeals to the guests.

I also promote Choctober in my VIP customer groups through Facebook Live.

Online promotion tip: Show only 1 box of chocolates each variety (3-4 in total) and make clear that when they're gone, they're gone! You want to create a little bit of urgency and a sense of scarcity to nudge people to act. 

(I've created some tiles and a Facebook cover image for you too to help you promote Choctober, download them below.)

Now you have your booking incentive all set, but the fun doesn’t stop there!

Choctober Themed Parties

I recommend you add a chocolate flavor to your parties by running the Chocolate Game. I’ve explained how to play the game here

Using the Chocolate Extravaganza game, you can also incorporate chocolate into your host coaching. Check the article on how to play and grab the free printables here

Finally, I also use Smarties to promote my parties. I’ve created these cute Smartie packs by printing up a bunch of stickers (I used the ‘address label’ size on VistaPrint) and putting them on little Smartie boxes.

I hand them out at parties as prizes, pop them in the delivery bags or use them as an alternative to my business card during Choctober. People are always excited to receive them, and they work well with the Choctober theme.

With these tips, you can run a fabulous Choctober and set yourself up for a sensational peak season. However, some direct sellers can make Choctober even bigger and better with these ideas:

If you sell cooking products, you could demonstrate chocolate-related dishes.
If your company has brown-colored products (think make-up, nail products, clothing, etc.), you can highlight those products during Choctober.
If your product range includes products with a scent, you could highlight scents that you could relate back to chocolate (mint, orange, caramel, etc.).

I just love Choctober because I’m already getting excited about peak trade, and this way, I get a running start!

Are you looking for games? Have a look at the Ultimate Games Bundle for Direct Sellers. It comes with 26 done-for-you games for in-home and Facebook parties. Check it out now.

Boost your booking behaviors

Do you want more bookings in your diary? Most direct sellers do, so I’m guessing you said ‘yes’ to that question.

If you’re not sure what to do to get more bookings or if you find yourself making a start on getting bookings but then fizzling out, I’ve got just the thing for you!

I’ve designed a series of practical actions that you can do that will lead to more bookings. I’ve called them ‘booking behaviors.’ Using the printable below, you can keep yourself accountable and set yourself a challenge to keep doing these booking behaviors month after month.

You want to be doing these actions consistently to keep your diary full. Because your business is growing with more parties, you’ll have more sales and opportunities to recruit or sponsor, your business is growing!

Your business will be in good shape if you do 100 of these booking behaviors in a month. So I want you to grab the printable worksheet below and see if you can reach that magic goal of 100 actions towards bookings this month.

What are booking behaviors?

Booking behaviors are the practical things you do that tend to lead to more bookings. These actions include:

Asking everyone at a party (individually) to book a party
Posting three catalogs each week to past hosts, good customers, friends
Mailing the guest or host offer to past hosts, good customers, or friends
Reading a chapter of a self-development or party-plan book each week (ideas here)
Revisiting your FRANK list (download here)
Posting quality content on your biz page or in your customer group (download ideas here)
Texting or phoning hosts that have postponed parties with a follow-up and new offers at the start of the month
Texting new guests offers to past good guests
Putting up a poster on community notice boards to promote your business
Using old catalogs with a personal note to letter drop in your neighborhood
Setting a booking incentive and promoting it at parties and your social media
Proposing a fundraiser for a local sports club or church
Attending a fair, expo, vendor event
Trading a party with a consultant from another party plan
Updating your referral vouchers
Creating a survey box

Boost your booking behaviors and keep yourself accountable in your direct sales biz with this FREE printable.

On the worksheet, you’ll also find some space to make notes or set goals and a space to write down some booking behaviors that are specific to your direct sales business.

You color in a square or add a tick or gold star every time you complete an action. It’s psychologically very satisfying and motivating to watch your chart fill up. Every time you record your success (completing an action), you get a little dopamine in your brain’s reward system. And this helps you to train your brain to keep doing these behaviors. This is how you train your brain for success.

There’s a lot of psychological accountability science backing the effectiveness of a practice like this. Add a reward for reaching the 100, and you’re on to a winner!

Overcome objections to booking parties

Have you ever been in a situation where you offered party guests a booking with you, but they had all kinds of reasons to turn you down?

Let me teach you some strategies to turn those objections into parties! Then, next time someone brings up why they can’t have a party, you’ll be ready to help them find a solution!

Many people are busy and worry that hosting a party would take too much time. To this person, I say something like: “Parties only take a couple of hours and are perfect for busy people who don’t want the hassle of going to the store! And besides, you get to catch up with friends at the same time.”

You can also offer an “express” party at the office during lunch or a Facebook party.

You can help this busy host to have a fun and successful party by making everything super easy for her!

Understandably, people don’t want to ‘double up’ on party plan parties! This is why you want to offer some different themes and have plenty of other games in your stash. That way, you can offer something fresh and new to repeat guests.

So you can say something like: “When you invite people, ask them to bring a friend. That way, the group is a little different, with some new people in the mix. We’ll also choose one of these fun themes that your friends haven’t seen before!”

In my many years in business, I’ve never found this a problem! So when I hear this objection, I say something like: “I prefer it that way! So many of my best parties are in small homes and offices. It seems more intimate.”

I then offer a ‘workshop style’ party and limit attendance to 5 or 6 people to ensure everybody gets personal attention and makes the most of the workshop.

Make sure you also help the hostess collect some orders before the party from people who can’t make it, so she has an excellent chance to earn host rewards.

The last objection I want to mention is this one that I sometimes hear: “I loved this party, but my friends may not be interested in something like this!”

I reassure this person that she only needs a few people to have a successful party. You can offer the same type of workshop-style party as above.

I say something like: “That’s fine, you only need a handful of people at your party. I like to keep my parties small, so I can give each guest personalized attention.”

Now that you have some solutions for these common objections, I’m sure you’ll book more parties! And if they don’t book with you, don’t take it personally. They may be all partied out.

Are you ready for direct sales success?

Take the next step and learn what to say at your parties, what to display, games to play, conversion strategies, follow-ups, and more!

Get even more bookings from parties

The better you become at securing bookings from parties, the faster your business will grow and the easier it will be.

And suppose you don’t have wild dreams of becoming a hugely successful businesswoman, but you want your direct selling business to supplement your family’s income consistently. In that case, it’s super helpful to keep your business ticking over efficiently by securing new bookings at every party.

Why am I giving you so many ideas?

Different strategies work for different personality types. You don’t always know what will work for you (with your personality, company, and products). So keep trying out new ideas until you find a few techniques that work well for you. Then get really good at those!

Don’t stop once you’ve found one thing that works for you. For example, you want to mix it up so that guests who’ve seen you at one party won’t get bored with you. If you work through the same “script” every time, you’ll bore the pants of people who’ve seen you at multiple parties. Also, when you present the hosting opportunity in a new way, you may resonate with someone who didn’t respond before.

So that’s why I like to give you as many ideas to try as I can.

Bribery Basket

This method is a fun and exciting way to entice guests to book a party. I take a pretty basket with a good range of different products (wine, chocolates, candles, etc.). Anyone who books a party within the next few weeks can choose a product from the basket. This is one of my most popular booking enticements. Some of my regular hosts actually ask me to bring the basket to their party.

Deal or No Deal

This method is a great way to turn the subject of bookings into a game. I use two different versions:

Put six pretty boxes on display. Three contain an instant gift, and 3 include a gift AND a party booking. So they have a 50% chance of getting a booking with their prize. Anyone who’d like to can pick a box and open it.

This game is a lot of fun, and I find that anyone willing to try their luck on an envelope or box usually goes ahead to book a party whether they “win” one or not.

The trick to making this game work well for you is to pay a lot of attention to the presentation. The prettier the boxes or envelopes are, the more guests want to open them.

Pay the Date

This strategy will front-load your month with plenty of parties. People who book a party can are offered a special price.
For example, you can offer them a special product at the price of the calendar date. So if they book on the 1st of the month, they pay $1. Booking on the 10th will cost them $10.

Many of my booking strategies or recruitment strategies use product incentives. The way I make this work for me is by using every opportunity at my disposal for free or cheap products.

Many direct sales companies offer opportunities to win products or get extra discounts on products. I use these opportunities to get some high-value items for Pay the Date, and I also get a range of low-to-medium value items for Deal or No Deal.

Keep your incentives in mind when you have an opportunity to get free or cheap products.

Have fun with these strategies. I’d love to hear which you have tried!

Mother’s Day Magic for Your Direct Sales Business

Mother’s Day is a lovely celebration and a beautiful way to inject some magic into your party plan or direct sales business.

And I have some ideas for you that you can adapt to your particular business.

Mommy and Me Parties

This type of party works with lots of different products. For example, you could offer a handful of special “Mommy and Me Party” dates in your diary around Mother’s Day to encourage bookings on those dates.

Skincare Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Facials or provide training to the daughters on how to pamper Mom.

Make-up Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Make Overs. Great for teens, but little girls love their lip gloss, too.

Food/Kitchen Companies: Offer Mommy and Me Cooking Sessions, cupcake decorating sessions, tasting sessions, etc.

Clothing/Accessories Companies: You can offer Mommy and Me Styling Sessions if you have a children’s range. If you don’t offer children’s clothing, perhaps a Kids Style Mom Session where the kids are encouraged to help style their Mom – this lends itself to fun pictures and videos for your social media!

Retreats

The opposite of “Mommy and Me” – you offer adults only ‘retreats’. So bring out the bubbly and offer a grown-up evening with you! Market it as a “Mommy Me-Time” theme. You can use this theme with any product. It’s all about presentation and marketing.

Gift Packs

Make the most of Mother's Day in your direct sales business with these tips and ideas. Don't forget to grab the free social media images! #directsales #directselling

If your products lend themselves to creating gift packs or hampers, now’s the time! Add some chocolates, wine or luxury teas and wrap it up with a pretty bow.

To make this strategy work for you, create a couple of sample gift packs well before Mother’s Day and take them to your in-home events. You can allow people to customize their gift packs with you as they order.

Bonus tip: take your gift packs to workplaces dominated by guys such as car mechanics or construction companies. They’ll love a pre-prepared gift for Mum!

Don’t forget to take some great photos of your hampers and promote them in your customer Facebook group as last-minute gifts (if you have stock on hand or sell your sample packs)

Social Media

Remember to add some Mother’s Day theming to your Facebook parties, customer groups and business pages. Check this article on how to maximize your Facebook page.

To help you, I’ve created a couple of Mother’s Day tiles (including a Facebook game) that you can download and use straight away.

I hope these ideas help you to have a magical Mother’s Day in your party plan or direct sales business.