People considering becoming a direct seller often worry about annoying their friends with their new business.
They don’t want to be pushy or too ‘salesy’ and they don’t know how you can be successful without annoying everybody.
Let me tell you right now: you can be wildly successful without annoying your family or friends. You can have a growing business without being pushy or salesy!
Check this video interview I did a while back with the fabulous Rochelle Nicole. You can see why she’s so successful can’t you?
She’s so passionate she just lights up when she talks about the products of her company. That’s a fantastic example of what you can tell your potential new team member (or even show her the video…)
You can also explain to your worried potential team member that:
Although they will start their journey with a handful or friends and family, the training and support are focused on helping to quickly move into new networks and people they don’t yet know.
A direct seller at a party creates a happy atmosphere so the guests have a great time.
A direct seller is also more like a product demonstrator than a salesperson; great products sell themselves.
You’re not looking for sales people to join your team, you’re looking for people who love the products and love to share them.
Their enthusiasm and passion for the products are more important than sales skills. Ask if they are willing to share the products with people in an authentic way. If they are honestly passionate about the products and the company, that passion will shine through when they’re talking about them. And that will sell products.
If they approach each conversation with a potential customer as a “fact finding mission” with a genuine desire to help them solve a problem, they will have happy customers that are excited to buy their products.
There really is no need to be the classic cliche of a salesy, pushy sleazebag salesperson. That is a myth and there are ways to sell authentically that are joyful, honest, and successful.
And you can use that love for cash to spark interest in your direct sales business opportunity with Referral Cash vouchers.
Referral Cash vouchers plant a strong psychological seed regarding the opportunity to make some money by joining your team and also about the opportunity to ‘cash in’ the voucher.
What is Referral Cash
Referral Cash is a type of referral voucher that someone can ‘cash in’ with you once a referral joins your direct sales team (or if they themselves join). The voucher specifies they can cash in their voucher “with their next order” to ensure an ongoing relationship with them.
On the back of the voucher are some ideas to help them to think of who they can pass the voucher on to.
It’s worded to show the benefits of a party plan or direct sales business so it might just spark interest in them too!
I’ve found that a lot of my referral cash vouchers are cashed in by someone who decides to join themselves! When that happens I usually give them an extra voucher because they might know someone else too who might join too – they are often a great source of further leads!
These cash-like vouchers are a great psychological tool. It’s hard for people to throw away something that’s worth cash. I’ve noticed this when people join my team months after I gave them the voucher and they kept it all that time!
Grab the vouchers by filling out the form below. I’ve got 4 different currency versions to suit your needs.
Pick which two-sided voucher you want to use and print them on some nice paper. Pop your details on the back and give out the vouchers at your parties…easy!
As a direct seller, it’s essential to have a constant flow of new leads.
One way to generate leads in new circles is to create a “survey box.”
Use a pretty box and a pretty prize.
I like to make the boxes where I collect completed surveys look pretty. I’ve found that the prettier and more eye-catching they are, the better they work!
I leave the survey box in a business for one week. I have a sign explaining when the parcel will be collected and that anyone who completes a survey will go in a lucky draw for a prize.
It works best if you can display the prize with the survey box.
The prize doesn’t have to be very expensive – if you’ve got a spare product, you could add some chocolates, wrap it all up in clear cellophane with a bow or ribbons, and it suddenly looks beautiful.
What do you ask in the survey?
You’ll need to ask a few relevant questions about your business or field on the form. Don’t make it too long and difficult to fill in; it should not just be a raffle ticket.
The answers on the survey forms will give you a good starting point for a conversation when you follow up with people.
I’ve provided 2 example surveys you can grab by filling in the form below. One example is for a health or wellness product, and the other is for a beauty company.
You can swipe the examples for your business or use them as a starting point to create your own forms.
Where to put your survey boxes
I’ve found that gyms, restaurants, waiting rooms, local real estate agencies, and libraries are great places to leave survey boxes. The key to making it work is to offer a small ‘bribe’ to someone at the premises to keep an eye on it for you.
Perhaps you can ask friends or family to take a survey box to their work for a week? Create a few pretty survey boxes, post a photo on social media, and ask if anybody local is prepared to “host” a box for a week.
The survey box strategy is a numbers game. Many entrants won’t be interested in your business but want a prize. That’s fine. You’ll likely find that some locations yield nothing, but others will be a gold mine for new contacts. So get lots of boxes out there!
And then, of course, you follow up with everybody who’s filled in a survey! So check this article on how to make your follow-up strategy sing!
Bonus tip: post a photo of the winner with their prize on social media to increase your credibility and build social proof.
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!
Supporting your new recruits is even more important than making sales. Let me explain.
Industry insiders estimate that between 70 and 80 percent of new consultants or reps in direct sales companies don’t take any action after they join. This includes placing an order or doing any training.
That’s crazy. We need to improve that statistic!
Lack of support turns people off their new direct sales biz
Too many direct sellers focus on recruiting but don’t think beyond that about their role as a sponsor or mentor to the new person. They view their job as ‘done’ once someone has signed up. After all, the company or its upline leader provides training, and it’s up to the new person to make a go of it.
Sometimes the recruiting person doesn’t feel they know enough to mentor or support the new person, so they don’t.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with that mindset. Even someone brand new to the business can be a fantastic sponsor! They can either view it as exploring the new business with the new recruit (a great way to do it if a friend or family member signs up), or they can aim to be one small step ahead.
You do not have to be a direct sales expert to be a fabulous sponsor to a new recruit.
Most new consultants in any direct sales company have some combination of excitement and doubt when they sign up. They believed enough in the products and the opportunity you offered to spend money on a starter kit, yet they also often have serious doubts. They wonder if they can be successful and if they made a mistake signing up.
If they don’t hear from anyone quickly and receive quality support, they will probably mentally ‘check out’ before they’ve even started. Remember that statistic from the start of this article? That’s 70 to 80 percent of new recruits. If you miss the narrow window of their interest and motivation, it might be too little too late.
I often see people not supporting their team members because they ‘just joined for a personal discount.’ In many companies, these ‘personal shoppers’ can account for half a team. So many of them never place an order because it becomes too hard.
Here’s how that happens:
They misplace their account login details
They can’t remember the website to go to
They don’t know who to contact for help (company support or upline)
They don’t have a current catalog anymore
And if by some miracle they work out how to log in, they don’t know how to use the ordering system, and it looks too complicated.
That’s six strikes, and they’re out. It’s all too hard.
Remove the barriers to engagement.
When you make it easy for these people by offering to help them enter an order (or refresh their memory if it’s been a while), you can often wholly engage them in the business. By nurturing them and helping them to make learning this new thing a little easier, even ‘personal shoppers’ can become valuable to your team as they enter regular orders.
And sometimes ‘personal shoppers’ become engaged and enthusiastic leaders. I’ve seen this happen quite a few times in my organization. First, someone joins as a ‘personal shopper’ and then starts to enjoy it a little more and grows their business just a little. Then, after another while, they recruit someone and start growing their team!
Once you make it part of your routine that when someone joins in removing as many barriers as possible to ease their entry into the business, you’ll be surprised by how many people will be active members of your team.
When new people join, the ‘welcome’ is vital! It needs to happen soon after joining; the more personal you can make this, the better. Remember that direct selling is a relationship business, not just relationships with your customers and hosts but also with your team.
Read this article on how to coach teamies on getting bookings.
I like to focus on the ‘bird in the hand, which is worth 2 in the bush’. Retaining a team member is easier than recruiting a new one. Imagine how much better our teams and our industry would be if we only had 20 to 30 percent of new consultants not take any action rather than that 70-80 percent currently!
I think we can, and we should do better!
Using the principles in this book, I built a global $20-million direct sales business.
In ‘Growing Your Direct Sales Team,’ I share my tried and tested methods from my 20 years in the industry.
My book has dozens of worksheets, checklists, and templates to get you on your road to success.
Some recruiting leads don’t think they can be as confident and happy to speak to groups of people as you are. They’ll tell you that they are too shy or introverted to speak in front of other people.
“I can’t speak in front of people as you do…
You can reassure these leads that there are several ways to deal with being nervous as a consultant or party plan representative. And, of course, you can also reassure them that with practice, they will gain confidence.
Perhaps you can share your own experiences of gaining confidence and share the tricks you used to help you through your first few parties. Or, if you never had any issues running a party, you can share this video below.
In this short 6-minute video, I share what happened before my very first party and some of the ways I dealt with my nerves and fears. You can use these tips with your lead or simply send them to this video!
Recruiting from your online events can be a fabulous way to grow your business. But, unfortunately, most direct sellers don’t mention recruiting at all or just post 1 thing about the business opportunity at a Facebook party and believe they’ve done all that’s necessary to let recruits flow in.
It doesn’t quite work like that. Unfortunately.
My rule of thumb is to use 1/3 of your ‘display’ to be dedicated to the business opportunity, 1/3 to bookings, and 1/3rd to the products. With in-home parties I mean that quite literally, 1/3 of your display should be dedicated to promoting the business, and with Facebook parties I make about 1/3 of my posts related to the business.
It’s unlikely that your Facebook party guests see every single post that you put at the party. Not to mention, people need to see something multiple times before they take action. So don’t worry about having too many posts about joining or bookings.
Just to be sure, I’m not encouraging you to post the exact same thing several times! Be a bit creative, highlight different benefits, and try to reach different types of people with your posts.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Don’t rely solely on posts in your Facebook party. It’s super effective to go ‘Live’ during your event, preferably a few times! The Facebook Algorithm prioritizes Lives, so it’s likely many of the guests will see it!
Live videos will help the guests will form more of a connection with you as a person rather than thinking of you as Salesperson X of Company Y. A Live video also gives you the opportunity to talk about the business opportunity with enthusiasm and passion, which are hard to capture in a status update.
Doing this Live will help you to reach more people and have more of an impact – it’s the difference between reading about something and watching a video about it with images and sound. It’ll allow you to show your passion and enthusiasm and become an actual person rather than a name on a screen!
If you’re not confident enough yet to go Live, pre-record a video in which you talk about the business opportunity. This way, you can do it multiple times until you’re happy with it. It’s not as effective as the Facebook algorithm, but it’s the next best thing. And it’s just as effective in building trust and a connection with people!
Here are some prompts to help you talk about your business opportunity:
What do you love most about your direct sales biz?
Why did you join?
How much does it cost to get started?
What benefits are there to starting right now?
What can they earn from an average party or event?
What else can they earn as a consultant?
You might not want to put all those things in your video or Live and rather talk about some of these topics in a post.
A critical component of success in your business is following up
Thinking ahead and planning for follow-up is vital when you’re doing online events. To be able to follow up, you’ll need contact details. You want to connect with them in a different way from Facebook posts to make it more personal. Here are some ideas to help you get those contact details:
Google Forms or Survey Monkey
I like to create a Lucky Door Prize entry form and encourage guests to fill out the form at the start of the party and will remind them throughout the event to fill out the form to go in the draw. At the end of the event I draw a winner who will get a small prize or a discount.
The advantage of a form or survey is that you can ask other questions too, such as an offer to provide more information on joining your direct sales business.
You could create a ‘tick box’ style question like this: Tell me how I can: – earn free products – get an ongoing discount – earn cash as a social seller to family and friends – run a lucrative side hustle – build a serious business
Connect via Messenger
It’s very helpful during the Facebook party to be able to send private messages to the guests. However, if you’ve never connected before, the guests are unlikely to even see your messages.
By offering ‘Party Points’ or a mystery prize winner to one lucky guest who sends you an emoji or hello to you, you make that initial connection in Facebook Messenger. Once you are connected, guests will see future messages from you. Make it easy for guests to actually connect with you by sharing your unique Messenger link, which you can find in your profile in the Messenger app. It’ll look something like m.me/facebook.name
I hope this article has given you a few ideas to improve your recruiting from online events. If there’s a tip you’d like to share, leave it below in the comments!
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.
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?
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 be persistent came from research by a marketing specialist at Notre Dame University:
94% of all salespeople 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.
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.
Using the principles in this book, I built a global $20-million direct sales business.
In ‘Growing Your Direct Sales Team,’ I share my tried and tested methods from my 20 years in the industry.
My book comes with dozens of worksheets, checklists, and templates to get you on your road to success.
Recruiting is as much a mind game as it is something that you do.
Five things need to be in place in you and your biz when it comes to recruiting:
A belief in the business opportunity with your company
Having a consistent business yourself
A sense of fun and joy in your direct sales biz
A focus on others
A desire to learn and develop in your business
Let’s look at each of those, and I’ll link to some helpful articles that can take you further in that area.
You believe in the business opportunity with your company
If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, people will know at some level that you don’t believe in it.
Look around your team and larger organization: How are others making the most of the business? What does your business mean to you? Consider this and ensure you are firm about the business opportunity.
On my ‘About’ page, I discuss what my direct sales business means to my family and me.
You have a consistent business yourself.
You want to get bookings and sales consistently in your own business. Not only does that set a great example as a consultant, but you’ll also have gained confidence that this business works and can speak authentically about it.
As a direct seller with a consistent business, you’ll also be able to help your brand-new team members get their businesses started successfully.
This does not mean you should stop recruiting until you have this in place, but you should work deliberately toward a consistent business.
You maintain a sense of fun and joy in your direct sales biz
People will sense this if you don’t like what you’re doing! If you don’t enjoy your direct sales business, you will find it hard to stay motivated and achieve goals.
Ensure you don’t lose your enjoyment in the biz by trying new things, challenging yourself when bored, and generally staying inspired.
During the recruiting process, it’s essential to focus on the other person. Adopt an attitude of service: you’re not trying to lure them into your business for your reasons. Instead, you’re offering them a fabulous and flexible business opportunity.
You want to adopt that service attitude towards your team members as a leader. Know that by helping your team to thrive, you will succeed.
I’ve got a few articles for you that talk about this a bit more:
You have the desire to learn and develop your business
Being in business means that you’ll experience ups and downs. Dealing with this requires some resiliency and a deliberate effort to keep up your motivation.
You’ll also find that you’ll be challenged in new and different ways as you grow your business. Learning to deal with each new challenge helps you grow as a businesswoman.
Some of the learning will be skills-based – you might need to learn how to phrase your recruiting message. Some of the learning is mental and about coping with uncertainty or stress.
Taking the time to reflect on your business and current challenges will help you seek resources to help you grow.
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.
This book comes with dozens of free worksheets, checklists, and templates to get you started on your direct sales journey today!
Did you know that 70% of people naturally prefer absorbing information visually?
This statistic gives us a powerful way to spark interest in joining your team. Below are some suggestions for maximizing your display to promote the business opportunity.
Display Space
First and foremost, it’s important to ensure you allocate enough space to promote the business opportunity.
The #1 mistake most direct sellers make when it comes to their display at parties or showings is that they dedicate it entirely to products and maybe some party bookings.
The rule I work by is the rule of thirds: A third of your display space should be dedicated to the business opportunity, another third should be dedicated to party bookings and the final third is used to showcase products.
Making this relatively small shift in your display will significantly impact your business!
What to display
Although I encourage you to be creative with your display, keep in mind that you don’t want it to be cluttered! The key message needs to be clear. Here are some display ideas:
Example of a storyboard
Use a big bow on a ‘position vacant’ sign. I like to use a ridiculously oversized bow because it sends the message that the business opportunity is a gift and at the same time it attracts people’s attention.
Attach cash to your opportunity display. If you can afford to use actual bank notes, it will have a stronger psychological impact, but you can use fake cash too. I like to display the amount of cash a consultant earns at a party. Make sure you mention that the amount is the typical amount earned! I like to ask guests to think of what they’d do with that extra cash, and I usually mention how wonderful it is that you can earn that money for a couple of hours of fun. Fill out the form below to grab some display cash for US, UK, Canadian and Australian bank notes.
Pop a storyboard on your opportunity display. A storyboard is a collage that you display to show the benefits of the business and the lifestyle it can support. Your images can include the friendships you’ve made, the family holiday you could afford from the business, incentive trips you’ve qualified for, prizes you’ve won, recognition, etc. During the party, you can share the story behind some images to bring the storyboard to life. A storyboard also acts as powerful social proof!
These ideas are just a starting point. Your business displays are limited only to your imagination and creativity.
My bonus tip: change your recruiting displays often – you never know if a different display showing a different angle of the business opportunity will spark interest in a repeat guest.
If your display is always the same, it will stop impacting repeat guests – it’ll become ‘background noise’ for them.
So make sure you have a few different things you can display and talk about.
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!
I have a confession to make… I used to be dreadful at follow-up.
I’d forget to call people back or forget when people wanted me to check in again with them. Because I had bits of paper with people’s details scattered around my office in no particular order. And I’d regularly lose the information altogether.
I was disorganized and inconsistent when it came to follow-up.
That is, until I started using a “leads book”. And you might need one too:
If you’re like me back then – disorganized and using bits of paper of record phone numbers
If you struggle to remember what you talked about the last time you spoke to them
If you’re not sure when you last spoke to them and worry about calling them too often…
…you need a leads book!
What is a leads book?
A leads book is simply a notebook for your booking and recruiting leads. It sounds simple, but it works!
You use the leads book to keep track of all the people you have spoken to about hosting a party or joining the business.
Or if you prefer you can split this into 2 books – that’s what I do nowadays.
Using your leads book effectively
Allocate 1 page to each person you speak to about recruiting or hosting a party. You can add brief notes to that page every time you speak to them.
Remember to add the date for every contact you have – that way you know precisely when you talked to them last and what you discussed.
Also include personal information you know about them such as names and ages of children, life events such as holidays or getting married, and other important information. That way you can quickly call them to mind before you make a call or send a message.
You leave their name in your book until they tell you they are not interested in joining your team or hosting a party.
When they say “No“, remember to ask them if that’s a no for now or forever. Ask them if it’s okay to keep them informed about any new offers that come up (or invite them to your VIP customer group) and if it’s okay to get in touch from time to time. If they say “yes” to that, you leave their page in your leads book.
Don’t worry if some people stay in your leads book for a long time. It happens. Sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. I have members in my team that I was following up with from my leads book for 3 years before they joined!
But by having their details in my trusty leads book, I didn’t have to rely on bits of paper or my memory. I had all the details together and always knew when I’d last spoken to them.
Bonus Tip: Ask people for their birthdays and add that information to your leads book. Then on their birthday send them a discount voucher. That’s a great way to stay in touch with leads, encouraging them to contact you again to redeem their voucher.
Using the principles in this book, I built a global $20-million direct sales business.
In ‘Growing Your Direct Sales Team,’ I share my tried and tested methods from my 20 years in the industry.
My book comes with dozens of worksheets, checklists, and templates to get you on your road to success.
