How to overcome: I don’t have time

When a lead thinks they can't fit #DirectSelling into their lives, this is how you can respond.

This is part 3 in the “How to Overcome” series that delves into how to deal with objections when you’re recruiting in your direct sales business.

Many people would like to join a direct sales business but they believe they don’t have the time.

This is almost a bit funny to me, because I have found my direct sales business incredibly flexible.

I have been able to work around a full-time job before direct sales became my primary career. I have been able to work it around my children when they came along. And more recently I managed to run my business from my daughter’s hospital room when she was desperately ill.

Many successful consultants have found that they absolutely can work a direct sales business around their life’s circumstances. But it does take a little thought and pre-planning.

For this week’s article, I have conducted 3 interviews with fabulous women in the direct sales industry to ask them how they juggle their family, work, and newborns and their direct selling business.

You can use these stories as examples when you talk to leads, or even show them the videos. You can also use the fabulous tips and ideas for your own business.

In the first interview I talk to the lovely Sarah Snowdon who tells us how she prepared for having her second child and is now juggling her business around a new bub and a toddler.

In this second interview I talk to the amazing Rebecca Croxford. She runs a direct sales business, has a job, runs her own counselling practice and has a young family including a new-born and a child with special needs. Phew!

And last but not least, I talk to the gorgeous Rhiannon Jordan who was pregnant at the time of interview and talks about preparing her own personal business and team business for some time off.

You can use these wonderful stories and tips in your own business, in your team, and of course when you’re talking to a potential recruit and they tell you they don’t have the time to join your biz.

The direct sales industry is so wonderfully flexible and there are so many ways of running a biz. Perhaps you can start a conversation in your team Facebook group to some examples. You’ll find that how much time people spend and how they run their biz and fit it in their life is very different form consultant to consultant.

Once you have some different examples, you can share that with people who wonder how to fit it in their own life.

Also check out:

Part 1 for How to Overcome: “I can’t afford to join”
Part 2 for How to Overcome “I dont’ want to be salesy”
Part 4 for How to Overcome “I’m afraid to stand up and speak in front of people”

Recruiting or sponsoring can be scary … What do you say? How do you bring it up in the first place? When someone shows an interest, how do you follow up without being pushy?

In over 8 Modules, the Recruiting Masterclass will teach what to say, what to display, what to play, how to find potential team members outside of parties, online recruiting events, how to overcome objections, how to warm up your leads and how to follow up!

Recruiting is a skill that you can learn, even if you think you don’t have it in you!

How to overcome: I don’t want to be salesy

This is part 2 in the “How to Overcome” series that delves into how to deal with objections when you’re sponsoring or recruiting into your direct sales team.

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…)

(And if you liked this video, also check the interview with Rochelle on attraction marketing. That interview explains very nicely how to do social media marketing without being spammy .)

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.

So go for your dreams!

Also check out:

Part 1 for How to Overcome “I can’t afford to join”
Part 3 for How to Overcome “I don’t have time”
Part 4 for How to Overcome “I’m afraid to stand up and speak in front of people”

Recruiting or sponsoring can be scary… What do you say? How do you bring it up at a party? When someone shows an interest, how do you follow up without being pushy?

In over 8 Modules, the Recruiting Masterclass will teach what to say, what to display, what to play, how to find potential team members outside of parties, online recruiting events, how to overcome objections, how to warm up your leads, and how to follow up!

Recruiting is a skill that you can learn, even if you think you don’t have it in you!

How to overcome: I can’t afford it

This is part 1 in the “How to Overcome” series that delves into how to deal with objections when you’re talking to potential new team members for your direct sales biz.

When people are faced with a big decision, like joining your direct sales biz, they often need a lot of information to overcome the questions or objections that their mind (or their partner) throws up.

This series of articles is intended to help you talk to them about their objections. It’s not meant to steamroll over their questions (because an objection is really a request for more information).

These articles are not encouraging you to be pushy! With these articles I want to help you understand what the objections mean and how you could address the questions people have about starting a direct sales business.

So let’s get started with the first, and most common, objection:

“I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to join your direct sales biz….”

If you have tried to recruit people to your direct sales business, you will have heard this sentence.

It’s such a common objection that if you haven’t heard it, you haven’t been recruiting!

In this article I’ll go deeper into why people say this and what you can reply to help you to be prepared in your recruiting chats.

What are people really saying?

Before looking at how to deal with the objection, let’s have a look at why someone might have said it:

They genuinely can’t afford it. Sometimes people really don’t have the money to join your party plan business even though they would like to.
They have the money but they have other things in mind to spend that money on. Your offer isn’t a high enough priority for them. They are really saying: “I can’t afford to spend money on something that I don’t think is very important….”
They have another worry or concern that makes them believe it won’t work for them. In that case what they’re really saying is: “I don’t’ think this will work for me so it would be a waste of money. And I can’t afford to waste that money….”

How to deal with each reason

1) They genuinely can’t afford it

If someone is genuinely interested but really can’t afford your offer, keep them as a lead.

You could ask when a good time is to contact them again and schedule a follow up that suits them better. In fact, you could still make your offer, saying something like: “That’s okay, you don’t have to join right now. I’d still like to share the business opportunity with you for the future. How about we have a coffee and a chat?”

This will be a low pressure conversation because you’ve already agreed they don’t need to join right now. It could still lead to them joining in the future or them referring someone to you.

More importantly, if the real reason was number 2 or 3 you have a second chance to talk to them!

2) They can’t see the value

You haven’t made the value of your offer clear to your leads and they’ve told you that they ‘can’t afford it’.

When you present your offer, you need to find a way to present the benefits that will appeal to your leads.

For some people the benefit of a direct sales business is the flexibility, for others the fact that they can be with their kids. Some people like the friendships they make, others are ambitious and like the recognition along the way. I’ve also met people who do a very different job during the day and like to do their direct sales business as a side hustle to enjoy their evenings with like-minded women.

If you do get another chance to speak with your lead, ensure you listen to find out which of the many benefits of a direct sales business will appeal to them.

Once they can see the value, it becomes more of a priority for them to spend their money on a new adventure with you.

4) They actually have another worry

You need to find out what’s actually worrying them. You could ask something like: “Do you mind if I ask, if it wasn’t for the money would you go ahead? Or is there something else that might cause you to hesitate?”

How to respond effectively and honestly to recruiting objections. #DirectSales #PartyPlan

You want them to tell you what’s holding them back, so again good listening skills come into play here.

Once they tell you their concern or worry, you can address that specifically with examples from yourself or from your team mates.

You don’t have to be a sleazy salesperson to be a good seller, in fact don’t be.

Listening is crucial

As you can see, it’s vital to listen carefully to what people tell you so you can find out the real reason behind the objection.

Check out the other articles for more:

Part 2 for How to Overcome “I don’t want to be salesy or pushy“.
Part 3 for How to Overcome “I don’t have time”
Part 4 for How to Overcome “I’m afraid to stand up and speak in front of people”

Recruiting or sponsoring can be daunting… What do you say? How do you bring it up? When they show an interest, how do you follow up without being pushy?

In 8 Modules, the Recruiting Masterclass will teach what to say, what to display, what to play, how to find potential team members outside of parties, online recruiting events, how to overcome objections, how to warm up your leads and how to follow up!

Recruiting is a skill that you can learn, even if you think you don’t have it in you!

How to gamify the recruiting process (and keep yourself in the game)

Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself to do the right thing. So here's a way to make it into a game and have some fun while you work!

Sponsoring or recruiting new members into your direct sales team is the way to grow your business.

But many consultants find it hard to follow up with people who’ve shown an interest.

I certainly found it hard in the beginning!

I struggled with this for a while. I wanted to build my team and expand my business. I wanted to make progress fast, but I found myself procrastinating when I did have leads. I found it hard to get a “no”. I didn’t make many follow-up calls at all and I didn’t grow my team very much.

Sound familiar?

At some point I decided I had to get better at following up. The way I did it was to ‘gamify’ the process. I turned following up into a game with prizes. Who doesn’t like prizes?

How you can learn to enjoy follow-ups in your direct sales biz

The first thing I did is that I switched my focus from worrying about the results to my actions instead.

I started by rewarding myself with $2 in a spending jar for each follow-up phone call, regardless of the outcome. My goal was to get myself moving, to overcome procrastination, to reward myself for the doing, not the result.

Once I made enough calls and earned a nice amount of $2 coins, I treated myself and my husband to a night out at the movies. We enjoyed a fabulous night at the Gold Class cinema because I had finally started making regular follow-up calls.

This first step, focusing on the actions and rewarding these actions, massively changed my attitude to making these follow-up phone calls.

As a result I started to make lots of calls. So when I happened to reward myself two weeks in a row with a cinema evening, my husband suggested I think of a cheaper reward .

I then moved on to jelly beans as I love jelly beans. I had a jar sitting on my desk but I could only have one when I made a follow-up phone call.

I had to end that reward when I decided to clean up my eating habits.

So then my teaching background came in handy and I made myself a star chart. I put stars on a chart for every call I made and I promised myself a nice treat when I filled up the chart! And that worked very well for me.

As you can see, I tried a few different reward systems and they all worked.

Make recruiting easier by making it into a game. Free worksheet for #DirectSellers and #PartyPlan reps. Grab it now >>

I quickly overcame my fear of follow-up calls, overcame that procrastination and learned to enjoy each and every call for its own sake.

Don’t get me wrong, I still got lots of “no’s”, but I also started to recruit a lot more than I had before. Just because I made the calls!

Of course, now that I was making more calls I was getting more practice. And just by making more follow-up calls, I got better at it. So my success rate improved and I noticed that I was getting fewer “no’s” to get each “yes”.

And all I did to achieve this was to gamify my follow up process. I enjoyed my rewards and I learned to enjoy the process.

This is why I want to encourage you to gamify your own recruiting actions too.

To help you with this, I’ve created a handy printable worksheet for you that you can use to encourage yourself to make those follow-up calls, which will lead to more practice and eventually a higher success rate.

Worksheet notes

Set yourself mini rewards for every 10 calls you make. When you’ve earned 5 mini rewards, you have filled the sheet and you can treat yourself to a bigger reward. Remember, the results do not matter – you get a reward for the doing so you learn to love the process!

However, it’s still useful to track your numbers. You’ll see that as you make more calls, you’ll get fewer “no’s” for each “yes”. Seeing such improvement is incredibly motivating.

Not to mention, once you know what your average number of “no’s” is per “yes”, you will become more motivated to make the next call to get closer to that “yes”!

Mini rewards could be things like indulging in a sumptuous bubble bath, watching a movie, catching up with friends…. Those things that you don’t normally take time to do but that you really enjoy doing.

Once you fill the worksheet, you can treat yourself to something bigger. Perhaps a dinner out, some new clothes or shoes, or champagne and chocolate, something for your home office….whatever motivates you.

It’s important to celebrate your efforts and your growth in your business. We tend to make it all about results, but to get the results we need to put in the work, to develop, to get better. Then the results will come.

I’d really like to hear what you’re rewarding yourself with and how you’re going with the worksheet. Leave a comment below, let’s build a stockpile of reward ideas!

Recruiting with Games

Recruiting games you can play at your next direct selling event. Grab the FREE printable too.

When I first started my direct sales business I didn’t play any games of any type at my parties.

In the beginning of my career I thought that my guests would find games childish or just not fun.

I had been to party plan events with other companies and I had been asked to walk like a chicken or sing a line from my favorite song – and I hated it. I was out of my comfort zone and I didn’t want to do that my guests.

So I avoided all games for quite some time.

But when I was encouraged to try and play some games that respected people’s comfort zones and focused on having fun, my results were amazing!

Guests were more relaxed and I got more bookings and more leads for potential new team members too. So that’s why I am encouraging you now to give games a try.

Why you want to use recruiting games in your direct sales biz

Recruiting games are especially helpful for anyone who is not yet confident talking about the business opportunity in a more direct way.

When you’re planning to play a recruiting game at your parties, this also ensures you don’t forget to bring up the business opportunity at all (which we’ve all done, I’m sure).

Games are a fun and relaxed way to introduce the career options, without being“salesy” or pushy.

Guests are likely to be more receptive to the message when it’s shared in a fun way.

There are two important things to remember when playing games at your direct selling event:

Have a little fun with it. That means you have to keep up a good pace, don’t slog through it slowly but don’t rush either. Make some jokes and be a bit silly.
Make the game yours so it fits with your style and your personality (and your company and products).

Today I have 2 recruiting games for you that have worked well for me, so give them a try.

Game 1: Recruiting Rhyme

If any selling you have done before, put down 10 to start your score.
If you have a car and are able to drive, the thing to do is just add 5.
If some extra money is what you would like, add 10 more which is just about right.
A little spare time will add to your score, for this, you may add 15 more.
If you like people and think they are grand, add 5 more and see where you stand.
Add 10 points if you think parties are fun, and when you add this you are almost done.
If you score the highest, it is plain to see a Company Name consultant is what you should be.
Add 25 more if you want to be a Company Name consultant, like me….learn how you can make money and get lots of products for free!

Use these 2 recruiting games at your direct sales party to have some fun and increase your recruits.

To play this game, simply give each guest a piece of paper to keep track of their score as they listen to you recite the following poem. Anyone who adds the 25 points at the end should be followed up with about the business opportunity.

You can also add some small prizes (small incentives, chocolates, etc.) for high scores.

Game 2: Ask me about my job

This is a game that I play at the end of the party when people have well and truly ‘warmed up’.

I set a timer for 2 minutes to make sure it doesn’t drag on.

You encourage guests to ask you about your job as a party plan consultant. You reward a question that relates to being a consultant with a (chocolate) prize or a raffle ticket (with a raffle prize drawn at the end).

I usually throw (gently!) the chocolate prizes to the guests to keep the momentum going and add a bit of activity.

Sometimes nobody wants to be first and nobody asks you a question. The way to get the ball rolling is to act like an auctioneer and ask yourself a question. Like an opening bid. Make it funny and guests will pretty quickly join in.

Keep your answers short and succinct, don’t overwhelm people with too much information at one time.

You can grab the free recruiting rhyme printable below.

Please let me know how you get on with the recruiting games. And if you play any different recruiting games at your parties, can you tell us about them?

Recruiting is a skill that you can learn – it’s not something you need to have a talent for.
If you’re interested in learning all the skills that will help you become a recruiting superstar, check out my Masterclass.

C.O.D.D……Let’s go fishing

Title: A Structure for your recruiting chats that actually works

Have you ever heard of C.O.D.D? It’s a technique to use in your direct sales or party plan business to fish for potential new team members.

And luckily it doesn’t actually involve any cod fish.

I feel I should start with a confession: In my first two years as a direct salesperson I did not recruit a single new team member.

Not a single one.

Things changed after my first convention and learning about C.O.D.D. Learning to use this technique helped me to grow into an international record holder within my company for sponsoring the most people in a single month.

C.O.D.D. stands for Compliment, Objective, Disclaimer, Date.

You can use this structure to casually arrange for a coffee catch-up with potential new team members or to sign someone up on the spot.

So let me walk you through it.

How to use the C.O.D.D structure in your direct sales biz

Compliment

You start the conversation with a compliment. It’s important that the compliment is genuine because people can smell a fake from a mile away. Also, you need to make the compliment fit the person. You can’t say the same tired line to everybody because people will talk to each other or may overhear your conversation where you say the same thing to everybody. Learn to see the good in people and compliment them on it.

At parties or direct sales events, I look for people who would make great team members and I tell them why. I say something like: “You’d make a fabulous consultant because…

You were so passionate about our products. Everyone listened when you told them about your favorites!
You are so warm and friendly. I think you managed to catch up with everybody at this party! You’re obviously a fabulous people person.
You are the life of the party!

Objective

After your genuine compliment, you move straight to the objective before they even have a chance to respond to your compliment. Your objective could be to get them to take a recruitment information pack home or encouraging them to buy the business kit on the spot. I usually say something like: “I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it before, but…

I’d love you to take home this information and have a read of it.
The business kit is such amazing value so you’ve got nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Disclaimer

Use this easy structure to make those recruiting chats easy and fun.

The disclaimer is meant to put them at ease. You keep it casual and ensure they won’t feel like you’re putting the “hard sell” on them. Which you are not. I usually say something like

“Don’t worry, if it’s not for you I promise I won’t stalk you, but there’s no harm in finding out about it. If it’s not for you, you might actually know someone that it would be perfect for.”

Quick note: if your objective is to sign them up on the spot, you skip the disclaimer and go straight to the sign-up phase. You can say something like “Let’s go ahead and order you the kit. It’ll feel like Christmas when it arrives!” Then you move to set a date.

Date

In this phase you’re trying to set a date to meet them again. You can ask: “When is best for you to catch up for a chat about it and I can answer any questions you might have?” or something similar. When you’re trying to sign someone up on the spot you can ask something like “What’s best for you to have a gathering to let your friends and family know. A weekend or weeknight?”. Have your diary ready and try to get a firm appointment.

Let the passion for your direct sales biz shine through

The key to this process is to realize it’s a structure for effective conversations, not a script.

To make it work, you have to make it fit your personality and style. You have to find something real to compliment someone on, and you have to have real passion for your business. Authenticity and passion will always shine through and by using techniques like C.O.D.D. you can become more effective.

Authenticity and passion will always shine through….

To become fluent in using C.O.D.D., it helps to role-play it a few times. Perhaps you can practice with a friend, business buddy or family member before your next party or event so the conversation is smooth and natural. Once you’re confident you’ll see that your sponsoring chats become a lot more effective.

Now, go fish!

Recruiting or sponsoring is a skill that you can learn, it’s not something you are born with. If you want to improve your recruiting skills to build your business, check out the Recruiting Masterclass. It’s jam-packed with ideas, strategies and tips to help you become a superstar recruiter in your own direct sales biz.

6 Steps to run a Facebook recruiting event in your direct sales biz

Title: 6 Steps to running a Facebook Recruiting Event in your Direct Sales Biz

Imagine this: you in your pajamas, having a lovely cuppa while you chat online with potential recruits for just an hour.

Sound good? That’s what a Facebook Recruiting event is like and it’s super easy to organize.

You can use these recruiting events by yourself or use them as a leader to support team members who struggle with recruiting.

You can also band together with a couple of fellow teammates and all work together, with a few more people and excitement in the event it does work better!

Online recruiting events are easy, cheap, and you get to grow your business. I love them! The only thing it doesn’t do is fold the laundry and make you a nice cuppa…

Despite the lack of laundry folding, I run “Golden Ticket Events” bi-monthly. I call them Golden Ticket Events because I’m offering leads a “golden ticket” to a great opportunity.

And I truly believe that: the direct selling industry has no glass ceiling and can be life changing for women. To give you some numbers, only 2 percent of women in the USA earn over $100,000 …. but 80 percent of those are in direct sales. So it’s definitely the place to be!

So here’s exactly how to run a successful Facebook recruiting event in 6 steps.

How to Run a Facebook Recruiting Event for Your Direct Sales Biz

Step 1: Set-up a closed Facebook group. You want a closed group so you control membership and see who has viewed each post. Furthermore, you’ll be able to leave the people you invited in the group after the event so they automatically join the next event you run.

All you have to do is delete the old posts and re-schedule the new posts.

You want to leave leads in the group because sometimes people want to see it again before joining, or perhaps they have new questions, or the timing is just better for them in a second event.

Step 2: Create some images. You will need:

A great looking cover graphic for the Facebook group (got you covered, see below).
Tiles (square images that you can use in your Facebook posts) for your team so they can promote the upcoming event.
Tiles for all your scheduled posts in Step 5.
Tiles for your posts in the lead up to the event (1 per day)
Optional: a quick invitation image you can send to your invites

Run recruiting events on Facebook together with your team. #DirectSales #PartyPlan

Step 3: Create a short (no more than 2 minutes) welcome video for the invitees. I have the video posted in the group already waiting for invitees as they join the group.

You can use the webcam on your laptop or computer or your phone camera to create the video. Just talk to the camera as if you’re talking to a person, be bright and happy and welcoming. It doesn’t have to be long or super fancy, just make it warm and fun.

By the way, I don’t pin the video to the top of the Facebook group, it’s only there for a quick welcome ahead of the event.

Step 4: Invite consultants with leads in your team to your Facebook group. They then invite their own leads to the group. Build some excitement in your team and encourage them to contact all their leads for this event.

If you’re doing the event on your own then just invite your leads, the people who said maybe and the fence sitters.

Step 5: Schedule your tiles and posts in ~5 minute intervals. By scheduling all your posts you don’t have to stress throughout the event to keep posting and writing. This leaves you free to comment, answer questions, and help your team.

Here are some post ideas:

Your direct sales company’s values or social campaigns
Videos or images that are created by your company about the direct sales business opportunity
Information on what exactly new recruits will receive when they join (the kit)
Your company’s incentives
A question to prompt invitees to think about what they would do with the extra cash (“What could you do with an extra $50 per week?”)
The type of training new recruits will be offered
The support that is available
FAQs
Posts that target some of the common objections (lack of time, network, or confidence)
A link to the registration site (some people are happy to go off and do it by themselves)
A Google form for their details with a ‘lucky door prize’ as incentive. Make sure you ask them on a scale from 1 to 10 how close they are to joining, this will help you to follow-up.

Step 6: Sign-up recruits and celebrate every win with your team!

Timing of your event

Timing is everything, as they say.

You don’t want your leads to go cold so don’t plan too much time between announcing the event and running the event. I allow 6 days.

The event itself runs for an hour between 8 and 9pm on a weekday night.

What you do After the Event

Follow up with the leads who have indicated (a number above 6) that they are close to joining in the Google Form. These are warm leads; they have seen you in the video and they’ve chatted with you during the event, they’ll feel like they know you already!

Review your event. Which posts got a lot of engagement? Which question kept popping up? Are there more posts or FAQ questions you want to add? Are there posts you want to change or delete? Was your video viewed to the end by most people? You always want to make the next event better than the previous one.

Finally, delete all your posts and get ready to run a new event! Wash, rinse, repeat…

FREE images for your Facebook recruiting event for your direct selling business.

To help you get started I’ve created a Facebook event cover and a social media tile that you can use for your Golden Ticket Events. Grab it below (your privacy is guaranteed!)

Do you want to learn more about recruiting new teamies into your biz? Check out the Recruiting Masterclass. It includes 8 Modules with tips on what to say, what to display and what to play at your parties.

You’ll also learn how to ‘warm up’ your leads, how to find potential new team members outside of parties, how to overcome objections when talking to people interested in joining you, and how to do the follow-up.

Check Out Recruiting Masterclass