3 Things that Stop a Team from Growing

Title: 3 Things that Stop Your Team from Growing

How is your direct selling team doing? Is your team growing?

If you are working hard but your team is not growing and you feel like you’re not getting ahead, you might be doing one of these 3 things that’s holding you back.

1) Your team’s focus depends on your focus!

If your goal is to increase the size of your team but you only mention sponsoring once at the start of the month, you’re not likely to inspire any growth.

To keep the team focused on sponsoring you can offer regular training on sponsoring. Make sure you use a variety of training options such as Facebook Live, Zoom, webinars, or face-to-face sessions to cater to all your team members.

Another idea is to post regular tips in your team Facebook group to remind your team of the techniques that work and to keep them focused on sponsoring.

Also create exciting recognition for team members that do recruit. You could feature them in a “My Story” section in a newsletter or on Facebook, you can create beautiful awards, you can send postcards in the mail for a personal touch, you can hold a Facebook Live and shine a spotlight on all your high achievers.

What you recognize gets repeated so you want to make a big deal out of recruiting.

2) Discipline is a required trait for success!
This is not negotiable. If you’re inconsistent, your team will likely be inconsistent too.

For example, if you say you’re going to do a weekly recognition but you only manage to do it once or twice a month, you won’t inspire your team.

Learn about 3 things that you might be doing that's slowing your direct sales team growth down.

Another example is cancelling meetings. It’s understandable that you might want to cancel meetings or training sessions due to low numbers. But don’t do it! If your team expects meetings or training sessions to be cancelled, why would they set aside the time to attend?

When I was establishing a team in a new area I drove nearly 4 hours each way to run meetings and training sessions. I did this for 2 years. I regularly turned up to fewer than 5 people. But I ran my meetings and training sessions anyway and did the best I could for my small audience. Over time the numbers increased and I built a strong team and fabulous leaders.

Whether you’re running face-to-face or online meetings, you might have to live with low attendance for a while. But if you persist and you are consistent, it will pay off.

3) Don’t just build a team, build a community!
Is there a sense of community in your direct sales team? Grab the printable below to assess how your team is doing in terms of community.

If your team members feel connected and made welcome in your team, they’re more likely to stay and more likely to participate in challenges, training, meetings, etc. The more they participate and the happier they are with their direct sales tribe, the better they’ll perform.

Takeaway:

If you are focused and consistent and build your team into a warm community, you will attract more team members!

Revitalize an inactive team

Sometimes teams (or parts of teams) lose their mojo. They grow stale and inactive. They’ve lost the spark.

Are you part of such a team? Or are you a leader with this problem?

Here’s the solution to kick-start a team back into action: hold a mega party!

Mega parties will help an inactive team to get a lot of sales quickly, but more importantly get bookings and potential new team members to get their business rolling again.

What is a Mega Party?

Mega parties are large parties where multiple team members book tables that they are responsible for filling with guests. Sales and bookings are taken by the consultant who’s invited that guest.

Usually there’s one person (a team leader perhaps) that runs the party while the team members at each table make sure they have a relevant products, samples, and information available for the guests.

To make your mega party a success here are some tips:

Excite Your Team
A Mega Party will only work if your team is excited to make it a success. That means that if you’re the driver behind the party, you’ll need to be excited and put a little energy into getting your team behind the idea.

Lucky Door Prize
Who doesn’t like a Lucky Door Prize? Have each team member contribute a low value product to create a Lucky Door Prize. Also use some of the products as booking incentives or prizes for games during the party.

Fees
If you need to cover costs you may need to charge a small fee. You can use an online booking site such as Trybooking or Eventbee to let guests buy tickets. Or you can have your team members sell tickets for their tables.

You might think guests won’t want to pay to attend, but if you keep the fee low and the value of the party high, you won’t find it a problem. You can offer value in terms of discounts or free products, but also consider make-overs, allowing guests to try out (new) products, or informative demonstrations.

An advantage of charging a small fee is that guests that have booked are more likely to attend. You’ll find that cancellations and no-shows won’t be a big problem.

In the ticket price I like to include a glass of champagne for each guest for that special party feeling.

Personal Sales
Mega Parties are a great use of your time as they not only reinvigorate your team but you can make personal sales too. Make sure you keep a table for your own personal guests so you can make some sales at the event too.

Other uses for Mega Parties

For new team members: New team members may lack the confidence or skills to secure bookings from their parties. They may also not yet feel confident enough to talk about the business opportunity. Mega Parties are a fabulous tool to help them out. Not only will this help your new team members’ business, they also get to watch you run a party and learn from you.
New catalog launches: A new catalog is a fabulous ‘excuse’ to hold a Mega Party. The attraction for guests is that they get to sample new products and have a look at the new catalog.
Fundraisers: Mega Parties are a great way to do a fundraising event. You could choose to donate a percentage of your profits or ticket sales. Just make it clear to your guests how you are contributing to the charity.

To get started, call your inactive team members today to get them excited. Then get organizing!

Quiz

I have always been fascinated by personality types and different quizzes to find out what personality type you are. So when I came across a personality quiz specifically designed to help direct sellers, I jumped at it instantly.

The quiz was developed by the fabulous Mary Christensen. In her book you’ll find 8 personality types, but I’ve found these four the most common and helpful to distinguish:

Peacocks
Peacocks are the most colorful of all the personalities. They are enthusiastic, spontaneous, and passionate. They follow their instincts, radiate warmth, and make friends easily. Peacocks are drawn to the limelight. They talk a lot, often speak fast and may embellish a story for dramatic effect.
Doves
Doves are the most sensitive of all personalities. They are caring, nurturing, and kind. Doves bring harmony to any group because they are thoughtful, considerate, and tolerant of all viewpoints. They will turn away from disagreement rather than hurt someone’s feelings.
Eagles
Eagles are the most driven of all personalities. They live to win. Eagles are confident, ambitious and assertive. They won’t stop until they get what they want.
Owls
Owls are the most observant of all the personalities. They are fascinated by facts, figures, and detail. They are sincere and reliable and sometimes a little pedantic.

Oh no! I’m a Peacock

The first time I took this quiz, I was identified as a “Peacock” and I was not happy about it. I had considered myself a more nurturing “Dove” type and now I was a flashy Peacock.

But when I was honest with myself, I realized I really did love attention, recognition and loved seeing my name in print and being recognized on stage at company events. I was indeed a Peacock and ready to own it!

The next thought that went through my mind was about my team, I really wanted to know their personality types as well so I would know how to bring out the best in them. I asked them to complete the quiz as well and many did.

That the quiz uses birds to explain the various personality types was helpful to me. The associations are logical and very easy to remember so that was a big plus when it came to working with my team.

How I Applied the Personalities in My Direct Sales Biz

Understanding these different personality types made a massive difference to my business. It was the first time I really stopped to think about the fact that not everybody likes to do things the way that I do.

I knew that superficially, of course, but I hadn’t taken that knowledge to the next level and applied it consciously to managing myself or my team.

From then on I started offering different forms of recognition, taking into account that Owls and Doves often prefer a phone call or personal card in the mail over public recognition.

I also started delegating detailed tasks to Owls in my team, which draws upon their strengths and helped them to feel valued and.

I worked closely with Eagles to help them soar high but also develop patience with other personality types. I made an extra effort to shine the spotlight on the Peacocks, remembering that it wasn’t all about me.

I evolved into an Eagle

A few years later I took the quiz again and this time I had a new result. I had “evolved” into an Eagle. I was focused, goal oriented and a very high achiever. I had learned that consistency is the fastest way to success even though I’m still impatient.

Of course we all have aspects of each of the personality types within us. People are complex and beautiful beings, nobody is a one dimensional bird.

When I first took the quiz I realized I had very little “Owl” in me. I wasn’t very detail oriented and I wasn’t very organized. But, as they say, the first step in changing things is being aware of what you want to change. So I worked hard at increasing those skills over the years, to the point that I’m now extremely detail oriented and organized…although there is some room for improvement. I have to admit my office is usually messy and not very “owl-like”.

It is due to this quiz and – most importantly – the understanding of the different personality types for myself and my team that I was able to build a multi-million dollar business. It made me a better business woman and a better leader.

So, take a few minutes to take this quiz now. And then share it with your team! It’s a gift of knowledge that you can give yourself and others. It has the potential to change your life, just as it did mine.

Get your whole team to the next company event

When I started out in my party plan career I wasn’t even aware that it was something you could do as a career.

For 2 years I had been meandering along, doing parties and making a bit of spare cash, a bit of extra on top of what I earned in my “real” job. Then I attended a company event.

And everything changed.

I became incredibly motivated and I decided that next time I would be on stage because I would be the one receiving recognition.

Why company events are so important for direct sellers

An event is a massive booster for anybody in the direct selling industry because it makes people more excited to be part of the brand and this particular group of people.

It builds your team as they get to know each other better, cheer for each other, and support each other.

Then there’s the recognition.

Most direct selling companies provide recognition at events that’s super powerful. Powerful not just for the person being recognized but also for their peers.

Seeing someone you know recognized in very public way will increase your desire to also be recognized as well. And once you get that public recognition and feel that appreciation and sense of accomplishment, you’ll want more!

Company events can turn an average consultant into someone who’s excited to build her business, someone who spends more time and effort on her business, someone who’s excited to set goals and achieve them.

Company events are such a great way to increase people’s motivation that you want as many of your team as possible to attend the next company event.

So here are 5 tips to help you do just that.

Tips to get your direct sales team to the next company event

Tip 1: Go old school. As soon as the event is announced, send out personalized invites via snail mail to your teamies or alternatively just to the leaders.

In this era of Facebook messenger and emails, handwritten and mailed material stands out. It feels personal, it feels like someone cares, it makes the recipient feel special.

A nice snail mail invite will really add to the excitement and boost the chance that your team members will attend the event.

Tip 2: Facebook is your friend. You also want to post regular reminders on your team Facebook page or whatever other platform you are using to communicate with your team. But a reminder alone is not enough. To make Facebook reminders actually work, you need to include the registration link to the event. Every. Single. Time.

You want to make it easy for your team members to commit to the event the moment it pops up in their feed and they’ve got a spare minute. If your company does not require registration, set-up registration yourself for your team.

By registering, someone commits.

And if they’ve committed they will attend. And if they attend they get motivated to work harder on their business.

To set-up your own registration you can use Trybooking.com , Eventbrite or even a Google Form

Tip 3: Eye candy. Put together a slideshow or video to inspire your team to attend. Photos from your company will work, but your own photos from previous events are even better. You can use iMovie to make “movie trailers”, Ripl to create social media videos, or you can Facebook’s carousel option for a slide show.

Tip 4: Use the power of peers. Seek testimonials from team members who have attended this event before. A video testimonial from a team member who’s enthusiastic, who talks about what they got out of it and why they recommend attending is incredibly powerful.

Peer recommendations work really well in both written and video form. Some team members will be comfortable recording a video, others might prefer a written testimonial and that is perfect. This way you can post a nice variety of recommendations to your team.

Direct Sales Tip: Get your whole team to the next company event!

Tip 5: Get in their phone. Use SMS to send a personal text message. In the message you can include an inspiring image, a quick encouragement to attend and a direct link to the registration page.

Make the message a personal message from you, not a “corporate-y” message.

As you can see, I use a combination of ways to reach out to my team and I try to make it as personal as possible while still managing my time.

By letting other, enthusiastic team members help you with their testimonials and by using systems such as Facebook and group text I can still manage my time effectively.