“The whole model of coffee appointments, home parties and hotel meetings completely ignores the real key to success, which is this: getting
the customer to come to you first. When the customer finds you, instead of you finding the customer, her perception of you is totally different.”     Ann Sieg, The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing

95% of people who get involved in network marketing have absolutely no foundation in effective sales techniques or good business practices. The “3 foot” rule does not work.  Talking to everyone you meet in the grocery store, bank, or restaurant will not lead to good prospects.

“No One Is Worth Your Time Until They’ve Shown An Interest In What You’re Offering And Have Asked You For More Information.“     Ann Sieg, The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing

It doesn’t matter how qualified you think a person is or how good you think they’d be at your business.  It’s not even enough if a person does want to start their own business. Until they go out of their way to get more information on how to do it, they’re just another bystander. Not a player in the game. They’re not worth going after.

If you are in Network Marketing or Direct Sales this is a report you must read.  Don’t work another day doing things the way your upline tells you to.   Read this report before continuing to do things the same old way over and over again and getting nowhere. The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing

(Home Party Plan Referrals)

Home Party Plan – Creating a Referral Plan that Works

One of the most frustrating parts about building a successful home party plan business for new consultants is creating a referral program that consistently brings in a steady stream of new leads.

It’s actually not as difficult as it sounds, and the sooner you put these simple techniques to work for your home party business, the quicker your business will begin to grow.

Here’s how to get started:

First of all, think of the last time that you experienced truly excellent customer service.  What do you remember about the experience?  What did the salesperson or representative do that made it stick out in your mind?

Sadly, getting excellent customer service has become such a rarity these days that when we do find someone who understands what it means and practices it in their business, we do remember it – and so will your customers.

Creating an excellent customer service program will also help to generate new leads and referrals to your business, because people will not only tell their friends, family, and contacts about you (usually without you even having to ask), but they’ll also be happy to send referrals your way when you do ask them to.

Start with your own customers. You’re going to create a “Preferred Customer Program” and let your customers know that they qualify for extra special services.  What’s wonderful about this is that it will make your customers feel special, and it’s not expensive or time consuming, as long as you stay organized.

Create a simple database – either on your computer, or do it by hand using recipe cards and a card box.  Under each customer name and contact information, include the personal information that you have – for example, birthday, anniversary, spouse and children’s names, hobbies, likes, etc.  Then, add additional information relating to your product line.  If you sell cosmetics for example, what is your customer’s skin tone? Facial shape?  Best feature?  What are her preferred colors (warm/cold, summer/winter, etc.)  What products does she buy all the time?  Favorite fragrance?  Add this information based on the products you sell and she likes.

For first time customers, put together a simple one page survey or online survey.  Invite your customers to fill it out – and tell them that you’ll be happy to let them know when sales of their favorite products are coming up, so that they can save money!  And then follow through.  Your customers will be delighted, and as you build trust and respect, you’ll also notice that your sales continue to grow.

Every month, go through your list of birthdays, anniversaries, or other special occasions for the next month, and add them to your calendar.  Taking the time to send an email, postcard, or greeting card lets your customers know that they are important to you – and that they mean more than the money they spend with you.  Pay attention to what’s going on in your customer’s lives, and be ready to ask questions, congratulate special occasions, or comfort during times of trouble. Because almost no one takes the time for these little extras any more, you – and your home party plan business - will be remembered.

Set up a Customer Referral Program. Make it fun and reward customers who refer other customers, hostesses, or recruits your way.  For example, you could offer monthly contests, with a product or special prize to the winner.  Or offer a special discount or reward program so that customers can earn gifts, products, or discounts on their next purchases.  One popular method is to use a points system, where points can be accrued over time – and the more points someone has, the bigger or more expensive prize they can earn.  Set up a point system for things like referring a new hostess, or someone who is interested in becoming a consultant, or hostessing a live, online, or catalog party.

One caution – create a system that is easy to use right from the beginning, and preferably one that is automated, to save yourself lots of administrative time down the road.  You want to be able to stay on track with your referral program and keep it organized, or it can quickly become a nightmare!  Include information about your referral program in all your hostess kits and other marketing materials.

Train your recruits to recruit. Don’t forget to take the time to teach your recruits your recruiting and referral methods, too.  Remember that their success helps to build your own.  Share your methods with them, and provide ongoing training and support.

As you can see, with a little bit of time and effort, your business sales and success will be soaring thanks to the simple techniques that will increase your leads and customer base!

Would you like more information about creating a referral plan? Click Here

How Home Party Consultants Increase Their Sales, Recruit More Team Members, and Book More Parties Using These Simple Steps – and You Can, Too!

When you first became a home party consultant, you were full of energy and excitement about your new business, and probably found yourself dreaming about how quickly you would become a “success” and started making plans about how to spend all the money you were sure you were going to be making, right?

And then, somewhere between two and six months into running your new business, you hit a slump and found it difficult to maintain the momentum, right?  Maybe your sales started dropping off, or you found it more difficult to convince people to host a party.  Maybe you even found yourself doing things like cleaning the scum behind the bathroom sink faucets or scraping the grout in the kitchen, just so you didn’t have to get on the phone and face another rejection.

Maybe you even began to doubt yourself and think that maybe you’re not cut out to be a home party consultant after all.

Well, I’ve got some good news for you!  What you’re facing is something that probably 85% of all new home party consultants face in their business.  In fact, not only is it a common problem, there is also a solution.  Just follow these simple techniques, and in no time at all, you’ll find yourself back on the fast-track to owning your own successful – and profitable business:

Dream a Little Dream

Set aside an hour when you’re not going to be disturbed.  Turn off the phone, don’t look at your email, and if the doorbell rings, pretend that you’re not at home.  The first thing you’re going to do is a little “dreaming.”  That’s right.  I want you to sit down and imagine your “perfect” business.

Let’s pretend that it’s 5 years from now.  What does your business look like?  Describe it.  Where is your office?  What is your title?  What does your office look like?  Do you have a staff or team?  How many?  What are they like?  It’s important that you write down on paper your dream.  Put as many details into it as you can – how much money do you make a year?  What kind of lifestyle do you have because of your business?

The reason that it’s important to dream first is because if you don’t have a vision – an idea of what you want – how are you going to know when you get there?  Start with the big picture first.  Every time you get discouraged, just knowing where you want to end up and exactly what you want to achieve can help you to stay focused and motivated, even during the most difficult of circumstances.

If you’re a visual person, you might even want to create a dream book that you can paste pictures in of the things you want.  (The world’s experts on goal setting and business building and even top sports figures all agree that visualization is one of the basic building blocks of getting what you want.)

Get Smart

Now create your long-term goals.  Here are a few things to keep in mind about goals:  Write them down.  Give each goal a deadline.  And make your goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.)  Long-term goals can be goals that you want to achieve anywhere from 1 to 5 years down the road.

Here’s another hint: Your long-term goals should all be related to the last things you need to do before achieving your dream.

Get Chunky with It

Now let’s break down one of your long-term goals. (This is also called “chunking” your goals.)  For example – if you decide that within one year you want to be making $20,000 a year working part-time in your home party consultant business, one of the things you’ll need to figure out is what your net average party sales are.  (You can either take your total sales for the last year and subtract your expenses, or if you haven’t been in business for a year yet, take your last month’s party sales and add them up.)

Now subtract your expenses – what it cost you to do business.  Next, multiply that number by 12.  Then take your “goal” amount - $20,000.  Divide that by 12.  (I’m going to round it up to $1,667.)  In order to reach your goal of $20,000 a year, you only have to earn $1,667 a month – which really isn’t that much.)  Now look at the number you came up with for your net sales.  Let’s say you came up with $300 per party, and you’re holding an average of 4 parties a month.

At your current level, you only have to make another $5,600 in the next 12 months – or an additional $466.67 a month.  Which means there are two very simple ways you could meet – actually exceed your goal.  Increase your sales at every party – in this example, that means you only need an additional $116.67 per party.  Or hold two more parties a month, and you’ll exceed your goal.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Now let’s work on creating short-term goals that will help you achieve your long-term goal.  If the average guest at a party spends $50.00, then that means that you would only need three additional guests each month – and you’ll meet or exceed your goal.

What can you do this week to help each one of your hostesses get one or two more guests to their parties?  What about a contest?  A fun new theme?  Can you find a new way to motivate your hostesses?  What about encouraging them to give out catalogs to each person they invite who can’t come to the party? Or offering a special – and highly coveted prize – to the hostess with the highest sales for the month?

That’s all there is to it.  Know what you want – have a vision for your business.  Create long-term goals that are SMART.  Chunk those goals down into doable steps each week or each day.  Work on each step until you’ve achieved it, and then move on to the next.  Persistence will pay off in the end, and one day you’re going to look around and realize that you’ve built the business you once only dreamed about!

Find more information here

]]> http://homepartyplanbiz.blogdumps.net/2009/06/26/increase-sales-recruit-more-book-more/feed/ 0 http://homepartyplanbiz.blogdumps.net/2008/10/21/move-your-business-to-the-next-level/ http://homepartyplanbiz.blogdumps.net/2008/10/21/move-your-business-to-the-next-level/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:35:25 +0000 sandy http://homepartyplanbiz.blogdumps.net/2008/10/21/move-your-business-to-the-next-level/

If you are in Network Marketing or MLM as it is sometimes called, you need to read this report.  Discover why successful Network Marketers don’t use names list or make cold calls to build their business.  If you want to move your business to the next level you must read this great report.

Not only will you discover why cold calling opportunity leads and talking to friends and family no longer works (and is actually the biggest cause of failure), but you’ll also learn how you can easily have pre-sold prospects coming to you instead.

“The whole model of coffee appointments, home parties and hotel meetings completely ignores the real key to success, which is this: getting
the customer to come to you first. When the customer finds you, instead of you finding the customer, her perception of you is totally different.”     Ann Sieg, The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing

95% of people who get involved in network marketing have absolutely no foundation in effective sales techniques or good business practices. The “3 foot” rule does not work.  Talking to everyone you meet in the grocery store, bank, or restaurant will not lead to good prospects.

“No One Is Worth Your Time Until They’ve Shown An Interest In What You’re Offering And Have Asked You For More Information.“     Ann Sieg, The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing

It doesn’t matter how qualified you think a person is or how good you think they’d be at your business.  It’s not even enough if a person does want to start their own business. Until they go out of their way to get more information on how to do it, they’re just another bystander. Not a player in the game. They’re not worth going after.

If you are in Network Marketing or Direct Sales this is a report you must read.  Don’t work another day doing things the way your upline tells you to.   Read this report before continuing to do things the same old way over and over again and getting nowhere.

The 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing