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January 1999
Many consultants find themselves in booking slumps
from time to time...and start to look outside their unit for help on the boards, lists,
& here. It's a repetitive theme..."I've called all my contact list...they
all are partied out", or "I sponsored several close friends &
they are doing great...but a big chunk of my contact list have transferred to them!"
Repetitive Solution #1:
Hold an open house! Been there...done that...did TWO in fact...one geared toward
customers, before Christmas, and one geared toward previous hostesses (preferred
customers!), after January 1. Both were mildly successful...product sales-wise anyway, but
neither brought me those magical bookings I so desperately was hoping for.
Repetitive Solution #2:
Offer an extra incentive to your 2+2 calls to inspire immediate bookings.
Well, you & I know that a free 3-wick, a half-price item, a free dozen votives, heck,
I even offered a FREE GEMINI (before it became unavailable LOL) to book within a 2 week
period in February, should have filled my calendar. Guess what....ONE SHOW dated. Oh, the
calls weren't a complete waste of time, my last question before thanking them was do
you want me to keep notifying you of the specials or to stop calling? And I was
pleasantly surprised at the response...genuine "oh yes! please let me know! I'll
probably do a show but not right now"
That's when I had to take a long hard look at my contact list and my methods,
and suddenly realized...ack! Out of 44 shows I did last year...many of those hostesses
either became consultants, or became part of one of my new consultant's contacts, or moved
away, or have as much PL stuff as I do! So...I have to start brand new as if I just
started. That's why the focus of our unit meeting this weekend was building a NEW contact
list.
Dig out your starter kit stuff...paperwork and all...Deep in the recesses of
that paper there should be a yellow Who Do You Know sheet (actually a pad of them I bet!).
If it helps you visually to staple a brightly colored copy of a $50 or $100 bill to the
top - DO IT! Now get your trusty phone book out...no - you're not going to just start cold
calling people!
Flip it open randomly and put your finger down...Handyman Services...Write down
ONE name that falls under that category - who do you call when something stops working?
refrigerator? stove? guttering on your house? Husbands don't count in this instance!
Flip to another page...Hypnotherapists...ok maybe that one won't
work...Insurance is on the same page for me...AHA! Write down ONE name.
Keep going...Musical Instruments...do you have a child in the school band or
chorus? Do they maybe need a fund raiser besides candy bars? What about the man or woman
who plays the organ at your church?
Keep going until you have 10 BRAND NEW NAMES - You have never
contacted these people about [Company] before. Now these names won't do you any good if
you don't actually call them.
You can enlarge your list even more by sitting down with your husband,
significant other, best friend, passing the list to them, opening the phone book, and
asking them to add names to your list. 10 more names...when you call these people you will
say -"Hi! So & So suggested I give you a call because you might be interested in
trying some of these wonderful candles! When can we get together so I can give you a
sample?" You can probably think of some better scripts than this...go for it!
Or maybe your FRIEND would call them...she/he could blame it on
you (nicely, jokingly of course)..."I'm doing a favor for my friend - have you ever
used [Company] Candles? They're great...I have them all over my house...Would you be
interested in having a show for her & get her off my back??" Again...work out the
script to suit you! Guess what...You could give your friend the booking credit...a great
way to convince her to have a show..."Susan...you just got me 4 new bookings! Do you
know that if I had a show in your name to put these on you would have $75 in product to
pick out besides the credit from your show???" Guess what else...say she then has a
show...over $300...with 4 bookings...do you see where I am going with this? 2 more
bookings...it could be a starter show! And she's already done 2+2 calling so 2 more would
probably be no problem! OK...worst case scenario...now you've lost those bookings
again...but you sponsored another person! Next friend......
Other ways to get NEW contacts...
If you don't go to church now...great time to start!
Volunteer at your school...library...hospital...
Join a community organization...Optimist Club...Lions...Booster Club...Friends of the
Long-Necked Red-Tailed Otters...
Become active in Girl Scouts...Boy Scouts...Cub Scouts...4-H...Youth Group...
Hold a booth at a local flea market...craft fair...rummage sale...not to sell...to display
& meet new people.
GO back to the What's New page for October on Best of
the Boards for details on what we did last October at our Fall Fiesta. I am doing a flea
market booth in Kansas City this weekend...cost $30...goes all day - it's indoor - it's an
established once-a-month setting...we'll see what happens. I'm doing another type of fair
in March in another local community. Fair results vary, but I need to do everything
possible to establish completely new contacts - outside my present unit contacts - because
I want their business to remain strong too!
By the way, the results from that Fall Fiesta last October for me personally included 3
new sponsors, one of which was key to my promoting to unit leader November 1, 8 shows
totaling over $2000 in sales, and it was key to my bonusing in both October &
November.
The important thing to realize is that you do not want to be known as that pushy
candle lady who joined groups, volunteered, helped out WITH AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE.
If that is the ONLY reason you do this it will:
- not work,
- ostracize you from the community,
- make you feel worse.
- jeopardize PL for all other consultants in the area as well as for you.
None of these things are going to change your business overnight. You can't join
a group, and the first night you are there ask everyone in the room to have a candle
party! At least I can't. But 3 or 4 weeks into it with regular attendance, you may have
met new people that you have OTHER things in common
with too, what you do may come up, you
may feel comfortable enough mentioning that a candle party would be fun, or an opportunity
for a fund raiser may come up. So if you start now, and perhaps all these things have the
effect of setting up your business 2-3 months from now!
You will, however, gain much more personally by meeting new people, becoming
involved with your community, and possibly discovering new interests that you didn't know
you would enjoy. Isn't that part of the paycheck of the heart?
So start now, to impact your business in the future. If you don't start now...it
will just be that much longer before you see an effect. Think where you could be in May,
June, July if you start now. When everyone else is in a summer slump...you'll just be
getting started with this brand new group of contacts that you started meeting in
February, March, April!
Belinda
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