Monday, August 31, 2009

7 Elements to a High Producing Party: Part 1

Ready to have your bookings increase, your hostess credits rise, and your sales soar? By improving elements within your show you can have better results from it. Start with these three areas and read Part II tomorrow.

1. Welcome / Opening – Engage your guests, use their names, and ask questions “How would you use this bag differently?” “What is your favorite shade?” “Which set can’t you live without?” “What’s your favorite item on page 23 (of the catalog)?” “When was the last time you saw our line?”

2. Your Story – Be brief, but do talk about yourself, even if guests have heard it before, you still do this. Your story should include why you became a consultant, what propelled you to make the "yes" decision, what you have already gained or expect to achieve in this business and an invitation for them to join your team. If you find your “audience” is different from you, then as you share your I-story, include a brief story of another consultant who fits the guests better. I.e. “I did this to stay home with my children and pay off bills, but my friend Jenny became a consultant to put her sons through college while creating her retirement options at the same time.”

3. Product Details – How well can you explain the variety of uses for your products? Be very familiar with your product so you can answer questions that arise. This is where you sell the benefits of your product – what makes your product special, different from others, a wise buy? Your product is already a good product – don’t embellish on its attributes. If you are having trouble with this area there are three solutions: attend more local training and participate on tele-classes to learn, read your company literature, and pull ideas from your catalog.

Start today with reviewing these three areas and focusing on improving them. Come back tomorrow for Part II.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Mind Overload!


Ugh! I keep reading, hearing, and learning more and more about how I can increase my business through social media, which I’m doing. But then the further I get into it, like everything else, I have a tendency to see what’s next and think I should jump to that too. Today I just discovered you could send twitter announcements directly to your subscriber’s phone. Tempting because I want to share so many ideas with you. But, I have to take a deep breath, review my goals and action plans and realize this doesn’t fit right now.

Sometimes you can feel this way coming home from convention. You’ve learned so much, so many incredible ideas, new systems introduced by the company not to mention all the new products being launched. Take a deep breath, set some time aside this weekend, and review “what are the goals you’ve set, what are the logical actions you need to take” and stick to it. Then, you start a “what’s next” file and keep track of all those ideas you want to implement when the time is right. Great ideas don’t get you anywhere if they don’t support your goals at this time.

So for the rest of today, I’m sticking to my plan of action. No deviation. However, I’ve added some new ideas to my “what’s next” file for the future. How about you?

Sunday, August 9, 2009

How to Overcome Price Objections


Do you hear “These are expensive!” or “I could get this cheaper at Wal Mart.”? When you hear these concerns, think of it as if your customer is saying to you “Tell me why this is a good deal.” or “Tell me why this is better than the cheaper ones I can buy somewhere else.”

Here are three steps to eliminating the cost concern.

1. Are you sold yourself? Would you pay full price? If not, you need to shop around and compare why your product stands above the rest.

2. Show the value of your products during your presentation or demonstration. Ask a question that points out their challenges or problems with other products perceived to be like yours and tell them (or demonstrate) how yours is better because they won’t experience those problems. For example:

• “How many of you have ever found you need to replace basic turtleneck tops every year because they fade, shrink, or stretch out? With our fabrics, there is no fading, shrinking, or stretching, which means you can buy as many as you want and know they will last well beyond this winter season.”

• “Have you ever put up a vinyl design on your wall only to have it fall down a month or two later? With our vinyl designs, you’ll find they won’t come down until you take them down.”

• “Have you ever bought a lipstick based on the color of the box only to find it doesn’t really go well with your skin tone or it tastes terrible? The beauty of our lipsticks is, you can try them today and find the perfect shades for you so you won’t waste money on trial and error.”

• “Can you imagine pouring chemicals into your body? With most skin care systems, you are because they use chemicals and it is absorbed through the skin. With our skin care system, we use all natural ingredients.”

• “Have you ever purchased an earring set you loved only to have a stone fall out or the post break? With our jewelry you have a life-time guarantee. Though it’s rare you’ll every have a problem, if you do, we stand behind our product and will fix or replace it at no charge to you.”

• “Have you ever wished you could create a scrapbook for your child’s graduation but you just don’t have the time? With our digital books you’ll discover it take ¼ the time and it won’t fade or fall apart.”

Think of their challenges and show how your product solves them. Point out how this saves them time, money, and headache.

3. Share stories that sell the value of your product or illustrate how others have benefited from your product. Involve the guests who have purchased before and ask them to share why they love your product or other ways they have used your product. Then they become the trusted endorsement.

One last statement that always worked for me “If your heart is saying ‘I want it all’ and your checkbook is saying ‘no’ then you’ll be happy to know we have a fantastic hostess program to ensure you can have what you want.” If you have trouble coming up with ways to handle objections, you’ll want to subscribe to the monthly free Direct Sales Professional eNewsletter which has a section devoted just to “One Line Wonders.”