Direct Selling Leaders Experts

Did you know that direct sales is considered a “recession proof” business? Historically, according to the DSA, our industry sees an increase in sales and recruiting during more difficult economic times. What does that mean for you? Opportunity! Think about these questions:

• Do you know anyone who’s struggling to make ends meet at the moment and is looking for a part time job?
• Do you know anyone who’s feeling overwhelmed and stressed out and needs a break?
• Are you or someone in your company making full time wages working part time with your company?
• Is it possible that people who love your products and are short on money could get excited about earning your products for free?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I hope you’re beginning to see the opportunity instead of the obstacle in the news of the economic hardship we’ve been receiving lately. If you’ve ever wanted to be in the right place at the right time, now is the time and you’re in the right place. Start focusing on all the opportunities and take action to begin capitalizing RIGHT NOW!

Below are some tips to support you with a strategy for moving through the rest of this year with a strong plan.

10 Questions For a Strong Business Plan
Now is the perfect time to look at your business and either develop new or update existing systems which will bring you the results you desire. You can also focus on clearing and organizing your space so you’ll be more efficient when you do get busy. (Click here to learn more about how our “Office On The Go” can help).

Last, but certainly not least, intentionally plan your business by creating a schedule which encompasses everything that’s important to you. Schedule your personal time, time with your spouse/significant other, business activities, desired dates for parties, opportunity events, meetings, and family time.

Now, ask yourself the following ten questions, be honest, and make a plan for success!

1. Do I have a goal for the number of parties I intend to hold each month during the fall selling season?

2. What is my ideal sales month? (If you don’t know, how will you create it?)

3. Do I have a purpose? WHY am I in business?

4. Do I have a set schedule for my business? On a scale of 1–10, how well do I stay on track in committing to my schedule?

5. On a scale of 1–10, how well do I practice and implement what I learn? What practices have I put off implementing that I KNOW will bring me greatest results? When will I implement them?

6. Do I make excuses for not applying energy to my business? What are these excuses costing me? Will I schedule a time to look seriously at the truth, or will I sweep this under the rug?

7. How well do I follow through with my agreements? Am I of my word? What will I change?

8. Am I fearful of failure or rejection? Have I searched for the limiting beliefs that block me from succeeding?

9. Do I know my goals for this week?

Some examples of powerful weekly goals:

• Send thank you cards to your new hosts immediately after they schedule a party.
• Invite every guest to host a party and be creative with your language.
• Hand out 3 opportunity packets at every party.
• If you are a leader with a team, schedule a weekly support coaching call with every representative who is interested in developing their business.
• Make 10 calls a week inviting guests to hear about the business opportunity.

10. What is my action plan? What will I do to make these weekly goals a reality?

By taking some time to really look at your business honestly and create an intentional plan for moving forward toward the goals you set now, you’ll not only weather the recessions, but take advantage of it and grow your business throughout the second half of the year.

Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales consultant, coach, and trainer and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. As a former direct sales professional, Julie worked a party plan business for several years, consistently holding three parties per week and winning national awards yearly. She also built a National multi level marketing team through internet networking. For the past 6 years, she has focused entirely on coaching and training other leaders within the direct sales industry through live training as well as extensive webinar and tele-course training. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at http://julieannejones.com  or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com/blog.

How many times has someone left one of your parties “on the fence” about booking. They haven’t exactly said no but they aren’t ready to commit by saying yes. And how many times have you followed up with these leads repeatedly without reaching them until you finally give up out of frustration, feeling rejected and frustrated? If you’re like most direct sellers, this is a common chain of events.

I’m going to offer you a tool which, used properly, can virtually eliminate this scenario from your business. Have I got your attention? A think-about-it packet is really exactly what it sounds like. You have someone who is on the fence and wants a little more time. Instead of just saying, “I’ll follow up with you next week” and then letting them walk out the door, hand them a think-about-it packet.

Now, my think-about-it packets were basically host packets, because it was always my intention to book them when I followed up, and I wanted them to have the packet so they had everything they needed to host a party. So I put the same things in the think-about-it packet as I did in a normal host packet. I just called it a think-about-it packet. (Get it?) If they decided not to book the party, because they already had outside order forms and catalogs, I could often talk them into at least doing a catalog show.

Here’s how the think about it packet works: Before she left, I’d say, “Tell you what, Marilyn. I want to give you some time to think about it. Would you be willing to take one of my think about it packets? All you have to do is take some time in the next few days, look over all the benefits, and think about doing a party. I’ll follow up in a few days by phone.” Here’s the important part. I would say to Marilyn, “Now, I just have three rules for my think about it packets.” (These are crucial to the success of this tool, and I said them pretty much verbatim when I gave out the packets):

1. Rule number one, you have to actually think about it, for at least a few minutes between now and when I call you.
2. Rule number two, you have to take my call when I follow up. When can we talk for about five minutes in the next few days? (Set up this time firmly on both your calendars so she’s expecting your call).
3. Rule number three, if you decide not to book a party, you have to let me down easy. It’s that simple.

Now, I believe that people generally do as they’re told. I swear! It’s a pretty amazing phenomenon. So these rules are key because now she understands how to use the packet. More importantly, she’ll take my call (because it was one of the rules) and I gave her permission to say no. By telling her up front she can decide not to book a party, I take the pressure off of her and she’ll pick up the phone when I call. I’m telling you, this works! I’d say 90% of the time, the people who took my think-about-it packets were there at the time we’d agreed upon and actually answered their phones. And about 75% of the time, they booked a party. And that, after all, is the name of the game! So, what do you think of this idea? I’d love to hear your feedback, especially once you use this tool. Feel free to share below.

Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales coach and trainer and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. As a former direct sales professional, Julie worked a party plan business for several years, consistently holding three parties per week and winning national awards yearly. She also built a National multi level marketing team through internet networking. For the past 6 years, she has focused entirely on coaching and training other leaders within the direct sales industry through live training as well as extensive webinar and tele-course training. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com/blog.

When you think about your physical office space, does it make you feel a little ill? Is your desk a mass of piles? If it makes you feel negative, consider this: everything is energy. So if your desk or your office space is cluttered this items that don’t support you, they’re literally stealing your energy. I want to offer you a tool that just might change your life. It changed mine!Last year, after we introduced our “Office on the Go” organizational product for direct sales professionals, we got lots of testimonials about how the simple “bull’s eye” concept we teach in the program had changed the way our clients looked at the “stuff” in their offices.
Here is this simple concept in a nutshell. To begin with, take a blank piece of paper and draw a large circle, then a smaller circle within the larger circle, and then one final small circle within the 2nd circle. You should be looking at something that looks like a bull’s eye (or dart board).

Now, think of your office as a that bull’s eye, with the center being your “hot” zone; your power center. As the lines of the bull’s eye radiate out, the next space is your warm zone, which you access less often but is still a part of your weekly or monthly experience. The outer most circle is your cold zone, preferably an off-site area used to store those things you need to keep for your records or seldom utilize.

Here are the simple rules:

Your hot zone should contain only things you use on a daily basis. The physical hot zone is your office desk and chair and anything that’s within arm’s reach when you’re sitting there. Anything that’s not needed for your daily experience is stealing your energy if it’s sitting in your hot zone.

Your warm zone should contain things you need to access less frequently, but still need to be able to get to. Things like training manuals, weekly coaching files, host information, etc. This space is outside of arm’s reach of your hot zone, meaning you have to either move your chair or get up to access it.

Your cold zone is ideally in another room or garage, since these items are primarily stored for little if no use. This would be discontinued products, overstock, tax records, etc.

When you begin to define the things in your office into one of these three categories, you’ll start to notice your relationship with all those things change. Now, instead of fretting over whether or not you need it, where you should move it, etc., you’re simply asking yourself, “is it hot, warm, or cold?”

Ask yourself this question: “Does the ’state’ of my office steal my energy or contribute to my energy?”

So, take the challenge. Start thinking of your “stuff” in terms of that simple “hot, warm, or cold” zone question and watch your productivity soar!

Julie Anne Jones is a direct sales coach and trainer and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in direct sales. As a former direct sales professional, Julie worked a party plan business for several years, consistently holding three parties per week and winning national awards yearly. She also built a National multi level marketing team through internet networking. For the past 6 years, she has focused entirely on coaching and training other leaders within the direct sales industry through live training as well as extensive webinar and tele-course training. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, visit her at www.julieannejones.com or check out her blog at http://julieannejones.com/blog.

• Have you ever thought about how your language reflects upon you?
• When you’re speaking to potential hosts and representatives, are you conscious of what you’re saying and how you’re saying it?
• Does your language convey a “how can I support you” message or a “what’s in it for me?” message.

Knowing the answers to these questions and making changes in how you communicate can change your business…and your life.

As a coach, I know that your language reveals your intention. In other words, the words you choose say a lot about you and what you want. And most of us, unconsciously, choose words that don’t support what we want. Let me give you an example; suppose you want to invite one of your guests to host an event/party/show for you. You might ask the question “Would you like to book a party with me?” Now, ask yourself, “Who is that question about?” It’s about you, right? You haven’t given that potential host any indication that her needs or desires are important to you at all. So without realizing it, the words you’ve chosen have essentially guaranteed she’ll say “no” because there’s nothing in it for her.

As a direct seller, your most important job is building relationships. You do that through conversation. The best way to build a strong, positive relationship with another person is through supportive communication (which means they feel important and heard).

So, what language are you using as your guests arrive in order to connect with them and begin to build that all-important relationship to which I’m referring? If you’re like most direct sellers, you’ve been taught to open the casual conversation with a question. So far so good. Now, what question do you typically ask? Maybe, “Have you ever been to an ABC Company party before?” or “What’s your favorite ABC Company product?” Again, I want you to ask yourself, “Who are those questions about?” You, your company and your products, right?

Here’s a bombshell for you; the guests at your parties don’t come there just for your products. Think about it. Can’t they get your products either from a catalog order and/or from your website? Of course! So why are they there, that night, at that party? To have fun! To connect with the host and their friends! NOT to focus entirely on your products.

So why not make your question about them? That way, they feel valued by you and if you become a good listener, you learn some valuable information about them that might support you at the end of the evening in getting them to book an event or look at your opportunity.

The bottom line is, examining your language and making a conscious decision to choose words that communicate your desire to make it about the other person will always bring you what you need in the long run.

Excerpted from my e-book “Powerful Language to Explode Your Direct Sales Business; 12 Scripts tell you Exactly What to Say to Get the Booking, Sales, and Sponsoring Results You’ve Always Dreamed of” on sale this week for 1/2 price! Check it out here!

In the past week or so I’ve had several coaching conversations that center on results, specifically around recruiting. What each and every client has come to understand is that, while recruiting tools and the actions they take to implement them are important, their focus is really the key. And your focus needs to be squarely upon “who” you want to be attracting onto your team. The truth is (and this is a little weird, I admit), when you get clear about what attributes your ideal team members possess, you’ll begin noticing people who possess them everywhere you look.
Let me ask you a question (and be honest with yourself); when it comes to recruiting and your team, do you most often focus on what you want (i.e. who you would like to be attracting and how awesome your team and business will be once you build a team of these amazing people) or what you don’t want (i.e. who’s not working in your life and business right now)?

If you’re like most people, it tends to be easier to focus on what you don’t want. As one of my mentors James Ray says, “Energy flows where attention goes.” And energy equals results. In other words, you get what you focus on. So if you’re constantly complaining about your unmotivated, draining, negative team of people who aren’t working, don’t be surprised if you’re building a team of unmotivated, draining, negative people who aren’t working.

Get it? Change your focus! Ask yourself “What are the top five adjectives that would describe my ideal recruit lead or team member?” (or better yet, click here to download our free worksheet specifically for this purpose).  Then make a list of those words and put them where you can see and read them every day.

…and one last thing. If you read that list and ask yourself “who does this describe at their best?” the answer will most likely be… you! So as you show up and focus on who you want to be as a leader, manifesting all the best qualities in yourself, you’ll begin attracting others to you vibrationally as well.

How cool is that?

Have you ever felt uncomfortable sharing information about your opportunity with a potential recruit at your party? Are you afraid that you’ll come across as “pushy” and she’ll run screaming from the room? (Well, maybe not screaming, but beat a hasty retreat, at least).I’d like to share a concept I call the Opportunity Gift Bag. This concept will explode your recruiting results and make it easy to teach other to recruit as well. The idea is simple; giving someone a gift is much easier than giving them a brochure. A brochure must be qualified, and a gift is simple. And a gift creates value for you because it’s obvious that you’ve put effort and thought into it.

Use a beautiful gift bag (the dollar store or your local craft store are great places to find these) and some tissue. You’ll want to include a brochure and recruiting cd or other materials from your company in the bag. But what makes this gift special is the other items you include. Here are a few ideas:

• You can enclose a tea bag, some chocolate kisses, a votive candle and bath salts and a “recipe for relaxation” card encouraging them to relax, take a bath and pamper themselves.
• You can include a Take 5 candy bar and encourage them to “take 5” minutes for themselves and consider the possibilities of joining your company.
• If you have a dvd, you can include a bag of microwave popcorn and a soda and encourage them to have a “movie night” on you and watch your dvd.
• The possibilities are endless. Be creative.
• You can also pre-write a card with a generic message and if you have time, sneak away and put “Dear Karen” on the card prior to giving her the gift.When your potential recruit is ready to go, you simply hand her the gift with the words, “I’ve got a gift for you. Enjoy and I’ll follow up in a day or two to chat.” That’s it. Don’t give any details about what’s inside the bag. Part of the reason this idea is so powerful is because there’s an element of mystery. They’re walking out thinking, “Wow, I wonder what’s in the bag!” I guarantee, they’re going to get in the car, drive two blocks, pull over and rip into it!Then (and this is the most important part) when you follow up you’ve created value for yourself. And you have a reason to call other than “Did you have a chance to look at my brochure?” Instead, you’re connecting on a more personal level “Did you enjoy the chocolate? Did you take your relaxing bath?”

Give the Opportunity Gift Bag a try at your next party. I think you’ll find that it’s an easy, fun way to share your opportunity and create strong momentum in your business.

To your success,
Julie Anne Jones

Since you party for a living, the more the merrier, right? Getting high attendance at your shows is a must if you want to succeed in this business. Often, however, it’s hard for a host to “think” of who to invite. And you know that if they aren’t inviting a lot of people, they won’t have a full living room. As a leader, making sure that not only what you’re doing, but also what you’re teaching is completely duplicatable and easy to use and understand is essential. Using tools that make it easy for the representatives on your team to get greater results is what you want to be up to.

A few years ago, one of our coaching clients Lisa Miller shared a simple game that supports your host in creating their guest list in a fun way. Remember those scavenger hunts you went on at camp or birthday parties as a kid? Lisa’s game is called the “Hostess Scavenger Hunt” and the premise is simple. You give your host a sheet with a list of 23 different kinds of people. If she gets at least 10 of those people at her show, you give her a special gift.

Imagine what might happen if you took a few moments at your next meeting and shared this easy to use and fun tool? What if every representative on your team started getting 10% more guests at their parties? Would that impact their businesses and your bottom line? I’m guessing the answer is yes!

Click here to check out the full game and download the page to use with your hosts and share with your team.

This week, let’s talk about who you want to attract into your business. It might sound like a strange question, but have you defined who your ideal team member would be, if you could wave a magic wand and build a team of your dreams? What attributes would they have? If you’ve never thought about this, I’m going to encourage you to.  I even have a client who created this list for herself, then incorporated it into her opportunity commercial at her parties, saying, “I’m building an amazing team of women who are strong, independent, fun, positive and successful. I know that each and every one of you here in this room tonight has all of these attributes, even though you might not always tap into them. I’d love to visit with you about how this business could booste your confidence and just possibly change your life.”  

By stating this up front during her party, she empowers them to want to be all of those things and to want to join her team to be a part of exploring those aspects of themselves. It’s brilliant and it’s working for her. She’s a top recruiter in her company!

Make it a great day!

Julie Anne Jones CEO,

Julie Anne Jones, Inc.

Last week I taught you the “Follow-Up Two Step.” Click here to get that special report if you missed it. Let’s end this month by looking at what happens in your host coaching appointment when you make the decision to shift your focus to recruiting your host. Did you know, according to the DSA, that 75% of all direct sales representatives start out as hosts? If that’s true, sharing your opportunity with your host at the end of your coaching may greatly increase your sponsoring results this year! There are two points I want to make about sharing your opportunity during your host coaching. First, never pre-judge a host or assume that they aren’t interested in hearing about your opportunity. Consider that, even if they may not want to join, chances are great that they know someone who could really use your business. So just share that with them up front (“This may not be for you but you may know someone for whom this opportunity cold truly be an answered prayer”). 

Secondly, if you’re feeling uncomfortable about sharing, worried about coming across as “pushy,” I want to encourage you to simply share from your heart about why you love your job and why you’re passionate about sharing it. The best way to do that is simply to share your story and the stories of the women on your team who’s lives have changed because of your business. If you’re honest and sharing from your heart, it’s impossible for you to come across as “pushy.”

Interested in learning my entire host coaching program? Click here to order our “Coaching Your Host for Maximum Success” downloadable audio program!

Make it a great day!

Julie Anne Jones

I’m sure you’ve heard that the “fortune is in the follow-up” right? Well, I know it’s true. I’ve been called the “follow-up queen” for years, simply because I always call when I say I’m going to, and I keep following up until someone tells me to stop calling. This approach had supported my success for years. With your hosts, follow up will help to solidify their commitment to you and it will position you as someone who genuinely cares about them and their party. Effective follow-up preserves future business and prevents cancellations.  Hosts will promote you and commit to you after they experience your professionalism and your commitment to them with the personal way you follow up with them.   The truth is that approximately 1/3 of all hosts cancel or postpone; 1/3 are thinking about it; and 1/3 would never let someone down & not be of their word.  So, it’s important to connect with that 2/3 that might cancel. That’s where follow up comes in! 

Our “Coaching Your Host For Maximum Success” program teaches a specific follow up system that’s easy to implement. Click here to download my special report “The Follow-Up Two Step” to learn it for yourself. It’s simple and you’ll be amazed at the results it will create for you.

Make it a great day!
Julie Anne Jones

CEO, Outward Image Coaching and Training