Recruiting - where are you at?

We have talked in this blog before about striving to find recruits and about the difficulties in getting the recruiting ball going. We have also spoken about what a Leader's job is when it comes to recruiting but what we have not talked about is the fact that your recruiting abilities may be miles ahead of where you are at or miles behind. Let's take a closer look at how we can do what is best for us and also for our business:
* Some leaders can recruit very prolifically and do so with great ease. I remember at one time I had recruited 24 new Consultants in a 6 week period. Too much? I didn't think so but I found out right away that I was not only poorly prepared to help my new recruits but also very ill advised! You see I had only been with the company for approximately 6 months and didn't know enough to answer all the questions I was faced with nor was I capable of training. My manager was so discussed with my ease of recruiting she took the hard road and left me to my own resources. Needless to say that many of my recruits fell by the wayside and those that remained eventually passed me in the business as I was unable to continue due to an accident. Moral of this story: Recruit 1 or 2 at a time and try to complete all training before recruiting again. Are you ill prepared? Have you landed into leadership and lack the abilities? Chances are over 60% of all Leaders are! This is where Leaders learn to either Lead or Leave.
* Now what if the other end of the scale is true? You have 1 recruit but can't seem to get another - am I right? This is the typical scenario in this industry. I have spoken before in the blogs about the importance of  finding your passion and your niche product line. That may be one reason you are not recruiting but the other reasons are big hurdles to overcome. If you are not advertising your business opportunity to 3 New customers or potential recruits a day then you do not have the numbers it takes to find another recruit!!! Look at it this way - 3 people x 30 days = 90 people So let's say on average you are doing 8 shows a month with an average attendance of 10 people per show. 8 shows X 10 people per show = 80 people This means you need to either do another show a month or find 10 more people to talk to about your business. Seriously, this is what it takes!!!! Now the other main problem I see and hear about all the time is that Consultants lose either their desire to recruit or become disheartened with their business that they stop trying. When bookings or recruits get too few and far between we tend to go into starvation mode which means we fear getting the things we need for our business because we actually fear failure! I see more Consultants sit at this stage clueless to the fact that their business is dying a slow death!! You have to remind yourself of how great it felt when you recruited and how excited you where when you began this business. All of that excitement and enthusiasm is still there you just can't see it because you are too nervous to move at this point. I am sure we have all met Consultants/Leaders who jump at potential bookings like it might be their last chance to ever get a booking. If you feel this starved in your business then it is time to stop and look in the mirror and have a talk to yourself. You can't find bookings when you are crazy mad for one and you can't get a recruit when you worry so much about getting one!!! This is your business and if it is important to you then you have to know how to stop worrying and put on that happy, relaxed "I am enjoying my business" face because then and only then are more things going to come your way. If you are struggling with your business then consider buying the Networking Gals " Leading by Example" presentation.

We all want the most for our business but sometimes circumstances and events kind of pull us apart from our vision. Having a clear vision of what you want and need in your business and understanding what it takes to accomplish that is crucial if you wish to excel. I suggest that you keep a progress diary of sorts about your business. Start by listing what you want, what you need and how you are going to tackle the task of getting those goals. Check out Networking Gals "Goal keeping" and "Finding your focus" presentations. There are many excuses to why we do what we do and then there are actual factual 's - the reason why things are not going the way you hope. I say it is better to be an Actual Factual than an excuse!!! Remember...

                                        Life is too short........so go out and Party!!!

Leadership - are you there?

In the Party Plan industry we have this buzz word that groups a lot of people into it and it is called LEADERSHIP. This could easily describe someone trying to recruit people for the first time, people who excel at their business or people who spend their Party Plan career, so to speak, at the helm or the top of the heap!

Did you see yourself in there anywhere? There is a chance that you are in that huge group but has it or does it define your objective? Do you know how to maintain leadership or how to get to the top through Leadership? It is a challenge being a Leader and for most of us it will require us to continually work at it!!!! Now I am not trying to turn anyone away from Leadership! I simply want to help you understand where you are, how to get ahead and how to keep your sanity while trying to achieve your dreams! Sounds impossible but believe me, I can help and I hope you know that this is why I created this blog.

Here are some tips, the full story to any of my blog postings can be found in some of my files/Ebooks/Presentation/Audio files on the Networking Gals website.

- The biggest thing to finding/maintaining/keeping Leadership are the recruits you are recruiting. Let's say for a minute that you are recruiting on an average of one new recruit a month = 12 a year. Of that 12, 8 of them joined for the free items/kit and or for some short term income, 2 of the remaining 4 joined for a bit more money and some friendship/night's out which means that out of 12 people you recruit in a year there is an average chance that only 2 will look at the long term picture and only one of them will last past the 1 year mark. Very surprising odds!!!!

- Don't panic yet because there are things you can do to improve those odds - we have talked about in this blog before about choosing or not choosing your recruit. If getting to a certain award is your goal then don't choose just recruit but if you need more stability(consistent earners) then choose your new recruits wisely.

- So who do you choose and where do you find them? - First and foremost is your Hostesses. Approximately 65% of all Hostesses will become Consultants within 3 years of having a party. So stay in touch with your Hostess, keep her involved in your life not just your business, send her gifts from time to time and never harass or over extend your welcome. Then from there it is your customers, approximately 15% of all customers will become a Consultant within 5 years of going to a party. Third, it is your hidden market. Your hidden market is the friends/family/guests who where unable to attend the party the Hostess booked. A minimum of 5% of these people will become Consultants due to everything their Friend/Your Hostess told them about the party. They usually book a party first then become a Consultant. So it is crucial to offer to turn a Hostesses show into a starter and to offer a referral booking and a referral recruiting program that any customer/Hostess can take advantage of.Make sure your referral program is lucrative because getting bookings and recruits are very valuable - I suggest you offer $25 per booking (once it is held and qualified) and $50 for a new recruit(once they have paid, qualified and done their starter shows)
- You have 7 seconds - go! = making the most out of your recruiting commercial. It is actually true that from the moment you meet a person that you have 7 seconds to impress or inform them. Frequently after the 7 seconds, they have already made their decision about you or what you are talking about and little will change that. So in order to be a proficient recruiter you need to get your message down. The other common mistake we all make is the need to sell people on the idea of becoming a Consultant/Hostess and to be honest we do not need to do that. Try coming first from the heart, second from a position of reality, third from emotion and fourth from sincerity.For example you could say: " Hi are you rushing to get home to make dinner like I am? (allow space to answer) Life is so busy these days. I really wish I had the time to do it all but  money does not grow on trees. (allow to interject) That's why I am so glad I have a great business and an awesome team! (Now is the time to be quiet and let the person ask the questions) (Once the person asks "Oh what do you do?" then ease into it gently like "Just a little candle business but it gives me that extra spending money that I love to have.Show or speak of something personal, like: "See this great bracelet I was able to buy myself")

If you can practise some of the tips I have explained here then you should be a lot more successful at recruiting and possibly at bookings and forming relationships because that's what it is all about. Doing a service and forming relationships it is all a part of what we do - we do not sell we promote, we do not head hunt we help people grow! Be proud of who you are and what you do because we are unlike the 9-5 crowd because we are bridging gaps and creating great futures. Remember...

                                            Life is too short...............so go out and Party!

Trade Show Exhibits

It's coming into that time of year again when Bridal fairs, craft fairs and trade shows abound. Investing in some of these can be very expensive. So let's do our very best to make sure that each event is lucrative, eye catching and an over all success. I chose this picture from google images because it closely represents how a booth should be set up.
As a Leader you may choose to do a booth with or without your team. If you are doing it with your team then you should stipulate guidelines.Some of those guidelines are to follow.The booth above it a bit over stated and crowded which is something you want to avoid. Follow my tips below and you will have a winning booth:

-When using a team you should set a price for people to get involved and then the following guidelines: They must bring with them a minimum of 10 books, business cards,day timer, 2 pens, a calculator,10 - 15 Hostess paks and 50 order forms. I would also set these rules: they must be on time or lose their time slot and possibly their payment and involvement, they must come in business attire and must stay for their entire shift or find a replacement.

- I recommend that everyone bring some water and food or money to get their own food.

- As the leader you should break up the trade show into 4 hour increments and assign your team to each segment. I would never allow more than 4 Consultants in the booth at one time. You also want to schedule breaks and lunch/dinner breaks. I would try to schedule it so that 1 person has been there 3 hours and is almost ready to go home, the 2nd person have been there for 2 hours and is ready to go for lunch, the 3rd person has been there an hour and the 4th person is just arriving. Likewise you will want to be the float and come and go through out the show. This gives each person ample time to get lots of contacts and ample time to be able to rest if needed.

- It is trade show policy not to allow Booth people in the aisles unless they are going or coming from somewhere but I am here to tell you that sometimes the aisle is where your business is. I would recommend that 1 person rotate in and out of the aisle letting people know about your freebie (see below).

- The key to getting people into your booth is a large basket of items that you will hold a draw for AND your free tiny hand out. You will use the hand out as a way to get people to come into your booth then you will let them know about the draw AND the booking award. You will want to offer a great item for people who book. The booking item is the Consultant's responsibility. As the Consultant earns from each booking then it is only fair that same Consultant pays for each booking award that corresponds to a Hostess. Together all of you will pay for both the large basket draw and the tiny freebie. 

- As the Leader you will want to decorate the booth, provide signage, place recruiting and booking signs up, print/copy/cut draw slips (see Networking Gals template "Draw Slips"), extra pens, a float, tablecloths, etc. You will want to control the float which means if this is a 3 day event then you should close and open each day. That way the float goes home with you and is your sole responsibility.

- Never bring everything to a trade show/fair booth. You want your booth to be eye catching and lure people in. If someone asks if you have a certain item but you don't just tell them that you would be happy to bring it to their show.

- If your trade show is a Bridal Fair then you want to decorate it accordingly and don't be afraid to purchase a few bachelorette items for decorations. You could even wear a bride to be sash as a way to promote your fun bridal shower options.

- Down below is a drawing of a typical layout and it also shows where Consultants should be standing. Theft can be very big at trade shows so be aware of that. That is the other reason to use the typical layout shown below because it makes it more difficult for thieves to get in and out but be aware the minute you are extremely busy is the time a thief will do their best.

- Your goals at a trade show are: Information (draw slips), Bookings, Recruits. Do your utmost to get as many door slips filled out as possible because they are like gold. Not everyone will be truthful with their info but you can avoid that by reminding people to be legible and to make sure their info is correct so you can call them when they win the prize.

- Most trade shows/fairs provide an 8 foot table but you will also want to bring 2 tray tables or a 2 foot table. 1 is for your Draw prize basket and draw slips the other one is for a large calendar and Hostess paks. It helps people to book when they can look at a large calendar. You may want to divide each day into 4 or 6 lines and basically the Consultant would write their name in the date selected and then write all the Hostess info into their own daytimer. Don't forget to get each booking Hostess to enter the draw but those slips should go back to the Consultant they booked with.

Try these suggestions and see if trade shows work for you. I also suggest that if you do not have the money to participate in a trade show that you then consider attending as a guest but go there with your Networking Gals "Business in a Box" so you are prepared is anyone wants anything from you. Step out there and let your company/products and self be seen as your business may rely on it! 

                                       Life is too short..................so go out and Party!

                                                 http://www.networkinggals.com

Spring into Business

One of the hardest jobs of a Leader is keeping your team focused on getting bookings,sales and recruits. The spring is the perfect time to shake things up. You will want to plan some of these ideas around the time your company's spring book/catalogue has come out. First off I highly recommend that you as a Leader offer a couple of small competitions. Such as:

- booking blitz - get your team gathered around a couple of phones and inspire them. They should bring some customer numbers (their Networking Gals "Customer care filer" or " Hostess trackers")

- booking round robin - each take turns phoning customers to try to book them. Great tool to teach open and closing methods.

- Spring Board 2012 - you can do a Spring Board (see Networking Gals "Spring Boards" presentation) as well as each team member can do them. You may want to have a night where everyone brings some supplies and each make one to take home. Your "Spring Board" should include promotions on each day of the month. When Consultant's do show you input their name and total sales into each date. The person who sold the most for that day can win a prize or the person who had the most shows that month can win a bigger prize from you.

Here is what you should be getting your team to consider doing. Remember that in order to keep doing shows as far into summer that you must fill March and April with bookings. Then, May will carry on from the previous bookings and June from May's bookings. Beyond that you will have to be very creative or make sure you are getting 3 or more bookings per show. Challenge your team to be creative and to fill forward their daytimers. (IE: fill forward means work ahead of schedule, book past the 6 week mark) Here are some tips:

- Each Consultant should be talking to all of their past Hostesses and customers about the new catalogue and that's why YOU (the Leader) need to do a booking blitz or Booking round robin.

- Learn how to create and creatively use Networking Gals "Spring Boards" sometimes all a person needs to book is a little extra incentive.

- Teach your Consultants to be creative and to consider doing shows a bit different, such as; in a park, a catalogue show (check out Networking Gals handy "Quickie Book shows") an ice cream party, a fundraiser (see Networking Gals "Fundraisers and Bridal shows") also do a basket show (another Networking Gals "Basket Show")

- Don't forget to get your Consultants taking their Networking Gals "Business in a Box" everywhere they go because business is everywhere.

- It's a great time of year to get those draw boxes out there. You will want to put a minimum of 3 out in cafes, pubs, gym, office lunch rooms, spas, salons, reception areas, bank, etc. (See Networking Gals "How to do a Draw box")

Companies bring out Spring/Summer catalogues to generate new business and keep the interest up over the summer months. If your Consultants are serious about their business then the spring and summer selling season can be the most rewarding. People are naturally more relaxed and energized at this time of year and therefore they are more willing to get out and more receptive to new ideas. Challenge yourself and your team as you take on this great time of year creatively! Remember....

                                                 Life is too short............so go out and Party!

                                                         http://www.networkinggals.com

                                                  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Network-Gals

Bookings Questions

Check us out on Facebook today for all your questions on getting/keeping and searching for bookings! This is open to anyone including non-members. We look forward to answering your questions! See you there.

                                          http://www.facebook.com/pages/Networking-Gals/