Wait, wait, wait, let me guess… I'm going to close my eyes, place my fingertips against my temples, hum for about three of the most awkward seconds you ever did feel, and say “you're struggling to reach your goals, right?”
Month-end, y'all. Every month my personal feed turns into the same, desperate cries for help:
- “I just need one more order to hit my volume/rank/promotion!”
- “Who wants to help me meet my goal?”
- “My host is so close to reaching her rewards level, who wants to help us out?”
- “Everyone post your link and let's buy from each other!”
- “Spam, spam-spam-spam-spam, spam, blah-blah-blah.”
- Spam.
Let me tell you who… no one.
Yuck, spammy, gross, self-serving. These types of posts perpetuate the spamtastic reputation of direct sales. You know every time you're in a group and someone posts something anti-MLM or anti-network marketing? This is why.
But that's for another post.
Your job as a direct seller is to market your direct sales business. That makes you a marketer… and as a marketer, your job is to create the need for your product, to make your client or prospect feel as though they absolutely must have it now.
This means using storytelling, great social content, and relationship-based strategies that seek to understand your client's emotional and practical needs.
Everything you post, whether on your personal profiles, your professional profiles, your business pages, your emails, everything helps your audience decide whether or not they are going to do business with you, whether you're intentional about your posts or not. And now, you might be thinking “but if someone asked me to help get them that promotion, I would do it because I'm a good friend…”
Well, good for you. No, I mean that, sincerely. You are a good friend.
But now, what happens after the third month straight of them asking you to help them promote? Or the fourth month? Or the fifth month?
How many months in a row of them asking you would it take before you started ignoring those messages?
Yeah.
Now I realize that it's close to the end of the month — it's now or never for those goals, right? So your response might be “yeah Brenda, great – but I need to hit my goal like, today. I don't have time for all chit-chat, warm up. I'm in full-blown hustle mode.”
So, here are three things you can do right now to close month-end and reach your goals.
And guess what — you won't have to resort to annoying your friends and family with guilt orders. Because friend, that well will eventually run dry and they'll start avoiding eye contact when you keep hitting them up.
First up, Follow-up.
Go back and follow-up with customers and hostesses from the last 4-12 weeks:
- I just wanted to check-in and see how you are loving {item}! (Service)
- Do you have any holiday gift giving opportunities I can help you out with? I'd love to save you a trip to the mall! (Value)
- I'd love to help you finish your holiday shopping list for free! (Service and Value)
Sometimes, your clients won't need anything else, but sometimes they will. I cannot count how many times I needed something but didn't think about it until I had a message staring me in the face asking me how they liked something I had ordered just a couple weeks earlier.
Value.
Don't make shoppers hunt for you - be there ready to serve them.
Second, follow up with your leads.
Did someone express interest in hosting their first party with you but then forget to schedule? One of the easiest ways to lose a client is to let a conversation end without closure. So go back and follow up with them.
Have they had a chance to think about that party? Have you had any ideas on how to make their party amazing? Got any ideas for a theme? Run now and let them know.
And third, a good ‘ol-fashioned mystery.
Whether you want to unload some inventory with mystery grab bags or run a mystery host party in your group, people love a good mystery. And the best part about it is that if you've been following up with people, and you've been posting consistently using the 3Ps, then your invitations to these mysterious offers won't feel out of the blue.
They'll just feel like a natural extension of the value and service that you've been providing all month.
Lead with value. Lead with kindness. Lead with service. Lead with gratitude for their business. This is relationship-based marketing, and it will win every time.
Come join my free Facebook community group, The Socialite Suite. We're an incredibly supportive community and here to help you navigate all the changes happening in the direct selling world.
#EmpowerSocial
