Friday, September 19, 2008

I Share Because I Care - Grace Keohohou Conference Call

Another amazing experience! I try to attend every Grace Keohohou event I can and so should you! For those of you who don't know who she is. Grace Keohohou and Her Mother started the Direct Selling Women's Alliance. There's a link on the right hand side of my blog.

Last night's conference call was for Daisy Blue Naturals consultants and we discussed more in depth some of the topics Grace presented at our National Conference in July.

Here are some points I jotted down so I could share with you all:

1. There are 3 Types of No:
- kNOw - as in "I need to know more"
- NOt - as is "Not Now"
- NO - as in not ever

Kims Input: It is important to figure out what people are saying when they say no! It would be a shame if you assumed someone meant "not ever" when they really meant "not now" or "I need to know more". How do you do this? Ask questions! Talk to your clients and especially potential clients! We are in the business of relationship building. It is very important not to just deliver a sales pitch and then when you hear "no" move on to the next person on your list!
By asking questions and getting to really know the people you speak to - you will be able to better understand what people are telling you! Also follow up the "no's" you hear with questions like, "Okay, thanks for listening to me, I had a great time talking with you and I'll touch base again in ________ okay?" or "Okay ______, did you have any questions you wanted to ask me while I here with you?" this way you find out what they really mean by "No"

Palm Connector

Reach out your palm (just do it!) face down towards the floor. Now pull it towards you. This movement is all about you. Palm down movements in your business are when you do things that are motivated around you. Selling a customer something just to meet a quota would be a palm down approach. Putting your benefit before the person you are contacting. Focusing on your needs instead of theirs. These are all Palm Down.

Now, reach out your hand again (come on - do it! trust me!) Now pull this towards you. This movement is all about the person in front of you. It says "How can I help you?" The Palm up approach let's people put their needs into your hands. It gives you a chance to put their needs before yours. If you approach people palm up, you approach them with "What can I do to help you today?"

When Grace had us do this, I actually "felt" different - the palm up felt so much better than the palm down. She said to ask yourself each day "am I palm up?"

3. Vision of what we Want

Grace walked us through an amazing 4 step process she went through herself to get a clear vision of what she wanted and I'll share that with you. It is important when setting goals to create clarity. Goals should be measurable and specific. For example here's a goal:
~ I will sign up 2 consultants
now let's make that a bit more specific
~ I will sign up 2 consultants in October
...let's keep going
~ I will sign up 2 outgoing, self motivated consultants in October
....and further
~ I will sign up 2 outgoing, self motivated fun women as consultants by October 21st at midnight.

Do you see how different the last statement is from the first? When you set measureable and specific goals you know exactly what you're looking for and in what time frame you have to accomplish it. A statement Grace used that I really liked here was: *Vague Goals = Vague Results*

5. I am in the Process of...

Grace mentioned how important it is to start you day off right and I agree. I can't remember who she got this from...but...take the first 30 minutes of your day and use it to make sure you get a good start!
The statement "I am in the process of...." is very powerful. Try saying:
"I am in the process of having a fantastic day"
or
"I am in the process of making a difference today"
make up your own daily "I am in the process of..." affirmation. Get your kids involved. Ask them "What are you in the process of today?" Have them say "I am in the process of making an A on test today" or "I am in the process of making a new friend today".
I will be adding this affirmation to my rountine from now on!

6. Struggling to get sales?

We are in the business of serving others! We are so very lucky to be a part of something as wonderful as direct sales and network marketing! Really! I mean come on! We get paid to socialize, to meet new people, make new friends, improve the lives of others and of the world around us! I get so excited when I think about the opportunity that was given to me. Grace reminded us of that last night. She told us how someone once told her she was being selfish by not doing speaking engagements! By NOT sharing what she has been given.
We are the same. We have been given a tremendous opportunity to improve our lives, to help others and to share what we have. And it is truly selfish of us to keep it to ourselves!
All those things I've discussed up to now come into play here. Are you positive and happy? Are you approaching people palm up? People like doing business with people that are positive and make them feel good. We are not the priority in this business - "they" are! All those people waiting to be given the same opportunity that you were.
Those people are the priority. They have had long days, their voice mail is filled with people wanting things from them, their to do lists are staring them in the face. You have the opportunity to be the one person that day that contacts them to actually *help* them out, to offer them a solution, to be a welcoming voice on the other end of the phone.
Think of how you would feel if you got home from work - listened to your voicemail: Bill collector, bill collector, solicitor, kids needing a ride from the movies, etc. Then the next call you answer is a telemarketer, then you get a call from a Daisy Blue Rep and she says in a friendly voice, "Hi Sally, it's Sue, I was just thinking about you and thought I'd call to check in and see how you are doing? How was your day today?"
How would that feel? Someone who cares about *you* and how *you* are doing, wondering if *you* need anything? Nice, huh?"
Remember also - because we exist, she doesn't have to 'remember' when she's running out of something. We call to check in so that she has one less thing to worry about. "I want to make sure you have everything you need."
Our customers are the prioity. We get paid to make their lives easier. How wonderful is that? Why wouldn't they want to hear from you?

Make the calls! Do the follow up! here's some statistics that grace shared with us:

48% of Direct Sellers never follow up
25% make the second call
12% make the third call
10% make more than three calls

now check this out:

2% of sales are made on first contact
3% of sales are made on second contact
4% of sales are made on third contact
10% of sales are made on fourth contact
80% of sales are made on 5th - 12th contact!!!

Remember how I started this blog? No has 3 meanings....keep contacting your community!
Call back your leads. Make those re-order calls. Keep in touch with your people!

Motion makes Motivation Materialize!

6. Quality Cards

Grace talked about "collecting" business cards when you hand out business cards. That way she doesn't have to wait for people to contact her - she can take that first step in the relationship herself. I think this is an awesome idea! She added this incredible yet easy to do step:
write on the back of the card something that stood out about this person! Something that you can reference when contacting them. For Ex: Hi Sally Sue, This is Kim, we met at King Soopers the other day. I have to tell you, your smile was so engaging, it was such a pleasure to meet you!
-if you are leaving this on a voicemail - finish up with a call to action like: I really hope we get the chance to speak again, you seem like someone I would really like to get to know better!
**Very important*** These statements should be TRUE!!!

I hope this article helped you as much as the conference call helped me! Please share any "A-Ha's" you had by leaving a comment on this post! Feedback and sharing feels good and helps others - especially me! If I know what you like or what helps you most - I can focus more on those points if future blog posts!

have a fabulous day!

No comments: