It's a Party Out There

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it!" ---Michelangelo

The key note speaker at conference on Saturday morning was Karen Phelps, Direct Sales Success Coach. She was beaming with enthusiasm and quick, witty humor, it was impossible not to love her! Her goal is to "keep the fun and profit in direct selling". She shared how our life is shaped by the decisions we have made. We create our own destiny. What are you creating with your Gold Canyon business? 45% of your success comes from prospecting (finding people and telling them what you do). 20% of your success comes from good presentation skills. 20% of your success comes from product knowledge and 15% comes from personal and professional development. So what do you need to do to be successful? Prospect, present, learn and develop. Most of our boundaries are in our head.
"Being successful means breaking down boundaries. No one wants to be mediocre but we are creatures of habit." - Karen Phelps
To help you succeed, you need to write down answers to the following questions and hold yourself to them.
*WHAT IS YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR GOLD CANYON BUSINESS?
*HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO EARN FROM YOUR PARTIES IN THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS?
*WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR EARNINGS?
*HOW MANY TIMES PER WEEK DO YOU WANT TO HOLD PARTIES?
*WHEN DO YOU WANT TO HOLD PARTIES?
Here are some ideas for booking parties, which we all know, is where the money is at! First we all had to write down 5 potential hosts (try it! It was too easy) She also shared a forbidden phrase. We can not use the words "Do you want to have a party for me?" Instead use this script: "Hi, this is _______. I'm so excited! I just got back from Gold Canyon Convention and we have so many new and exciting products! I immediately thought of you because I know you will love them and want to earn some free! I have a couple of special dates for your party, __________ and __________. Which one is best for you?"

An idea that she brought to my attention is that if we don't treat our business like a business, we won't have regular paydays. That's a big perk of a 'real' job is having set paychecks. So if we want paid weekly or biweekly, we must book parties for that frequency or we'll miss our paydays! So start setting your dates and make the most of your business.

Booking Challenge: Call 5 leads each day for 10 days. Keep track of each call, the date, phone number, name and their lousy excuse. If you seriously get 50 rejections you can email karen@karenphelps.com and she'll give you 1.5hrs of free coaching. It's impossible *not* to succeed if you do this!

Here are some ways that Karen taught to be able to book 2 parties at every party: 1. During Host Coaching, have your host go through her guest list and mark "B" for "booking" next to the names she thinks would make good hosts. Offer her a special gift that if she has 2 parties booked before you come to the party. Then have her turn in the list to you and you will have more leads. 2. When the guests arrive, greet them by asking "Did you pre-book a party? Please decide before the party so _______ can get her free gift" 3. During your presentation, ask the group, "How many of you have ever had any type of home party? Raise your hand. Then after they raise their hands, say "I'm sure you do it for the same reason I do, to get free and discounted products. Let me show you what you'll get when you party with Gold Canyon..." Then let them know the average party is $400, which means the host gets $60 free plus 1 50% off item. Use your product and pile candles equivalent to that amount on the host's lap (or a separate table) plus be sure to add any of your own specials or promotions on there. 4. Play a booking game. This game is fool-proof for getting bookings. Hold up 3 gift bags, foofed up with tissue paper and looking pretty. Each needs to contain some kind of a booking gift. Then ask for 8 guests to volunteer, you know they will when you're holding those cute bags! After they're standing up in front of the group, give each volunteer a special envelope. Inform them that each envelope contains one of two messages. Either "Book A Party" or "Book a Party AND Receive a Gift". The game is that each gets the chance to open her envelope and see if she is just booking a show OR booking a show AND receiving the pretty gift bag. Each has the opportunity to "Pass" meaning give the envelope back to you and not "risking" a party, or she may open the envelope and see her fate, or she can "UPGRADE" to a "Bonus Envelope" which happens to be your host packet, and you promise that she'll receive her foofy bag the night of her party. It is fun to go down the line and see who's a chicken and passes, who takes chances, and open their envelopes, and who is confident and goes right for the bonus envelope. You can also open up the Bonus Envelope invitation to anyone left in the audience. After you've booked all 8 shows, ask your host, "Do you want to go to all 8 parties and SPEND money or do you want to sign up with me and EARN money at their parties?" Of course if she wants to sign up be sure to give her all of her friends' bookings so she can start her business off with a bang.

Here are some more sponsoring techniques: You sell Gold Canyon products! You market hope and opportunity! *WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL SPONSORING GOAL FOR THE NEXT 5 MONTHS? "Sponsoring is an unselfish act of sharing a fantastic opportunity!" -Karen Phelps In your party presentation, take 1-2 minutes to tell your story. This should include why you're passionate about our products or what drove you to sell them. Ask the guests if they think they could do what you're doing. Talk to your host about selling, make at least 3 attempts: 1. Add a sponsoring booklet to her host packet. During host coaching ask her "Have you ever thought about doing something like this?" 2. During your follow-up call to get directions or confirm the party, ask her "Have you thought more about selling? 3. During the party, get the host involved. Let her tell why she loves the products or why she booked a party. Let her help you pass out catalogs, let her draw winners for door prizes, and be as much of the presentation as possible. When totaling her party, let her know how much your commission was off her party and ask if she'd like to sign up and take this as her first party. She'll already know how easy it is because she's done most of the "work" with you!!
A quick sponsoring game that can be used at parties is pass out little strips with questions for the guests to ask you. You have to answer each in one sentence (avoid "verbal vomit"). The questions are: 1. How much does it cost to start up? 2. How soon can I promote/move up? 3. What type of training will I receive? 4. How much time do I have to spend? 5. What other perks are there? 6. How much will I make? 7. What is the best part about selling? 8. How often do you get paid? Be prepared with concise and positive answers!

Follow these steps and ideas and your business will explode!