Flip Your Lid!

Below are a couple of ideas that was shared by Laurie H., Sr. Manager from TN:

Situation: Laurie went to a Pampered Chef party to purchase a specific pitcher. A customer at the party started telling everyone how her pitcher fell apart and wasn’t good quality, etc. Of course, the Demonstrator was horrified.

Laurie decided to start doing “Flip your Lid” calls to customers after they received their product. The purpose was to make sure the customer had taken the lid off her candle and started using it. Then Laurie would ask if the candle was burning the way she expected, smelled the way she expected, etc. If there was an issue with the burning, she would offer candle care tips. If this was a first time customer and she didn’t like the fragrance, she would try to replace it with something she had.

The main thing Laurie learned from the Pampered Chef party was that she didn’t want customers sitting at another Gold Canyon party talking about a candle, etc. they were unhappy with from their last purchase.

Laurie would also tell the customer she had an order going in soon (even if she didn’t have an order—she would send one in after getting enough sales) and ask if she wanted to order anything. She said she is having great success adding additional sales.

When Laurie makes the “Flip your Lid” calls, she keeps the conversation to talking about a maximum of 3 things to keep the calls short. That way when she calls this customer again, the customer is more willing to talk because she knows Laurie is not keeping her on the phone.

So, “Have you flipped your lid yet?” What a great one-liner to start the conversation!

Another idea Laurie uses when coaching her hosts: She tells them if they get 10 or more guests at the party, she will give them an extra 10 oz. candle. She then uses the Host candle availble inexpensively on your supply order.

You could also offer “an ounce for every guest in attendance.” If she has 16 guests, she would get a 16 oz. candle of her choice as a bonus. I would do the Host candle for 10 guests and then give her a goal of 16 guests she would get a 16 oz. of her choice, 26 oz. with 26 guests, etc.

Usually, I don’t like encouraging Demonstrators to give ‘extra’ to a host; however, this is a great sales tool because we know if we get the guests to the party they will purchase and book. The host has to ‘earn’ this gift.

Thanks, for sharing your ideas and success!

These are my challenges to you:
1. Start today doing your “Flip your Lid” calls
2. Make note of open-ended questions you will ask the customer
3. After you have made 10 “Flip your Lid” calls, share this information and your open-ended questions with me by phone or email.
4. Do 4 “Flip your Lid” calls a day for the next 5 days and report back to me.
5. Continue following-up with your customers.

October Recognition

It was so wonderful to see all of you in action last month! Isn't this business crazy-busy-fun in the fall? You guys brought our year-to-date team sales up to $73,121. I don't know why Gold Canyon doesn't include any of my stats in our reports - but adding my sales to all of yours we're at $80,444 as of Oct. 31. Last year we soared over $100,000 and my team goal for for 2008 was $125K... that means we have to double our efforts for November & December.

The first recognition this month goes to the first $1,000 party I've seen in a long time. I've been encouraging everyone to try for it because I sold $1,000 on my first party as a host, and haven't ever been able to top it as a demo. It's my personal goal with every party I step into. This month, Lisa Thorpe submitted a party order for $1,000.02. Way to go, Lisa!! Just so you all know, she will not only keep $250 base commission for that party, she will also recieve a 3% override commission from GC which is another $30. Plus, I'm sure she got several new customers and hopefully some additional party leads. Not too shabby! So let's talk about her host!! From October's Host Promotion she earned a diffuser of her choice, FREE, plus $150 Host Credit, plus three 1/2-off items. What a haul! Another monstrous party order came from Kathy Bull for $827.80. I asked Kathy what the secret to her success was and she replied, "My hostess had 16 people that attended so we placed all of the postcards in a basket for drawings. I gave tea lights, and a few discontinued scents. I advised everyone of our products, had a question answer session where everyone told me what they want to see in candles. When they asked I gave the answer as to how great GC are... like one question was why do candles lose their scent-I advised them on how GC scent is throughout and the different aroma's throughout the entire burning cycle. I told them our candles never lose their potency. Why do candles give off black smoke? I answered due to people don't distinguish them right-Wick dipper and trimmer were the answer. So you can see how it went from there. It was fun, and everyone got there concerns etc answered in a GC way !!"

Next we'll recognize more Simply 2 Qualifiers. The Monthly Reward of 75 Gold Dollars for submitting Fundraiser over $2,500 goes to Melanie Davis for a $3257.00 Fundraiser. The demonstrators with parties over $350 for the Simply 2 Cumulative Reward (2 new Demos + 4 Parties>$350) are: Mary Fulk, Sandra Hessert, Angie Palmer, Debra Peterson, Gina Andersen, Mary Reynolds, Ronda Strauss, Lisa Thorpe and Kathy Bull.

I'd also like to give kudos to all of the demonstrators who received orders on their personal websites this month. Many of you may have noticed the list links to our team sites in the right margin of our blog. Take advantage of this list by looking at the other sites and using what you like to improve your own. I've been working on figuring out how to get my family picture inserted in mine like Melanie has, and Megan was working on changing her font colors. Congrats to all the gals who effectively marketed their websites this month and received orders: Melanie Davis (12), Traci Rhodes (9), Mary Fulk, Megan Moreno, Gina Andersen, Lynn Hayes, Ronda Strauss, Elizabeth Campbell and Tandy Miller. Just a little note about the demonstrators whose website appears on the blog - I'm not playing favorites! These are the only ones who have shared their sites with me. I don't have access to your link through Gold Canyon. I'd love to add the rest of yours on there, but you'll need to drop me a line in order for me to do so! erin.didion@goldcanyon.us

I also want to recognize our new demonstrators, those who have been in the business for 6 months or less. Tina Knight, Hanna Modgling, Erica Aguilar (May), Tammy Neamon, Elizabeth Campbell (July), Sheridan Givens (Aug), Megan Moreno, Lynn Hayes, Tandy Miller (Sept), Zoe Mitchell (Oct). You all deserve a big hand for your efforts in getting your business off the ground.

Two thumbs up for all of our "business builders", the 29 active sellers: Kelly Ashliman, Kathy Ashton, Adrina Collins, Melanie Davis, Mary Fulk, Sheridan Givens, Sam Goodman, Sandra Hessert, Angela Ingram, Heather Mendoza, Megan Moreno, Angie Palmer, Debra Peterson, Traci Rhodes, Gina Andersen, Christine Dunlap, Lynn Hayes, Kimberly Hernandez, Shaunda Jacobs, Bonnie Lucas, Zoe Mitchell, Mary Reynolds, Ronda Strauss, Karen Thomas, Lisa Thorpe, Suzette Vildosola, Kathy Bull, Elizabeth Campbell, Tandy Miller. Keep up the great work, ladies!

And finally, our last recognition for October is for our team leaders:
Managers (more than 5 sponsors + 2 Sr. Demos): Melanie Davis, Mary Fulk; Gold Demonstrator (3-4 sponsors): Ronda Strauss; Senior Demonstrators (1-2 sponsors): Kathy Ashton, Tina Knight, Monica Vega, Lisa Thorpe, Angie Palmer, Mary Reynolds, Traci Rhodes. I need two of you Senior Demonstrators to promote to Gold so I can promote to a Gold Manager! I can't wait to see you succeed!

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

"Do You Love Candles?"

One of our team demos, Jenny from AZ sent me an email today. She said "I can't seem to find anyone that wants to buy anything, do you have any suggestions?"

I wanted to share my response with all of you as well.

My first suggestion for you would be to try to meet some new people with the purpose of your candle business in mind. For most people, this means getting out of your comfort zone a little, but it pays off. At conference a demonstrator who is doing remarkably well, shared how she experiences so much success. Her name is Roshonda Contee-Davis, and she had a friendly, smiley, outgoing personality. Every person she talks to, she asks, "Do you love candles?" It opens up a conversation that leads to a business opportunity. Almost always, the person will answer "yes", then you can share why you sell Gold Canyon, and tell about our products. Then, give a catalog or business card or whatever you promote yourself with. The person can become a customer, a host or a new demonstrator.

The key is, Roshonda literally asks EVERYONE -- including the person giving her the food at the drive-thru, the lady in line at the supermarket, the insurance service rep on the telephone -- anyone and everyone she talks to, she asks that same question, "Do you love candles?" So let's all give that a good try. Be brave! Just ask that simple question to everyone you come in contact with for a day and see if it opens any doors for you. I bet you'll want to do it the next day, too!

My second suggestion would be practice some of the scripts we were given to "call up" parties. To find these, scroll down to the "Labels" section of the column to the right. Click "Booking" and then scroll down to the post titled "It's a Party Out There". Be confident, you have much to offer!

While you're going about these challenges, remember this: If you want what you've never had you must do what you've never done. My piano teacher used to tell me, "Practice makes nearly perfect" - so everybody, let's start practicing!!! Please let me know how it goes.

September Recognition

First of all, I want to welcome our new demonstrators, DEBRA PETERSON (AZ), LYNN HAYES (NC), MEGAN MORENO (AZ), TANDY MILLER (AZ), ADRINA COLLINS (NM), CHRISTYN KEIL (AZ) and HEATHER MENDOZA (AZ). Let's give a big hand to our demonstrators who sponsored this month, MELANIE DAVIS (AZ), MARY REYNOLDS (AZ) and SAMANTHA GOODMAN (AZ). You guys are awesome!

Thank you, everybody, for a great start in our fall season! Our team sales for the month were $12,551, that's with about half of us placing orders. You guys are great!

I want to start with recognition for the Simply 2 Incentive, which lasts from 9/1-11/30. Your parties over $350 will count for the Target Gift Cards to be awarded at the end of the Incentive (4 parties >$350+2 qualified recruits=$150 Gift Card). The demonstrators who submitted parties over $350 in September are: Melanie Davis, Angie Palmer, Gina Anderson (2), Christine Dunlap, Heather Mendoza, Mary Reynolds, Ronda Strauss, Monica Vega (2).

Next, I want to give props to our two demos who did fundraisers this month, both first-timers, Traci Rhodes (AZ) and Kathy Ashton (WA). Neither of these gals are Gold Demonstrators, so the fundraiser went through me and I had a chance to train them and observe them, both working efficiently and professionally. Coincidentally, both demonstrators had Gymnastics teams for their organizations, and both groups sold about $1000 each. You, too, can do it!

Our highest party last month goes to Gina Anderson at $800.34 (Guam). I bet your host enjoyed picking out $100 free, 2 1/2-off items, an 8oz Heritage at 1/2-off, PLUS her exclusive Potted Blooms gift! That's a lot of wax! Has your host considered selling Gold Canyon? Just think, she could have made over $200 commission for this party. Gina, please email your tips and secrets to a successful party - you did a terrific job!

Congratulations to Sheridan Givens (AZ) who completed well over $500 in sales in her first month to earn the free kit promotion.

Most personal website orders goes to Melanie Davis with 7. Melanie, how do you market your website? Please share any ideas with us. Most party orders goes to Christine Dunlap (AZ) with 4.

Thank you, everybody, for making this a great month! Keep up the super selling and remember you can always call me for help and questions.

Traci's Simply 2 and Diffusers

Traci, don't kill me for this! An entire post about YOU! :o)

One of our team demonstrators has taken Gold Canyon's Simply 2 Challenge to heart! After our team tele-meeting, Traci organized a monthly worksheet to map out her goals with Simply 2. The worksheet is separated out into weeks with her customer contact goals, party goals and sponsoring goals. She did a beautiful job on it, and I don't know how to upload Adobe files to this blog so you're going to have to email me if you want a copy. She simplified Gold Canyon's expectations to fit her level of activity. She says, "My own personal goal is 2 customer contacts per week (for me this means outside of my school because I make several customer contacts there every day), 2 parties per month w/ 2 bookings from each party and then 1 sponsor & 1 fundraiser (1 + 1 = 2!)". Traci put the form on her wall to remind and motivate herself. She has already completed a fundraiser and is sponsoring her first demonstrator this month. By the way, if any of you would like to meet Traci, I have listed her MySpace site in the right margin with demonstrator websites. If any of you have a business-related website, please share with us.

Traci also sent me an email this week with some feedback about Gold Canyon's awesome new diffusers! She says, "I put a diffuser in the staff bathroom at my school. Several people had questioned me about it before it came in... was it really as good as it was supposed to be? how long did it last? was it a strong smell? Well, everyone at my school LOVES it. No more stinky bathroom and they can't believe how well it works. This is the perfect solution to teachers not being able to burn candles in their classrooms."

Thank you, Traci, for the great ideas and testimonial! I hope all of you can incorporate these ideas to help grow your business!

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!

Unstoppable

"Be a cause of your life, not an effect"

"My success depends on me"

"I am the one I've been waiting for"

"Work smarter not harder"

These are just a few of the ideas I loved from this presentation!

Our keynote speaker for Friday's session at convention was Cynthia Kersey, author of "Unstoppable", a book that reveals secrets and traits of some of America's greatest achievers. She taught us how we can create a breakthrough in our Gold Canyon businesses in just 30 days. The first step is making a decision: What do I want? That must be written down and specific. Then list 5 reasons Why I must achieve this goal? A strong enough "why" can bear any "how"! She showed a funny cartoon with the caption "I'm not ready to change my life, I'm still in the complaining stage". Hopefully that statement is not true! But it is important to realize and accept What BELIEFS have stopped me from moving forward with my goal? Then one can create empowering beliefs by raising your unstoppability quotient. Here are the ABC's of Unstoppability: A - Adversity - a triggering event (factual). Examples, someone turns down your invitation to purchase, a host cancels the party. Your initial interpretation is: B - Belief - internal self-talk evaluating the event. Examples, they're not interested, they don't like me. Then you feel or do: C - Consequences - quit or keep going. After you experience rejection, is your game over? NO! The new interpretation: D - Disputation - your New Belief. Next! next! next! You've got to get all the rejections out of the way so you can experience your success! and E- Energization - the new outcome. After you stick it out you'll have pleasure and excitement. You'll believe in your self. You can help others in your team believe in themselves, too.

The single most important action we need to take every day is to DO SOMETHING! Don't just think about it, do it. 5% of our actions are driven by our conscious mind. 95% of our actions are driven by our subconscious. 75% of our actions are driven by our negative thoughts. Be positive! A powerful purpose will get you through anything! If you would like more information about Cynthia Kersey's "Unstoppable" book or coaching, visit her official website http://www.unstoppable.net/ Cynthia finished her presentation with a quoted I LOVE by Marianne Williams: "You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking, so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."