Direct Selling For Dummies
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Do you have an hour to spare? Of course not. No one does. But could you spare 15 minutes here and there? The Power Hour system, uses one simple hour to produce results. The Power Hour means taking an hour in your day and breaking it down into four income-producing activities, or key things, that you want to accomplish in that hour.

Using the Power Hour, you take small blocks of time and get extraordinary results from them. Once you've mastered the concept for your direct selling business, you'll find you can apply the Power Hour concept to almost every area of your life. Even fitness. Did you know that three 15-minute increments of cardio exercise gives the same benefit to your heart as one 45-minute session? It's true.

Have you ever had plenty to do, but felt like you really couldn't achieve anything because you didn't have a day, an afternoon, or even an hour available? Then you're going to love Power Hours.

A Power Hour means you only spend 15 minutes on a single task and then move on to another one. The idea is that, because you're focusing solely on that one thing, you actually accomplish more than if you attempted to spend a full hour on it while being distracted by other things.

For direct selling, you'll need to spend a Power Hour on four activities: booking parties or appointments, host coaching, recruiting, and customer follow-up. But you can also use the Power Hour concept to achieve everything from working on your finances to cleaning your house.

To ensure you're able to focus on your direct selling Power Hour, it's a good idea to remove distractions. You may want to turn off your social media alerts, or even silence the ringer on your phone.

In the Power Hour system, you create four folders, either on your computer or using actual cardboard folders. Label them as follows:

  • Host Coaching

  • Booking Leads

  • Recruiting Leads

  • Customer Follow-Up

If you're like most people, you have piles on your desk — sticky notes, and scraps of paper with notes scribbled on them. During your Power Hour, you put your information in one of these folders, so it's always easy to find. When you're out and about and get questions because you have on logo wear, or you happen to talk about a product or the opportunity, put these leads into the appropriate folder. Any lead you get will live in one of these folders.

In doing the Power Hour, you don't have to do it seven days a week to get results. Four days will get amazing results; three days will get great results; two days will get good results; and one day will still get results.

If you're looking to build your business, 15 minutes of phone calls is less daunting than spending hours on the phone trying to get bookings or repeat sales. Even if you only get a few orders, by the end of the week you have 10–15 additional orders. Not bad for 15 minutes and a little consistency!

You don't have to wait until you have an hour to become entrenched in what you're doing so that you're successful at creating a habit. Take 15 minutes with each task, and it can turn into results and rewards quickly. And over time, it will become a habit of reward and success.

Your 15 minutes on host coaching

Often hosts complain that they booked a party and the representative didn't touch base until two days before the party. So spend 15 minutes touching base to make sure you're keeping your host excited, engaged, and informed.

Use folders to help you organize your pending hosts, so you can always keep an eye on who you're reaching out to. When you have multiple books, it's easy to forget who and when you've reached out to your hosts. And that's how people fall through the cracks.

Your 15 minutes on booking

Now you're ready to spend 15 minutes solely focused on contacting people to schedule a party with you. By booking during your Power Hour, you'll soon sharpen your skills speaking the language of booking by doing multiple booking calls during a single short block of time.

Whenever you add a name to the Booking Leads (or Recruiting Leads) folders, be sure to make a note of the circumstances. For example, if your lead told you she wanted to have a party when her kitchen remodel finishes in six weeks, then make a note of those details — and mention them during your call.

When you follow up with a lead, make a reference to why she wanted to delay. This shows her that not only do you remember her, but that you care about her. Then it will come off as a friendly call and not a sales call. And remember, the key is to build relationships with our customers and leads.

When you get a booking, immediately make another booking call. It's not time to celebrate yet! The excitement from the previous yes will still be with you, and you will discover that the language you used from the last call will come easier to you. This will build your confidence, and people will notice that. People will always mirror the energy you give to them — if you sound hesitant, nervous, or desperate, they will pick up on that too. In fact, you can reference the prior call to show your new lead that you are busy, energetic, and in high demand.

Your 15 minutes on recruiting

Recruiting is the one area of your business where timing is everything. When someone has expressed interest but then says no, that doesn't mean no forever or that they don't like you. It just means right now isn't the right time.

People's lives change. This is why follow-up is so important. Previous leads showed interest about your opportunity, which is why they're in your lead notebook. But just because the timing wasn't right at that time doesn't mean it won't be right sometime in the future. If you get a no or a not right now, don't just say, "Okay" and forget about it. Ask her if you can keep her informed with specials, especially those to do with the kit.

When you talk to recruit leads in a friendly and casual way, just as you do when you're doing a customer service call, you build a relationship. And that means they'll come to know and trust you, rather than feel like you're bugging them.

Your 15 minutes on customer service

During this 15 minutes, you simply contact people who have previously ordered from you and ask if they're enjoying the products they purchased. After they say yes, ask if they would like to add another specific product to their collection. Tell them about a current sale or special or ask if they need to reorder more of their original purchase. It's a good idea to know what they ordered last, and you should be prepared to tell them what the specials are this month.

Direct sales companies say that only one to three percent of direct sellers do re-servicing calls. When you don't make these calls, you're leaving money on the table. Someone, either another representative or competitor, will pick that money up. Great customer service is incredibly important not only to your sales, but also to your bookings and recruiting. So be sure to make these calls. It can increase your business as much as 50 percent.

However, don't overdo it either! You want your customers to feel like when you call, that it is a service to them — one that they appreciate.

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