Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Source 1: Personal Motivation
Here’s the challenge – many vital behaviors that lead to the desired result are boring, frightening, uncomfortable, or even painful. The solution – make the undesireable desireable. Change why they’re doing it or how they’re doing it. Remember – you can’t motivate someone who isn’t motivated, but you can help them find their own personal source of motivation.
Here are a few powerful ways to increase personal motivation. Consciously connect vital behaviors to deeply-held personal values. For example, if recruiting is only tied to a materialistic desire to make money – that is not congruent with most recruiter’s values. However, if recruiting is the way that we serve others and help them achieve desired financial freedom – that is more congruent with most recruiter’s values. Next, remember that the weakest way to increase personal motivation is by telling – or persuading. The most powerful way to increase personal motivation is to guide self-discovery through a personal experience. So a person-to-person sales presentation at the side of an experienced mentor can be a great personal motivator. If personal experiences are not immediately possible, vicarious experiences can be created through detailed stories.
Finally, help people identify – in great detail – their personal “why.” What will be different in their life when they reach their goals? Have them write it down and revisit it whenever discouragement sets in.
6 Sources for Change
Ever sit back and wonder – “why can’t I influence distributors to change”? You’re not alone. Well . . . it turns out that in order to influence change – either our own change or changing others – there are six sources of influence that are ALWAYS at work. If we don’t seek to understand these sources of influence and get them working for us, then they will ALWAYS be working against us. These powerful sources of influence were revealed in New York Times Best Seller: Influencer – The Power To Change Anything. And research has documented that if we understand and use these sources of change properly, we can increase our influence over ourselves or others by TEN TIMES!
In the next few posts, I’ll reveal the six sources of change so you can understand them, watch for them, and get them working for you in your efforts to influence your distributors – and help your influencers influence themselves.
The secret . . . you must always use four or more (all six is better) of the sources! Stay tuned . . .
Motivation AND Ability
When trying to influence distributors to do the vital behaviors that lead to desired results – we must be sure we are addressing BOTH motivation AND ability. So often we focus only on motivation. A tweak to the compensation plan, a new incentive, a new promotion. These tend to be our common tools. We must remember that when people don’t do something we think they should do, it’s always for one of two reason: either they don’t want to or they don’t know how. Motivation or ability or some combination of the two. So, our programs must address both sides of the equation. Let’s not overlook the importance of skills training, structured practice, role playing, and other skill-building activities. We can’t cure ability problems with motivation strategies any more than we can cure motivation problems with ability strategies.
Field Advisors are Essential
No matter where you are in your progression as a company, having a field advisory council in place is essential. One of my favorite types of advisory councils is a growth council. Members are not determined by rank but rather are determined by an index that indicates whether they are growing their business, and helping others to grow their businesses as well. Want to watch field reps scramble to perform, just announce the selection criteria (how you’re going to keep score) and when you’re going to select your advisory council. Keep score. Select and announce the group. Let them serve for a year or so. And repeat the process. They’ll work hard for the recognition and for the opportunity to be on the “inner circle.” You’ll benefit in so many ways. You can involve them in developing corporate initiatives and secure their support before roll out to the field. You can gather their input on areas for needed improvement. You can learn from them what’s really working, so you can duplicate their success as you provide training programs for new field reps. The list of benefits goes on and on. Be sure you select people by the numbers, or it can become a political mess that can blow up on you. And, be sure to have a charter and ground rules and work from a pre-approved agenda before each call or meeting. Have fun, and enjoy this tremendous tool!
Recruit to Retain
One of the keys to retention and early energy and momentum with new distributors is something I like to call: “recruit to retain.” This is a simple, yet often overlooked skill and approach among distributors. Sometimes distributors, in their enthusiasm to recruit, will hard sell their prospects into becoming a distributor – when that might not be the best options for that person. This results in disappointment and the early departure of that new distributor, which in turn causes frustration for the person who did the recruiting. Instead, simply interview the candidate to find out what they would truly like to accomplish by being involved with the company. Do they want the product at the best price – and that’s all? Do they want to just earn enough to cover the cost of their product? Do they want to earn a part-time or full-time income? Ask. Listen. Learn. And then match them with the best enrollment option to meet their needs. Help them achieve success early – as THEY define success – and they’ll stay with you for a long time. You can always invite them to increase their involvement as they get settled and confident in your company and your products.
Fast Start Success
Did you know that half of distributor attriti0n occurs in the first 90 days after enrollment? This is your highest risk period for losing new distributors. On average, direct selling companies lose about 40% of their new distributors during this period. But you CAN beat the odds. And to do so, you must have a well designed fast start system. New distributors come with enthusiasm (which fads quickly without appropriate action) and usually no game plan. The corporate team must partner with the field leaders to provide the tools, training, touch points, and incentives to effectively guide the new distributors through their first 90 days. One successful piece of that puzzle . . . choose an early rank in the compensation plan, something that the masses can achieve. Provide a one-time cash bonus for achieving that rank as long as the rank is achieved by the end of the 3rd full month after enrollment. Then, break down your training, tools, and touch points to guide new distributors down the path of accomplishing that goal.
Party Plan – Don’t Judge too Early
Ever feel confident that you can spot leaders right away after they enroll? Be careful – you might overlook some of your future superstars! I had the chance to interview the top 30 earners with a leading party plan company – 30 nine to ten year veterans with the company all earning over $100,000 per year. Among many questions, one of the most interesting . . . “What were your income expectations when you joined?” Two thirds of them said – ZERO! I just joined to get the best possible price on the product. Of course, the follow on question was: “What happened? Obviously somewhere along the line things changed for you.” The stories were all similar. “Well, my sponsor just kind of kept in touch with me and I noticed she was making some extra money each month and that it really didn’t look that hard. She kept inviting me to become a more active member of her team and told me she believed I could do it and that she would help me. I finally decided to give it a try.” Wow – what a message for all direct sellers and corporate executives. We must accept all new distributors on their terms and them gently help them realize their potential!
