There came a point during the workshop when we were asked to write and affirmation. Now, with my then opinion of affirmations I did not write much. She did make some suggestions that I had not really considered before. She said envision your goals and where you expect to be once you reach them and put yourself in that position. In other words, envision yourself in the place you want to be and make that your affirmation. She also said think about things we aren’t in the habit of doing that we want to be in the habit of doing and make those part of the affirmation. I suppose I didn’t have a crystal clear picture of what I wanted so I didn’t have much to write. Some women volunteered to read what they’d written once our time was up. That was when I had my “AHA!” moment.

One by one each woman read her affirmation. Some were more creative than others, but some were so simple that it made me see the real point of affirmations. For example, one woman simply described the course of her ideal day. She said (and this is paraphrased because it’s been months since I heard it), “I wake up every morning at 5:00 a.m. I embrace the day and I get right out of bed and shower and get dressed. I exercise and I eat a healthy breakfast with my family.” I think she even described her healthy breakfast. She then went on to describe the course of her day including not just her Mary Kay activities, but her daily interactions with her family. It wasn’t sing-songy or cheerleaderish. It was real! This event made me view my goals differently and approach my goal setting and plan of action more seriously and with more intent!

Goal setting is a multi-dimensional process. The first step is to have goals. Goals are the map. They are the destinations we want to reach. Affirmations are the route. You really do have to have both. I never realized this before. The affirmations I was hearing and reading in the past seemed like a lot of fluff and puff. You do NOT have to be a poet or creative writer to create your affirmation. You just need to know your goal and then hatch your plan. Affirm your plan by making the affirmation your regular dialog about your goals. You don’t need to necessarily tape record yourself saying a silly mantra that isn’t really you to begin with. It can be as simple writing down your six most important things for the day and reading them to yourself in the morning before you get started. When you talk to people tell them what you’re doing in your business. Make that your affirmation.

Here is what I mean. My BIG GOALS for this Seminar year are the following:

1. Queens Court of Sales
2. Career Car
3. Director

I’ve narrowed it down to three so I don’t get overwhelmed. My monthly goals are:

1. $3000 retail sales (backed with $1000-$1500 wholesale order)
2. 30 new faces
3. 10 interviews

My weekly goals are:

1. $1000-$1400 retail sales
2. 2-3 group appointments (7-9 faces)
3. 2-3 interviews

My daily goals are:

1. $200 retail
2. 5 booking attempts
3. 5 new leads

My affirmation should tell a story of how my daily actions right now are going to get me to my destination in July 2009. It doesn’t have to rhyme. It doesn’t need to sound like a cheer. I don’t even need to record it and listen to it. My affirmation is repeated by me when I write here on this blog. It’s repeated when I talk about it to my friends and family. It is repeated again when I call my customers and tell them what I am working toward.

So, here is a very rough draft of my affirmation:

I am going to call my customers and leads daily (not the same people of course) during my lunch hour because I am most productive then. I will wake up at 5:00 a.m. so I am ready for each day. My image is always well kept so that I am never too embarrassed by my own appearance to talk to someone. When I make five attempts to schedule appointments each day I have at least 2 on my datebook that night.

I think when I am finished making it perfect for me I will post it on one of my pages. Who else has an affirmation?
Stumble It!

Previously, I had the plain pink cards. The first year I joined I opted for cards featuring the products. Eventually, I felt they were too overpowering with the products. I can’t explain it well. Maybe I’ m a weirdo. My next few orders of cards have been the plain pink cards. Now that I have those and the picture cards (I’m not quite out of my pink ones yet, but I’m close) I’m thinking I like the pink ones better.

The pros of plain pink:

• The foil lettering used for the logo
• The general layout of the card (I like the placement of my name and title and the placement of my address and contact info)
• The plain pink keeps it simple and my information is easy to read
• Better fonts
• All print is relatively bold and my name appears boldest

The cons of plain pink:

• It could be viewed as plain
• I only have one con

The pros of picture cards:

• Variety
• Visibility of products is good for those unfamiliar
• Product pictures bring awareness of new products and fragrances
• Colorful backgrounds are eye catching
• They’re pretty to look at

The cons of picture cards:

• The font is not as nice (and I’m not sure but I think they have changed something about the fonts on all cards. My friend has the plain pink ones and hers do not look like mine)
• Because of the colored backgrounds and the font being lighter, I think the new design cards are more difficult to read; especially with those who have vision issues
• No foil logo
• The layout of the information is plain and kind of jumbled together. It’s not separated like on the plain pink cards.

My final verdict is that I do think next time I will return to pink cards and I hope to see the layout the same as the current pink cards in my possession. I ordered this set in 2006 shortly after getting married and changing my name and all that fun stuff. I would love to hear others’ feedback! I’m going to email corporate my thoughts on the fonts.

Your visual aid:

It is my opinion that in direct sales we still must attract new business. Yes, our methods are limited and there are rules we must follow that are in place from our parent companies; however, there are plenty of ways to market ourselves and even advertise that will not end in our contracts being terminated. In Mary Kay, we have some very visible ways to tell people what we do without having to bowl them over at the supermarket. For one, we have a pin that we can wear. Mine has a nice enhancer around it with several rhinestones. All I had to do to get this enhancer was attend 13 meetings in a row. That’s it. Thirteen consecutive weekly events and I got this pin enhancer. People see my pin because it’s sparkly. Recently, a customer saw it and said, “you must be pretty good you have a pretty decoration on your pin.” I told her I’m currently building my team and have been putting more time into my business.

Another thing we have is the On-the-Go Tote. The Look Book fits perfectly in the window. The Perfect Opportunity brochure also fits nicely as well as hostess brochures. If you are like me and don’t like approaching strangers for the sole purpose of selling them, this can work for you. I have had people ask me for books when they see my bag. I’ve also had plenty of people recognize my pin. I carry my On-the-Go Tote to work with me. Lately, I haven’t seen many knew faces around campus. School starts soon so perhaps I will be meeting more people. Last week I was talking to a girl that is joining my team soon and I was giving her the current Look Book. There was a guy standing near us and he complimented my bag and then asked if I was the model on the cover of the Look! I was amused (and flattered ). But I digress! If you don’t want run around with the On-the-Go Tote there are other things you can do. The point is to be visible! A friend of mine put the Beauty that Counts bags into a Miracle Set bag along with Apple Berry lipsticks. It’s a visual. People ask about it. She tells them about how MK is donating full profits from sales to women and children charities; and she is trying to sell 100 of the lipsticks by the deadline for the charity program. Many consultants put together small baggies with a card, candy, and samples inside to pass out to people. These could also go into the Miracle Set bag or the On-the-Go Tote. My NSD puts lip glosses in the On-the Go Tote window. She also suggested putting the clear plastic caps on the lipstick to display those in that window as well. There are so many ideas! Be careful not to get overwhelmed. Pick one and run with that for awhile (I’d give yourself a month to see if it works) and if the leads start to dry up it is time to move on to the next plan.

Here is something that is apparently not so obvious. We are allowed to advertise. There is a plethora of approved ads that can be submitted to local papers for publishing. I am going to give this a try. We want to find the people who want the product we have. There are more effective ways to find them than chatting up perfect strangers.

Here I should mention that I don’t think we should never talk to new people. There are just better methods than others. If I want to talk to someone new, I don’t run up to a harried mother at the supermarket and tell her she needs a facial. Quite frankly, that’s annoying! Earlier this month we had some training on approaching new people. The lesson was NOT cold booking total strangers. The lesson was talking to people we see regularly who may not know that we are in Mary Kay and how to talk to them about our business. Now, this approach, I can usually do. There are some times when I have trouble, but I’m working on it.

Talk to your hairdresser, your bank teller that you see regularly; you know, the people you interact with regularly. I do this from time to time. It takes a lot for me to do it, though. The easiest place for me to hand out my card to new people is at work. I see women at work all the time and many that I work with use Mary Kay. If they have a consultant I leave them be. If not, they are now my customers. There was no attacking either. I carry my tote and wear my pin every day. When I meet a new coworker I tell them Mary Kay is my other job. It’s just part of what I do. Then, I give them my card. Some have placed orders with me and others have not. It’s pretty simple. The ones who do place orders I take care of well. Retention is a huge key factor.

Finally, there is one more way to get new leads without chasing people down. This one is huge. I never realized it until recently. What better source of new business than your current customer base? This last method is getting referrals! I have been doing this recently. If your customers like you, they will help you! I promise! Just ask your customers if they know anyone who might like the products or need a consultant, or might want to hold a class. They will tell you. Currently, I have three customers getting me some referral lists put together. I’m excited about this.

If anyone has more less abrasive methods they use for finding new business leads, please share!

Stumble It!

On paper, this sounds like a great idea. For those who are not familiar with it, here is the rundown. Basically, you have a list of people to find. In this case, it’s women because I’m in the cosmetic business. There are items like, “Woman with dark hair;” “Woman with a baby stroller;” “Woman wearing glasses.” You get the idea, right? If not, the sheet looks something like this:

MARY KAY SCAVENGER HUNT

CATEGORY NAME PHONE

Woman with a baby stroller
Woman expecting a baby
Woman wearing red shoes
Woman wearing big earrings
Woman wearing black clothing
Woman with red hair
Woman in a department store
Woman in the grocery store
Woman who works as a clerk
Woman with freckles
Woman wearing a suit
Woman wearing jeans
Woman wearing black
Woman with long fingernails
Woman wearing high heels
Woman wearing glasses
Woman of color
Woman wearing a uniform
Woman wearing a dress
Woman with a dog
Woman who is a neighbor
Woman in your office
Woman from church
Woman who is a grandmother
Woman who is a relative
Woman who is a waitress
Woman who is very pale
Woman wearing yellow
Woman at the post office
Woman with blonde hair
Woman with dark hair
Woman with a child
Woman who has short hair
Woman with long hair
Woman wearing tennis shoes
Woman with curly hair
Woman wearing blue
Woman getting married soon

I think it was created in Excel or on a table in Word. This isn’t quite the look. I digress. For some, this may be the cure for shyness*. Guess what. It’s not for me. It was too “Mary Kay Commando” for me! I did pick up two leads by default. I was in a team of three. The other two consultants (one in particular) were far more bold than I am. Kudos to them. They are fearless enough to approach strangers. I prefer to talk to people I know. People I interact with somewhat regularly. Familiar faces at the bank or drug store are more my speed. Calling my current customers and asking for some referrals to help me with goals works for me, too. Walking around town with a clipboard and surveys; not so much. Don’t get me wrong, I carry surveys, but they are in my purse and I use them if it’s comfortable.

My team of three beat the other team of 4. We finished with 15 leads total. The other team had one. Perhaps they feel more like I do when it comes to “warm chatter.” I honestly don’t think there is anything warm about it when it involves a perfect stranger. That is cold calling. So, what should we shy folk do? I’m so glad you asked! I have some answers!

To be continued…

*If this approach works for you; by all means go with it! It’s not my cup of tea. As we were driving to the different locations I felt weird. Hoakie or something. I felt like we may have well had a camera following us around for a reality show. (Hmm….maybe that’s an idea!) But seriously, if you like the scavenger hunt and it works for you, do what works!

Stumble It!

Corporate is not going to update your order automatically. If you ordered anything from MK Connections prior to the announcement on August 7, simply go to MK Connections and select Special Offers. Then choose Buy Now. One of the options is just the free offer. You can select that and get your 50 cards for the shipping and tax cost only. It will most likely cost you less than $5.00. It’s $3.99 for shipping plus your local sales tax. My total was $4.24 if that is helpful.

MK4ME, thanks for the heads up! If not for your comment over on Balanced Mary Kay, I would not have even thought to look at Special Offers!

Here is what I offered:

• Hostess needs to get me at least 10 orders that are $30 or more.
• Hostess will get a $10 credit for each order over $30.
• Guests ordering will get their name in a drawing for every $10 spent.
• Winner of the drawing gets her order at 50% off!

I thought this gave the hostess incentive to look for orders and the guests incentive to order. Well, here’s what happened. She got one order from a relative. The order was around $70. That’s great! But the person wanted 50% off because she was the only one in the drawing. *raising eyebrows*
Here is what I said to them. I said I can’t have a drawing with one person. I could offer her $10 off and offer the hostess a $15 credit (generous, IMO) and they can call me and let me know what they would like to do. Did I react well? I was perfectly pleasant. This is my business, after all.

So, that is my vent, but I wonder if it has to do with the personality of the people or if it’s just a dead method of selling. My theory was that by giving the hostess $10 per order, she would strive to get more orders. By offering guests a chance in the drawing for every $10 spent, they would have incentive to order a little more. Thus, providing sales to support someone receiving 50% off. Seems simple enough. Where did this go wrong? I’m open to suggestion — even if the suggestion is silent hostesses are for the birds!
Stumble It!

My next focus is a program my NSD is promoting called The Masters Program. This program is fantastic! It promotes the activities that move products and build customers. Basically, the goal is to follow one of two tracks (yes, we can choose which one we are more comfy with). Track one is called the “Candidate” track. Candidates must put products on 15 faces and give company information to 5 people in one month. We also must sell $400 retail ($200 wholesale). This qualifies us to participate on a conference call with our NSD*. Track two is called the “Graduate” track. If we follow this track we are focusing on 30 faces and 10 interviews (company info) backed by selling $1200 retail ($600 wholesale). These achievers receive other recognition and prizes in addition to the phone call*.

The idea here is that if you are truly booking the appointments and putting the products on this many people, the sales will follow. Sure, one could just order the wholesale and lie about the faces, but why? What’s the point? Anyway, I digress. By focusing on these two programs and really tracking everything I do, I will reach my goals. Even if I don’t reach my goals, I will see where I was and this will allow me to create a solution for the next time.

Incidentally, Hubby hung my goal poster on the wall! Take a look!

*Note: it is not possible to earn the call without meeting all three requirments.

Stumble It!

Just in case you can’t tell what is shown, that is the hostess gift black makeup bag set, mineral powders are inside the makeup bag, flip chart, card holder with cards, lipstick tray with glosses featured, and 2 display trays filled. I also have the guide to glamor brochures in front of the flip chart.

My goal poster has the current star prize I am working toward, my career path goals, and my goals for next Seminar. It also fits a magnetic “Six Most Important Things” list that is also dry erase. In addition to that I have my Weekly Plan Sheet. I’m a magnet freak so this is another excuse to have magnets and not have them clutter the fridge. I have a little “clippy” magnet that I am going to clip other tracking sheets to so I can still see them each day.

Do you have a goal poster? What does it look like?