Elevate Your Direct Sales Business with Kelly Northcott

This episode is part three of the team-building series. In it, we’ll discuss the different types of opportunity events you can hold, why you need variety, how often you should do them, and how to invite people to them. 

An opportunity event is a way to share information about the business opportunity with a potential team member. I’ll use the term event, but it doesn’t have to be an actual event. It can be a video, a packet, or a brochure. 

Most people need to attend several events before they join. They might read a brochure, watch a video on your replicated website, and attend a live Zoom call before they join, so you need to have a variety of events because people aren’t going to attend the same one over and over again. 

Opportunity events fall into two categories. Passive and active, and you want to offer both.

Passive events are events that people can participate in without your knowing it, such as reading a brochure or watching a video. These are important because there’s a decision process that business builders have to go through before they join your team, and they like to start this process quietly and without pressure.

Active events are live events such as in-person or virtual presentations and one-on-one conversations. These are great because you can give guests a taste of what your team is like, answer questions, share the most up-to-date information, and know who attended so you can follow up after the event.

They can be standalone events or in conjunction with another event, such as a team meeting, new-product reveal, workshop, or social event like Bingo. 

In this episode, I give you a list of passive and active events, explain when to use each type, how to invite people to them, and how to train your team to use them. 

I teach how to build engaged and productive teams in Elevate. If you’re committed and want to get the most out of the next three months, Elevate has all the training and support you need. 

Click here to learn more about Elevate. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

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Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

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In this episode, we’re going to talk about who you want on your team and how to structure your business so that you attract them. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a clear idea of who your dream team is, how to attract them to you, and how to model the business they want. 

Your dream team is your ICA, which in business terms stands for your ideal customer avatar, but I like to refer to it as your ideal community avatar because direct sales is a community. Defining your ICA will help your reticular activating system and the law of attraction find them for you.

Step 1: Define Your ICA

I walk you through an exercise I did with a leader who didn’t know what to post on social media so that she could attract the right audience. And in just fifteen minutes, she had a ton of ideas for posts and reels, and I share some ideas you can use based on how you define your ICA. 

Step 2: Define How You Need to Show Up to Attract and Serve Your ICA

You need to be the ultimate example of your ICA regarding drive and work ethic. Ask yourself, what does someone who leads that team think, feel, and do? You have to think, feel, and act like that leader before you’ll get the title and the team.

Step 3: Attract and Connect with Your ICA

Once you know who your ICA is, you’ll know what to post to attract them and where to go to find them. 

Step 4: Structure Your Business so that Your Dream Uses it as a Model for Theirs

Your dream team needs to run their businesses with systems, and you need to be able to train and support them quickly and easily. The best way to accomplish this is for them to use the same systems you use. 

I also give you three ways to know that you’re using the right selling systems to build an engaged and productive team and why a constant stream of new customers is crucial to your success. 

I teach how to build engaged and productive teams in Elevate. If you’re committed and want to get the most out of the next three months, Elevate has all the training and support you need. 

Click here to learn more about Elevate. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

This episode is the beginning of a team-building series. I’m doing this series so that you can build an engaged and productive team, promote to leadership by the end of the year, or firm up your title. The best part is that if you apply what I teach in this series, you’ll continue to grow your business and team and not worry about losing your title.

In this episode, I share foundational information, including explaining the difference between how team builders build their businesses and how recruiters do it. I did both when I was in the field, and one way kept me stuck, while the other helped me grow through the career plan and develop leaders. 

I also give you the first five action steps that you can do this week:

Know the requirements for the title you’re working toward so that you know what to focus on and can create a plan to meet them. No one promotes by accident, and you don’t want to miss your promotion because you didn’t know what you needed. 

Commit to working like a team builder for the next three months. This gives you a specific time frame short enough to require you to make changes quickly and be consistent from the beginning because you don’t have time to waste. Three months is long enough for you to get results, and because you’ll be making changes quickly, you’ll see progress quickly, motivating you to keep going.

Define your commitment so that you can work your business alongside your life. You get to create the rules for your business. You won’t love your business if you don’t love the way you build it. I give you a list of things to consider, including non-negotiables, when you’re defining your commitment.

Bring in as many new customers as possible as quickly as possible. I explain the benefits of having an influx of new customers and how it’s easier to recruit them than it is to recruit your current customers. I also give you guidelines for how many customers you need to meet your goals.

Map out the next three months so that you can plan your business activities around your life without frustration and overwhelm. I walk you through some steps to set yourself up for success. 

I teach how to build engaged and productive teams in Elevate. If you’re committed and want to get the most out of the next three months, Elevate has all the training and support you need. 

Click here to learn more about Elevate. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

My daughter joins us as a special guest to tell her story about how she used mindset practices to change her career and increase her income.

Shannon’s not in the direct sales industry, but you can apply everything she did to your direct sales business to achieve similar results. 

Shannon talks about how she applied the skills she acquired as a teacher to a new career in sales and leadership. (Your business is on-the-job training, and you have the opportunity to learn content creation, public speaking, sales, leadership, and marketing, which are skills you need to be successful in direct sales and can take with you to another company or career.)

She also shares how she leveraged her networking skills to get a new job perfect for her. (Your business gives you a vast network you can use to meet new people, learn about new opportunities, collaborate with, and learn from.)

She even reveals how getting fired was the best thing for her and how it taught her to trust her gut and intuition. (Everything is always happening for you, and you’re constantly being guided to the right path.)

She shares the mindset practices that helped her stay positive during her three months of unemployment and how she pulled herself out of the pit when she let the negative thoughts take over. (Your mindset is everything. What you think about is what you attract.)

She wraps up by sharing an amazing story of how she manifested the exact offer she got, including the date she got it, even though it didn’t seem possible logically. (Your success is inevitable.)

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

In this episode, we wrap up our series on meeting more customers and dive into how your business should evolve to match today’s culture and how to get a steady stream of customers entering your business. 

We’ve been talking about the five sources of getting new customers:

• posting on social media and attracting people to you
• engaging in groups both online and in person
• getting referrals
• doing vendor events
• doing parties

If these sources were coming out of a water spigot, the first three would be drips; you can’t fulfill your goals with drips because it would take too long. 

Vendor events and parties are streams, and you can meet a lot of new people by doing them.

I spend the last part of this episode talking about parties because parties can be your most successful and prolific source of new customers and a sustainable business. Still, you can’t be doing virtual parties where you just post content.

No one wants to host or come to a party where they have to read a bunch of posts.

You have to give them an experience, and in this episode, I explain why an experience is important, how it will accelerate your results, and how to achieve that with a party.

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

Vendor events are a great way to meet new people and grow your customer base, and in this episode, I share all the ins and outs of how to do that.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

• What to look for in an event so that you meet the right people.
• Why you should consider doing small, local events, even if you have big goals.
• How to avoid the biggest mistake that a lot of direct sellers make, especially those who do large, multiple-day events or do cash-and-carry sales.
• How doing vendor events builds know, like, and trust in the community.
• How to talk about your events to promote and build your business, even with people who won’t go.
• How to set up your booth to make you more approachable and draw people into it.
• Ways to collect people’s contact information and what to do if they don’t want to give it to you.
• How to follow up with people so that you can get sales, bookings, and recruit leads long after the event is over.

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

In the last episode, we talked about five sources of new customers: posting on social media, engaging in groups, getting referrals, doing vendor events, and doing parties.

In this episode, we’ll dive into getting referrals, which every direct seller, especially those who are focused on social selling, should make part of their regular business practices.

Most direct sellers aren’t comfortable asking for a referral because they don’t know how to do it and have felt pushy when they tried it in the past. As a result, they either avoid doing it or do it in such a roundabout way that they don’t get any. 

There are two prerequisites for asking for referrals. 

The first is that you have to build know-like-trust because when someone refers you, they’re putting their name on the line and endorsing you. They’ll only do that if they know, like, and trust you.

The other prerequisite is creating a connection with the people who are referring you. You need people to think of you and not just your products so that they will refer people to you and not just to the product. 

You have to be intentional about getting referrals. Most people don’t refer other people because they don’t think about it. Plus, a referral is an endorsement, which means they risk being rejected by the person they’re referring you to, and no one wants to be rejected.

By the time you finish this episode, you’ll know how to confidently ask for referrals so that it’s part of your weekly business practices and how to make it easy for the people you’re asking so that they’re comfortable doing it. 

You’ll also know best practices and have ideas for several different ways to approach getting referrals.

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

Your business is like a river. If you don’t have a source of water entering it, it will eventually dry up. 

You need a steady stream of new customers coming into your business because you can’t grow just by selling to the same people. Eventually, they’ll buy less and less, and some will stop buying altogether. 

In this episode, I give you five different sources of new customers for your business and tell you how to use them, especially in August, so that you’re set up for success in the fall.

Social media content—You can attract people by consistently posting content you create so that they connect with you and not just with your products. August is a busy month for many of your customers, but even though they’re busy, they’re still on social media. 

Engaging on social media and in real life—People might not see your posts, but they will notice your comments on their posts. I give several examples of how social media engagement has turned connections into relationships. I also discuss the value of engaging with people in real life and how to initiate conversations with people you don’t know or don’t know well. 

Vendor events—I give you things to look for in a vendor event so that you can use it as a vehicle to meet new people. 

Parties—I love parties, but there can be seasons when they might not be the best option for meeting new people. I explain different strategies to use if you’re already doing parties or want to start doing them. I also explain the value of parties with low attendance and how to use them to your advantage.

Referrals—Every direct seller, especially those who use social selling, needs to master getting referrals. I have an upcoming episode that goes into more detail about getting referrals, but I share some tips to get you started in this episode.

Episodes I referenced to add to your listening queue:

• How to Create Social Media Content That Will Build Your Business
• How to Engage with Other People's Content to Create Connections and Build Your Business
• How to Meet More People in Your Everyday Life
• Social Selling vs. Parties and Why You Should Do Both No Matter What You Sell

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

In this episode, we dive into the third crucial component of social selling: conversations that convert.

You might call them reachouts, messages, or follow-ups, but I like the word conversations because that’s what you want them to feel like.

Your business is made up of conversations, and the more conversations you have, the more successful you’ll be.

This episode is packed with strategies and tips for message conversations. By the time you finish it, you’ll know:

• How to start and restart conversations. 
• How to know when to bring up your business.
• How to build know, like, and trust through messaging.
• How to make offers that feel like a natural part of the conversation and are well-received. 

There are a lot of advantages to mastering having conversations through messenger:

• You’ll build relationships because all relationships start by having a conversation. 
• You’ll build your customer base because this is how you’ll make and close most of your offers.
• You’ll guide people through the sales process and the stages of sponsoring 
• You’ll increase your confidence and selling and closing skills, 

This episode is a sampling of highlights from the Conversations That Convert module in Energize, which is my program for social selling. Learn more about Energize and sign up for it by clicking here. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn  

Your company can change its comp and career plan, go from a direct sales model to an affiliate model, close, or even terminate your agreement, and when companies do any of those things, you’ll be blindsided because they’ll do them without giving you a warning. 

In this episode, I’ll share the four things that can do to protect yourself so that you have everything you need if you want to or have to start over. 

These are the things that all successful direct sellers have and use to build their businesses. You can start creating and building them today, and they’ll serve you all throughout your career.

This is a must-listen for all direct sellers who want to build a successful business. 

RESOURCES:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydnorthcott

Get your questions answered on the podcast: ask them by filling out this form

Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/directsalesworkshops 

Learn more about my programs: https://www.kellynorthcott.com/learn