One Way to Get Bookings NOW as Opposed to Later

Here is a scenario that plenty of direct sellers have described to me:

You are the direct seller a home party. A guest expresses interest in booking a party, but as soon as you pull out your calendar, her interest suddenly turns into an excuse – "Oh, I don't have my calendar with me, and besides I'm thinking of hosting a party in a few months. Can you call me in a few months?"

Being the conscientious salesperson, you make a note on your calendar to call this customer a few months down the road to book a home party. Because her enthusiasm and interest seemed so genuine, you think of that potential booking as a definite booking that is just a few months away.

A few months later, you call several times and leave messages, but you never get in touch with this person again because she never picks up her phone, and she never returns any of your messages.

This is when direct sellers ask me, "Is there anything I can say to get this customer to take or to return my calls?"
I do not know if there is something you can do at that point to rescue the situation, however, I do believe there are several things you can do to create a completely different situation.

One of the key things to remember is that no one thinks about having an unsuccessful home party. When a guest at a party entertains the idea of hosting a party, she envisions it with a good number of her friends all having fun socializing and liking the product line. In other words, it is important to her to have a successful party.

If you want to be effective in your sales business, you have to learn what your customers want and you need to learn how to get them what they want. If your customers want to have successful home parties, it stands to reason that your job is to help them have successful home parties.

So let me ask you, when a guest mentions that she wants to book a party, and she tells you to give her a call a few months from now, and you agree by taking down her phone number, exactly how are you helping her to have a successful party?

I know. I know. You don't want to be pushy. But seriously, how are you helping her to have a successful home party?

You have probably discovered that many of those people, who say they want to have a home party in a few months, never have a party. So I think it is fair to say that you are not helping your customers get what they want, when you agree to call them months down the road for a party date.

Okay now, I want to repeat something – effective salespeople learn what their customers want, and they show their customers how they can get what they want.

The missing link in this typical situation is that you need to communicate the key factor of a successful party, once one of the guests at a home party tells you that she wants to book a party with you.

One major reason why someone you met months ago at a party never takes or returns your calls is because she no longer feels the same excitement that she did the night she was at the party.

Another thing to consider is that she no longer feels connected to you, if you have waited all this time before following up with her. Finally, if she said she wanted to book a party three months from now, she knows what you are calling about three months down the road. Indeed, plenty of direct sellers even leave a message very similar to the following:

"Hello Jane, this is Tammy Stanley with ABC. I met you a few month's ago at Gigi's home party. You had said you wanted to book a party in the Spring, so I'm just calling to see what date you might have available this month. When you get a chance, give me a call at 480-777-XXXX."

Now you could leave a message like that and you could say it in the nicest tone of voice, but I can assure you that your customer interprets that message more like the following:

"Hello Jane, this is Tammy Stanley with ABC. I met you a few month's ago at Gigi's home party. You had said you wanted to book a party in the Spring. I did not forget that verbal commitment you made and now I am checking up on you to make sure you keep your commitment. So give me a call at 480-777-XXXX to let me know when you are going to keep your commitment."

No one really wants to be told that there is a commitment she needs to keep. While it sounded fun a few months ago to host one of those parties, it now sounds like a commitment -ugh!

Again, the missing link in this typical situation is that you need to communicate the key factor of a successful party, once one of the guests at a home party tells you that she wants to book with you.

It took me a good number of years to learn this, but as soon as someone would tell me that she was thinking about having a home party, I said:

"Oh great. I just want you to know that always my most successful shows are the ones that are booked in close, and the reason why is because you are far more excited about this product line tonight than you will be months down the road. If you get on the phone in the next few days and tell your friends and acquaintances that you are having a party, the enthusiasm you feel now will transfer to them, and they will want to come, and they will."

Do you see how ridiculous it would be to respond with, "Okay, I'm not really looking to have a successful party, so I'll wait and book three months from now"?

By communicating the key factor of a successful party, I easily persuaded my future hostess to want to book now as opposed to later.

As you review your business and you see things that are going in an unfavorable way, consider that one of the best remedies is to learn how to become a more persuasive individual. The more persuasive you are, the less resistance you encounter. The less resistance you encounter, the easier it is to sell and to book parties now as opposed to later!

Be Sociable, Share!

•