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Can Others Follow Your Leadership Style?

Are you leading the charge for your team? How is that going for you? Are you organized and prepared or are you a reactive leader?

Leadership is a huge responsibility because leaders beget leaders.  When someone is a fly by the seat of the pants type leader, it is very hard to follow with integrity for those that would like to be on the journey with them.  The reason this is the case is because if the front line person who is leading the charge is last minute and disorganized, it makes it hard for those behind that person to professionally prepare the leaders standing behind them.  Nobody wants their integrity compromised and let’s face it, a disorganized leader values nobody’s time but their own. It becomes a problem for everyone except them as the leaders behind pick up all the pieces and suffer the consequences of looking unprofessional and disorganized themselves.

I have heard it said that to be a good leader is to not be perfect, that perfection is hard to follow as well.  I agree with this, but let’s face it, it’s demotivating when we only have so many hours in a day and have to spend that time cleaning up the mess left in the wake of a disorganized person.  Give me someone aiming for perfection any day! Perfection is never really attained and mistakes are inevitable.

What kind of a leader do you want to be? A leader shines the light for everyone else on the path.  Be the leader that plans the course, turns on the light ahead of time, and gives people plenty of time to follow along.  Don’t be last minute, it makes people tired and if they get tired, it will eventually become exhausting to be on the same path as you.  When things are taken care of appropriately, then the focus can be on the mission, the fun, and it will grow confidence in your team to do more, not less.

Are you a Comcast Customer Care Kind of Person?

Moving is never fun, but the brain damage that comes from moving things like cable, internet, and utilities can be overwhelming.

Isn’t it fascinating that when it comes to signing up for services, things usually go smoothly and customer service seems happy to take your order? In fact, in the sales process, you usually get someone you can understand. But when it comes to canceling or transferring, you experience long hold times, transferred and pass the buck calls, and enough stress to cause heart palpitations.

With our move, we tried to transfer Comcast with the same exact services that we have now.  Easy right? No way.  In fact, 6 hours later and tired of dealing with long hold times, up-selling, and “it is impossible for this department to help you with that”, we now have Direct TV and Century Link coming to install service at our new digs.  I am excited to head on down to the Comcast Xfinity office and try hard not throw my adapter and cable card at them. Hopefully, they will actually indicate in the computer system that they were returned this time so I don’t have to battle with another customer service rep who insists on charging us for “lost equipment” like last time.  Crazy stuff!  And then, don’t even get me started about getting utilities hooked up. IREA, the electric company insisted on charging us a “deposit” because she found a late charge on my husband’s account 25 years ago before we were married.  After explaining to her that we had service with them up until 3 months ago for 15 straight years and didn’t that count for something, she still insisted that we pay the deposit.  After asking to talk to her supervisor, things got worse and the supervisor said that the deposit was needed because my husband was going to live in the house with me (duh…we are married!) and when I pointed out to her that he lived with me in the  home we had service for 15 years, she said that they didn’t know it.  Really? Well then, how did they not know it since the account was in both of our names?  Brain damage…..period. In the end…she won because she had us over a barrel, and she knew it. There is no other service to pick from. But if there were….

My point here is this; are you happy to take a customer’s order and then when it comes to servicing their account, you drop the ball? Do you call and let your customer know that their next order is due to ship in a timely manner?  When they have a question, are you prompt in the reply?  Or are you the “can’t do” attitude that we experience in so many other areas these days?  I am proud that most of my customers have been with me for over 10 years.  Yes, some come, some go, but a lot come back.  They wouldn’t do that if we had poor customer care.  It is a lot easier to take care of the customers you have, than to get new ones.  Yes, new customers are great but think about how much residual income you will have when you don’t have to go out and round up new ones constantly to replace the ones you lost. Then, adding new ones will add to your income.  Treat your customers like gold and you will be paid in gold’s worth. Your customer’s are worth it, and so are you!

Ten Things that I Have Learned from My Dysfunctional Family

1. When a new child is born into the world, it is the most mesmerizing and amazing event ever, especially in the eyes of the parents. It is inappropriate to ignore this grand entrance, especially if you are the grandmother. Equally disturbing is to not call and not visit and when you do finally get around to showing up, you rummage around the basement looking for a borrowed paint roller versus oohing and awing at your brand new grand child.

2. Sometimes it is appropriate to lie. Especially if asked your opinion about how the table is set for the dinner that you were invited to, didn’t have to lift a finger for, and were able to drink and eat to your heart’s content. This is especially true if your daughter has taken time out of her life to shop, prepare, and serve a delicious meal all amid packing and moving and took the time to find some decoration for the table so that you could have a special holiday with your family. A “thank-you, it is beautiful, especially since I know you are so busy.” is a much better gesture.

3. As a guest in someone’s home for dinner, it is appropriate to engage the host in conversation of some kind. Sitting with a mean scowl upon your face and saying nothing for the majority of your stay is just plain rude. This is especially so if you did not have to shop, prepare, serve, and clean up and were able to eat and drink at your leisure. And “thank you” would be, at the least, a nice gesture on your part for doing so.

4. When you are a guest in someone’s home and you bring a bottle of wine or a pie, it is inappropriate to cork said bottle of wine and take the pie home with you upon your departure.

5. When your grand daughter is extremely proud of the first pie she ever baked, it extremely disturbing and rude to let her know that it wasn’t a “real pie” because she used store bought crust.

6. When asked how your Thanksgiving was it is inappropriate to say, “hectic”. This is especially so when your hosts worked the entire day to ensure that you had a nice meal and a place to go. Also, when it was you who through inappropriate comments, snide remarks, and bad behavior are the one who made the day as such.

7. When someone buys you something for your house, it is upsetting to the person who did so when you return the gift to them by having someone drop off the said item on their front porch. Goodwill and gracefully sharing the item that way is a better idea.

8. Don’t complain about your x-wife and say you don’t know how or why you can’t get past the “pshyco” behavior on her part when in the next sentence you say, “She called me and I asked her why she was calling me, to give me money?” Get the fact that acting like an asshole and disrespecting other’s person only will make others hate your friggin’ guts. People that you tell the story to may laugh but inside they are thinking, “I hate your friggin’ guts, you friggin’ asshole!”

9. When asked to accompany a group of people on their boat for the day, arriving late without notice is bad behavior. Equally bad is to lie about when you will arrive and ruin the rest of the people’s day while they are waiting and watching for you when they could be out enjoying the day that they had hoped. At some point, you might take a clue that the world does not revolve around you and you are not the center of the universe.

10. When someone acknowledges your birthday or thinks of you around a holiday, it is appropriate to let them know that you not only received the gift, but that you appreciate the fact that they thought of you. Again, it is also appropriate to lie that you liked the gift even if you didn’t and the Goodwill sharing technique above works much better than expressing your distasteful opinion. Eventually people will stop thinking of you and will not want to have you in their life if you continue to act like the ungrateful snob that you are.

Let’s Kiss-Keeping it Super Simple Hosting Home Parties

Our direct sales business is best built in the homes and living rooms around the world.  Big events are fantastic and great to take people to, but honestly, if you want your business to grow easily and have more duplication, maximizing your time by hosting in home parties,  presentations or events…whatever you want to call them is the best thing to do.

Let’s chat about how to keep these parties easy and fun. If they aren’t easy and fun, you won’t do them and anyone that does attend won’t want to join your team and do them either.

Here are some tips to prepare:

1. Don’t over clean your house. People are not coming there to inspect your corners.
2. As far as snacks go…keep them super simple. What you don’t want to do is to spend days shopping and preparing gobs of lovely appetizers. You can if you like, but it is really not necessary. If one of your guests is interested in sharing what they learn but think they have to go to all the work you did, they may decide that it isn’t their cup of tea if they don’t like to cook.
3. Have water and cups ready and if appropriate, have some red or white wine available.  I like to use plastic wine cups if there will be a lot of guest so that clean up is easy and, again, duplicatable.  Paper plates are also appropriate for the same reason.
4. Display the products  you offer. Have them organized and placed where everyone can see them during your presentation.
5. You will want to have order forms printed ahead of time and have a pen available for each person.  I like to have pocket folders that contain order forms and brochures for each product. I hand each guest a folder and a pen before we get started.  For me, this is just more comfortable than handing out order forms after the presentation.  Be sure to have a folder for yourself so you can guide people through their packet and tell them how to fill out the order form.  Some people prefer to use clipboards or just have stacks of order forms and brochures on the table.  All of these ideas work, so you just need to do what works best for you.
6. Let’s back up for a minute here. One really important thing to do during inviting for your event is to let your guest know what time your event starts and request them to please arrive on time as you will be starting on time.  If your event is at 7 p.m., you will want to have everyone sitting down and ready to listen no later than 7:15. If you know your video is 20 minutes and it takes and additional 10-15 minutes to share information with the presentation book or asking your guests questions, your guests will be ready to order around 8:00 p.m. Most people will start to get antsy and start looking at their watches if you go over.  You want to have time for people to ask questions, get them answered, and have time to fill out the order forms if they want to get started.
7. Use the MAPPS formula for your presentation. We have several calls about what that is on our podcast recorded training at http://www.teamhealthybodiesusa.com  Basically MAPPS stands for a way to lead a presentation. Motivation Questions, Take Away, Problem, Probing, Solution.
8. Be sure to ask people to order.  If you use the options for getting started, most people will choose one of them.  Options include being a customer, a casual or wholesale purchaser where a few hundred dollars could also be earned, or creating career income.
9. Know that when you close and go through the order form, there will sometimes be a silence that to you may seem like forever, but it isn’t.  You have to give people time to think.  This is a good time to ask people to sample your products and ask each person if they have any questions.
10. One thing…don’t get distracted during your own presentation.  Don’t get up and do dishes or refill drinks during the video,  if you are using one. If it is important, you will want to guide your guests by paying attention yourself.  You just programmed them to listen to you as the speaker, so it is confusing if you start multi-tasking.
11. Be sure to follow up with every guest the next day with a phone call.  Ask them what they liked or thank them for their order. You will be pleasantly surprised that many will order if you care enough to call the next day. They may even add to their order or add another family member.
12. If you don’t get an order from your presentation, don’t be too bummed.  It happens.  We have to remember that it takes several exposures for most people to purchase anything and this may have been everyone’s first exposure and they may be ones that need multiple.  Thus, a great reason to send them home with a CD or DVD and follow with a phone call the next day or two.
13. If you started on time and you have some people who would like to hear more about the option of joining your team, have them fill out their order forms first and then give a brief overview on the company, products, money, training, and repeat the options for getting started.  Then have them fill out a distributor application and submit their distributor application first and then put their order in under their distributorship number.
14. The best tip I can share with you is to keep it light and have fun.  Do not feel like you have to do the dog and pony show.  You do not have to be an expert or perfect. It is OK not to know the answers to everything…you can find out!  This is not about YOU…this is about providing information because you care and letting others decide for themselves.  If you are excited and having fun, your guests will too. Let’s KISS!

Step by Step Leads to Success

Have you ever looked at something and thought…gosh that would be nice to accomplish, but it seems so far away that I don’t even know where to start?  So then you just don’t?

We are getting ready to move from one home to another.  Our house is very large and we have lived here for 15 years, so you can imagine, moving seems daunting.  Every morning, I look and say, where should I start in this packing process?  Some days, I just totally avoid it because if feels overwhelming but I know that moving date is coming, so I am forced to get started on something…moving in the right direction, which is packed up and out of here!

This made me think of my journey to the top of our marketing plan. When I was just getting started, I used to think, “Gosh, it sure would be nice to have that National Marketing Director income and all the benefits that come with!” And then in the next breath, it seemed hard…daunting…and scary.  Would it be worth the effort to get there? Could I do it? Where would I start? What if I didn’t know enough people? Enough about the products, the business? It was pretty scary!

I decided to not worry about the “what if’s”.  I decided to focus on DAILY ACTION, little steps that I knew would move me forward a little bit.  I looked at the marketing plan and analyzed what was needed to get to just that next step and then I became a narrow minded machine.  I would only work on what was needed to accomplish that next step and I didn’t worry about what would come next. Why? Because it didn’t matter because it wasn’t going to happen unless I focused on the very next one anyway.

And it worked!  One day, I received a call that I had achieved the volume and structure for Senior Sales Coordinator. The next call was the same for Qualifying National Marketing Director, and then I actually thought my business partner was joking when he told me I had made it to the top of the mountain…National Marketing Director!  I was so focused on what needed to be done daily that I wasn’t even really paying attention to the numbers.  It didn’t matter because what did matter is that I was putting in the correct action on the correct activities.  It’s all I could do, so why spend time worrying about the rest?

The way I see it Dealer to Sales Coordinator is the customer building phase and from Senior Sales Coordinator to National Marketing Director is the team building part of our business.  When we are first starting our business, we are learning how to share our amazing product and along the way we are adding new distributors to our team.  To think that you are going to be born into our business already knowing how to do everything is absolutely ridiculous. We all have the same path to walk, the same skills to  learn and hone, and we do that as we go.  So worrying about whether you are a good leader or not is a waste of your time.  Of course you are not a perfect leader!  This is something that comes as you proceed through the journey, something that you learn! You may have good leadership skills, but how you apply them to this journey is something you are going to have to figure out….as you go…step by step.

So back to moving…where do I start? How about by getting a box, opening a drawer, and putting things in one thing at a time, one room at a time. If I focus on filling boxes, taping them shut, and doing that over and over again, eventually my house will be packed and ready for the next adventure.  The same goes with your business.

So, my challenge to you is this; look at your next step in your business.  Get clear on what is needed. You can watch the marketing plan video on our website, you can set a coaching time with your sponsor or upline leader, you can call Distributor Support.  Find out what is needed.  How many orders?  How many distributors? What volume?  Then go back to your calendar and clear everything pertaining to your business that doesn’t move you closer to that goal.  In other words, NARROW YOUR FOCUS.  So many times I hear people who say they are “stuck” only to find out that their actions are not matching up with their next step.  If your next step is to find some new team to join your team, you might want to think about setting up a few coffee appointments with some people to take a peek at your business. Or host some presentations or take a guest to another’s presentation.  Do you see what I mean here?

Here is the other thing…plan your calendar out in advance.  You have to have a plan for action.  You won’t find success by waking up in the morning and wondering what you are doing in your business that day.  Better to take some time to organize who you will talk to, what events you will host to invite people to, and get busy setting up appointments to make that happen.  That way, you can plan your business around your life vs. the other way around and it all works.

Love a Good Story? Learn How to Tell Yours!

Sharing your story is one of the most important skills you need to learn, practice, and use.
Why share your story? Because people like and can relate with a good story. We all enjoy a good story, whether it is in book form, a movie, or an experience our friend shares with us.

Here is why:  Our brains LIGHT up when we are told a story.  It gets activated.  There are two parts in our brain that engage while listening to a story called the Broca and Wernicke areas.  These areas process language and decode words into meaning. In addition, during the story, any other area of the brain also lights up just as if we were the ones experiencing what is being told.  This is POWERFUL STUFF!  If someone is describing how delicious their dinner out was the night before, our sensory cortex kicks into gear.  Think about it, a story can put your whole brain to work.

Stories help us to shape the way we think, when we are listening to a story and also when we are TELLING a story.  Anything you’ve experienced allows others to get the same experience to some degree.  When you share your story, you activate another person’s brain. This is called “Neural Coupling”.  Did you know that personal stories and gossip make up 65% of our conversations?

Now, we all know that we listen better when someone is sharing a story vs. bullet point facts.  Think about some of the great lectures you may have attended.  Isn’t the one that you remember best where someone shared their story and left you “feeling” or “relating” with their experience?  It wasn’t the one that jabbered off bullet points and facts point by point is my guess. A good story is when you activate parts in the brain of a listener that then turns the story into their own idea and experience. According to Princeton research, the only way to plant ideas into an other’s mind is by telling them a story.

The simple story is more successful than the complicated one.  If you keep it simple, it will more likely stick with the other person.  Heartfelt stories are the best.  Our brains ignore overused words and phrases.  So, something short, simple, and to the point will be more effective than a long drawn out explanation.

So when do we share our stories in business?  As often as possible.  Our team has been working on prospecting scripts and language sequencing to help open up conversations for the past two months.  The reason we want to get good at opening doors is so that we can share our story.  Simple as that!  The thing we want to remember is that nobody wants to feel like “salesperson” and on the flip side, people don’t want to feel like they are being sold.  One of the things we have learned about prospecting and the language sequences used is that it is best to take the time to write down what you would say if someone asked you, “What is it?” (Elevator Speech) or “What do you do?” (30 Second Commercial).  So, if you have someone who is really interested, being able to share with passion your story about why your products or business make sense to you or why you are a part of your company is something you will also want to prepare for.  If you don’t know what to say, YOU WON’T say anything.

So, if we know stories are what will help someone relate, don’t you think that it would make sense to gift yourself with a written out, well formed story response?  If you do this and teach your team to do this, you will find GREAT success and easily rise to the top of the marketing plan.  But, then again, some people will choose not to spend the 10-15 minutes it takes and will flounder for years and will maybe even give up trying as they fumble around with what to say to people.  It’s your choice, but why not make it easier and more fun to share confidently with those that would so benefit if you were able to inspire them through your story?

A couple of things to help you craft your story:

 

• Keep it simple.  Just a phrase or two.  You want to just “tickle” their interest to know more and they will ask for more detail as the story unfolds through further conversation.
• It needs to be truthful.  What is your experience? Why did it make sense to you? Why are you excited about what you are doing? If your story doesn’t inspire you, it probably won’t inspire others either.
• Don’t get defensive or try to convince. Just share your experience.
• Remember, this isn’t the place to do a full on verbal  presentation.

PRODUCT STORY
I first heard about_____________…..
It made sense to me because…..
Since I’ve added ____________ to my life…

BUSINESS STORY
_______________ has meant so much to me and my family…
I was excited to share ___________ with others because…
I was attracted to the ___________ business because…
What I see for myself and my family is…

Pretty simple right? Remember, this is supposed to tickle their interest and simple allows their brain to relate and identify with your experience.  Some people have a really impact-full product or business story and that is great, but don’t feel like you can’t make an impact with something plain Jane,  but honest and truthful.  You can also always learn and use another person’s story and share your “friend’s” experience if you think it will help to relate better.

As for me, I got to National Marketing Director for myself and built my husband Richard to the same position sharing a plain Jane truthful story:

I first heard about Juice Plus+ from my brother.

It made sense to me because I am one of those people who doesn’t tolerate vitamins very well and when I found out it was just food, I knew it was a better way to get all the nutrition needed.

Since I’ve added Juice Plus+ to my diet, our family eats better naturally, we get sick less often, and I can’t remember the last time any of us had to go to the doctor for illness.
Isn’t that fantastic?

I was excited to share Juice Plus+ with others because I knew that if it worked for me, it would work for them.

Juice Plus+ has meant so much to my family for our health and our finances. I was attracted to the Juice Plus+ business because I could help others and create a reoccurring monthly income at the same time as I was busy living life.

What I see for myself and my family is that we are impacting people all around the world. It has given us so much freedom to spend quality time with our friends and family, travel, and we love that we are able to empower others to do the same. If you have more, you can give more and this business has allowed us to do that.

Is that something you could see yourself being a part of?

As you can see, I don’t have a cancer story, a rags to riches story.  Actually, though…I do a little bit, but I would tell that later in a longer version.  There is a place for that.  For instance, because Richard and I own other businesses and we just went through the largest economic crisis in a century, our Juice Plus+ business kept us afloat as our other businesses struggled.  I might share this if I was talking to another business owner but maybe after I got a response about things being tough, or sprinkled into the conversation that may follow after a good ‘tickling” from my base story.

Write your story down….short, sweet, and to the point.  If the product and business made sense to you…it will probably make sense to others too, wouldn’t you agree? You have to have a GO TO on what to say.  KNOW what you will say and you WILL.  As you use it in real life, you will see how easy it is to tell your story often and weave it into your world.  That is how we live life while growing our paycheck.  Remember, people relate more with WHY you do something vs. WHAT you do.  The above format will  help you to identify with a statement that relay that to someone in a story.

We don’t have to explain everything! This is such a temptation and sometimes hard to NOT do!  Remember when you explain, it’s simply your interpretation, which becomes a part of the listener’s interpretation. Leave room for the listener to form their own ideas, and ask questions! Allowing this space will create the opportunity for future conversations and engagement.

This week’s challenge is:
Write out your product and business story.
Tickle some people’s interest! Share your story with at least 3 people this week.
Let us know what happened!

Can I just rant a little?

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Why is it that when we give people the tools they need to go out and be successful, that they don’t go out and at least TRY them?  I can always tell that it is getting close to time for me to go to conference to get recharged from putting out so much energy and then seeing perfectly capable people make every excuse including blaming ME that they aren’t successful. I can tell because I feel the need to scream into my pillow in frustration for why people make this difficult to grow their business!  I hear that they don’t know anyone, don’t know enough, or whatever lame excuse they can muster up.  Listen, I can teach you what I did, continue to do, and the skills needed for success.  What I can’t do is meet new people for you, leave your house and get you into activity, or change the way you think.  I can’t make you look at what is right vs. wrong in your life everyday.  YOU have to do these things for yourself.  But, don’t blame others and especially don’t blame me if you don’t find the success that you are looking for. 

Think about it.  How many people live in even a 10 mile radius of your house…you know, the one that you hide in over there?  Have you found a way to connect?  Did you check into joining the Chamber, a church, a Meet Up group, a running club, a card club, bunko, play group with your kids.  Have you thought about joining the PTO or whatever your school calls it? What value are you offering to your community? Get out of your house, go out and get connected doing something that will be fun.  Business comes AFTER you make a connection…after people LIKE you.  Quit blaming the moon cycle, the millions of other pointless things you feel you need to get done, ME, and get your butt out the door and go do SOMETHING….you will be glad you did!

I choose you! How to qualify your prospective team members.

I choose you! How to qualify your prospective team members BEFORE they join your team. http://ow.ly/5HFMl

Choose Wellness

Impacting the bottom line, isn’t that part of what business is about? What are factors that contribute to higher productivity? Is there a simple answer to these complex questions? Can diet and exercise impact our productivity, and ultimately our bottom line?

According to the CDC one of the most important things you can do for your health is regular physical activity. We know that some of the benefits to a physically active lifestyle are: Weight control, reduces the risk of Cardio Vascular Disease, Type 2 diabetes, some cancers, it strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood and you actually increase the likelihood of living longer.

“In a review(meta-analysis) of 39 studies linking physical fitness and absenteeism,… the studies showed that the average reported impact of fitness programs on absenteeism is between 0.5 and 2.0 days improvement in attendance/yr this equates to a 22% reduction in absenteeism with the institution of a fitness program. Using the 22% decrease in absenteeism, or 1.3 days/employee, this is an estimated savings of $83,265/year that would be evident in one company under study. Baun et al. investigated absenteeism in the Tenneco Corporation. The results indicated that female exercisers had 32% fewer sick hours than the non-exercisers.”

What about dietary choices? We know that all diseases can be mitigated and at least 75% of all diseases can be eliminated with a diet rich in Fruits and Vegetables. And yet sadly only 11% of the US population eats the recommended daily values. The evidence is clear! One study that highlights this fact is found in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This study followed 40,000 Women health professionals with no previous history of Cardio Vascular Disease for 5 years. The conclusion that came from this study is that higher intake of fruits and vegetables have a protective effect against Cardio Vascular Disease.

How do we start the day? The morning sets the tone and yet how many of us do this: “…people [skip breakfast] and their blood sugar or blood glucose levels fall overnight and they wake up and try to perform on low blood glucose, they tend to get really irritable, and they’re so hungry that the next time they do eat, they might overeat.”
A healthy breakfast sets the tone for the rest of your day. Set the tone towards greatness and eat breakfast you will be more productive!!

All of this is great information but where do we start? Putting together a plan is the best place to start. Most of us have calendars that keep track of our meetings and appointments. If you open your calendar how much time would be allocated to exercise and wellness promoting activities? How about time for making meals, including breakfast?

If the bottom line is happy, healthy and productive team members then the place to begin is with exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes and eating a balanced whole food diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

So we see that exercise and eating healthy are two key factors in overall wellness. But what is wellness? The definition of wellness is: The condition of good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits. What do we want from our life? How will you spend your life? Please choose wellness!

By guest authors: Scott and Emily Holden