For those that have missed the conversations.
You should:
Order only what you have determined you will be able to sell
Order only what you have a budget for.
Order when YOU need to, not when your director "needs" you to.
You should not:
Order JUST to win prizes
Order to meet production
Order to attain a new levlel
Order to impress someone
Order MORE product when you have not sold any of the product you already purchased
Go into debt for any of the above "goals"
That being said, here is one of Pink Truth's offerings today. Again, no idea where it came from, so take it at face value...
Here's an idea I had tonight to see if I could get in some month end orders. If you use it, make sure you personalize it with your own unit promotions. I put my promos in here.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THE FIRST TO GET THE NEW LIPSTICK SAMPLES??!!
As a Director, I can order the new lipstick colors starting today!! How would you like to be the first in our unit to have some of the samples of the new colors???
ANYONE WHO PLACES AN ORDER THIS WEEK WILL GET THE NEW SAMPLES FROM ME! (Orders must be in the Distr. Ctr. by 11/30 ) If you've already ordered (min. $200) and order again, I'll double what you get below!!
You can see and try the actual color so that when you can order your own new lipsticks on Dec. 16th, you'll know the ones you will sell more of and can stock up on those!! (Those who did PCP can order on 12/10 and those finishing their Star Consultant order for the qt ending 12/15 can order on 12/15. All others will order on 12/16 or later.)
Here is what you can get!
Place a $200 wholesale this week - get 6 different lip color samples plus one of the new LOOK Brochures!!
Place a $400 wholesale this week - get 15 different lip color samples plus one of the new LOOK Brochures!!
(For $200-$599 wholesale, you will receive one each of different colors in the numbers indicated - Director's choice)
Place a $600 wholesale this week - get one each of all 32 different colors plus two of the new LOOK Brochures!! You can see what all 32 new lipcolors look like!
Place a $1000 wholesale this week - 2 each of each one of the fabulous new colors - that's 64 fabulous s amples to share or to use plus four of the new LOOK Brochures!!
This is in addition to the other promos running this month!!
Those who place at least $1000 wholesale in November will earn one of the specially designed Jumpstart Pillowcases - NEVER STOP DREAMING!! This is a 5 color Pillowcase that has NSD on it for NEVER STOP DREAMING with the most adorable MK symbols around it, a bumble bee, pink car, tiara, diamond ring and more! You can get the NSDs to sign it at Jumpstart after you write your goals on it!
This is the last month to get on-target for the special collectible MK Teacups!!! When you order at least $200 3 months in a row, you'll win your teacups!
5 INTERVIEW CHALLENGE!! 5 Interviews this month wins your choice of the MK Rocks jewelry - the ring, earrings or pendant!! This is the last month you can win this for just 5 interviews!!
$100.00 IN GIFT CARDS!! I'll give away one $50.00 gift card and two $25.00 cards to your choice - Target, Starbucks or Victoria's Secret - when our unit adds 10 new Dazzlers in November! Your name and your new recruit's name in one time when she signs up, then once again for each $200 whsl she places with 5 bonus times if her order is at least $600 whsl or more!
MONTH END ORDER SCHEDULE!
Thursday, 11/29 - Last day for you to do your own order on line on www.marykayintouch.com - until 1 am EST
Friday, 11/30 - You can do your own order on your website and assign it to me to send in. Make sure you call or email me to let me know you are doing this. Agreements must be finished by 8 pm EST, orders by 1 pm EST.
Let's make this month one of your best ever and get you lined up to do all of the Holiday Sales you can possibly do!!
Jingle, Jingle!!
As always, feel free to insert your thoughts here. Is this director just creating incentives for high performing sellers?
Or is she attempting to bribe consultants into buying MORE unnecessary product with.... pillowcases ...?
*side note: if the "teacups" are the same ones I am thinking of, my wife LOVES those teacups!
Ok, go.
I guess I am just full of opinions. I don't believe all promotions are bad and used on a very important months can sometimes really make or break it. As for this promotion for lipstick samples, I choose to let my unit know what is up and coming so they can get excited and share what is coming with their clients, similiar when you go to a movie and they show you clips of other movies and I always order as soon as we can so I can show them at a meeting and start training on them. We can build excitement for a new product launch! That being said, I don't like putting the cart before the horse. Right now, if consultants did PCP, they can order the new products on the 10th, if they did't they can order them the 16th. Then the PCP brochures to the clients aren't going out until approx. Dec. 28.
ReplyDeleteSo really even if the consultants have the products, the clients aren't going to know that yet. I feel that there is ample time for consultants to order and get familiar with the products before the customers are going to see the catalogue on them.
So right now I want my unit members to be focusing on what is in the book now and mazimizing their Holiday sales. When the new Look Book comes out then we can work on that. I think often we get so excited about what is coming we jump and "borrow" from the future and once we do that we short change the present. Right now my unit is focused on the scent sational SELLING contest, not ordering contest. It has been fun having the consultants learn the differences in our fragrances and then being able to do a strong presentation on them. Because of this focus, many consultant have started selling fragrances which was a weak area for many of them.
This time a year, I really focus on selling challenges versus ordering challenges. Why? Simple if consultants are selling they will need to order. Create enough activity and the orders will follow.
This coming Monday night, all my unit members who attend will get a new Look Book and a sample of each of the new colors as a thank you for supporting the meeting. I find this means alot to them and is a great insentive to have them attend the meeting.
AS for the other challenges, I don't think it is a bad idea to encourage consistancy as long as the consistent orders are to restock what has been sold.
I believe if you are at the end of the month and keep trying to pull more and more production at the end of the month, it just means the beginning of the next month is going to start slower because you "borrowed" from the future instead of allowing the production to flow which in turn you are going to be trying to pull production at the end of the month again, hence the hampster wheel theory always described on PT. If you don't try to pull out all the stops at the end of the month. The production begins to flow naturally at the beginning of the new month and then thru the month and then you don't have to beg at the end. Working with this philosophy really reduces the end of the month stress.
I like running promotions that reward activity because with enough activity, everything else will flow.
Hope this makes some sense. This concept may not work for everyone but I have found it has been very successful for us.
I like how mk4me said she focuses on selling challenges rather than ordering challenges. I did not know selling challenges existed. My director never had that. It was always to order. If you teach someone how to sell then naturally they will order.
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy to say "only order when you need something!" but when your director is asking you to help the unit, what women doesn't want to help? It is ingrained in us as little girls to be helpers, caregivers, etc. In my area there was a sense of "men against women". We had to do well so we could compete with the men. So we were asked to "help" the unit. Order every quarter so our unit looked good. Only, our unit didn't look anything. It was the director driving the silver grand am.
So I have a big problem with ordering challanges. When I first signed up and got my first order. My director ordered it. There was a challange to order 12 moisturizers. She ordered me 12 oily and 12 dry. Simply so I could get an award at career conference. What was the award for? I got the order a week before the conference. I had yet to have a booking. What did that award mean? I had done nothing, yet here came the praise and the applause and the cheering and the yelling and screaming. My friend and I started at the same time. We both went to conference together. And had to try not to laugh at these grown women jumping up and down for us because we had ordered 24 moisturizers.
I'm just at a loss because where I am at, we are trained on sales and money management. I train with a director who has a business background. I've never felt deceived. I am very fortunate to be in the company I am with my unit.
ReplyDeleteMy director uses a few contests similar to the examples shown here. When I was new and saw some of these, my first reaction was pressure to order more when I was still learning how to sell. Eventually, I told my director I didn't understand the challenges and I really hadn't sold enough to participate in the contests. She responded that I was working smart and she puts those out there so that we can determine how much to sell in order to place the order. This is another example, however, where if she said, Sell $500 retail and place your $200 wholesale and you win this prize; you would still run the risk of fake sales slips.
My director is very easy to talk to and I know others are not. Whenever I have a frustration or question she has always been nothing but helpful. After I talked to her about some of the "ordering" challenges, she explained that she does those to be consistent with the company's way of measuring production. She said focus on selling enough to place the order and if you don't sell enough, don't order it. She said she would not be offended because it's my business and I need to live, too. :)
Talking to her really helped. It seemed that whenever I was feeling bad about my business or if I wasn't able to order more inventory because I hadn't sold what I had, then I took it personally when I would get reminder emails--such as end of the month reminders. Once I talked to her, I realized I needed to focus on my own personal activity and make my own goals. Now, I skim her contests and if something sticks out I see where I am in my business and decide if that seems like a realistic goal for me to attempt. We have a variety contests at all times and it can be overhwhelming, but I figured out that they exist because what excites some may not excite others. I pick and choose what I want to achieve.
One big difference between my director and the suggested promo above, is that the promo above seems to be sent out at month end which creates pressure. My director makes monthly challenges for us so we have the entire month to set our goals and get to work. IF it's the end of a quarter, she will sometimes have a drawing at the end of the month and for every $200 we order (not at one time) we get tickets. She will give us 2 tickets up until the 15th and 1 ticket after the 15th.
I just thought of another reason a director might base it on wholesale and not retail. If it's just retail and you're only required to sell, and you sell, but don't order, she isn't going to be able to justify purchasing the prize. Double that with someone faking a sales slip and that's just robbery, isn't it? Everyone isn't ethical and everyone doesn't work their business the way they are supposed to. When you have that, someone will always get hurt and it's in any life situation: business or personal.
In order to truly verify a sale was made, the director would need to require the sales slip as well as the purchaser's contact info so she can verify the sale. And even then, a dishonest person could ask someone to lie for her. You have to draw the line somewhere.
mk4me, your contests sound great and we have done selling contests as well, but the final determinant in earning the prize is the wholesale order placed. I can fully understand that because if no one's ordering, the director can't order the prize.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that if you bulk up at the end of the month, your going to start the next month slow. I feel this way about quarterly contests, too. If I'm really close to Star or on the border b/w two different star levels, I will push for the Quarterly goal; however, if I'm nowhere near star or the next level, I call it a Quarter. :)
This is the first time I have weighed in here, although I've been lurking awhile. But I have been under the leadership of 3 different directors during my MK career. My first director stepped down (due to a change in her family circumstances, not anything to do with her business itself), so I started attending meetings with 2 adopted directors. All 3 of these women took steps to reward selling the product. My first director used our weekly accomplishment sheets to crown the queens of skin care classes, website orders, etc. for the year, totaling up our actual reported sales. She trained on how to conduct skin care classes and did Color Certification classes so we could feel confident at glamour appointments. My two adopted directors are even better at the sales emphasis. They have trained us on how to do color appointments, on the go appointments, open houses, etc. When MK offered Satin Hands for buy 2 get 1 free with a $600 order last spring, those two gave tips and ideas on how to sell enough to need to place a $600 dollar order. Every quarter, about a month before the star consultant deadline, they start giving training, tips, and ideas on how to sell enough to finish star. Also EVERY new consultant is encouraged to go through training which includes money monagement. I have never felt like any of these 3 woman just wanted people to "order" without selling something first. In fact, when one of my adopted director's decided she REALLY wanted one of the higher star consultant prizes this past quarter, she set the example of going to work and booking extra skin care classes, facials, etc. so that she could EARN that prize.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I have a sister consultant in my adopted unit who does an amazing job of selling product. She took out a loan for her initial inventory investment. She immediately went to work and paid that loan off in 11 days (yes, you read that right). She frequently holds skin care classes where she sells $400-$700. And she doesn't just hold classes every once in awhile. One week she held over 10 classes! She did lose a great deal of money in another business she tried prior to MK, but she is making plenty of money selling product. And she has NO recruits, so all of her money is from sales alone. But by that same token, I have seen months when she didn't make "inner circle" ($500 wholesale) or quarters where she didn't make star. Because she doesn't order when she doesn't sell.
For me, I can honestly say that I have on occasion mismanaged my MK money. But that fault lies with me and me alone. I had better training than that; I was the one who blew it.
Sorry for the lenght and "rambly-ness" of this. But having had experience with more than one director, all of whom encouraged and trained on sales, made me want to weigh in here. And I think the example of a consultant with no recruits, making money JUST from sales, is an important point to make too.
Kare,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for jumping in!
Don't worry about being "rambly"... I think most of us here are!
I am sure as we all get these thoughts "off our chest" we will become a little more concise, but in the meantime, ramble away!
Based on what you have said here, and other observations I have made reading on various sites, and observing my wife's unit and those around her, I would definitely say that there seem to be "pockets" or "pools" of good as well as bad.
I am sure that if we could map out all of the experiences, we could trace bad experiences to their "root" and good experiences to their "source".
The million dollar question then would be, "Are there more "good" pools or "bad"?" Followed closely by, "Where can I find a "good" pool?
Anyway, thanks for joining us!
Jump in anytime, or just enjoy following along!
If you want to get some really good advice and encouragement, check out:
Shades, Myst and MKRules
Thanks again for your input and hope to hear from you again!