Friday, August 22, 2008
"I Will Match My Time With Your Effort
"I'll match my time with your effort"
We do hear this statement often in Mary Kay. What does it actually mean? In my humble opinion, one can put a realistic (or positive) spin on it or turn it into something negative. How do I view it?
Before I go further please understand that I see my time basically in fourths. I have family/faith time, I have business time, I have friend /errand(other) time, and I have sleep time. Like everyone else I have 24 hours in a day and it must be used wisely.
Will it surprise anyone that has followed my posts, that I see Mary Kay as a business? So if I were ever to say to my consultants, I will match my time with your efforts, it does not mean, I will not be there for them, it does not mean I will not train or help them. It is common sense that a consultant that is working her MK as a business is going to need more time and mentoring than a personal use consultant, yes?? (This theory seems pretty basic to me). Many have seen the 45/45/10 time split:
Spend 45% of time with New Consultants
Spend 45% of time with Key People
Spend 10% of time with the rest.
This is kind of generally accepted as how one's time should be spent as a director (this doesn't include her personal business).
Of course, some, once again will see this as negative, but let’s think about it, once a consultant is trained, does she really require a lot of time? If she is doing personal use or hobby level, probably not, and I think if I were to always be calling her and bugging her, she would find this very unpleasant because it is her business so if she is happy with the level she is doing, why can’t I be happy for her were she is?? I started my MK business for personal use, I attended new consultant training, learned about the products and that was it, after that the only thing I planned on doing was ordering when myself and a few friends need our products. – OK, how much help did I need to do that? I never felt like my director didn’t care about me. I also knew if I did have a question, I could pick up the phone and call my director and she was more than happy to help me. I can guarantee you that if she had always been calling me to encourage me and support me to do more and build my business, yada, yada, yada; I would have been long gone. When I wanted more, she was there, as she should have been. My phone works both ways; it is just as easy to place a call as it is to answer a call. Communication is what is most important and it takes two parties to communicate. None of us have a crystal ball to know what they other person wants or feels, most of us base what someone else feels by how we would feel in the same situation – and sometime this is can be really far off. For example, when I need to get something done in a little time or by a dealine, I want everyone to just leave me alone and let me do what I need to do. I do not want calls of encouragement, cheerleaders, everyone giving me suggestions and ideas on how to do it, I know what I need to do, now leave me alone and let me do it. I get overwhelmed any other way and begin to have a meltdown. Now I know for others this is the exact opposite of how they would like to handle the same situation. Each one of us is unique and special and that is what keeps life from being very boring. We must also be sensitvie to the individual.
The consultants that are trying to build their business are going to require more personal time to learn how to grow. Let’s face it, they do know how to do a class, but as they move up there are other areas to learn.
So the majority of my time SHOULD BE spent with the new consultants and the ones who require more assistance, but I still need to have time even for our personal use and hobby level people because after all, they, too, are a part of our unit and still important as an individual.
Now I must point out that this is the business part of my time. If I happen to have a friend that is a p.u. consultant in my unit, the additional time spent with her may be from the “friend” time and not the business time. Not because I am playing favorites, likewise if I have a hotshot, if she was my friend before MK (and she will be my friend after MK) I may spend more time with her but some of the time is coming out of the friend segment not the MK segment.
I have heard some consultants complain because their director calls them, that she doesn’t know when to leave them alone, if they have had a crisis in their lives, they don’t have time for MK and don’t need their director encouraging them to work. That is fair, however, how can they then turn around and complain that when they had a crisis in their life, they barely heard from their director. Could it be the director is trying to respect their space and doesn’t want to be a burden to that consultant? Honestly, at the risk of sounding cruel, how much time does a consultant that is not working need from me??? ***Now please note that if there is an illness or a death, etc… I will be the first one to bring over a meal, drive someone to the hospital, etc… but she doesn’t need her MK BUSINESS director in her face.
I love my unit, I have lots of great consultants, I respect them all and do enjoy them all, but some were friends before MK, some did become friends in Mk, others even though I like them are business associates. Should they quit Mk, they are not all of a sudden going to become my friend.
I also must chuckle at the complaint that, “once I quit and sent back product; she didn’t have time for me. Umm… if we weren’t friends before MK, and we were business associates in MK, and you quit MK, what is there if we didn’t become friends in MK?? - In Corporate when I had an employee quit, I honestly didn’t expect to continue contact, the only thing we had in common was employment. Remove the common thread, there is now nothing in common. This is not cruel, it is just life.
My time is valuable, I can not possible do a new consultant debut or skin care class for every unit member, especially since my unit, even my home based unit is spread over 2 – 3 hours, we are also in about 6 other states, some over 3,000 miles away. So how do we managed, I will have the “strong, confident” recruiters help with their team members debuts. I will do my personals and the team members of the consultants that are not comfortable doing them. It works because this also builds a strong bond amongst team members. None of the directors I work with (including myself) will only do a business debut if a consultant is a star, all of us feel, a strong start is important for any consultant, and perhaps even more so if the consultant doesn’t have the money to work with. Having the money and the product does make things easier. This is using my time wisely, a strong happy consultant will stay a consultant, I do not worry when my consultants do the debuts because they have been trained and our goal is to get the new consultant off to a strong start. Our focus is NOT recruiting at a debut. AND IT NEVER WILL BE. Our focus is getting the new consultant bookings and selling product. We build a strong foundation before we start building the structure.
So now that you have my take on that statement, let’s start some conversation, your thoughts?? Is the statement fair? Is it cruel? Is it just plain good business savy?
How else could a director provide what everyone needs without totally stressing herself and everyone else out? Your thoughts??
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You said it best here: "In Corporate when I had an employee quit, I honestly didn’t expect to continue contact, the only thing we had in common was employment. "
ReplyDeleteThe problem as I see it, is that so few realize this is a business. They SAY it is, but they treat it like a hobby "those meetings are so much fun!'
You run your business like a business. This is exactly what I said to my director when my new recruits were hemin and hawin about moving their businesses along. I'm not doing this to be friends, I'm doing this to earn a living.
My feeling is, although they were all nice girls who are no longer active...some didn't even start...
(6 of them, including my sister). Sometimes life gets in the way...sometimes that life is actually a better opportunity...sometimes it's family...sometimes it's health...whatever! I don't feel responsible for hand-holding. If you want to learn from me, I'm happy to help! If you don't, I'm on to the next. I ran a large staff in my marketing department for many years. The cream rose to the top.
You can teach and train and motivate and encourage but if the consultant isn't willing to go do the work, there is not one thing anyone can do. So, there is nothing to do but move on, shashew, when I read your post, something jumped out at me. .. at some point we must say "next" - When it is said that way, I finally saw that some would take offense (not to your post but in their interpretation of "next") as that individual isn't worth anything, if that is their understanding of the word "next, I guess it could sound cold, but if you take it as, -you don't need me right now so let me go help someone that does need my help (now)- I will be here for you when you need me - it is just logical.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, MK4me, it could definitely sound cold...but I meant what you said...someone else needs my help...or maybe it's time to concentrate on my own business, because my mortgage needs to be paid. Either way, I feel strongly that no one held my hand, yet I got tons of help through advice and training-- the special quality of MK.
ReplyDelete"The problem as I see it, is that so few realize this is a business. They SAY it is, but they treat it like a hobby "those meetings are so much fun!"
ReplyDeleteThis may be one of the serious issues with MK. I'm young but I've been in some serious business meetings with various organizations and people. In many of the non-MK meetings that I have been in there is a professional tone to the atmosphere. There is a clear agenda and the roles of each person are clearly known. There are standard practices and paper shuffling and there can be a lot of boredom. Often there is a distinct purpose to the meeting. I have never left a non-MK business meeting wondering if I had just walked out of a Sorority or a Club or something of that sort.
The MK meetings I attended were quite different. The meetings often began with upbeat music being played while we all lined up to give one another back massages. We didnt' sit in a conference room. We sat in a room that was set up with folding tables that had pink paper tablecloths on them. Prior to going to a MK meeting I had been involved in other programs through college that had required me to sit in many business meetings and I had never been hugged in a meeting. At the MK meeting people I didn't know hugged me. There were chips and pop sitting out to snack on. The director gave the same recruiting talk every week if there were guests there. If there were no guests then she would talk about various other things but there was never a distinct goal to achieve through the meeting. The meetings were fun but I always left feeling like I had been to a sorority meeting or something of that sort rather than a business meeting.
My thought is that for many people the meeting is the first event that they go to as a guest. If the initial impression is that MK is a sorority or a fun place to hang out and eat chips and get back massages and hugs then that doesnt' give off an initial impression of being a serious business. Often people carry with them whatever their first impression is. Thats just my thoughts on the matter.
p4c - I see you your point but then I need to ask if they get the feeling it is like a big fun, feel good, huggy bunch of soroity sisters having fun together, there objective is not to own a business and make money. It is to have friends and have fun, (the social side) so then why is it if they aren't making the big bucks they get upset. See if they don't see it as a business, what do they expect from it? Am I making sense?
ReplyDeleteMK4ME, I think we are on the same page but I didn't make what I was trying to say very clearly. I apologize for that. What I was trying to say is that I suspect that for many women the first impression of MK that they get is walking into a MK meeting where there are hugs and pink tablecloths and music etc. Thus, their first impression is that MK is a place to be social and have "girlfriend time" rather than a place to develop a serious business. In fact, I have actually encountered consultants who try to get people to come to meetings by refering to meetings as "Girlfriend time". I've never really heard someone say "come to this business meeting with me." So, I do think that people who encounter the social side of MK first think of it more as "fun" than as business. Then, like you said, they are surprised when they don't make money even though they come to every meeting. I was very much like that and have known others who were like that. I'm not trying to say that there should be no fun at MK meetings. I'm just saying that a better balance between professionalism and fun might encourage more focus on the business and less on the sorority feel at least in some units.
ReplyDeleteWas that more clear? I'm really tired so if I'm still not clearly stating what I am tryng to say I do apologize!
wow, love how discussion can make us all think and explore,
ReplyDeletep4c, now that you said that you got my mind thinking that actually when I go to director's meetings, they are truly more like business meetings. Probably because it is more of a management meeting.
The Monday (or whatever night) meetings, technically, are not business meetings per se.
They are designed to train, inspire, motivate, encourage. I have pharmacists, pa's, and other "professionals" working MK part time along with their other profession. They love the fact that they can make money and yet it isn't all the "show" of suits and ties and stuffy snot nosed people trying to look and act important in a board room. They love the fact that they can learn but enjoy themselves.
Every unit meeting is different, mine would probably be considered unfun for many. We focus on trying, skin care class procedure, product knowledge, etc... we have some recognition but it is not our focus. Being a high "c" personality type, I tend not to seek the attention or the need to be recognized.
My guess, would be any Hight "I"'s probably don't last long as consultants in my unit because we are focused on building a business so they probably don't get the rah rah they need. But we can still have fun!
Not to disagree with you, I don't think doing a staunch meeting, would change things one bit.
I think you will always have some that come in for one reason and when their needs change or when they are no longer getting what they need, they move on.
MK should be run as a business, the fact that we can have fun doesn't change that. One should not think that it is a get rich quick scheme.
And another thought, the "I will match my time with your effort" goes with your clients too, a client that uses more products is going to get more of your attention, she is going to ask more questions about the new products, the benefits of the products, etc... someone that uses just a dusty rose lipstick probably isn't going to require too much of your time.
I think I will match my time with your effort applies to most situations in life if we stop and think about it. When somethign is working well, it normally requires little attention, it doesn't get the attention until it isn't working correctly.
Wow, intersting thought? I just love making myself think deep.
Keep the conversation going, I love stimulating the mind, exploring below the surface, I suggest that more should really try it.
This isn't so much on topic, but more about meeting styles. When I was thinking about selling MK (I thought of it all by myself no one asked) my friend invited me to her meeting the following Tuesday so I could see what it's like. My impression was not so much sorority. I could see there was a sisterhood, but I was impressed.
ReplyDeleteI received the complimentary facial with my director (she was a brand new director at the time) while her senior did training for the consultants. I was listening to what was going on in the meeting behind me and that is what made me really feel signing up was for me!
The director was giving REAL training. It was sound business training. At the same time, everyone was having a good time. It wasn't boring and lecture-like. It certainly wasn't as lame as the meetings I am forced to sit through at my day job. Also, the women were NICE to each other and it was REAL. I was sold. I signed up.
Our meetings do a little bit of recognition, but a lot of training. We get training and our guests always get to try products. We usually do facials, but we change it up from time to time.
mk4me- It is perfectly okay to disagree with me! That is how we learn from one another. If we all agreed on everything the world would be quite boring!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the meetings you run are very different than the meetings I attended. I learned very little at the weekly meetings. Usually they were a show for the guests and the consultants kind of sat in the back of the room while the director addressed the guests and did a sales pitch to them. I'm pretty sure I saw the same video about MK more than four times. I brought a guest once when I was very new and the way it was handled was that a DIQ took my guest and did her facial while the director gave the recruiting pitch. My guest was offended because she had come so that I would be able to learn by doing her facial and then the DIQ did it. But anyway our meetings were all about show and trying to have guests see that we were having fun. I suspect your meetings would have been more my style.
I guess soon we will at a post on Meeting Ideas!
ReplyDeleteBut for now, more comments on the "I will match my time with your effor!"
Bad or Good??
Time with effort is logical to me. It isnt' a concept invented by MK. My first "real" job as an adult was working as a unit secretary for surgery at a hospital (included operating rooms, ambulatory care, recovery room, and endoscopy department). It was a busy place with a lot of different doctors, nurses, and staff going in and out all day long. If you wanted the director of surgery (aka big boss lady) to spend any time with you or even know your name then you had to stand out and demonstrate a lot of motivation and put forth a lot of effort. I was 18 and motivated. I shared a desk with a 40+ year old woman who had been working at that desk for a very long time. It wasnt' long before big boss lady knew me and the CEO of the hospital knew me by name (surgery was one of his stops on his daily walk through the hospital). He never did know the lady's name who had been working there for years. The hospital ended up paying for me to get my Nurse Aide training and take the State Test. Then they transfered me to the department of my choice (labor and delivery the to orthopedics) I left woking for their health system a while ago and am in college etc. The lady who I shared the desk with is still sitting at that desk. I stopped in and saw her over the summer when a family member was having surgery.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that I was motivated and I put a lot of effort into my job. I picked up extra shifts and I spent a lot of time studying medical terms in my spare time etc. The hospital saw that and they rewarded me for it. The lady I shared the desk with just went through the motions every day. It only seems fair that they would put more time, money, and energy into working with me than her. I dont' understand why that is illogical in MK.