Mary Kay NSD offers advice about training new recruits... SHHHHHHOCKINGLY... Pink Truth finds something to criticize anyway.
What do you think about this advice.
Good?
Bad?
Meh?
What do you think is the best way for someone that is new in Mary Kay to be trained?
Posts
I wish more people would read the Consultants Guide and use www.marykayintouch.com (Learn MK) and the materials the Company publishes. Watch the skin care presentation dvd in your starter kit. Everything you really need to know is provided by the Company.
ReplyDeletealot of the handouts, etc.. that are being ridiculed are a creation of a nsd or director and not from the Company.
Then it gets published for a critisism. Publishing something from one individual does not make it a document that company condones.
And..for all who complain about how strict the Company is about the forms of Advertising we can use (actually there is alot in the form of the Company approved ad) - slicks) this is probably a great example to show why they are.
If it isn't first hand from the Company, it may not be Company endorsed, changing a few words on any flyer or training document can change the entire meaning of something.
I have seen things published from directors or nsds, that upset me because it isn't what the Company has in writing.
Little example... with startup inventory:
The Company has the Ready, Set, Sell Brochure. (it is beautiful and lays everything out). Even from the Company - there is no $4000 or $5000 initial inventory purchase listed on the sheet. If the Company wanted to promote big packages like those, I am sure it would be on the RSS Brochure. Because one NSD spins it, now it is a reflection on everyone, nope, it is a reflection on that one nds.
Many will say I "won" my MK Car, the Company says, you "earned the use" of your Mary Kay car".
Many will say MK is taught at Harvard... but actually there was a case study done about MK at Harvard.
Many of these statemennts have a grain of truth to them. Instead of an S/C personality type repeating them verbatim... it was an "I" that only half listened and was so excited the words just came out. To some the statements would generally mean the same thing, to others one is a lie and one is the truth.
And because we did not participate in the survey last year, we can not officially claim to be the Best Selling Brand of Skin Care and Color in the US but Yvette did tell us at Seminar that based on the survey and the numbers we reported....that had we participated we would have maintained the number 1 ranking.
Have a Wonderful Day everyone, our kids are on a delay, we have had more snow!! Of course it snows this year, we finally decided to sell the snowmobiles because we haven't had the snow to use them in the last 2 -3 years, it is all our fault it is snowing, if we had kept them, it would have been another snowless year! :)
I agree, somewhat, MK4ME. The problem comes for the newbie that doesn't know that NSDs literature may not be backed by the company. It takes time to learn all this stuff. I think the company needs to step up and know what their leaders are doing.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the best selling brand, that has got to be the most misleading line in MK. Best selling opposed to who? And how many were in the survey? Wasn't it like 30? Not many, in any case. If MK skin care was so great there would not have to be any misconceptions.
It's got to be frustrating for those who are striving to do it right, seeing those who are making it up as they go.
thanks arabella, I think you just made me realize why some of us (pro)mkers that try to do things the "right" way get so ticked with things like pt. We are battling those that are setting a bad example who are in MK which is work in itself but then we have to try to also battle things like pt, where the wrong is proclaimed to be the only way in MK and what they use for proof is not from MK. Now it is easy to see why MK is always asking us not to vary from Company literature.
ReplyDeleteThere are some that are doing it wrong, there always will be ... and the stories on pt, I am sure some of them are true. It just isn't the whole truth as pt would like all to believe.
It isn't the company literature aspect of advertising that bugs me. It's the fact that you can't have your own web site or sell from a beauty salon where you work or anything like that. Those are the ways that customers primarily like to buy things... online or at a shop of some kind. If you could market it in more normal fashions, more consultants would be making money, I believe.
ReplyDeleteYou can have your own website, but you have to link to your MK website in a company approved manner. You can't advertise Mary Kay on your own website. We aren't marketing Mary Kay as Independent Beauty Consultants. Mary Kay markets Mary Kay. The Independent Beauty Consultant's job is to market HERSELF. When people like the beauty consultant, the product becomes secondary. That is why some people can go from one direct selling company to another and do well. Their people follow THEM not the product. If they like MK they will find another consultant to buy it from. And they will hope the new consultant is as good as their last one.
ReplyDeleteThe job of the Independent Beauty Consultant is to make sure that when people she is associated with think "Mary Kay" they think of HER. ;)
OH, and I've also found that most of my customers aren't that internet savvy. They will email me or call in an order before ordering on my website in many instances. Some people just don't trust the internet when it comes to entering in credit card numbers and such.
ReplyDeleteI have just a couple customers who regularly order from my site.
There have got to be regional differences at play here. None of my friends order anything on the phone. We all do everything online. Even our banking. Except for the occasional splurge outing to Ulta, Sephora, or MAC. My friend in Charlotte who sells Mark does 99.9% of her business on the web.
ReplyDeleteThen again, goths are not telephone ppl, by and large. We live in two places: online and at the club. We IM and text our friends...the phone isn't for conversations, just for "I'm on my way" or "I'm lost; where are you?" Regional culture, I don't know; I'm guessing that all of us here are around the same general age bracket. I'm 40. My friends generally run from 25 to 50.
Hmmm...regional? Maybe; but my customer base ranges from Oregon to Pennsylvania ages 19 to 90. ..the people more inclined to order online seem to be the ones who are accustomed to working with computers. ;)
ReplyDeletemk4me,
ReplyDeleteI agree what you say about MK Company literature. But the problem is new consultants are trusting their recruiter/director for advice and instruction. Personally I was very disappointed in what was called "training". I was looking for advice on color and glamour and make up application. I never really got that. I went to all available events and meetings (and paid for every single one of them) and came out scratching my head. Never any new material.
My point is this. A new consultant is at the mercy of those who came before her. I believe, in most cases the new IBC was pursued and persuaded to join by another MK lady looking to advance her position. It's not like they come up to you and want to join. So if the recruiter (and the director who is pushing her to recruit) is the IBC's role model, then she will be told to do things their way. The new IBC doesn't know any better. Now if you would indulge me a moment more. I was recruited by a young woman raised in my town and now teaching out of state. Her recruiter/director lives in the other state. I was adopted into a local unit. I found the meetings and teachings to be exactly the same in both units, as I did travel to the out of state unit for special occasions. So the push to recruit and frontload seems to be pervasive in the ranks. It's hard to be a laid back Mary Kay lady if your unit is constantly asking to "help" them meet a goal. It reminds me of a mouse on wheel. Running fast and going nowhere.
I feel so much better now that I'm out. No more pressure to book, sell, recruit and buy more inventory. It was literally making me sick.
I hope you can tell me that not all directors are this way, but I'm sorry I would have a hard time believing it.
RSF, I certainly can tell you they aren't "all" that way because, myself and the directors I associated with aren't. Not that it will change anyone's mind but our trainings are just that, I don't have guests at our bi-weekly meeting. I only do a meeting every other week because I think the consultants are too busy to take one night a week out for a meeting if they need to be out doing appointments. This way if they only have one night a week they want to dedicate to Mary Kay they can still get training and bookings without having to be out two nights a week. (It also gives me every other Monday to travel to spend with my not local consultants. The only time we have guest at our meeting is if it is a "special" night and it is billed as a guest night. We focus on satin hands and the skin care and sales. Then on even rarer occassional, I will do a Company Informations night, these are customers that are interested in hearing more about the Company and they know exactly what they are coming for. When I was a baby in Mary Kay, we never had guests at meetings unless they were coming to find out about being a consultant. So I am carrying the tradition forward. On occassion, I will do a skin care class presentation before the meeting, but I finish the presentation, let the consutlant get her sale and then say goodnight to the guest so that they leave before the meeting.
ReplyDeleteI find I can not train and instruct the way I want if I have guests in the room becaues they would be bored if they weren't interested in the business, and I personally think it would be rude to get them there under false circumstances and then bore them. If I operated in this manner,if they ever did decide to try MK how in the world would they ever be able to trust me if the first impression they had of me was deceipt?
I charge no meeting fee for our regular meetings and minimual fee if we are doing large functiona.
We did our January Jumpstart yesterday. ( my home, happen to live in a rural, mountain setting) fireplace burning, picture perfect setting, snow scene, etc..) I had muffins, doughnuts, and sticky buns for breakfast and I made homemade lasagna for my wonderful unit members for lunch, they were home in time to have dinner with their family. No overnight stay, no cost. 9 - 5 training. ( We did it in sweats and jeans). It was awesome.
I beleive we can learn without having to have it cost.
And, we are not a heavy recruiting unit. The majority of production comes from sales from established consultants.
So, it is possible.
I am sorry your experience was such. We have heard others say the same, I guess, it really does just depend on the director.
and RDF, I want to thank you for adding your comments, it does help the conversations. Welcome!
mk4me,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the welcome. My hat is off to you. I like your philosophy and style. If I had had a director such as yourself there is a chance I would probably still be a personal use consultant selling to a handful of my favorite customers. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. I left MK with a real bad taste in my mouth. I've moved on but for some reason still feel the need to talk about it. Maybe some unresolved feelings? Who knows?
It is very nice to meet you at any rate & I wish you continued success.
RSF
RSF, you visit and chat and get over any unresolved feelings, I am just glad you know there are some of us operating in a way that could have been a better experience for you. And because of your questions and my information, it may be the very thing that helps a new consultant not get in trouble and more than anything when there is a potential ibc, I hope she interviews the director just as the director interviews her. If the potential doesn't fell right with the director he can decline and perhaps find a group she feels comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteStick around with us for a while, we can be a fun bunch and I am a RSF too, use to live right outside of Boston yesrs ago.