THE DIARY OF A HUSTLER

“The fortune is in the follow-up.”

 Most business people recognize this as a true statement.  Initially when you present your product or service to people, it might not be the best time. But over time, needs change, situations change.  And if you are a network marketer, you know the power of following up- that is with your prospects, customers, and downline.

But what is the best way to follow up with your customers? 

 Most of the follow-up methods being taught and used in network marketing are painfully ineffective (believe me, I know). The reason why, is that people are simply too busy these days to pay attention to your follow up efforts.   Heck, often times weare too busy too even make an effort.

Think about it…

Scenario 1-  Most of your phone calls go unanswered and many of your voice mails or answering machine messages get no replies. (And it’s not because your prospects and distributors want to ignore you… They simply don’t have the time to reply.)

Scenario 2- Do you have time to make follow-up connections as much as you should? Chances are no, especially if you have a huge organization or clientele base.  You might follow up here and there, with the people that you feel are the most significant, but what about the others….

And if you are following up by email,
things aren’t much better…

With today’s over-aggressive spam filters, many of your emails are either not getting through, or they are winding up in “bulk” or “junk” folders. And of the ones that DO get through, many never get opened or replied to.

My wealth mentor introduced me to the idea of using post cards and greeting cards.  I can’t believe I never thought of that.

Why do postcards and greeting cards make the perfect follow-up tool?

Because they do 3 important things…

1. They almost always get delivered, opened and read.Think about it… remember back to the last time you received a greeting card in the mail, sealed with your name on it.  Did you open it?  Of course you did, it wasn’t a bill!  We’ve been trained since childhood to open, get excited about and read greeting cards that are sent to us. (Remember how great if felt to open a card on your birthday, especially if it had a buck or two in it)  The same thing is true for postcards. With postcards there’s not even an envelope to open, so you’re almost guaranteed your message will be read.
2. Greeting cards and postcards make the recipient feel good, remembered and appreciated. Again remember back to the last time you received a greeting card or postcard, how did that make you feel? How did you feel about the sender?  After all… who sends us greeting cards and postcards? Our friends and family of course!  So sending a heartfelt greeting card to your customers, prospects and distributors will view you as a friend or at least a close associate.
3. They remind the recipient about the valuable benefits of doing business with you, consuming your company’s products and joining or building your opportunity.  Because of the warm feelings and positive associations people have for greeting cards and postcards, your messages will show that you care and be accepted much more easily and effectively.

Here are 7 fast and easy ways YOU can begin using cards to build a more successful and productive business:

1. Send cards to your existing distributors…

Sending cards to and following up with your existing distributors can have an amazing impact on your business. Far too often when new distributors are recruited into your organization, their excitement and enthusiasm levels die off over time.  Some of them die off before they even hit the ground running.

The key to retaining distributors, keeping them active and maintaining high levels of product sales volume, is to build and maintain relationships within your organization. At first, when your group is small this is pretty easy to do.  But when your organization grows beyond your ability to have personal relationships with each and every individual, cards can come in handy.

This is where is the tremendous power of sending cards on a regular basis to the distributors in your organization will pay off big time. When individual distributors within your group begin receiving warm, heartfelt cards from you, they will begin to feel as if they know you and that you care about them. This makes it possible to build strong relationships and intense loyalty from individuals in your organization that you may have never even met in person.

Just a few of the many reasons and opportunities you have to send cards to your existing distributors are…

• On their birthday.
• On the anniversary of them signing up to become a distributor.
• Congratulations cards when they hit higher levels or milestones.
• Holidays and special events.
• Reminders about upcoming events, promotions or product releases.
• Cards educating them about, and encouraging consumption of your company’s products. (This is a great way to quickly boost sales volume in your group!)

The number of reasons you can invent to follow up with your existing distributors is limited only by your imagination.

2. Send cards to your existing customers…

If you have an existing base of retail customers buying your company’s products, then the fastest and easiest way you can maximize the size, frequency and loyalty of their ordering is by following up and staying in contact with them using cards.

The exciting part is… when done properly you can not only encourage repeat ordering using cards, you can also warm them up to the opportunity at the same time.

In fact what you’ll find is, as you build your relationship with your existing customers using this method and give them multiple exposures to your products and the opportunity they have to become a distributor themselves, they’ll begin to approach you to sponsor them.

But this simply will not happen without building the relationship and keeping your message in front of them with a consistent (yet non-pushy) method.

Just a few of the types of cards you can (and should) send to customers are…  You probably can think of more…

• Thank you cards for each order.
• Reminders that it’s time to reorder.
• Educational cards about your other products.
• Cards designed to warm them up to the opportunity.
• And of course birthday, anniversary and holiday cards.

By becoming creative and brainstorming reasons and occasions to send cards to your existing customers you’ll find that your customers order more, order more often and will be far more likely to join your team as distributors.

3. Send Cards to prospects…

One of the best ways to warm up a prospect before you even offer them your opportunity is to send them a friendly card.

You shouldn’t try and sell them at all in the card. Simply focus on introducing yourself and opening the door for them to request more information. You could even send a “friendly reminder” to your prospects about an upcoming appointment that you guys set, they probably would be more likely to show up.

4. Send thank you cards after speaking with a prospect…

You shouldn’t stop at just sending cards before you offer your opportunity to your prospects. What about sending out a thank you card to EVERYONE you speak with, sign up, or sell a product to expressing your gratitude and offering to answer any additional questions they may have.

A thank you card reminds them about you and your opportunity (and does it in a friendly, non-pushy way.) In today’s busy world, people will often forget or lose interest in your message, even IF they were interested, simply because “life gets in the way”.

So by sending out a thank you card, you not only bring yourself back to the front of their mind, and establish yourself as a professional, you also do it in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated. (Which in turn strengthens your relationship with them.)

5. Send thank you cards to those who say “no” to the opportunity… (Turning them into retail customers.)

Let’s face it… No matter HOW effective your prospecting and follow up system is, there are going to be some people that simply won’t join. This is just a fact of doing business.

But… When you have an effective follow up card system in place, it becomes easy to turn those “no’s” into profitable retail customers. (In fact, due to human psychology it is actually easier in many cases to get someone to say “yes” to becoming a customer AFTER they have said “no” to becoming a distributor!)

All it takes in many cases to turn a “no” into a customer is a simple, sincere thank you card. Particularly if in the card you tell them that you respect their decision and you don’t pressure them to change their mind.  This builds trust and respect and makes it more likely to give your products a try.

6. Generate referrals using cards….

And as professional Network Marketers we shouldn’t neglect the amazing, business building power that generating referrals can have.

The problem with most traditional referral methods is that you have to continually keep asking. Which for many people is not an easy or comfortable thing to do. Asking in person or over the phone for referrals often feels awkward or pushy (for both the person asking and the person being asked).  Even if the product of service is great, most people don’t want to just give out a friend or family member’s information to you.  If you ask for referrals in the card, they have time to get permission and they do not feel obligated or on the spot and or more likely to email you or call you with the referrals.  Sending cards is a more sublte approach and they might even show the cards to other people, which of course is even more exposure.

7. If you are a network marketer, you know the power of duplication…Automate and teach the process so it’s duplicateable by your downline…

Once you experience the power and effectiveness of using cards in your own business, you’ll undoubtedly want to make sure every person on your team is following your example and sending out cards on a regular basis.

OKAY, I know whay you’re thinking—who has time to run back and forth to the store and post office!—I thought the same thing when I learned about this method.

I was relieved to find out that there are systems out there that will do the work for you.  Remember in the keys to leveraging series (if you haven’t read it, I encourage you to check it out) I talk about automated systems, such as autoresponders, well there are automated card systems that will send ou t real greeting cards and postcards.   Isn’t technology amazing? 

You can do a google search for them and check a few out,  but  before you do, check out my post about the things you need to make sure a system can do for you in order for the card to be effective. 

ttyl, Nasia

My motto:  Learn, teach, inspire, and you shall receive all that your heart desires