Hitting Momentum with MORE
FEATURE - Carol Waugh
The airplane has left the runway from LAX back to Nashville. On board is my awesome leadership team, still blazing with excitement after three days of powerful training. It turns out that a full half of the attendees were from my success line! The Home Office calls to ask: How do you get such a high attendance to events?
The answer is that my team is in momentum. Many people assume that it takes particular skills or a certain amount of time to get momentum going in your group, that it means going from zero to 100 miles per hour. I don't believe that-- to me, it's like boiling water: Only one degree, from 211 to 212, is the difference between water that's hot and water that's boiling. That's how it is in this business.
The Key to Momentum
My secret to hitting and keeping momentum is a four-letter word that puts some people off! The key word for me is MORE. You have to do more than you think you can and make doing one more thing important to you every day. That means doing one more thing at the end of the day when you think you're through-- making one more phone call, going to one more training (even though you might "know it all"). It means one more product sold with each order, scheduling one more presentation,
taking one more picture of your team at events. One more smile, one more thank-you, one more note written, one more prospect in the pipeline. Tell your leaders one more time how valuable they are to you.
If you want more people in your group to attend an event or your annual convention, start talking about it with your team now. Fax reminders to them to get registered, and plan ahead to have connecting time with them. When you get there, pay more for a room large enough for you to invite your leaders in to spend some time with you and to connect with each other. Reserve your lunch tables for leaders with a sign at each place-- like "Waugh Team Bonding Today at Lunch!" At local meetings, recognize who's attending, get testimonies from others who have previously attended and express how valuable the event is. Provide an inspirational book, like Living With Passion by Peter Hirsch, expressing appreciation with a handwritten note from you inside. Do more to get your team there!
You can't decide at the end of the year that you're going to do more and get into momentum. You have to start out each and every day making the full day count by doing one more thing than you planned. The day I'm writing this, I've talked to at least 30 people personally. I'm reaching out, I'm connecting with the leaders in my organization and acknowledging them for their achievements this month.
Always be brainstorming for as many new ideas as you can. For example, the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, so this year I had an Independence Day celebration at my house because independence is what we're in this business to find. We all felt so uplifted and reinforced that we are successful, and we're in business to declare Independence Day once and for all, every day, for ourselves and our families. Take every opportunity you can to do one more thing that will develop your business and empower the people who work with you.
When Do You Know You've Hit Momentum?
A wonderful example of momentum occurred in my home office recently when I was meeting with a prospect here. I always light a candle on my desk for ambiance-- kind of my good luck candle for when I have a great prospect come over who I am going to talk to and try to sponsor into my business. This candle was lit and had been going a long time when, all of a sudden, I heard a noise and all the hot wax burst through the side of the candle all over my desk. My candle was doing fine the last time I looked at it-- who would have thought it would suddenly boil over! I could have been watching that candle intently and would not have realized it was ready to burst. When that happened, I jumped up and exclaimed, "That's momentum!" The lady who was with me asked what that means, and I explained to her that it's what we do in our business.
Like the wax suddenly pouring out, you don't necessarily feel momentum coming, and many people quit just before it could have happened to their business. It has a tendency to sneak up on you, and then there it is-- boiling water. They say if you keep watching the pot and waiting for it to boil, it never will, so quit watching the pot! Just keep doing and doing, and all of a sudden people begin to ask "what in the world are you doing with your group?" and you look around and realize that something has really happened! Remember, you want a group that's "built to last" and functioning as a team, not just a bunch of people who have signed up. It's more important to do our best to nurture people and help them be successful than to reach a certain level in a certain amount of time-- and it pays off because you have a group with a solid foundation.
Each one of us needs to be the CEO of our own business, and if we're not really creative, we need to plug in with somebody who is. If we're coachable and if we can do the things that successful people recommend to us, we'll move faster. When you're taking a look at the reality of the business, working another job and doing your Network Marketing business part-time, then you obviously can't expect to progress as quickly as someone who does it full-time. Most people are part-time and keep their day-job for the income, but you can find out at what level in your compensation plan you'll start making fire-your-boss money, or walk-away money, for you. Everybody has different expectations and needs, and my expectations have always been really high. You need to pace yourself in the way that's right for you, and I believe that if you are doing MORE every day, you're building momentum even if you haven't seen the checks to prove it-- yet. There's one thing that's the same for everyone: To reach full momentum, at whatever pace, you have to build your business every month by sponsoring a business partner in your business and increasing your sales.
When I sponsor someone, I encourage and offer to help them to sponsor someone else immediately, so they get momentum going right away. I'll say something like:
I'm having a power breakfast on Saturday, and at this meeting I focus on helping other people bring new business partners in. Now that you and I are business partners, I want to help you get off to a fast start by sponsoring your first business partner for you. Do you have somebody in mind right now who you would love to have as a business partner? Here's what I can do to make this easy. All you have to do is be excited about your friend meeting me, and say, "Betty, would you like to earn some extra money while working with some uplifting men and women?" If they say yes, you ask them to be your guest at the breakfast. Or if you're shy, you can say, "In order for me to be able to go, I need to bring a guest. Will you come with me and be my support system?"
Go Elephant Hunting-- Today!
I often hear Networkers say that they are afraid to prospect anyone, especially people who are already successful, until they've started earning significant money. That's not an attitude that is going to launch your business into momentum. I suggest you begin what I call Elephant Hunting right away. I always say, "I'm looking for big people who want big results, have big dreams, and aren't willing to work for peanuts." Those are your Elephant prospects. I find people that are already successful and busy, but have no flexibility or can't get enough time with their families; people who are realizing they can't see themselves on their current track for the rest of their lives. They know the feeling of accomplishment and success, but they know that there's still something missing.
I'm known as the Elephant Woman here in Tennessee, and people give me elephants-- I wear an elephant pin and a fabulous gold elephant bracelet; I have an elephant lamp on my desk; my guest bedroom has a big elephant pillow in it; and I surround myself with that theme of Hunting Elephants today. If you understand how Network Marketing works and believe that you will be successful, then be confident and present yourself like the kind of business partner you would like to attract.
People with all levels of financial success are looking for flexibility. They want to be able to determine their own income, design their own future, be their own boss, own their own business, travel, enjoy professional growth and time with family. One of the greatest things about this business for me is the dignity and the respect that comes when you have created and built an organization.
I was named the home-based business owner of 1997 in Tennessee by National Association of Women Business Owners, and from that I have gained more credibility with business owners in town. Now that I'm frequently a speaker at different women's events, I've taken on the responsibility of being an ambassador of the industry, letting everyone I speak with in those circles know what I do. When I share with people what my team produced last year, it puts it in perspective that I have a really big business.
I get their attention, but remember, I didn't always have this success story. I'm in my eighth year in this business, and I let people know that I was not an overnight success. It took me two and a half years to become a vice president, but that didn't stop me from Elephant Hunting-- I just had to borrow someone else's success story until I had my own. I encourage people to take my story if they meet someone from corporate America-- I was with Xerox for 10 years and have a great corporate story. If you're talking to a nurse, you tell someone else's story. If you have a school teacher, you can tell someone else's story.
I still use those stories myself. If I meet someone with a different background from mine, I want to be able to tell them a story they can relate to. I have a collection of success stories from people with all different backgrounds so that I'm prepared. If I don't know people in my company from the background of a particular prospect, I use Upline. For instance, I'm talking with a stock broker, and there was a great article in one of the Upline issues about a woman who was a stock broker. I went right to that to show her that stock brokers do this kind of business also.
Just because someone is successful doesn't mean they won't have an interest in Network Marketing. Here's an example of Elephant Hunting from my business: I knew of a woman through NAWBO who was named business-owner of the year for 1996 in Nashville for industrial sales. That was a very unusual type of business for a woman to be in, and I'd been talking to her off and on for some time. One day, I happened to call her about ordering some product, and she said, "The timing for your call is just perfect. I'm going to sell my business and I want to talk to you." Keep in touch with people! Don't take that first "No" as their final answer. She ended up selling her business and joining mine.
Here's another example: One of my personal business goals is to break ground in a new major city, and I met a woman at a function who someone told me is really a mover and shaker with women's organizations in that city. I sent her invitation to something I was doing there, made a phone call, and said, "I would love to talk with you." I knew she comes to Nashville, and all I had to do was ask and she showed up at my house. The point is that it's easy to be intimidated, but often, there's a lot more available for the asking than you think!
They say that in order to have an irresistible relationship with someone, you have to talk to them about your business nine times. I always come back to somebody and I tell them that story; I say, "Am I going to have to call you nine times? Do you want me to hang up and call you right back?" I say that as a joke, but developing rapport often takes time. Eventually you reach a point at which they believe you and trust that you're sincere about what you are trying to accomplish.
I'm not saying that Elephant Hunting is the only way to prospect-- I've sponsored great leaders who never had careers before Network Marketing-- but as the CEO of your own business, start networking with other business owners and successful people. Even if they never join your business, they'll appreciate your support and referrals as much as you'll appreciate theirs. I spend a lot of my time focusing on simple but creative networking. Most recently, I organized a group of women business owners to play in a golf tournament. Seek out opportunities to network and never pass up those that naturally come your way!
"The Speed of the Leader is the Speed of the Pack"
This principle is so important in maintaining momentum. "The speed of the leader is the speed of the pack" means that I have to be at the top of my group. It doesn't mean that I have to be number one all the time, but that anyone can look at me and my team and see we are still on top and working. In my compensation plan, I have a district, I have an area, I have a region, and I have my national group. In my region, area and district, I always want my team to be right up there with everybody else. I don't want to go off and leave them without any assistance, expecting them to keep momentum going.
Don't ask people to do what you aren't willing to do, or what you haven't been doing all along to get your business in gear. When I started my business, I was the only one in my business! I knew that if it was going to happen, I had to learn how to make it happen-- I had to learn how I was going to sell product, how to speak with people about the business, and to make myself desirable as a business partner. If people don't respect you and see in you a good business partner, even if they want to join the business they'll go find somebody else. You have to become the sponsor that people will be attracted to, and you do that by knowing how to do the things in your business that will be important for them to do: Selling and sponsoring people. That's what we do in this business.
Because I expect more from myself, I can request more from my leaders. The speed of the leader is the speed of the pack! My leaders know that I, too, continue to work my business with passion. I don't just roll out at conventions. I'm an in-your-face, passionate leader. People who know me know that I have such an urgency to help our business move forward, I'm in a leaning-forward motion at all times. I want my business to be strong; I want it to be the best. I want people to be proud that they're part of the team, and consequently I have to be at my best as much as possible to help them be at their best. The leaders in our group have created a culture of personal responsibility for our teams, and we know how important it is that we communicate with each other. With urgency, and an attitude of MORE, you will create momentum!
If everyone on your team was just like you, what would your team look like? If you did one more thing, and everyone on your team did one more thing, what would happen? You know it would be incredible! In 1997, our team, Success Builders National, doubled 1996's retail sales volume and promoted triple the leaders. Our slogan was, "Want more? Do more!" I invite you to share it!
CAROL WAUGH is an Executive National Vice President and the third largest income earner with Arbonne International. She was named 1997's Home-Based Business Woman of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Tennessee Chapter. Her daughter, Leslie Huskins, is a Regional Vice President, and they are the company's first mother daughter vice president team. Carol has been with Arbonne for eight years, and lives with her husband Troy in Brentwood, TN.
Reprinted with permission from Upline, Waugh Feature - November/December 1998, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
