Last month, we discussed goals, specifically why you need them and how to set them. Now it’s time to grow your team.

Like many business owners, you may have set a goal to grow your business; meaning you want to add more members to your team and increase your profits, both of which are absolutely essential to building a business that lasts.

Even if you haven’t set a specific goal (which, um, what you waiting for?), you’re likely thinking about growth in the back of your mind. After all, when you do your activities, you’ve probably thought, “I wish I had more people on my team, but I just don’t know how to go about doing so.” You’re not alone in thinking this; in fact, it’s one of the most common things we hear from our Bootcamp participants when they first sign up.

How will you get started growing your business and reaching your goals?

If you want to build your business, it’s crucial to contact your customers, prospects, and distributors consistently.

Teamzy makes it easy to maintain consistency; you simply sign in and Teamzy gives you a list of people to contact every day.

Complete this list and you’re well on your way to growing your business.

However, the season provides you with the opportunity to take it a step further.

This is a super social time of year.

Look at your calendar and you’ll likely see that you’re booked up with parties, potlucks, school events, and other gatherings all month long.

What better time to meet more people and talk about your business?

Eek, I don’t want to sound pushy!

You won’t, we promise!

This season, you’ll spend a lot of time catching up with people in person and chatting about everything that’s going on in your lives.

Your business is part of your life so they’ll naturally ask about.

If not, it’s fair game to bring it up.

Now, we’re not saying you have to browbeat them with all the details of your business or push them into the hard sell so they buy products on the spot.

No, no, no!

The point is to deepen your relationships, not ban you from next year’s neighborhood holiday party.

Sure, if you’re naturally forthright and tend to get right to the point, you may jump right in with the business talk.

However, if you’re like most relationship marketers, you’re not that bold.

You may feel nervous discussing your business.

Perhaps you’re a new business owner and you’re not quite comfortable bringing it up.

Or, you burned many relationships with more traditional sales techniques before and you’re worried you’ll do it again.

Maybe many of your family, friends, and neighbors have been burned by aggressive network marketers before and you don’t want to be lumped in with that lot.

Whatever your reason, you’re understandably reluctant to mix your business with holiday fun.

The bad news is by avoiding business talk, you’re missing out on tons of opportunities to grow your business.

We get it – you don’t want to annoy people.

There is a way to talk about your business without worrying that you’re bugging folks. This topic is so important, in fact, that we dedicate several weeks of Bootcamp to it to help you become more comfortable talking about your business (plus, as an added bonus, all Bootcamp participants have access to the closed Facebook group of ambitious participants to provide accountability and share ideas with).

Change your thinking

First, it starts with changing your mindset.

Instead of fretting about possibly annoying people, remember that you’re helping them.

When you’re a relationship marketer, you lead with a heart to serve.

When you’re serving people and trying to help them, you’re not annoying them (and if you happen to be friends with the one person out of a million who’s annoyed by your help, do you really want them as a customer or prospect anyway?

Although you don’t want to write anyone off, they’re not likely a person you want to spend all of your time and energy wooing until they change their attitudes).

If you’re nervous about bringing up your business, it helps to have a mantra to repeat before you begin to mingle.

Maybe something like, “I’ll lead with a heart of service.”

This will not only help you tap into your motivation, but it’ll also put you in the right frame of mind.

Whenever you speak to someone, you’ll approach the conversation with a heart to serve.

Which leads to…

Suss out a need

How will you know how to help them if you’re not sure what they need?

How do you find out?

Ask questions, of course!

But not just any ol’ question.

If you want to deepen your relationship and delve into what they need, you have to ask a FORM question:

F.O.R.M. – Family. Occupation. Recreation. Motivation.

Remember those? Ask about their families, their work, their hobbies and even ask them if they’ve thought about their 2019 goals.

Then, listen to their responses (instead of thinking of the next clever thing to say, which so many of us are guilty of).

Even if your business can’t help directly, you may be able to help in another way.

For example, if the person you’re chatting with mentions they haven’t had time to clean before the holiday party their hosting, connect them with a cleaning service in the area.

Sure, it may have nothing to do with your business; however, offering a recommendation build trusts; it shows you’re in-the-know and are willing to help them when they express a need.

Plant the seed

No one likes to go in for the hard sell. So awkward, right?

Especially when you’re just trying to have a good time and enjoy the spirit of the season.

I mean, sometimes you’ve just gotta separate business and pleasure.

However, there’s nothing wrong with planting the seed, whether it’s for a future sale or an invitation to join your team.

After all, at some point, the conversation will turn to you and you’ll have the opportunity to mention your business.

New contacts

The people you meet have the potential to become a customer or distributor eventually.

They could be another parent at school, a new family at church, or a new neighbor down the street.

Most times, they may not even know you have a business.

Go ahead and talk about your business and be sure to emphasize that it’s your goal to help.

You may even explain how you got into the business and why you chose that particular product or service.

This makes you relatable and establishes your expertise with the product.

If you want to plant the seed for future sales or team opportunities, ask if they’d like to learn more.

Now, there are many ways to do this, all of them involve paying attention to how receptive the other person is.

For example, if you’re talking about your business and they seem well into it, go ahead and ask directly, “Hey, are you interested in learning more?”

Or, if you’re talking about why you chose your particular product and they seem interested, say, “would you like a sample?

I can bring a sample over if you want.”

Neither of these is aggressive and both reinforce your desire to help.

For people who say no or seem standoffish, remember that it can take several follow-ups until they make the decision to act.

Say, “No problem. If you know someone who may be interested in or benefit from my products or business, I’d be more than happy to talk to them.”

Sure, they may not be interested right now, but very likely, they know someone who might be.

By asking them if they know someone who may benefit, you’re planting that seed in their brain – they can’t help but mentally run through their contacts and think about who might be interested.

Be sure to follow-up with them to learn how you can help.

Current customers

Your current customers already love your products.

They probably shout their praises (and yours) from the rooftops!

Current customers often make the best distributors – they already use and love the products so they can tap into their own personal experiences with them to build trust among the people in their networks.

The thing is, many of them are already recommending the products to the people they know, why not encourage them to get paid in the process?

The next step is to extend the opportunity to join your team.

Although some may be gung-ho from the first mention, others may hem-and-haw, saying “Oh, I’m not really a salesperson” or “I just don’t have the time.”

That’s okay.

You’re planting the seed.

Even if they say no now, the opportunity will still be on their minds.

Over the next few weeks, it’ll find its way to the forefront and the person will think, “well, maybe…”

This is why it’s so important to follow-up.

Gauge their interest and use Teamzy to remind you to follow-up.

Continue to follow-up and when they’re ready, they’ll let you know.

Current prospects

Your prospects often need time and follow-ups until they make a decision; to either take advantage of the opportunity you’ve offered or give it a swerve.

Chatting with them face-to-face gives you the opportunity to read their interest and plant another seed.

Remember, it’s a big decision for most people and, as such, they need time to ruminate on it for a bit.

Whether or not they’re interested, don’t forget to remind them that you’re there to help others who may be interested in joining your team.

It may be that they don’t want to do it alone.

By extending the opportunity to others in their network, they may be encouraged to make the leap from prospect to distributor.

Current distributors

As with your prospects, remind your current distributors that you’d love to help their family, friends, and neighbors earn more money in the New Year.

Many people set financial goals intended to help them save more money – whether it’s for a big event, a long-term financial goal or to build a rainy day fund.

Explain how your business opportunity can help them reach their goals.

In all cases, you don’t have to be aggressive in your approach.

Just mention it. Often, the mere mention is enough to plant that seed and get them thinking.

Keep following up and, before you know it, all of those seeds will blossom into new recruits.

And, if you’d like more ideas to grow your team or you want tips to build the foundation of a lasting, successful business, Elite Business Bootcamp may be for you. Click here to learn more.