One of the questions we hear all the time is, “how can I be more consistent?” For network marketers – and all small business owners – consistency is one of the biggest struggles they face, especially in the beginning when they’re trying to develop the good habits of business. 

“But,” you say, “I’m a hard worker. Consistency should be easy for me.” Hard work is essential for success; however, hard work is only part of the equation. It’s important to do that work on a consistent basis, so that the work becomes a habit. Habits are tasks you don’t have to think about; you just automatically do them. It’s like brushing your teeth – you don’t have to think about doing it, you just do. Small children have to be reminded to brush (sometimes over and over again in a five-minute span of time) because they haven’t developed the habit yet. Once they do, it’ll become automatic and they’ll feel like they’re missing something if they happen to forget. 

Another example is when you’re getting in the habit of working out. In fact, at this time of year, so many of us have made resolutions to get healthier and fitter. Perhaps we’ve set fitness goals to run a virtual marathon or lift a certain amount of weight. We know it’s not enough to set the goal, we have to work toward it as well. We start the year working out every day, plugging away, and then after a month or two, once our motivation begins to wane, we may become less consistent. Our workouts go from daily to a few times a week or less. However, if you make it a habit and continue to work out every day on a consistent basis, you can be sure to reach your goals.

Why consistency is important

The dictionary defines consistency as “conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness.” When you’re consistent in your business, you’re conforming to a standard application you set for yourself, whether that’s doing your Power Hour daily or at least 3 times a week, contacting your network on a consistent basis by reaching out to customers, prospects, and distributors on the list on your Dashboard, and it’s working on your business on a regular basis and becoming an expert in your field. 

When you’re consistent, you’re reliable. Your network can rely on you to stay in touch with them and follow up when you say you will. Your business can rely on you to work on it on a regular basis. And, you can rely on yourself to follow through with the goals you’ve set out to achieve. 

When you do all of these things, you’re well on the path to success. Success relies on consistency. For example, if you aren’t running consistently – that is, if you’re not getting out and logging miles either on the road or on the treadmill – it’ll be nearly impossible to run a marathon. Similarly, if you don’t commit to a regular Power Hour several times a week, it’ll be difficult to grow your network and reach your business goals. 

How to make consistency easier

As network marketers, we know we have to be consistent. However, it’s creating the habit of consistency that proves to be the most difficult part for most of us. Although we have the best intentions to work on our businesses every day (or nearly every day), we get busy, we lose motivation, we grow frustrated that we’re not seeing results as quickly as we had hoped, we get frustrated that the people in our networks aren’t responding to our messages as often as we’d expected. All of these things contribute to frustration and make us less consistent. After all, if you think you’re not seeing the results you want, it’s tough to keep plugging away everyday. 

However, there are ways to make it easier to become consistent.

Maintain perspective

This is especially true when you’re feeling frustrated or otherwise unmotivated. There are always good and less-than-good days. Some days you’re not able to reach anyone and no one is responding to you and other days your messaging app is blowing up with responses. 

On the days when you’re ready to blow off your Power Hour or are tempted to not reach out, remember that any communication famine is temporary. People get busy with everything going on in their own lives. Although they see your message and appreciate that you took the time to contact them, they may be too busy to respond. Or, they mean to or think they did, but didn’t. It’s normal. Instead of writing them off, continue to check in with them when their name appears on your Dashboard in Teamzy.

Schedule it

Until you get in the habit of connecting with your network on a daily basis, schedule it into your day. When you see the reminder that you need to do your Power Hour, be sure to do it. Although it makes things easier when you do it at the same time every day, set it to whatever fits into your schedule. And, if you can’t do it all in one shot, divide it up into smaller time blocks, such as 30 minutes or 15 minutes. The important thing is to get it done. Remember, until your network has grown, it may not even take you the full hour to connect with everyone on your list. 

Even once you get into the habit, it’s comforting to keep it on your schedule. After all, if you take a few days or a week off for self-care, it’ll help you get back in the habit and maintain consistency.

Make it part of your day

Just as you wouldn’t think of not brushing your teeth each morning, make consistency part of your day. Consistently do your Power Hour, consistently check in with your network, and consistently work on your business. Over time, it’ll become a normal part of your day – one that you can’t imagine not doing. 

How to become the model of consistency to your team

Chances are, if you’re struggling with consistency, your team is as well. They may be growing frustrated trying to maintain consistency in their business – from reaching out to their networks to carving out time each day to work on their business. 

One of the best ways to learn consistency yourself is to model it for others on your team. Explain to them beforehand that you’re also trying to become more consistent and it’s a learning process. This shows both leadership and humility; you’re not just telling them to be consistent, you’re working on it yourself. 

Be consistent in your communications with them

This means when your Dashboard tells you to connect with them, go ahead and connect. When they know that they can count on you to connect with them, they’ll want to learn this skill themselves. They’ll want to emulate that when they connect with their networks and teams. 

Be transparent

The more transparent you are in your struggles to achieve and maintain consistency in your own business, the more relatable you’ll be to your team. Explain what you’re going through and encourage them to share tips that work for them to help them boost their consistency.

Encourage them

Keep their motivation high by encouraging them to keep it up. Whether it’s inspirational quotes, motivational messages, or tips you’ve found helpful, offer encouragement to keep them on track and ensure they don’t give up.

Teamzy can help you achieve consistency

Teamzy is more than a CRM for network marketers, it’s also a helpful tool to help network marketers become more consistent. Simply log in and, after you’ve uploaded and sorted your database, go to your Dashboard and see who to contact each day. Work through your list and you can see how close you are to achieving your goals, get scripts to help you get the conversation started, and set follow up appointments to reach out again. It’s easy! Click here to see how Teamzy can help you become more consistent in your network marketing business today!