Are you ready to get social? The period between Halloween and New Year’s is always the most social of the year. Although socializing looks different this year, it’s still possible to connect with everyone in your network, especially your top advocates. In fact, this year you may have the opportunity to connect with them and have conversations at a deeper level than you have in the past. 

But, what about everyone else in your network – the customers who have the potential to become huge advocates or team members if given the opportunity and the prospects who are super close to converting? How can you connect with them during this social time of year to help them take advantage of the opportunity that you can provide? All it takes is a conversation.

Start the conversation

Conversations these days look different from in the past. Whereas before you could approach anyone, especially if you were feeling extra gregarious, these days if you enter anyone’s six foot radius, you might get a dirty look. This changes the landscape a bit for network marketers who rely on adding strangers and acquaintances they see out and about to their networks. Although some network marketers may add people to their networks this way, many others have to think more creatively. 

Conversations don’t have to be in-person

Sure, in-person conversations are fun and have a definite impact on your business, but that’s not the only way to connect with people. Online is where many people connect, particularly since March when the stay-at-home directives began. 

Your daily online connects with the folks who are already in your network have become even more important. This is where you continue to lay the foundation for a lasting relationship. It’s also where you create the opportunity to ask your current customers, prospects, and distributors if they know of anyone in their lives who would appreciate the opportunity you’re providing. But, we’ll get to that later.

Make their day

It all starts with a simple “hello.” You don’t have to be super clever or come up with an excuse to message them – just say “hello.”

Hi Anna! Just wanted to say hi. How have you been? I hope you’re having an awesome day! 🙂

Hi Jim! Hope you’re doing great! How’s the family? Have a wonderful rest of the day! 🙂

See how simple that is? Just a quick hello and some well wishes. It’s short enough that they can read it from the home screen on their phones; however, the impact of such a small gesture is huge. 

When you make their day with a simple hello, you’re not going in for the sale. So many network marketers who use traditional marketing methods go right to the sale. They badger the people in their networks until the other person buys something, anything. Unfortunately for them, the other person often never buys anything again… and may begin to avoid them on other social occasions as well. However, when you rely on relationship marketing to build your business, you value your relationships over making the immediate sale. You’re playing the long game and understand that by valuing and building your relationships, you’ll eventually make more sales and grow your network. 

Start with a simple hello. Don’t lead with a product or service; doing so will only lead the other person to wonder if you’re only connecting with them to make a sale. People are savvier than ever and if they sense that you’re trying to sell them something, they shut it down quickly. By connecting with them on a friendly, human level, you’re letting them know that you care about the relationship and appreciate them as friends instead of as a potential sales mark. 

Success tip: Make it a game! See how many people’s day’s you can make each day. Login to Teamzy and work through the list of connects each day. If you want to challenge yourself, adjust your goals so that you can connect with more people each day.

Follow up

Once you’ve made their day, what do you do next? 

In many cases, the recipient will reach out right away and see how you’ve been. The conversation will flow back and forth and you’ll catch up. At some point, the conversation will turn to your business and what you’ve been up to and this is your opportunity to chat about your business. Discuss an exciting new product or service or mention a sale you’re running. If they seem interested in what you’re offering, you may even wish to present the opportunity to join your business and become a team member. That’s the best case scenario.

However, more often network marketers reach out and then do nothing. After all, the ball is in the other person’s court; they will reach out…eventually. With that attitude, “eventually” becomes a very long time. 

This is why the follow up is the key to a successful business. The fact is we all get super busy and your network is no different. They have a lot going on too and while they saw your message, they may not have found the time to respond. It’s not a slight against you; it’s just that they have other priorities they need to focus on right now. 

However, many network marketers may see this as a slight and may begin constructing a story. They may think the other person is mad at them or doesn’t want to hear from them. “I can’t follow up,” they think. “If they didn’t respond, I’m just going to delete them from my network. They obviously don’t want to hear from me.” See what happened there? A nonresponse turned into “they never want to hear from me again” in about 3 seconds flat. 

The other excuse network marketers make for not following up is “I don’t want to bug them.” The truth is, you’re not bugging them. You’re reaching out to make their day and see how they are. You’re looking for a way to help and serve them, not trying to sell them something they won’t love. 

Success tip: Let Teamzy remind of the perfect time to follow up. With Teamzy, you’ll follow up with everyone in your network every three months, more often if they’re your top customers or team members. Saying hello to someone every three months isn’t creating a nuisance; it’s establishing a relationship.

Just say no… to excuses

It’s so easy to make an excuse not to do something. However, in the time it takes to make that excuse, we could’ve just done the thing we were avoiding. The two most common excuses for not following up are

• I’m too busy
• I don’t know what to say

Sound familiar? Luckily, Teamzy has you covered with both of these. First, Teamzy lets you know when to follow up with the people in your network based on the classification you’ve given them. You’ll follow up with your best customers and team members more often than the ones who seem less interested. This allows you to focus on cultivating relationships with the most interested people in your network. 

Second, Teamzy has a ton of scripts to follow when you’re just not sure what to say. The scripts cover every situation, from the people who you haven’t connected with in months (or longer) to the people you see regularly. You can use the script verbatim or adjust it to fit your style. 

Keep it up

Did you know that the vast majority of sales happen between the 7th and 10th follow up? That means you’ll need to follow up more than once.

After following up once and getting no response, some network marketers simply give up. They say, “I followed up and nothing happened. They’re not interested. I’m done.” That’s a horrible attitude to have in business. People are busy; it’s as simple as that. I’ve had people not respond for a year, and when they did respond, they apologized for not responding sooner, but they were just super busy. 

Each time you follow up, you’re planting a seed. As you nurture the seeds, they’ll put down roots and eventually blossom. But, you have to put in the time and continue to follow up. It takes patience, but much like a thriving garden, that patience pays off at harvest time. 

Teamzy can help you close more sales

Conversations turn into sales with time and persistence. But, what if you want results sooner? 

It’s possible to start conversations with people, even online, and turn the conversation to your business and how it can help them (in the least salesy way possible). No matter what your level of skill or experience as a network marketer, you can get people excited to chat with you about your business. The Art of Creating Conversations that Convert is a 7-lesson video course designed to give you the tools and confidence to build relationships with everyone in your network, even the folks who don’t respond or who you haven’t spoken to in a year. In fact, you’ll learn how to turn them into strong advocates for your business. You’ll get all the tools you need to improve your response rate and serve everyone in your network. Click here to learn more.