We all have that closet that we haven’t looked in – properly, at least – in months, if not years. Sure, we open the door to throw stuff in, but we’ve never really sorted through it to toss, donate, or rehome items we don’t use or want anymore. Instead, it becomes more and more crowded and more and more difficult to find things that you actually need. It’s the time of year when we naturally feel like we need to sort and organize our stuff. Once you’re finished with that closet, why not turn your attention to spring cleaning your network.  After all, sorting your network ensures that you’ll always focus on the people who drive your business success.

Why spring cleaning is important to your business success

Like the closet, you may add people to your network and then sort them into one category. Over time, your relationship gets stronger as you build trust, but you forget to change their category in your network. Although you know you need to spend the right amount of attention on everyone, by not updating your network, you may be missing people who you should be connecting with more. 

Updating your network allows you to connect with the right people at the right time. This is a more efficient way to run your business, as you’re growing your relationships with people who could become your biggest advocates or team members. 

Re-sort your network

Think of it as nurturing your network, which is essential to business success. While many network marketers are focused on growing their businesses, they forget to focus on updating the network they have. It’s like a garden: although you may plant tomatoes and nurture them to sprout and grow, you also have to water and fertilize your snap peas, lettuce, and carrots. Each type of plant has its own requirements as far as water, light, heat, etc., For example, you may water tomatoes more than carrots, especially during the summer months. Or, you may need to harvest lettuce before the hot temperatures cause it to bolt. The attention each vegetable needs vary throughout the growing season – it doesn’t remain the same, even as you plant new seeds. 

Your network’s needs don’t remain the same as when you first added them. There are times when they need more attention than others, especially if they’re huge advocates for your business. Other people in your network may prefer you only check in every few months, and that’s fine too. However, there may come a time when you want to reach out and follow up with them more – further the relationship – and that’s when you’ll recategorize the relationship. 

Log into Teamzy and go through each name in your network. Think about your relationship with the person and ask yourself if they need to be recategorized. If they’ve become stronger advocates of your business, then move them up. If they finally got back to you after many follow ups, then move them up a category. This process allows you to focus on the strongest advocates of your business. You’ll contact them more than you will other people in your network. This allows you to stay top of mind and more efficiently run your business. 

Similarly, if someone should remain in the category they’re in, leave them there. Don’t feel pressured to move people up or down just because you feel you should. Have an honest assessment – it’ll be the truest one. 

Recommit to relationship marketing

The exercise of re-sorting your network may make you super motivated to connect with your top advocates, the people who help drive your success. This makes it an excellent time to recommit to relationship marketing, especially if you’ve lost motivation over the last few months. What does this mean?

A Power Hour every day. In order to grow your business, you have to commit to your Power Hour at least 4 times a week. The good news is unless your network is huge, you can usually get through the names on your dashboard in less than 30 minutes. Connect with your customers, prospects, and distributors on your list to check in with them and make their days. That’s it! And don’t worry if they don’t respond right away. That’s part of the process. In the end, they’re excited to hear from you even if they don’t have a chance to return the good wishes right away or if it takes them a few weeks.

Consult our scripts if you’re stuck for the perfect thing to say. We get it, there are some people for which you always know exactly what to say… and some you’re just not so sure. Whatever the case, we have you covered. Teamzy has a ton of scripts for use for pretty much any occasion or relationship, even if you’re just getting back in touch with them. Use them exactly or use them as inspiration to writing your own great and effective message. 

Model the behavior for your team. Often the only way to practice the system is to model it for someone else. If your team also leads their businesses with heart, model relationship marketing for them. Reach out to them consistently, follow up when you say you wll, strive to make their day and look for a need to fill. They then understand how their network will feel when they do the same to them, and will be eager to try it themselves. 

Prioritize your business. Although many of us want to lead successful businesses, we often don’t make them a priority in our days. Instead, we let other, less important  tasks jump ahead of our Power Hours and follow ups and before we know it, we end the day having spent no time on our businesses. If we want our businesses to be strong and healthy, we have to commit to them and that means making them a daily priority. Your business doesn’t have to take up your whole day, but it should take up some time during the day. Write it on your to-do list daily and put a big star next to it to make sure you get it done. 

Commit to personal development

If you want to grow your business and achieve success, you’ve got to grow your mind. Personal development is a huge part of a thriving business. The most successful business leaders have one thing in common – they’re all about personal development. That is, they continue to learn about their industries and business practices long after achieving success. They seek out new information and ways to make their businesses even more efficient and healthy. Additionally, they seek the wisdom of other successful business leaders to learn from their challenges and triumphs and adopt what works best for them into their businesses. In short, you’re never too successful for personal development. In fact, one could argue that without personal development, it’s more difficult if not impossible to achieve success.  

Become a student. The sharper your skills, the more successful you’ll be. Learn new skills and approaches through training. Teamzy has several training programs designed to help you succeed in network marketing, one relationship at a time. Whether you want to convert more conversations or want to improve your business overall, we have a training for you. 

Seek out all the information you can. Find all the information you can about your industry and about business in general. Read books, listen to podcasts, read blogs and articles online, etc. Subscribe to your favorite podcasts and business-oriented magazines. Although you may not learn everything you need to know in one episode or issue, you’re sure to learn something new that you can use in your business. 

Find a mentor.  We learn best from those who have been there before us. After all, they’ve made the mistakes that we wish to avoid and have achieved the successes we wish to replicate. Is there someone you look up to in business? If so, call them up and schedule coffee, even if it’s over Zoom. And, if you’re not sure, or if the business leaders you look up to are celebrities themselves, then read all you can about them. If they have a book or podcast read it or listen to it, at least once. Take notes and reread or listen again in a few months. Chances are, you’ll learn new lessons you may have missed the first time around. 

Be a mentor. In network marketing, this may come in the form of mentoring your team. You’ve likely been through challenges and achieved triumphs that they wish they could. Share your experiences with them and encourage them to open up to you. It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we think about things together. 

Get a coach. Now, you may say, I already have a mentor, why do I need a coach? A coach and a mentor serve two different functions. While a mentor will share their experiences with you and inspire you to keep going toward achieving your goals, a coach holds your feet to the fire and keeps you on track. They make sure you do your Power Hour daily and are doing all you can to build your business. Additionally, when you’re faced with a challenge, a coach will talk you through it and brainstorm possible solutions with you that may work with your particular set of circumstances. Like the coach of an elite athlete, a business coach helps you keep striving long past reaching the championship game. 

Log into Teamzy to start spring cleaning your way to success

This week, during your Power Hour, after you’ve connected with everyone on your list, take some time to re-sort your network and go through each name. Take the week or even longer if your network is large, to do this exercise. Then, you can be sure that you’re reaching out to the right people at the right time. Click here for more information.