Variety is the spice of life, right? Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in a rut as a direct seller, especially when it comes to things like your host coaching. It’s a new year, and you may be feeling that urge to change up what you’re doing to reach those new goals. You may be bored with the same old messaging and strategy. You’re recycling party themes and feel like they’re getting a little overused. Y’all—it is OKAY to change things up. In fact, I encourage it!
Just because something worked for your business for a little while does not mean you have to do it forever. Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, is the definition of insanity, and let’s be honest, as entrepreneurs and working mamas, we have enough things in our lives to drive us a little insane without our business being one of them.
So, I want to challenge you right here, right now, to do something for yourself and your business to spice it up! You know how much I love host coaching, so we’re going to focus on that. Because I honestly believe with some spicy, fresh host coaching, you can achieve all those big business goals and get out of that rut you’re feeling—or just level up in general!
Here are a few ideas and changes you can quickly and easily boost your host coaching for big results. Are ya with me?!
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CHOOSE A NEW METHOD OF COMMUNICATION
What communication method do you use for your host coaching? When chatting with our Savvy Selling friends, most people were split between Facebook Messenger, text, Zoom calls (hello, 2021!), and phone calls—it is all over the place, which is a great thing! Why is it great, you ask? I don’t want anyone to feel like you’re stuck doing things a certain way. This just shows that there are so many ways to accomplish your host coaching goals.
When I was in the direct sales world, it was easier for me to call my host because I had four kids at home homeschooling. It was just quicker, and I didn’t run the risk of forgetting to text back if I got sidetracked.
You have to choose the format that works best for you! If you’ve been using Messenger, but you’re not feeling it or think you’re not getting the most out of it with your hosts, change it up.
Think about it. Every single host is going to engage and learn differently. Everyone’s personalities are different. We all have different crazy schedules, so maybe try other methods with various hosts! For the moms, perhaps a quick phone call; for the work-from-home ladies who are constantly on conference calls, perhaps text works better because they can respond at their convenience. Mix it up!
Other fun ideas are sending a step-by-step video, a checklist, or a voice clip rather than that standard mile-long message. When you hear a voice and hear the excitement, you typically feel more excited yourself, right? That will work with your hosts, too.
BINGO!
Next up, host bingo! Who doesn’t love a good game of bingo? It’s like the perfect universal game for all-age fun! So make your host coaching fun! That’s why we got into this business in the first place, right? To have a lil’ bit of fun.
Make a bingo card with different things you’d like your host to accomplish during her hosting journey. Could be inviting 40 of her friends to the party, could be generating $1,000 or $2,500 in sales, could be signing up for your team—the list goes on.
You give an extra gift or incentive for every bingo she reaches on that board. Whether it’s a $10 additional host credit or a sample pack, provide something to them for achieving those things that will help you reach those goals you’re looking to target for each party! It makes it fun for her and enables you to get out of that rut and focus on what you’re looking to achieve in your business.
This leads us to the next two points – we love a good incentive!
OFFER HOST INCENTIVES
People love freebies. I love ’em, you love ’em, your kids love ’em. One way to work this into your direct sales business is to offer more incentives for your hosts! But I want to caution you first. You need only to incentivize behaviors that will help you reach your goals.
What do I mean by that?
Well, let me ask you this—what is your goal for this month, this quarter, this year? Is it to grow your team? Is it to reach a specific sales amount? Is it to book more parties for business longevity? Whatever it is, think about how host coaching can help you achieve those goals and focus on the actions and activities that your host can engage in to help you get there.
So, if your goal is higher sales, you give the host an incentive bonus for every $1,000 in sales from her party.
When your goal is booking parties, you give her an incentive bonus for every three parties you book from your host’s party.
If your goal is team members, you give her an incentive bonus for every recruit you get from her party.
You have to think about what results you want and incentivize accordingly!
The bonus item could be anything! It could be cleaning out your stash—you know as a direct seller that you have a stash, whether it’s from freebies you’ve won or extra goodies you couldn’t say no to buying more of. You could also do a fun little sample pack or extra host cash so she can grab the goodies she wants after the party. I would give my hosts $25 extra per three parties booked because my goal was always booking parties.
Another fun way to do this is with scratch-off cards! If she reaches a certain number of bookings, let her scratch off what she wins. You can put whatever you want on it! Mail the scratch-off card to them with their host packet; just make sure you explain what it’s for!
The other big thing here is making sure your host knows about the incentive and remembers. Everyone is busy and has a million things going on always, don’t let her miss out! Tell her every time you talk to her and make sure she takes advantage of it.
BATTLE OF THE HOSTS
Finally, do a Battle of the Hosts game! If you have competitive hosts (ahem, like me), they’re going to push past the incentive goal, and your business will reap the benefits. So add some friendly competition to take it up a notch. I won’t lie, this takes a bit more work, but it’s worth the time because it works so well.
You must create a points system based on what you want to level up in your business via your hosts, as we discussed earlier. The more valuable to your business, the more points associated.
Give points for sales, party bookings, team recruitment, number of parties hosted, etc. You can text everyone individually or do a monthly group call to announce the winner. Totally up to you!
Then, let your hosts know what they need to do to earn points, and the grand prize winner earns a huge bonus! Usually, mine was 5% of sales in host cash to spend or free products.
The important part is don’t paralyze yourself overthinking what point value to give specific items. Done is better than perfect, and if it doesn’t work, you revise!
TIME TO GIVE IT A TRY!
Alright, friends! Are you ready to give it a try? Remember, keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate and spend a million hours planning, and pick one to master first.
I always say “master one, then move on”. Whichever one you pick, don’t try it for one party and say, meh, that didn’t work. You need traction to see results. At a minimum, do it for ten parties.
You want to see what happens over a couple of months to think through your strategy moving forward. Did you see that in November, you did a ton of sales, and the incentive just took away some money from your pocket? Maybe you noticed February was slow, and the incentives saved your business. It’s all about trial and error and figuring it all out. But remember, variety is the spice of life, and your business won’t grow if you don’t mix it up. You got this!
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Want a proven plan for growing your direct sales business without feeling like you're chasing your tail? The Direct Sellers Business Blueprint explains the 4 key areas you must master to build a simplified, systematic business. It will even tell you which area to tackle first, so you can stop feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next. The best part? It's completely FREE!
Mary Haynes is a highly successful direct sales leader turned strategist and coach. Her passion is helping party plan people streamline and scale their businesses using simple, proven strategies. Her goal is to eliminate business overwhelm so direct sellers know exactly what to do and when to do it. Mary is also a homeschooling mama that lives in sunny Florida with her husband, 4 kiddos, 2 dogs, and various other backyard animals.
