Push the ball across the goal line / close the sale!

I'll never forget this football play that was so well... and then went so wrong, all in a matter of seconds. I don't think you will either. You'll have to watch it closely to catch it the first time. You'll likely see it but not see it... and then you'll get confused... and then, once the slo-mo kicks in, you won't be able to ever miss it again. 

Did you catch it?

Yep, it's a big deal when it happens in a major football game on national television- in front of your home crowd. But this sort of thing happens in network marketing every day.

We had two team members who hosted an awesome class a few years ago (during football season and, oddly enough, likely the same week this play happened!). They had over 30 people in attendance!

Cristy spoke with them after the event to get the play-by-play. She asked them how it went.

"Amazing!" one said.

Then the other: "People were asking questions, interested in the products, and wanting to know more..."

Cristy asked how many people ordered a kit. That was the goal, right? The event wasn't just about getting together to have a good time- they could have rented a movie, grilled out, or gone to drink wine if that was the goal...

"Well, that's the thing. We forgot to tell them about that..."

What?!

Thirty people- all interested- and you forgot to close the sale! Yep. It happened just like the football player. They did all of the work, got the ball to the goal line, and then dropped it right as it was time to celebrate.  

And, me... 

For the first few months Cristy worked her biz, I didn't participate- at all. In fact, the only thing I did was get the kids out of the house. Chuck-E-Cheese was my "go to" baby-sitter.

I was always surprised when I returned home and she told me, "We had 5 more enrollments."

Or- "There were only two people here... but both became members!"

I couldn't fathom that people would purchase something like that after sitting through a simple class. Especially before we had "flip kits" and people had to PAY and then WAIT for it to come through the mail :-)

I assumed it must be easy, easy, easy... so easy that even I could do it.

Turns out, I was wrong. It IS simple, but it IS NOT easy.

Teaching a class that generates a sale is work. Lots of it. Even with a script (which we use, so our team can easily replicate). Even with time + experience (which we now have).

Here's what I mean:

* I've taught live classes where I had a dozen or more people present- and only one person enrolls!

* I've taught online classes with dozens upon dozens attend... but just one sale at the end!

Now, don't get me wrong. One sale is GREAT, but Cristy was doing GREATER. She was getting better results- even when she had less people in the room.

So, I looked to her for some coaching- especially as I was first getting involved in her biz.

Here's what she told me: "Close the sale."

If you don't, she told me, they'll eventually buy from someone else. You'll do all the work, but someone else will get the fruit of your labor. Someone else will push the ball across the goal line, so to speak.

You, too?

You might be reluctant to close the sale, too (I think they actually got excited- just the opposite- and found themselves caught up in the fun of the moment, like the football player did, and started living it up in the end zone a bit too early).

Sometimes I hear people say, "I don't want to sell to my friends."

Or, "I don't want to be pushy."

Or even, "I don't want to me that person..."

Here's the deal. Someone is going to push that ball over the goal line. It might as well be you. That's right. If someone wants a kit, they're going to buy it somewhere.

Just like the play above- someone was going to get that ball in the endzone. If you don't let them know that you can help them out, they will get it from somewhere else, and someone else will get paid.

What's the moral of the story?

1. Don't get caught up in the moment so much that you celebrate too soon as you starting wrapping your class. Teach your class in a way that it leads to the close. 

2. If you have a large class, you may want to pass out a few paper applications- then let people transfer the info to a computer when they're done. This, in effect... 

* gives everyone something to do instead of just sitting around (they may leave if they get antsy)

* makes the time AT the computer go faster- b/c the answers are already written

3. Let them know, without being pushy, that you are in business... that you actually get paid... and that, no pressure, but you'd love to help them if and when they decide to order the incredible products Young Living offers.

Yes, it's OK to...

• Let people know that you do this as a business
• Let them know you make a commission if they order from you- so if even if they decide not to purchase now, consider coming back to you later if they want to purchase then...

In fact, being uprfront about it may actually take some of the "weirdness" out of it. Just be transparent, then they don't- and you don't- have to wonder what's going on...

By the way, this "dropping the ball before crossing the endzone" became somewhat of an epidemic in football this past year. That is, ball players everywhere did all the work yet failed to close the sale...

Here's the deal: you miss 100% of the sales that you don't ask for. One. Hundred. Percent. 

Don't. Be. That. Guy. 

:-)

FYI... 

Here's how this fits with the bigger picture. Basically, there are THREE THINGS that can grow your biz. Everything has to lead to one of these purposes- or it's not GROWING you:

* Enrolling new members

* Moving existing members to Essential Rewards

* Multiplying Leaders

This one... well... it knocks out #1 and #2... at the same time!