Changes in the product line….good or bad? April 14, 2007

 
Anyone who reads MK related blogs, whether pro or anti, probably already knows that there are most likely some changes coming to our color line. This is an especially big topic over at PT. It seems to me that some (not all) of the folks over there would like to have it both ways. They would like for everything to stay the same, all the while complaining that MK products are out of date. Personally, it’s really a non-issue for me at this point. I like the products that we have now, but if the company decides to make changes, then I will be fine with it. I’m sure that any changes made will be for the better, and as with all life changes, we will all adjust.

Every company makes changes to their product line. It’s a fact of business, like it or not. The cosmetics industry is a constantly changing business. Have you noticed how often Revlon and CoverGirl come out with new products? They aren’t just adding the new products to their current line. Something is being done away with. There are always new colors, new formulas, new technology, etc. that can and should be taken advantage of. We don’t expect, and probably wouldn’t want the exact same products we used 10 years ago if there is something better that we can use.

So, what’s your take on product changes? I like them. I would hate to think that I am selling a product from a company that believes that there is no room for improvement. That would mean that they believe they have perfected something, and we all know that perfection in a product is rare, if it exists at all.

More thoughts on the Satin Hands Special April 11, 2007

Okay, it’s 12:30 am, and I can’t sleep because I have had an idea pop into my head that I think will be really great. If anyone has anything that they think they can add to this, please do. This was all triggered by my previous post about taking advantage of the calendar. I really got to thinking about the police/emergency medical services appreciation weeks that are coming up. I’ve decided that I am going to the city clerk here in town (luckily for me it’s my father, so it will be rather easy to get in to see him) and suggest that we do an appreciation day for all emergency personnel here in town. I think what I am going to suggest is that I will go to local businesses, and see if they would be willing to donate $20 toward the cost of the gifts for all of these wonderful men and women. Each person would receive a satin hands set (I’m sure they could all use it) and some much deserved recognition for all of their hard work. The businesses could write it off as a tax deduction, and of course I would make sure they are acknowledged for their contributions. I figure I can also see if the business owners would like to purchase either gift certificates or satin hands sets for their employees while I am there.

If this goes well here in my town, I think I may expand this idea to the other towns in my area. So, what do you all think? Good idea or not?

Update:

Apparently this has really ruffled some feathers over at PT. While I do not feel the need to justify my actions to them, I do want to expand a bit on what I am going to do so that those of you who might be thinking of doing something similar will have an idea of what needs to be done.

When I spoke with my father this afternoon, (yes, I “used” my connections in the city offices to find out the proper way to go about this – shame on me), he told me that the best way to do it would be to get the backing of the local business council. He said the city could not do it because of the conflict of interest with me being his daughter. (I had already figured that would be a problem, plus with the city council having to approve it, I wouldn’t be able to keep a lid on the whole thing.) I have already gotten the approval of the council, and begun work on getting the donations. I am not actually collecting the money until I know that I will have enough to do this. I only had time to speak to about 6 business owners today, but I have already had over $400 pledged toward this. I plan on spending the next few days visiting as many businesses as I can. Everyone I have spoken to thus far likes the idea.

It was “suggested” that if I wanted to do something nice for these men and women that I should “cook them dinner.” While that is a good idea, and I do cook dinner occasionally for my sister who is a cop and my friends at the firehouse, this isn’t what I want to do. I want to show these folks that the community supports them and is grateful for all of the hard work they put in. Are the products too girly? I don’t think so. Many of the men in my life LOVE the satin hands set. I also plan on including the new sun protection products.

Lastly, this is NOT about making money. I am doing this because I have a genuine desire to show my appreciation for these people and all of their hard work. All of these groups are currently working on a big project that is set to be completed the second week of May. I think this is the perfect time for what I am planning. ALL of the businesses and individuals that make donations will be acknowledged for their generosity. My name will only be listed along with the other businesses. My labels will not be on the products. It is enough for me to know that I am doing something that will let them know that their community supports them. That is all I need from this!

Are You Taking Advantage of Your Calendar? April 11, 2007

 With the new buy two get one free promotion on Satin Hands Sets (beginning April 15th) We have many opportunities to use the upcoming holidays to really build our businesses. These are the holidays that we have in the next two months.

April (entire month) – Customer Service Month – we can take advantage of this just about anywhere.

April 25th – Administrative Professionals Day

April 27th – Child Care Professionals Day

May 6th – 12th – Teacher Appreciation Week/Nurses Week

May 7th – Nurses Day

May 13th – Mother’s Day

May 13th – 19th – Police Week (this one means a lot to me since my sister and BIL are cops)

May 20th – 26th – Emergency Medical Services Week

May 21st – Waitstaff Day

 I plan on taking full advantage of all of these. I am going out tomorrow and talking to anyone who will listen. There are just too many great gift-giving opportunities for us to pass them up.

I’ve been busy April 4, 2007

  Things have been a bit crazy around here for the last week or so. I finally had a fishbowl that paid off! I have added 15 new names to my PCP list, and yesterday I booked 2 facials and 3 classes for the next two weeks. I still have around 30 names to call, so I’m hoping to have a FULL book for the rest of the month. I have a friend that I am talking to today about possibly joining, and a former consultant that I am calling tomorrow because she said she was thinking about restarting her business. Things are definitely on a roll. I hope to be able to post more, but it doesn’t seem likely. I hope I am absolutely crazy busy for the next two months. I would really love nothing more than to be able to pick and choose exactly when I am working, but for the moment, I don’t have that luxury. I want and need to build this up as much as possible before my son gets out of school for the summer. I want to be able to truly enjoy the summer with my children for the first time ever, but if I don’t get this to where I want it to be by then, I will still be working like crazy. So, there’s my goal and my “why” for the moment.

I hope everyone is doing well. Believe me when I say, if I can do this, anyone can do this!

Are you going to Career Conference? March 15, 2007

Hey everyone! I hope you are all having a great day! I was just wondering if anyone is going to CC this weekend. I am leaving in the morning and headed for Memphis! My NSD is going to be there, so I am super excited. My only worry is that I tend to get a bit nervous when I am around large groups of people. I already warned my director that she is going to see a different side of me for the first hour or so, at least until I get adjusted to the situation. It usually passes quickly, but that first hour or so will be rough. Hopefully I will be able to get some rest tonight. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m wearing! (I’ve been trying to figure that one out since before I even registered for CC!) Anyway, let me know if you are going, and if you have gone in the past, please tell me some of your experiences. If anyone is going to Memphis, look for me!

Is there a difference between being pushy and being persistent? March 13, 2007

Yes! There is a difference! Being persistent means being determined, unrelenting, and enduring through the tough times. Being pushy? Well, as we all know, means stepping beyond acceptable boundaries. So, how do we know where to draw the line? Is there a clearly defined way of knowing when we are going too far?

Unfortunately, there is no clear answer on this one. We cannot always know when we are pushing that fine line. Very few people, especially women, will come right out and tell you that you are driving them bonkers! We have to learn to interpret, and accept the subtle signs that our customer/potential customer simply is not interested. Is she avoiding eye contact with you when you cross paths at the grocery store? Has she not returned your calls? Does she turn and run the other direction if she sees you walking down the street? (Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so subtle, but I think you get my point.)

I think the bigger question here is what is it that we are doing to make them feel like this? What do we need to do to avoid this altogether? My personal opinion; make a conscious effort to make every encounter with every person we meet as pleasant for them as possible. Mary Kay said “Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying ‘Make me feel important.’” Notice, that sign does not say “Make me want to buy something.”

When I see people that I know, especially if they know that I am an IBC, I make sure that the conversation does not begin with MK. If the conversation graduates to that subject, it’s great. If it doesn’t, so what! I’ve just had a nice conversation with a friend. My sister told me when I started that she was not interested in anything MK. I respected that, and didn’t mention it at all to her. However, when she comes by my house, she always looks at the random things that may be lying around. She has purchased two things from me in the last week, and is thinking about a third. The cashier at the gas station had told me that she didn’t have time for a makeover. No big deal. Tonight, as soon as I walked in the door, she asked me how much the eye shadow was, because she had tried the original sample I had given her, and she loved it. I told her how much it was, and that she could get one for free if she would be a model for my portfolio. She’s coming over next week. Imagine that….I have two customers who were not intially interested, and without another word about it from me, they are now wanting more. Was I pushy? Of course not! Was I persistent? Yes, but not about MK. I was persistent in the context of being personable and respecting limits.

My observations after a wonderful day… March 10, 2007

We’ve all heard the complaints that there are too many MK consultants for anyone just starting this business to be able to build a reliable customer base. I just want to throw a few figures around to explain why I feel like this really shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, this is just my experience, so it could be different from others.

I live in a very small town. There are approximately 5,000 people living here. I know that there are at least 7 ACTIVE other consultants that live here. In two months I have built a customer list of just over 60. Yes, you read that correctly…..60 customers in two months. 42 of those customers actually live in this town. Now, let’s get a bit more detail.

There are about 500 students in the local school. That knocks the number of available customers down to around 4,500. If we presume that about 1/2 of those are male (let’s be honest, not many men are looking for MK consultants) then we are left with about 2,250 potential customers. Now, realizing that I have NO IDEA what percentage of those would be willing to order, let’s throw out a low percentage just for fun. Let’s say 15%. That leaves us with only 337 potential customers in this small town. Knowing that there are at least 8 active consultants in town (including myself), that averages out to only 42 customers per consultant. (I promise I didn’t pre-figure all of this!)

That means, that in only two months, I have gained all of the customers from this town that I am going to get. Somehow, I just don’t see how that is possible. As a matter of fact, I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface. I got 27 new names today. I set up a booth at the local car show, and it was great! I had a good time, and lots of people came over to see what I had going on. 24 of those names are not included in my customer count, because they have not yet purchased anything from me. I suppose it’s possible that none of them will ever order, but I would like to think that they probably wouldn’t have given me their name at all if they weren’t at least a little bit interested. Now, before anyone comes back with the “they only gave you their name to get you to leave them alone” comeback, I didn’t approach any of these women. They came over to me. I talked to them for a couple of minutes, and they went along. There was no sales pitch. No pressure. I was simply out there having a good time and trying to help out the MKACF. I was enjoying the live music, and chatting with family and friends as they came by. I wasn’t wrangling people in with promises of discounted products. What I did do, was have a good time. People came over because they saw something interesting at my booth. I don’t know if it was me, the information I had out, or something else entirely. What matters is that they came over, and they didn’t feel like they had just been assaulted by a “Kbot.” They saw that I am a friendly person, and that I enjoy what I do. Even if I have not earned any new customers from this (and I know that I have) I have at least met new people, who will probably remember me the next time they see me. And guess what, I’m not going to shove MK down their throat then either. That’s not what I am about.

To be honest, I do this because I love being around people. It’s what makes me tick. I love every minute that I spend working my business. Yes, it is work, but at least it’s work that I enjoy.

I know that this has been a bit scattered, but my brain is working overtime. I have a whole bunch of new people to contact tomorrow, and I’m very excited about it!

Think I’m going to Debut February 25, 2007

Last night, while I was cleaning my house, I started thinking about having my business debut. I realize that most consultants that have these do them relatively quickly after becoming a consultant. I didn’t originally want to have one, but I have changed my mind. I think it would be a great chance for me to learn some things from my director. She has offered to do this for me, and I’ve never really given her a firm yes or no, but I’m going to email her today and let her know that I have decided to do this. I think I’m going to plan it for the weekend after Career Conference. I figure I’ll be on a pretty good “pink high” at that point, so I think it will be good timing. I’m not exactly sure what all will go into it, and unitnet is down right now, so I can’t look there, but I really want to plan this well. Has anyone reading this had a debut? Any ideas on what works and what doesn’t? I want this to be HUGE! I figure since I have a month to plan it, I have the time to do as much as possible. Any tips?

Wow! Moment of the day… February 20, 2007

I went to my unit meeting last night, and my recruiter showed me a brochure that she had put together about the benefits of hosting a web party. I kept a copy of it, and when I got home, I adjusted it to fit my specific business needs. I printed out 6 planning on handing them out today. Unfortunately, my daughter was sick this morning, so I didn’t get to do much of my usual running around. Most of the morning I spent working on my color consultation workbook, and trying to get it organized since I am working on 100 faces in 100 days. When I went to pick up my son from school, I stopped at the gas station for my usual afternoon diet coke. I’ve known the clerk at this particular station for many years, and had asked her before if she was iterested in hosting a skin care class. She gave me the usual “I’m too busy” which I believe she probably is. She works a full-time job, has 2 small children, and her husband is frequently out of town on business. When I went in this afternoon, I figured she would be a good candidate for a web party, since she is so busy and also knows a lot of people. I asked her if I could give her something to look over, and of course she agreed. She looked at it, looked up at me, and exclaimed “So you can do it all online?!?”

This was my “WOW!” moment of the day. She was genuinely excited about being able to set the whole thing up online. I quickly explained to her that she could do it all online and still earn free products. She said she would look it over and let me know. I see her almost every day, so hopefully tomorrow afternoon, she will tell me that she wants to set it up.

I think I was most amazed at how much it appealed to her. Personally, I had pretty much thought that the web parties would not go over well because it takes the personal contact out of the equation. I guess not everyone feels this way. I think I will print up several more of the brochures this evening and hand them out tomorrow. Now, where did I put that eye color chart?……..

Quote of the week 2-18-07 February 18, 2007

“Selling should be a friendly act. Something we do to help people. Something we do with people and for people, not to them.” – Jim Cathcart

I found this quote in the book “Get More Referrals Now!” by Bill Cates. (This is a wonderful book, I read it in less than one day!) When I read this line, I was amazed. It really put this business in a more positive light for me, especially since I know that I cannot, and would not want to, be a “pushy” salesperson. I have gotten into this business to help people. That is what I truly believe I can do. What would it take to get more people to believe that we are in this to help people, not simply to sell “to” them?