By: Ilene Meckley

Note from the author:

Thank you for reading my first E-Book. I want you to read this knowing that this industry works when you work. It is as simple as that. Never let the economy or the season prevent you from sharing your business with everyone you meet. I can help you with effective language, inspiring motivating stories and advice from working in this industry for 25 years. I have helped thousands of people earn executive income levels, and have helped people achieve remarkable personal recruiting records. However, I am unable to make you do what is necessary to becoming successful, and that is sharing your business. For those of you who are reading this and are not familiar with me let me take a brief moment to introduce myself.

When I started working in this industry 25 years ago I was a mother of 5 children, the youngest being 5 years old and the oldest at the time was 11. I had no background in sales other than being the top seller of girl-scout cookies in the fourth grade. I had a background in Social Work and truly loved helping people. I was extremely shy and dreaded talking to people.

My first year I had a very high record of recruits because I loved the company I represented and believed it would be perfect for anyone to earn extra income alongside their family and activities. The first year of business I went to my companies convention. Home Office had asked me to speak at the convention and share about my success but I was terrified. I told them I could not do it. One of the Home Office executives told me “I did not know that you were so selfish.” I did not think I was not being selfish until she said that and put everything into perspective. From that moment on I decided to share with everyone everywhere not because of how I felt about the experience but to give someone the opportunity to say yes or no to the opportunity I was offering.

After 13 years of recruiting 50 people a year for a total of over 650 personal recruits and selling hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, I decided to take my experience and share it with everyone in Direct Sales. I truly believe that we are all colleagues. We may represent different products but we do the same work. We all need to prospect, follow up, provide services and obtain great customer service skills.

For the past 12 years I have trained hundreds of companies helping tens of thousands of consultants reach the next level of success. Three years ago that almost changed. I was traveling home from a seminar with my boyfriend at the time. Usually I like renting mid size cars like Dodge Intrepid because they have large trunk space to hold my luggage. However, when we got to the car rental office they only had an SUV.

As we were driving on highway 40 in Tennessee I fell asleep with my foot on the dashboard working on my Sunday night free newsletter. While I was asleep an 18- wheeler truck had crossed the highway and hit us. Doctors were amazed that I had survived and said that if I were not in that SUV I most definitely would not have survived. I spend over 5 and 1/2 months in the hospital and had 8 surgeries. I had to learn to walk all over again.

My doctors thought that I would have to stop traveling for a living. However, the thoughts and prayers all of my family friends and newsletter members kept me going. One step at a time and I was able to overcome the many challenges that experience had in store for me. It was very hard and to this day I do not live a moment without pain.

When you are passionate about something and truly believe in it you will do whatever it takes to achieve it. If you can remember that, believe that and live that motto I promise you will be more successful than you could ever imagine. I did not die that dark night three years ago and I truly believe it was because I have a bigger purpose on earth.

My goal is to help each and every one of you see that you can have it all, with your family and your businesses. The only question is, are you passionate enough about your business to do whatever it takes to be successful? If your answer is yes, then please continue reading this book because I have some great language and tips to help you along the highway of success. Just remember to proceed with passion!

Love,

Ilene

Product Special- Ilene teaches a language and a system that is proven to work. Like learning any other language it takes time and practice. If you are looking to learn more to help your business take off please call (800) 383-2039. Buy 3 or more cd’s or books by Friday June 27th for only $9 each. That’s almost 50 % off original price. (Original price- $16 each)

Chapter 1- Stop Deceiving Yourself- Top 10 Excuses People Use and Top 10 Positive Thoughts

We can easily get into a rut and deceive ourselves. We are not always willing to do things that are uncomfortable or new to us. That is when the paralyzing words “I can’t” just roll off our tongue. The words really mean, I Certainly Am Not Trying. Stop deceiving yourself with the words “ I Can’t.” Instead learn to think, how can I? Any time you think that you are unable to do something for your business, ask yourself, “Am I just giving myself an excuse not to do something I am uncomfortable doing.”? Then think, “How can I do it?”

Have you ever used one of the following as an excuse not to grow your business?

1. I don’t want to be pushy.

I think it is an excuse for not wanting to hear someone say no. Sharing is never pushy. Sharing is offering and caring is being happy with whatever they say,

2. I can’t find time to work on my business during the summer.

Sharing about your business can be done in 30 seconds or less. Have you ever thought about the fact that sharing five times a day will mean only 2 1/2 minutes a day and doing 6-8 classes/parties a month is 18- 24 hours or 3 traditional work days. I believe we find the time for the things we decide we need to do.

3. Nobody wants to book a party.

Is it that nobody wants a party or is it that you ask a few people and decide they represent everyone? Doing two parties every week for 52 weeks=104 hostesses or three a week = 156. Think about sharing with five people every day, 25 a week, 100 month, 1200 a year. A thousand people can say no and you can still be very happy and successful.

4. I can’t talk to people I don’t know.

Friends that you have now were once people that you did not know. I believe we tell children all the time to make new friends when they first start school. I know that we can do that too. Is it really more about being uncomfortable? Decide that you will enjoy meeting new people. Whether or not they are interested in your business or not, learn to be interested in people and not just what they can do for you. Do not let your happiness or feelings be determined by their response to you? Decide to be happy that you made the choice to share.

5. I can’t attend trainings. Ask yourself, “What do I need to do so that I can be sure I am at our next training?” Make a commitment to keep learning. Make a plan to attend your next training. It is something that is important to do for your success. I want to remind you that we make time for things that have value. Learning new ideas to grow your business is of tremendous benefit.

6. I can’t recruit.

Recruiting is all about giving people an opportunity. Is it that you can’t or is it that you are not doing anything to recruit? Are you always sharing the opportunity? Make a decision that everyone will be invited to join you and you will see that you can recruit. “Just Ask!” If you don’t it is an automatic no.

7. Nobody ever calls me back.

Is it possible you are calling people over and over again who really have no interest. I believe that when you are calling 25 -30 different people every week, there will be people calling you back. Making 100 calls a month to different people will lead to lots of results.

8. I am shy

I use to be. I was so concerned about what people would think of me. Someone pointed out that was pretty selfish. I did not like hearing that. That is when I taught myself to use words that were all about making people feel good so that I could learn to share something I knew could help others.

9. I work full time

I know that working full time and building a business can be challenging at times. Think about it as a challenge though and not a burden. Think positive thoughts. Working on a business can give you lots of choices. Believe that you are so fortunate to have found an opportunity that can work alongside your family and other activities.

10. I am not a sales person

Become a caring person who is eager to share your company with everyone to find those who are interested. Selling is something you do when someone you share with expresses an interest in what you are sharing. They indicate they want to be in the position to make a decision about the opportunities you are offering. I know if I said to you, “Tell me about your products”; I know you could do that. Selling is not convincing. There is big difference to me. A good salesperson informs and allows the customer to make their decision.

EXERCISE- Circle the excuses that you currently use in your business and email your team leader how you are going to not use the excuse anymore. If you have succeeded in reaching this goal email Ilene@ilenemeckley.com and share how you it went.

If you would like to learn more about making the necessary changes to reach success please check out my cd, I Can I Will, the Language of Success.

Chapter 2- Dealing with a Challenging Economy

Let’s focus on staying positive.

"Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us."

Earl Nightingale

"We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within."

Earl Nightingale

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."

Earl Nightingale

"Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality."

Earl Nightingale

We all know that the price of gas continues to rise. This is the time you can really offer such a wonderful service to your customers. This is also the time to focus on meeting new customers. I want you to decide that this is the time for your business to prosper because you are so passionate about being helpful to others.

I know many of you have expressed to me that people are saying that they are hesitant to book parties/classes because of people not having extra money to spend. I have a suggestion and want to challenge each of you reading this to pick up the phone and use the following language to paint some pictures for people to hear/see that there is a reason to invite their friends over to see your products. Use the following language and let me know how it works for you.

Language to Use on Your Next Call

"Hi Barbara. Are you interruptible? I am calling you today because I know we are all feeling the challenges of our current economy. I want to be sure that I am able to continue to provide the best customer service I can. I would love for you to be one of my hostesses for a new pilot program I want to do. I would like for you to tell your friends and family about how I am really aware of all the financial challenges people are experiencing and I want to help. I would love to do parties/classes starting now with the goal to help them check off one or two gifts they will need for the holidays. Some of the guests attending might want to be one of the next hostesses for the following month so the group can continue to check off another gift they would need to purchase for the holidays. Can you imagine how rewarding it will be to have all of the holiday shopping completed before Thanksgiving? This way people are not worrying, ‘how are we going to afford gifts for the holidays all at once’? Barbara, I have Thursday available. Would you like to be one of my first hostesses to help their friends be less stressed when it comes to holiday shopping? We will make it fun, beneficial and worthwhile." Then ask, "Have you ever thought about doing something alongside your family and other activities to earn extra income? It would be fun to have you join this mission helping others and at the same time helping your family too. It is so important to stay positive and help others do the same. What do you think? Can you see yourself trying it out to see if it could be for you? Sometimes the only way to find out if something is for you is to do it. Then whether it is or isn't you will have reached a goal of finding that out."

Chapter 3- Before You Go Out Prospecting Think About This

Do you have an “open” sign on the doors of your business or a “closed” sign?

Prospecting is one of the most important aspects to building a successful business. If you are not sharing your business with everyone, everywhere you go, then you essentially have a “closed” sign hanging on your door. This chapter is going to talk about important factors to take in account before you go out prospecting so that you not only have an “open” sign, but so that you can build a large thriving database of customers.

I have talked to many consultants and leaders who express that during the summer their business typically sees a decline. They attribute this to many factors including more people vacationing and thus not wanting to host a class/show/party or their kids are home and they cannot work. (We will be talking about how to balance your work schedule around your children in the second edition)

For those who are actively prospecting you will probably agree that the summer is one of THE best times to prospect. Think about how many places you will be going this summer. Whether it be the pool, barbeques, picnics, parks, vacations, company conventions, or sporting events, think about how many people you will encounter.

EXERCISE ONE- I want you to write down a list of 10 places that you want or need to go to within the next two working weeks. It can be anything from the pool to the grocery store. Here is an example:

1. Grocery Store

2. Michael’s swim meet

3. TGI Fridays to celebrate swim meet

4. Church

5. Movie Theater

6. Gas Station

7. Crofton Park

8. Golden Spoon Yogurt

9. Gym

10. Concert

As you go to these places make a point to talk to at least one person about your business. In many of the places that you go to you can have the opportunity to talk to many people. Make sure it is natural and that you let them know that you would like to follow up with them at a more appropriate time. See if it is something that they would be interested in. This is important because just as you are not going to these places JUST to prospect, these people did not come to these places to hear all about your business. When I would prospect it would take me less than 30 seconds to generate shared interest, ask them if they had heard of my company, and if they would like for me to follow up at a more appropriate time.

FAYC- Forget About Yourself Completely

A very important thing to remember before you prospect is that this process is about them not you. In order to be Heart at work you need to ask people if they are interested in learning more about your business. If they say it is perfectly ok. That is their choice. It should not affect the way you feel about yourself or your business. If you can truly internalize, live and breathe FAYC when it comes to prospecting you will never hesitate to share with anyone. At my seminars I often give an example about bubble gum and an airplane that helps people truly put this into prospective. Imagine you were on an airplane. Your ears begin to pop and you reach into your purse and get out a pack of bubble gum. You are sitting in the middle seat and ask the person to your left if they would like a piece. That person says “no thank you”. Do you then think to yourself “well that is it!"? I am not offering anyone else gum ever again. He said no to me and that was just too traumatizing!” Or, do you simply turn to your right and offer gum to the next person? I would like to think that most of us (if not all) would do the latter. If you can have that same mentality with your business then you are ready to be very successful in this industry.

EXERCISE TWO- Go to your local grocery store or convenient store and purchase your favorite pack of gum or breath mint. Stick it in your purse as a constant reminder to share your business with everyone, everywhere you go and most importantly to remember that prospecting is sharing your business opportunities with people to give them the opportunity to say yes or no.

If you would like to learn language to help you recruit in any situation please check out my cd, Recruiting Starts with Sharing and Caring. It will cover my techniques that resulted in me personally recruiting over 650 people in 13 years.

Chapter 4- ABC’s of Prospecting- Where to go and What to Say

Are you ready to prospect? I love to prospect because I get to meet so many new people. Whether they say yes or no to me following up with them at a more appropriate time is not my focus. I knew I represented an amazing company with phenomenal products and that feeling did not change based upon whether people said yes or no. However, I got to meet my neighbors and people across the country that had I not owned my own business I would have missed out on talking to. When I began my business I was extremely shy and froze when I talked to people. As soon as I applied FAYC and committed to making at least 5 contacts a day, I became confident, happy and successful. Lets talk about places you can prospect and what to say when you do.

General Prospecting Language- Let’s say you are at a grocery store and in the check out line. You can talk to the person in front of you by asking” Do you come here often?” They will reply yes or no. Then you can say ”I usually like coming here at this time of the day because the lines are not as long, its one of the best parts about having my own business. Have you ever heard of us?” They will respond yes or no. If they respond yes, then you should ask if they have a personal consultant. If they say yes you should respect that and not try to steal the customer away. If they respond no to being familiar with your company then simply say, “ well I know you are not here to hear about my business but I would love to follow up at a more appropriate time, is that something you might be interested in?” If they say yes, ask if they would feel comfortable giving their name and number. If they are not interested in you following up with them say "thank you so much for being honest with me,” and change the topic so that you end on a sincere note. Ask them if they have children, or if they come to this location often. Then, when you get to the cashier, tell them that you appreciate their customer service and that it is something you focus on in your business. Ask them “are you familiar with Company XYZ?” If you approach your prospecting with this sharing and caring tone you will never feel pushy again and the people you talk to will not feel as though you are a pushy sales person.

One of the reason top leaders in top companies invites me to train their consultants and leaders are because of my ability to coach successful language. If you would like to learn more about how to pain pictures with words please check out my cd, Painting Pictures with Words.

ABC’s of Prospecting in the summer Part One (Additional prospecting language and Part Two will be in the second edition)

A- Airport- Talk to someone at the ticket counter, security line, the waiting area, food court, and magazine shop.

B- Ball Game- Talk to someone in line at the concession stand, to the cashier at the concession stand, someone sitting next to you, line to the bathroom,

C- Convenient Store- Talk to someone in the aisle, in line to checkout and the cashier

D- Doctors Office- Talk to someone in the waiting room, receptionist, and Doctor

F- Fourth of July- If you are celebrating this at a park you can talk to people sitting next to you and any food stand.

G- Gym- Talk to someone working out next to you, someone at the check-in counter and your personal trainer.

I- Ice cream store- Talk to someone waiting in and line and the cashier. If they have a place to sit and eat outside make sure you talk to someone there as well.

J- Jet-ski- Talk to someone who rents it to you and someone else who is jet skiing.

L- Lunch at Restaurant- Talk to someone waiting for a table, a hostess, and your waiter.

M- Museum- Talk to people in the different exhibits, in any line, and at the museum restaurant.

If you would like a recruiting tool that talks about FAQ’s of the Direct Sales industry that you can give to any prospect please take a look at my booklet, Yes! You Can Have It All.

Chapter 5- You Heard a No, I Heard Next Opportunity- Things to Remember when You Hear the Word No

Now that you have been prospecting I am sure you have heard the word NO. Do not be discouraged, remember FAYC. Also remember that the word NO in our line of work means Next Opportunity. You will go through hundreds of people are not going to be interested. In order to get to the Yes’s we will have to go through the No’s. If you are making 5 contacts a day 5 days a week, you will prospect with over 100 people a month, 1,200 people a year. Out of those 1,200 if only 90% said NO, would you be happy with 120 people who say YES?

Many people in all professions hear the word NO and do not let it prevent them from doing their job on a daily basis. Doctors and Lawyers go to school for years knowing that they are not going to be able to save every life or win every case. In their profession that is similar to their NO.

You have to believe that there are people out there who would benefit from your products and services. In fact, you are living proof that the products and services do work and can enhance someone’s life. Just know that not everyone will take advantage of your services but that is ok.

EXERCISE- I know this exercise is going to be a little silly but I want you to eternalize that NO is OK! Take a sheet of paper out and write the word “NO” as big as you can. Inside the “O” put a smiley face. I told you this exercise was going to be a little silly but I want you to remember that NO face the next time someone says it to you. Remember, a NO is not a personal attack to you, and it should not change your opinion of your company. Most importantly, NO is OK because it means there are more opportunities out there to get the Yes’s.

Chapter 6- Follow Up Phone Call- How to do a Phone Workout Routine Each Week

How many of you fear using the phone? In this chapter we are going to get yourself in a great routine to do your follow up phone calls. I want to introduce how to do a phone workout. Pick a time when you and a teammate can make calls for 30 minutes straight. Call your buddy and prepare with the “stretch”. During the “stretch” you can practice your calls on each other. Also, give words of inspiration. Then, hang up and begin dialing as many contacts as possible using the full service call. Then after the 30 minutes call your friend for a “cool down” period. During this portion of the phone workout discuss your results.

If you have kids I suggest implementing Phone Time is Fun Time. The purpose of Phone Time is Fun Time is to get your kids in the habit of behaving while you are making phone calls by giving them an activity to do. We will go into further detail Phone Time is Fun Time ideas in Part Two.

Making the follow up calls is so important to your business. Not only do you get to find out how you can help the person but also it is a great way to provide customer service to current customers.

I have a phone workout conference call that I provide for teams. It lasts an hour where the first and last 15 minutes of the hour I give language coaching. The middle 30 minutes is where the group hangs up and makes their calls. I love helping the teams get results sing my language that helped me with my award winning career- If you have a group of 20 or more and would like to learn more about this program please call (800) 383-2039 or email Ilene@ilenemeckley.com.

Chapter 7- Leading By Example

I want to encourage each one of you to be the best coach ever. Your job is to help the players on your team see that they can do more than they ever imagined. It is important to identify what winning looks like to each of your players in order to come up with their right game plan.
Do you agree in order to win the game of success; you have to identify what winning will look like for each of your consultants? Be careful not to end up coaching spectators. You know, the person who is sitting in the bleachers just waiting for the players to do what it takes so they can feel like a winner. I feel that it is so important for your consultants to be ready to play and not just think about playing.

After a coach helps their team member identify what winning will look and feel like then it is time to help your consultants turn “fear” into “fare.” In doing so, you rearranged something far more significant than a few letters of the alphabet. You help people to overcome negative fear of failure, and take positive action to enable them to fare well as they journey toward their goal. You become very focused to help them achieve, so they will never self deceive
.

Help your players to be “heart at work” instead of merely remaining “hard at work.” Help them to realize that you are heart at work, and no longer hard at work. This is when you stop being afraid to share an opportunity with someone to participate in the benefits of your business because you fear a negative reaction.

Those of you who are familiar with me and my message already know that I feel very strongly that in order to grow we must force ourselves out of our comfort zone. I believe that one of the reasons I get such positive feedback from those who has attended my seminars and workshops, or conference into my coaching calls, is because I never ask anyone to do something that I have not previously done myself. As a leader put yourself in the position to be constantly growing and stepping out of your personal comfort zone. It is hard to expect of others what you are not willing to expect of yourself.

If you would like to learn more of my coaching tips for your consultants and hostesses please check out my CD, Coaching Your Way to Success.

Conclusion- Wrap Up- How to Get Part Two

Thank you all for reading this E-Book. I hope you gained some insight to help you prosper not only this summer but as long as you chose to be in business. Again, this industry works when we work. What better time for you to have people join your team than now. With this challenging economy comes the need for others to earn some extra income alongside their families and activities they are involved with.

We would love to come to your next kickoff. If you do not have a kickoff planned and would like to help host an Ilene Meckley workshop in your area please call us at (800) 383-2039 or email us at Ilene@ilenemeckley.com. Ilene has a gift and was given the opportunity to share that gift with all of you. Having Ilene do a live workshop will change the lives of your team and colleagues. Her story of how she rose to the top of this industry and then how she survived what doctors proclaimed as a miracle with touch your hearts and help you for the rest of your life.

Part Two of this E-book will be completed in 2 weeks. The topics will include

* Consistency is Key
* More Language scripts
* Phone Time is Fun Time
* How to raise a family alongside your business
* Organization
* Paint by number approach to becoming a leader in months
* And More!!

We will be holding a conference call Sunday June 29th. Ilene will provide prospecting and phone scripts, how to recruit, and how to use the E-Book to maximize results.

Part Two will be sent to those who are serious about taking their business to the next level and leading this industry through example. The conference call and E-Book Part Two will be $5. We hope you enjoyed Part One and we look forward to working with those who are ready for success! Registration deadline is Thursday June 26th.