To Give Away or Not

Since there have been many discussions about this topic on facebook lately (on our group page and MANY others), I thought I would share my thoughts on offering incentives and give aways to customers:

What am I even talking about you ask?

• Extra hostess gifts on top of what Scentsy offers
• Buy "this amount" and get a free gift
• Referral gifts (for customers, hostesses, or recruits)
• Frequent Buyer Cards
• "Friends and Family" Discounts
• Holiday Discounts (i.e. black friday)

Well that is several different things isn't it?

Before you offer any discount to any customer or hostess, you need to ask yourself this: "Will this benefit my business?" If the answer is YES-go for it. If the answer is NO-you are just throwing product away (even if in good spirit).

If you are doing Scentsy "just for fun" you can stop reading here. However, if you really want to make your Scentsy business work and look at it as a legitimate BUSINESS, keep reading for my thoughts on the issue.

The thing about special gifts and discounts is that you need to save these "specials" for when you really need them. Don't offer them all the time, or your customers will expect them. Also, if a special is not benefitting your business, you might as well just hand them the $30 instead of that free warmer you were going to give them because that is essentially what you are doing-giving away $30 worth of product and gaining nothing in return.

So let me give you my opinion and what I do in each of the situations above:

1. Extra hostess gift on top of what Scentsy offers: If you have a hard time booking parties, I would suggest that you watch this video. This is a video of another top leader in Scentsy. This is an older video and includes mention of some package deals that are no longer available but will give you a good idea of some good practices. If you have parties lined up without even trying-KEEP THE EXTRA PRODUCT and don't give any more away on top of Scentsy's offerings.
2. If you are in jeopardy of loosing your downline (you must sell 150 PRV one of every 3 months to maintain your downline) or if you have promoted to Lead or above and haven't made your 500 PRV for the month, go ahead and offer a special. Just make sure that you are not giving away all the profit you just made! It is okay to give a personal coupon for their next order as a gift if you can't afford it right then. (Ex: Receive a Free Scent Circle with your next order of $25.)
3. Referral Gifts: I do offer referral gifts. My business would not be where it is now without these gifts. My referral gifts change though. I don't have a standing offer that I announce. I simply tell everyone: "I have great referral gifts so tell all your friends about me." That way I am not tied down to what I am expected to gift. If I have had a great month thanks to those referrals, my gifts will be larger. If it is a slow month, maybe just a bar with a handwritten note. No matter what the gift, they are just happy to receive something they didn't expect.
4. I do not do Frequent Buyer Cards. My customers are very loyal and I have never felt the need to do a program like this. That being said, I do add little surprise to my loyal customer's orders. I will even mail a fun gift to those that frequently buy from my website. It is just my way of saying "Thank you". I can do it when my budget allows, not when it is expected.
5. I do not offer Friends and Family discounts either. My mother doesn't get a discount even! (Cruel huh?) I don't think so. I wouldn't go into another store and expect them to give me a discount just because I was their friend. My friends and family don't expect that either. Scentsy is my business. It pays my bills and supports my family. The only "freebies" that I do are for my mom and my sister. They each get a chunk of the brick of the Scent of the Month. They use this in their warmer at work and it in turn gets me orders from their co-workers.
6. Holiday discounts: Again, it depends on if you need to add some PRV for the month. Just be sure you are not giving away all your profits!

Also, please don't ever try to "one up" another consultant by offering a discount. If you are providing great customer service and doing your job well, you shouldn't need to. I am disheartened when I hear about this. My goal is for us all to help grow each other's business by giving Scentsy a great name. We do this by only talking positively about the business in general.

Here is the bottom line (in case you haven't figured it out yet). I want you to MAKE MONEY with Scentsy. If you are giving discounts and freebies to everyone you see, you are not making the most from your business.

Answers

Today's post is a bit different than most on this blog.

I would like to share my daily devotional with you today. It literally made me laugh out loud with joy and I know many of you will share with my delight!

As I am looking at all the bills that I have due right now along with paying for our flights to leadership in Riviera Maya and Christmas, I became extremely overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious. As these thoughts are running through my mind, I decide that I will take a break from paying bills to do my devotional and then get back to "work".
As I open my devotional, this is the verse for today:
Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV)
Do do not worry, saying "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

As I dug further into the verse, I found I REALLY like how the MESSAGE translation reads:
Matthew 6: 30-33
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of the wildflowers-most of which are never even seen-don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not e so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep you life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns are met.

Like I said, I actually started laughing out loud at the answers literally right in front of me!

God is so Good!!!!
I hope this brought joy to you just like it did me.

Our Busy Lives...cont

So let me know address comment #2!

So many times when talking to a possible recruit, I hear these words, "I don't have time to sell Scentsy. I am too busy!"

If someone says these words to you-please understand that they are the BEST possible recruit to have! They are the ones that you want to keep on top of. I never feel like you should guilt someone into signing up for Scentsy or that you should become "that" annoying Scentsy person, but just keep dropping little seeds here and there. Eventually they will see the light!

So why are these the best recruits?

1. Being busy means they are not sitting at home all the time. You must be out and about to meet new people and get new leads.
2. Being busy means they are active in many "circles" of people.
3. Being busy sometimes means that they are working alot already. Who wouldn't want to be able to slow down a bit because they don't HAVE to work as much?
4. Being busy sometimes means they are shuffling kids from here to there. Parents are amazing customers! This possible recruit has TONS of potential customers around them everyday.
5. Being busy means you are on the road a lot. Slap a vinyl on that car and get some advertisement!
6. Being busy usually means they are on-top of their life. They don't drop the ball. They are running around trying to please everyone. With a Scentsy business they can please their number one boss-themselves!

Does Scentsy take time? YES

Is it worth it? YES YES AND YES

Our Busy Lives

I hear two comments frequently about how busy our lives are:

1. How do you stay motivated when life is so busy?
2. I don't have time to sell Scentsy-I am too busy!

Let me address comment #1 first:

Motivation is different for everyone! My personal motivation is the fact that I NEVER want to have to go back to a classroom again! Of course yours will be different. I cannot tell you how to stay motivated-you have to do that yourself. However, your upline SuperStar Director, Allison Dalke, has something that is very powerful-she calls it her "BHAG". This stands for "Big Hairy Ambitious Goal."

Allison came and spoke at Rockstar University this past September. I will try to share her message as best I can:

What is one LARGE goal you desire in life? (A few I have heard are: buying my own house, becoming a stay at home mom, taking the family to Disney, going on a cruise, getting out of credit card debt, buying a new car, paying for my kids' college, retiring early)

Write this Goal down on an index card.

Underneath that-write how you will feel when you achieve this goal. Be specific in this description.

Turn the card over. (I am adding this part) Now write down how you will achieve this goal in a day to day action plan. Will you talk to 5 people a day about Scentsy? Will you do 4 parties every month? Will you promote?

Now fold this card up and keep it with you all the time. I keep mine in my wallet.

You MUST find your motivation!

Comment #2 will be addressed tomorrow!

COMPETITION

I am loving reading all the comments from the survey. I can tell you that none of you are alone! I receive the same comments numerous times. I want to share another one with you because it was so nicely stated:

My only struggle at times is just the amount of consultants in this area that want to compete and don't understand that we work together regardless of what our group or team name is. While I will go above and beyond to give my customers the best customer service I can and I try to do things that make me stand out in a good way. I dont want to ever put a person in a position of stress on who to order from or obligation to buy from me. I have amazing loyal customers. I also have a friend that sells under me. We work as a great pair, helping and encouraging each other.We just live in a small area where some girls can be flat out rude about it. Sort of sad bc this is fun for the rest of us!

There are quite a few points that I want to discuss that were all stated in this comment:

• Thankfully, Scentsy is becoming more well known and the consultant numbers ARE growing. Notice how I said 'THANKFULLY'? I am a "glass half full" kind of gal. I love that there are consultants everywhere you look! This actually can make our job easier. It is easier because we don't have to convice people our product ROCKS-others are doing it for us. The more consultants, the more sales, the easier it is to sell.
• I love that this person says, I dont want to ever put a person in a position of stress on who to order from or obligation to buy from me. You, my dear, have the best outlook! I feel the exact same way. I want my customers to buy from me because they WANT to buy from me-not because I guilted them into it. That might get you customers but it sure as heck won't keep you customers!
• Scentsy should be fun! Yes-I take Scentsy very seriously because it is also my job. However, this is the most fun I have ever had at work.
• As far as how other consultants treat the business and treat their customers-unfortunately we can't change that. We can just take the high road. Like I said in the earlier comment-those actions might make them a sale for today, but it won't keep them customers for life!

No matter how others are treating the Scentsy business-lead by positive example. It WILL pay off by getting customers and recruits in the long run.

Want to know a few ways to set yourself apart from "those" other consultants?

1. Offer lightbulbs for life. I give my repeat customers lightbulbs when theirs burns out.
2. Offer gift wrapping for gift purchases.
3. Make regular deliveries look like a gift for them. All you have to do is tie a cute ribbon around the clear sack and make it look nice. I prefer the tulle on a roll from the craft store.
4. Let you customers know about specials and good deals.
5. Guide your customer to a better deal. This might be a combine and save package or actually sometimes an upsell. If I have someone that has bought travel tins from me in the past-I recommend they try the scent pak. I personally believe it is a better product!
6. BE ON TIME to appointments!
7. Give them GENEROUS samples-don't skimp!
8. Don't "knock" the competition. Be careful and selective in your words.
9. Simply Put---Let them know that they are important to your business!!!!!

I would love to hear what you do to set yourself apart!

Let's Try This Again

Well-been a while since we used this as a form of team communication. However, I have had many people with similar questions and/or frustrations. I think a blog format is the best way for me to address these issues. I hope I can clear some things up, keep you up to date, and keep you motivated through this blog. While I hope to post often-I will not promise daily.

Let's start this back up with something I hear often:

"I talk to people about scentsy. I pass out catalogs to strangers daily. I dont pick up any customers."

It sounds to me like you are really wanting this business to work for you. You are out there talking about Scentsy and getting information in their hands! That is the first step. However, think about this---What causes you to try a new product if you are not familiar with it? What do you do if someone just hands you a catalog of something new? How often do you buy something after just hearing about it once?

Chances are-you will not gain a new customer on your first interaction with them whether it be a conversation or handing them info. Most people buy from others that they are comfortable with and feel they can trust. They also want to be sure that the company and the product AND the consultant are legit. They want to be sure that you are serious about this business and the product. So, how will you convey all this to them in a short interaction? ANSWER: you are not!

I very rarely gain a new customer or a new recruit after my first interaction with them. You must build a relationship. There are a few ways to do this:

• Ask for their email address so you can add them to your newsletter. This takes little to no effort for follow up. The workstation does it all for you! They will receive a monthly newsletter from you. This tells them the business is legit and you are still hangin around.
• Ask for their email address so you can follow up with them. This is great for those recruiting leads. I usually wait a couple days and shoot them a simple email to see if they have any specific questions. (add them to your newsletter list too)
• Each time you frequent a store, visit your favorite cashier or clerk. Make sure you continuously hand her or him the sample of the scent of the month. This keeps you on the forefront of their mind.
• Continue to drop "seeds" about your business. Don't overwhelm them with info at once.
• Don't bombard peeps with too much info. This will drive them away. Make a broad general statement and allow them to ask more questions. This helps you to know where to take the conversation (i.e. customer, recruit, fundraiser, etc...)

The most important this of all is DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!

Continue to talk Scentsy and it WILL pay off. People are watching you to see how serious you are about this business. Thing is---most people who join a Multi-Level Marketing company don't last past 6 months-a year. Your potential customers want to know that you are "IN" and serious. You can't tell them that you are-you have to show them!

Keep sowing seeds and you WILL reap a HARVEST!