Gary's Blog

BeautiControl 107: The Dynamics of a Successful Team

When we think about building a team, by nature the first thing that we think of is getting a new Consultant to join.  As a result, we sometimes forget that keeping a Consultant in business is as important and bringing in new Consultants.  Total Consultant count is actually a more accurate measurement when managing your team.

Because of the quality and efficacy of BeautiControl’s products, you will find Spa guests, clients and even Hostesses who want to join as a Consultant for the sole purpose of receiving a discount on their products. 

Over the years, in fact, we have lost our focus on finding new Consultants who want to join this business because of it’s unparalleled opportunity to earn income while offering the flexibility and freedom of a business owner and have focused too heavily on selling “memberships” to clients to help them receive a discount on their products.  While some of them may eventually see the benefits of selling product and building a team, many of these Consultants place a few orders, then become inactive and are eventually dropped as a Consultant.  Very few of these Consultants who have been dropped ever choose to become a customer of the products or to Host a Spa after she has been dropped.  You will see that the turn-over rate of the “consumer Consultant” is far higher than those who are actively selling, building a team or even sharing the products with a few friends and family.

Your focus as a Leader in this business should be to build a team of sellers and to build a personal client base.  These two key areas of focus will keep you in business and ensure your success today and in the future.  Trust me, the ones who are only looking for a discount will figure that out…you don’t have to use it as a proposition to get them to become a Consultant.  I have a motto that I use quite often, “when you play to the lowest denominator, you will achieve it every time”.  In other words, set low goals and you will always win.

I know I have said this before, possibly multiple times throughout this series; however, it is worth repeating.  There is a huge difference between a Client and a Consultant:

Client:  This is the person that you meet through a Spa or through personal contacts that looks to you as a retailer of products.  You are their “skin care and cosmetic store”.  You have the choice of how you market to your Clients.  Because you receive your Consultant Level Discount, as well as additional savings on products each month, you profit the most when you sell at full price, or when you use your discounted products as sales incentives and Host rewards.  Clients are YOURS.  You are BeautiControl to them, not us.  In fact, your clients will never hear from us unless you enroll them to receive the free BeautiBuzz e-newsletters each month or a Client Connection mailing.

Consultant:  A Consultant is someone who has joined and fully understands that they have signed up with the expectation to sell and hold Spas.  Please, hear me gently here…notice that I said, “understand they have signed up with the expectation to sell and hold Spas”.  That doesn’t mean that you won’t have those who have no intention of selling and holding Spas; however, they are fully aware of what they have signed up for.  Remember, my job is to market to our Consultants as SELLERS and SPA HOLDERS, not clients.  When a Consultant brings someone into the business by “selling a case”, that new “Consumer Consultant” is going to be extremely turned off with weekly emails from BeautiControl talking to them as though they were a business owner, when in fact, they just thought they had purchased a membership from a discount club.  So, this person becomes frustrated with the business, he/she doesn’t order enough product to stay active and it receiving emails from BeautiControl talking about selling and emails from you talking about buying, because in reality you are still treating her like she is your client…which she is!

Can you see what we are doing when we bring people into the business who have no intention of doing the business?  We are sending confusing, mixed messages to them that will turn them off as a Consultant.  As a result, you lose them as a Consultant, you lose what could have been a wonderful client and future Host and in some cases, you lose a friend.  They think they are one of your clients who gets a discount, so you are marketing to them as a client while BeautiControl thinks that they are a Consultant who intends to sell and hold Spas, so we market to them as a seller.

With that being said, please read this part before you start sending me ugly emails, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having the “Consumer Consultant” on your team.  In fact, these Consultants will always be a large percentage of your team and account for the majority of your monthly totals here.  The point here is that over the years we have lost our recruiting verbiage and have relied on “selling the case” as a crutch for getting new Consultants with the HOPE that they will go to BeautiYou, and discover that they can hold Spas and make money in this business.  HOPE is not a strategy, my friends.  We need to change our words and recruit with confidence in our opportunity to make money and change lives.

The key to managing your team dynamics comes from balancing the sellers and the “consumer Consultants” on your team.  Based on 30 years of data, our business (which is a direct reflection of our Consultant’s business) is most healthy when the % of sellers on your team is at least 30% of your total Consultant count and the % of “consumer Consultants” on your team is 70% or under.  The 70%/30% formula reflects a business that is healthy and has positive momentum.

When the balance of “Consumer Consultants” becomes higher than 70%, you will likely find that you have a higher turn-over, you are having to work harder to bring new Consultants onto your team to maintain your team size and you are not making the commissions that you could.  Essentially, this means that you have to work much harder to maintain your earnings.

As you manage your team dynamics, these are the key things that you should keep in mind each month:

• New Consultants:  These, obviously, are the new people that you bring into your business on a monthly basis.  There is a direct correlation between the number of Spas that you hold each month and the number of New Consultants that you add to your team.  Spas are intended to help you generate leads and find others who see you earning money and want to do the same (the basic principles of Party Plan Direct Selling).  If you find that you or your team are not finding enough new people to bring into the business, it is highly likely that is directly related to the numbers of Spas that are being held.
• Active Consultants:  These are the number of ordering Consultants that you have on your team each month.  This is the segment of your team where you need to spend the majority of your focus.  Recognition, motivation and Spa/sales challenges are very effective ways of keeping this segment of your team feeling valued and motivated to grow.  The more sellers you have on your team, the higher your percentage of active Consultants will be each month.  The MINIMUM percentage that you should have ordering each month is 50% of your team.  Once you start to see the mix of sellers and “buyers” shift to that healthy 70%/30% ratio, you will see that the rate of activity on your team increases as well.
• Potentially Inactive Consultants:  This is a very important area of focus.  The potentially inactive Consultant is the Consultant who has not placed a $100 retail order in a four-month period.  I will go to my grave saying that if a person does not use a minimum of $100 retail a month in products, then they are very barely a customer, much less a selling Consultant.   One TFF Extreme and one lipcolor every four months would be enough to maintain the active consultant level.  Ok, sorry, I went off on a tangent.  The point is this…when you see that a Consultant on your team has not ordered and is potentially going to become inactive, meet them where they are and talk to them like a client, which is exactly what they are.  You are the reason that they joined, so you will have the most influence in keeping them.  Schedule a one-on-one consultation with her and offer her an amazing client experience.  Find out what she is interested in and show her what products we have introduced that she may not have seen.  Remind her of all the reasons she joined your team…remember, she joined YOU…not BeautiControl.  We will communicate to this Consultant and remind her that she is going to become inactive; however, you are the one who has the best chance of keeping the Consultant on your team.  You recruited her…I didn’t, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to pay close and special attention to those who fall within this category each month.  You spend so much of your time opening the door to BeautiControl to new Consultants every year, but in the process, you may have also left the backdoor unlocked, allowing for your new Consultants to join, never become active and risk losing their active Consultant status.  Make sure your back door is shut and once you have then join your team, they never want to leave.
• Inactive Consultants:  The inactive Consultant category consists of Consultants who did not maintain their active Consultant status qualifications by ordering a minimum of $100 retail (remember, that is before the Consultant Level Discount) in a four-month period.  Once the Consultant falls into this category, they will remain here for 12 months and can reactivate at any time by placing a $150 retail order.  During this twelve-month period, BeautiControl will send them monthly emails informing them of new products and ordering opportunities and reminding them that they can regain their active Consultant status by placing a $150 minimum retail order.  Historically, we have the best opportunity to re-activate Consultants during months 1 and 2 of their inactive status because many Consultants didn’t realize that there were ordering requirements and they had lost their active Consultant status.  This is one of the reasons that informing the new Consultant of the ordering requirements when they join and communicating with them as a Potential Inactive are so important. 

The most effective and productive way to manage your business as a Leader is to set key performance Indicators for yourself each month, like we talked about in the blog titled, “BeautiControl 104:  Understanding and Working the Success Formula”.  Managing your business by measuring business is the only way to set goals and successfully achieve them.  When managing the balance of your team dynamics, it is crucial that you have a handle on the makeup of your team:

• % of active sellers (a minimum of 30% is recommended)
• % of consumer consultants

By actively managing these simple performance indicators, you can clearly develop a monthly plan of action as it relates to creating contact and activation strategies for your team.  By knowing where your team is most vulnerable, you can focus your efforts to minimize your risks.  Once you fully understand this, you will know who you need to target as a New Consultant, what to do to encourage more selling activities and how to segment your communication to most effectively speak to each of these very different audiences.

A team is a collection of very different people who bring very different strengths to the table.  If you think of it in “sports terms”, in order to be successful, you need a strong and aggressive offense (sellers and active Consultants) and a strong defense (Clients and “consumer Consultants).  When you have the right talent on your team and the right strategy, it is easy to make you business a home run every month.

BeautiControl 106.3: Building Brand Value

Establishing Brand value is one of the most important things that you can do for your business.   Once you compromise your brand value, you erode the confidence in your product and establish yourself and your product as expendable.  The worst thing that can happen to your business is to become expendable to your client base.  It is a fact that when your customer pays more for a product, it has a higher value to them.  I have an array of suits that hang in my closet.  Some of them were moderate priced suits and some were investments.  If my house caught on fire today, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am going to leap through the flames to save those suits and my TFF Extreme.  That is what I mean when I talk about Brand Value. 

As we spend most of our days at work continually analyzing our business dynamics, it has becoming increasingly clear that we, as an organization, rely too heavily on discounting the price of the products to move them rather than creating a special incentive to purchase.  In doing that, you may move some products initially, but in the long run, you degrade the price value of your product.  This is NOT a healthy way of selling products for long-term success.  Have you ever noticed that Department stores NEVER put their cosmetics on sale?  They use other forms of marketing so they don’t discount the value of the brand…Gift with Purchase or Purchase with Purchase are the most common ways of marketing to cosmetic consumers.  Buy one, get one for a discount or free is also a way that cosmetic companies market to their consumers.  If you haven’t gone into a department store in a while, you should consider making that a fun homework assignment.  Venture out to your local department store and walk through the cosmetics department to get some great ideas about how to create special promotions to help move your inventory.

My job, as a Marketing department at BeautiControl, is not to market to you as a BUYER, my job is to market to you as a SELLER…you are the storefront, and the SPA is your sales event in which you sell your products.  Our job is to provide you with the incentive items and the training to put together incentives to offer your clients in order to help move your business.  The only time that my team will market directly to your clients, who are the Buyers, is through Client Connection and the Client E-Newsletter…but unless you sign them up, we have no way of marketing to them for your benefit…this is why our Client Marketing tools can take so much of the pressure off of your shoulders as the SELLER.  Be sure to take advantage of our client e-newsletter and Client Connection mailings…you will be amazed at what it can do for your business.

The purpose of this blog is what I hope to be a “crash course” in Merchandising that will offer some insight into various ways that you can incent the sale of your products without discounting the price to your clients, and eroding your brand value.  Remember, once you start your clients on a discounting habit, it is a harder habit than heroin to break.

Remember, when we market to you, the Consultant, it is a great opportunity for you to stock up on the items that are on sale so you can turn around and sell to your clients.  These are the best times to stock your inventory with the items that you need to keep your business moving.   Buying at a discount allows you to maximize your profits when you sell them at full retail price…OR it allows you to stock up and create a limited time “Sales Event” for your clients.  Each month, we will use a variety of discounting opportunities through category sales, “Gary’s Pick” offers, create a sale on older items and mark them down to very low prices or when we put items on Beauty Bargains, it is not to appeal to YOU as a buyer, it is for you to purchase so you can maximize your profits or even to use them as Gift with Purchase items to incent the sales.  We sell items to you in those occasions so you can add value to your product sets.  These are the best opportunities to load up on really great product at a really great price.

Here are some very typical ways to Merchandise your business to achieve maximum sales:

• Gift w/ purchase
  • Everyone loves the old GWP…gift with purchase.  This is something that is done very frequently at department stores.  I like to use the GWP concept to help incent the purchase of a full price item.  For instance, “For every skin care set purchased at full price, receive a FREE GWP worth $X”.  Or “For every purchase of $X, receive a FREE GWP valued at $X”.  This is a great way to move any older inventory that you may have on your shelves.  Use the older items as a gift with purchase when someone buys one of your better selling items at full price.
• BOGO-buy one get one
  • Who doesn’t love a BOGO sale?  There are some really great products on the Sale list.  Wet/Dry Foundation is a great example of an item that has a loyal consumer base.  These types of consumable products, in addition to lip colors, Lip Colors, Shadows, Blush have great appeal.  These are the types of products where you can do a BOGO offer most effectively.  Another way to do this would be a “Buy a product and get one of equal or less value for FREE”.  Either way, women love a deal almost as much as they love our products.
• Client Appreciation Sale
  • This is great for those who have an established client base.  You can create an order form of products that you have on sale and send to your clients…or better yet, have a “Preferred Client Open House”.  Send out invitations and have a Summer Savings Event.   This is the type of event that you should reserve as an annual event.  Take advantage of the low prices that we offer and pass them along to your preferred clients the following month. 

These are just a few ideas of ways that you can maximize your sales and your profits through Merchandising.  For other great tips, check out other retail channels that sell cosmetics and look for fun ways to incent your sales.  You don’t have to wait for us to give you the items to use in your offers.  I was in the dollar store the other day and saw an adorable set of acrylic margarita glasses for a dollar.  That would be an amazing gift with purchase for the purchase of set of BC’s Margarita products during the upcoming months of summer selling.  In fact, I bought a dozen of them to use as party gifts for various summer parties that I will be attending!  Think like a retailer.  Think about the things that encourage you to buy as a customer and pass them along to your clients in your retail offerings. 

Merchandising is FUN and a great way to move inventory.  Remember, you are in business to sell products and make money…not to give away your profits.  Spending a few dollars to create unique, fun and appealing merchandising offers is MUCH less expensive than selling at a discount plus you can maintain your brand price integrity in the process.  Have fun with it! 

Have a great week!!

Blog 106.2: Protecting Your Brand Integrity

I am constantly reminded of a quote that my father often used, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”  The same holds true for your brand.  Brands are built with consistency, integrity and loyal consumer…a consumer who understands and values the company’s mission, vision and competitive advantage.

Building an iconic brand is not easy, but when it is done correctly, the company icon alone, without any words, will generate awareness and immediate recognition of what that brand will deliver.

Take a look at these iconic brand images.  Can you name each of these brands by icon alone?  What do you expect from each of these brands?  What would you NOT expect from each of these brands?  Here’s are 2 examples:

·      McDonalds – I expect fast food, fast service and I know what my Big Mac is going to taste like whether I am in Taiwan or Tallahassee (and yes, I have had a Big Mac in both). I don’t expect a gourmet, sit-down meal or a luxury experience.

·      Mercedes – I expect quality and luxury.  I expect to pay more, but I also expect top-notch customer service, an espresso while I wait and to have my car washed when I bring my car in for service. 

Brand Consistency

Brands like McDonalds and Mercedes and many, many others have built their reputation by doing what they do best.  Consistency in actions, consistency on delivering on their “brand promise” and consistency in brand image create iconic brands. In case you are wondering what a “brand promise” is, a brand promise is the statement that you make to customers that identifies what they should expect for all interactions with your people, products, services and company.

I hope many of you had the opportunity to complete the exercise that I threw out there in last Monday’s blog “Building your Brand”.  The exercise was designed to help you identify who you want to be as a brand.  Through this exercise, you will have a clear idea of what you want your brand to be and the image that you want to project to your clients, as well as the type of client that you want to attract.

Just for grins, I wanted to share with you a version of this exercise that I did with my team earlier this year.  Our assignment was to identify brands that we admire that represent the qualities that we want from the BeautiControl Brand as well as identifying our target market.  This project helps us to develop a consistent brand image, deliver a brand promise and appeal to our target market.

This image represents that brands that we admire.  Here are the qualities of these brands that best represent from the BeautiControl brand:

·      Luxury image (Chanel)

·      “White Glove” customer service (Mercedes)

·      Recognizable brand image (Tiffany)

·      Quality and Durability (BMW)

·      Consistent, duplicable customer experience (Starbucks)

·      Brand Recognition without being predictable (Louis Vuitton seasonal handbag)

·      A brand for all ethnicities

·      A brand known for skin care and glamour

This image represents our target market:

·      A consumer that understands and appreciates the necessity of relaxation and personal pampering

·      A consumer that spans all ages and ethnicities

·      A consumer who is likely a working mom who is looking for high quality products and/or an opportunity to earn income while being able to spend more time with her family

·      A consumer who understands the importance of Spa quality skin care and anti-aging treatments

·      A consumer that “grows up” with BeautiControl and spans the generations, making BeautiControl a brand for life.

·      A consumer who wants to look her best and stay up to date with the latest trends in skin care treatments and beauty products.

Knowing and understanding this helps us identify the direction that we use to develop our brand identity and protect our brand image.  This is the reason that we have created the “Brand Identity Guide” available to you on BeautiNet.  This guide will help to ensure that you have all of our approved brand colors, fonts, logos, etc to match the image that we are projecting as a company.  This is our “brand bible”, if you will, that guides everything that we do when creating literature and collateral materials to help you brand yourself and brand BeautiControl consistently.

This is an example of the way that we create and maintain a consistent image using our Brand Guidelines.  The images, logos, fonts and materials are very clearly consistent and representative of who we want to be recognized as a brand as well as being designed for our target market.

This is an example of what I found when I did an internet search for BeautiControl.  You can clearly see how different these images are.  If a person who did not know BeautiControl were to do a search, these are the things that they would find.  Who is this brand?  What do they stand for?  What can I expect from them?  Are they current and on-trend?  Do they say “prestige”, “luxury”, “quality”, “cosmeceutical skin care and anti-aging treatments”.  Don’t get me wrong…they are cute, clever and creative, but there is a pretty large disconnect.

Take a look at the materials that you send out to your clients.  Are they representative of the brand image that you want to project?

Be a Product of Your Product

This one should go without saying, but unfortunately, it doesn’t. 

DISCLAIMER:  I am extremely passionate about this, and some might call me a jerk (and that is one of the nicer names). 

I believe in brand loyalty.  I have been known to have “purse dumps” at the office and if there are products that do not have BeautiControl on them, they will go in the garbage.  If my employees accept a paycheck with “BeautiControl” at the top of it, then BeautiControl will be on the items in their purse.  We were in a meeting, not long ago, and there was someone from another department who pulled out a Bobbie Brown lip gloss.  The Bobbie Brown lip gloss went into the trash can. 

Look in your purse.  Look in your cosmetic drawer.  What products do you use every day that aren’t BeautiControl?

I believe that everyone that I see could be a prospective BeautiControl customer or Consultant.  That is why I proudly have my BeautiControl window decal in my car.  That is why I put a little more effort than usual into my personal appearance when I run to the grocery store.  I am my brand.   I am a billboard for my brand and for BeautiControl and I take that very seriously.  What would it say if I pulled out a tube of Carmex or Chap Stick for lip balm?  What does it say to your prospective customers when you pull out a Clinique compact or a Loreal lip color?  It says you don’t believe enough in your brand to use it, so why would I want to buy it from you?

Building a brand and protecting your brand integrity are not always easy, but necessary if you are going to be taken seriously as a business.  Next Monday, we will talk about one of the most important aspects of branding and that is building brand value.  While it has much to do with protecting the integrity of your brand, it deserves its own focus because this is one area of our business where I see we need the most focus.  Building brand value not only determines how your brand is going to be perceived by your consumer, but also how much money you will make in this business.

I hope you all have a great week.  See you back here on Friday.

Ciao.

BeautiControl 106.1: Building Your Brand

I have to be honest. I have been waiting quite a while to write this blog.  This, without a doubt, is one of my hot buttons in this business.  On a daily basis, I see it done EXTREMELY well by some brands and EXTREMELY poorly by others.  I have seen it done EXTREMELY well by us here at BeautiControl and EXTREMELY poorly by us here at BeautiControl.  With that being said, I see it both ways with our sales force as well.

In this series we have touched on each of these topics, but I haven’t combined them into one place like I am with this 3-part series. I’m going to break this series up into 3 parts, because I want you to be able to digest the content, absorb the importance and really take a hard and honest look at your business:

• Part 1:  Building Your Brand
• Part 2:  Protecting Your Brand Integrity
• Part 3:  Building Brand Value

DISCLAIMER:  This is one of those blog series that I am going to have to put a disclaimer on.  I am likely to ruffle a few feathers.  I can’t apologize for that because that’s my job.  My job is to grow BeautiControl’s brand, protect our brand integrity and build brand value and to help you do the same.  You don’t have to tell me how difficult it is, because I live that every day I go to work.  I know what it is like to market and sell to people who only want a discount (you and I both have shared responsibility for that one).  I know what it is like to try to get someone to sell who only wants a discount (you and I have shared responsibilities for that one as well).  I know what it is like to have a hodge-podge brand identity that doesn’t clearly define who we are and what we do (and we, “BeautiControl”, will take full responsibility for that one)

The objective of this series will be to help you question everything you are doing today and encourage you to develop strategies to enhance and grow your business.

Building Your Brand:

Building BeautiControl’s brand is my job.  Building your brand as a Consultant of BeautiControl is your job.  I have to give you the products and tools to successfully go out and establish your business and build your brand in your community.  If you are not sure of how to do this, check out last Monday’s blog, “BeautiControl 105:  Being Seen as a Business Owner”.

As much as we would like for them to, customers are not going to walk up to our door, ring the bell and ask to have a Spa.  To build yourself as a brand, you have to actively market yourself as a brand.  Your image, your tools (business cards, BeautiPage, your set sheets, etc. must be consistent with what you want your brand to look like.

• Looking at the first chart, if you were to compare your brand to a retail store, which of these stores best represent how you see yourself as a brand today?
• Which of these stores would you say your current clients would compare to you as a brand today?
• Which of these stores would you most like for your clients to compare you to as your own brand?
• Which of these brands best represent the way that you would like to represent yourself as your own brand?
• Looking at the brands represented in the second chart, which ones most represent the brands that your current client base would use?
• Looking at the same chart, which ones of these brands best represent the way that you perceive yourself today?
• Which ones of these brands would your clients say best represent your brand today?
• Which of these brands would you most like to compete with and why?
• Looking at both charts, which company or brand do you MOST want to look like and compete with and which ones do you LEAST want to look like and compete with?

Here is your exercise, you can do this alone, or this would also be a great exercise to work on with other Consultants on your teams at a Unit Rally.  By the way, there is no right or wrong/good or bad here.  This is an exercise that I do frequently with my teams to make sure we are on the right course as a brand or if we need to make course corrections and get back on track.

After you have identified which ones of these brands you most want to emulate and the ones that you least want to emulate, I want you to take the brand that you most admire and the brand that you least admire and create 2 boards (or if you are a computer person, create 2 documents or power point slides or whatever floats you boat. 

At the top of the first chart put the logo of the store that you MOST want to create for your own brand image and the logo of the brand that MOST you want other’s to compare you to. 

At the top of the 2^nd chart, put the logo of the store that you LEAST want to create for your own brand image and the logo of the brand that you LEAST want other’s to compare you to.

Knowing who you want to be and who you don’t want to be is one of the most powerful things you can ever do for your business.  Now that you have clearly identified this, I want you to really study these brands, look them up online…go into the store itself…and include images on your charts that represent your findings:

• Who is their customer?
  • How old are they?
  • What are they buying?
  • How do they dress?
  • How much do they spend?
  • Are they more of a professional consumer or a stay-at-home consumer?
• What does the store look like?
• Does the store have a mass image?  A prestige image? A “trendy” image? 
• Evaluate their sales associates?
  • How to they dress to come to work?
  • How much do they know about the products that they sell?
  • Do they actively find you to assist you or do you have to hunt them down and ask for assistance?
• Do people come to that store or purchase that brand because they are looking for a deal or because they are looking for quality?
• Do their products look like they belong in that store or is the product brand image inconsistent with the image of the store?
• Are their mailings, catalogs, website, emails, fliers, etc. consistent with their brand image?
• Do you value and trust the brand?  Why and why not?

After you have both of your charts completed, you should have a very clear idea of:

• Who you are today
• Who you want to be
• Who you don’t want to be

Only after you determine these 3 things can you successfully go about building YOUR brand.  By next Monday, I hope many of you have had an opportunity to put together your two charts (In fact, I would love, love, love to see some of them) and we can move into the next step of branding which is protecting your brand integrity and building a “brand promise” for each of your clients.

I hope you all have a great week.  Be sure to check back on Friday where we talk about the fabulous new products for April.

Ciao.

BeautiControl 105: Being Seen as a Business Owner

The ultimate dream among men and women is to have flexibility and control.  This country was founded on these principles as people flocked from other countries in search of the American Dream.  One of the things that makes me most proud of my job is that we have the ability to give anyone the opportunity to live the ultimate American Dream.  We offer an opportunity to own a business, control their income and live life on their terms. I think that is one of the reasons it turns me inside-out when I hear people present the opportunity to join BeautiControl as a "membership" to get a discount on their products.  We are selling a life-changing dream...not a membership!  Costco sells memberships...BeautiControl changes lives.

When I was 3, my father came home for lunch from his extremely modest paying job as a foreman for a petroleum plant.  He was 45 years old, had a daughter in college, 2 teen-age boys and a 3 year old.  He  told my mother he was tired of living someone else's dream and asked her if she would support his decision to quit his job and start his own business.  He came home that night, threw his hard-hat across the room and the next day WE started our own business.  My dad wanted so desperately to un-cuff his dreams and make a better life for his family, control his income and give his family the life that he felt we deserved.  My father will always be remembered not as a foreman at a petroleum plant where he spent 25 years of his life, but as one of the most successful and well-respected business owners in our community.

So I guess you can say that I am a little passionate about this topic. You offer the opportunity to help people achieve their dreams by becoming an entrepreneur.  Do people think of you as a business owner and take you seriously when it comes to BeautiControl?  If the answer to that is either “No”, or “I don’t know”, then you have to ask yourself, “Do I take myself seriously in this business?”  “Do I want to, and expect to make money doing this business?”

I have found that when I take myself seriously, others will do the same.  When I set expectations of myself and goals for myself, others will support me in those and help me achieve them.  When you set the Host’s expectation of a $500 Spa, then you are going to have a $500 Spa.  I have seen people in some of the most economically challenged and remote areas of this country have an average of $1500 Spas on a consistent basis.  Is it because they are better sellers?  No, not necessarily…they just have higher expectations of what they want to achieve in this business.

When you start your BeautiControl business, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to start giving things away or passing along your discount in order to sell products.  You really aren’t selling the products when you do that…you are telling your client that you are not are not confident enough about the quality of the product to sell it at full price, creating a dimished brand value and establishing a dangerous expectation for future purchases.  You can never expect that client to pay full price for your products in the future and your business has no chance of being profitable.  Your career level discount as a Consultant with BeautiControl is yours…not your friend’s, not your family’s, etc.  The career level discount is intended to put money in your pocket, plain and simple.  I always say if my friends ask me for my discount, then it’s time for new friends.

You have heard me say quite often that everything happens at the Spa.  Are you having Spas today?  What have your learned here that you can you incorporate into your Spa to help grow your sales?  When you have your Spas, Open House Events or selling situations, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have a compelling “commercial” that creates interest for my potential new Host or client and lets them know that I am in business to make money?
• Am I branding myself as a Business Owner?
• Do I present myself as a professional Spa Consultant?  If you looked at me, whether at the grocery store or at my Spa, would you know that I am in the skin care, Spa and image business?  
• Am I a product of my product?  (To honestly answer that question, open your purse, your shower or your vanity drawer.  If there are cosmetics, skin care or body care products that aren't BeautiControl, then you the answer is no...you are not a product of your product).
• Do I have a BeautiPage, utilize professionally produced e-postcards and/or e-newsletters?
• Do my emails, sales promotions, Spa invitations, Set Sheets have a professional, uniform image that reflects a prestige brand?
• Am I Coaching my Host to be my business partner to help me increase Spa sales to count toward her host credits?
• Am I creating a fun, up-sale, exclusive and prestige image at my Spa?
• Am I making sure that I have the products there for the guest to try, explaining the value of the products, the integrity of the company and the value of having me as their personal sales Consultant?
• Am I selling at full price, using the Host Opportunity to help show any guests who object to the price to show them how to get their products at a discount?
• Am I utilizing the power of “group selling” rather than one-on-one client sales to increase sales, increase booking and show my guests how they can make money by doing what I do?
• Am I expecting to win!  Do I have goals for my sales and a plan of how to make them happen?  (Only when you want more for yourself will you achieve it). 

You have everything, and I do mean everything you need with BeautiControl to create a one-of-a-kind group selling event that rivals anyone in this industry.  We have the BEST product line, the BEST price-points and the BEST Profit potential in this industry.  When you know that and you believe that, you will start to see your business take flight.  Take control of your business and you will be amazed at the magic that you can create for yourself and for your guests. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!