KENDRA: Let’s take a deep dive into one of the most powerful sources of revenue generation and business growth – meetings and events.
JB: Revenue generating activity is when we are talking to a prospect, new customer or Promoter about our products and business opportunity. That’s the only time it’s income generating. Sometimes people can get caught up and spend 100% of their time in the non-income generating side of the business and that’s when you’re making your plan, setting your goals, checking inventory, ordering product… these are all things we can get endlessly tied up in.
KENDRA: What are the types of meetings every promoter needs to have in their team?
JB: The first is daily/weekly Experience Meetings. Like Spa Hour or Shake & Learn, where we share about the products and opportunity. The NeoLife business is something we do daily, so shoot for daily, but at the very minimum weekly. Get guests in and get them signed up, whether they are a Club Member or Promoter. You want to introduce them to as many of our products as they can use in their home where they also replace other products.
KENDRA: You shared a powerful analogy with me the other day about how to develop an “in-business” mindset. Can you share?
JB: I’ve always thought of my business as a store without the real estate. Because the real estate ties us down. In NeoLife we are the store… a portable store. A store has to have people walking into it and looking around and a percentage of them buy. If you look at a store in your local town and they have no visitors, you can logically predict that they are in trouble. No customers and no revenue. Then you are stuck with the lease and all the other overhead obligations. When we are the store, we have an advantage. We can move around and make sure that we are getting people to come look at what we have.
KENDRA: What if you only have broke people coming into your store?
JB: What if you had your store in the worst part of town and the people coming in had no money? How are your sales going to be? When I started at 19 years old, all my friends were the same age as me and all broke. If they had extra money they weren’t going to spend it on nutrition. I had to find people that had enough money to buy my product so I started concentrating on people who could afford to buy what I was
selling. I focused on people a little older than I was, around 30 years old. Not necessarily wealthy people, but people who seemed capable, had a job, maybe a family, etc.
KENDRA: So, the Experience Meeting is where we get people to look around at our store. Once someone signs up as a Promoter, what is the next type of event we need to have?
JB: You have to have Basic Business Training. The two things that are most important when a new person starts is to first get together and talk about the company and compensation plan and second is on the job training. Teaching can be done in a classroom but even in college there’s often requirements for apprentice programs or
internships so they get real world experience. On the job training is where you take your new person and help them to get another customer. You go with them and show them. Right after a person signs up, within a day or two, get some of their friends in front of a presentation that you or another upline leader helps with. Just watching a presentation, the second, third, fourth time is the most valuable training a new person can get. Without it, they’ll probably die in the business. The longer you wait to get them in front of a presentation, the less chance you have for them to be successful.
KENDRA: You’re so right. We start with the classroom-style or one-on-one training where we walk through the basics and Getting Started book, but that has to translate into on the job training where we follow the “I do, we do, you do” format. These meetings can also happen virtual with today’s technology using Facebook Live, Go To Meeting, Skype, etc. What would be another type of team event that a Promoter needs to have?
JB: Monthly Recognition. Those little steps that people take, we get together and recognize each other for what we’ve accomplished. Some people will work harder for recognition than they do for money and you don’t want to lose that leverage to recognize people and they love it and go out and do more of it. At least monthly. Just get together, enjoy each other’s company, build relationships, recognize each other.
KENDRA: It’s also a great opportunity to look at upcoming events and promotions or incentives to get everyone plugged in to the latest things they can take advantage of.
JB: Of course. Don’t forget the review of impending events and incentives. The biggest incentive we have, of course, is our compensation plan. That is the most profitable, most rewarding, and gives us the most for our energy.
KENDRA: So, what’s next?
JB: Depending on the growth of your team, Monthly/Quarterly Manager School. Get people together and train on the core areas of the business-like prospecting, compensation plan, etc. Expand on your basic training. This is also as needed. You still need to be doing the other daily/ weekly meetings or else you won’t have people to attend your Manager School. Then Monthly/Quarterly Product training. Concentrate on product, with just a little on personal growth and opportunity. But you virtually want it all to be product so people they know if you say “product” it’s going to be product.
KENDRA: The product catalog is also one of the most powerful tools to help you train on products. You can pick core products or focus on a targeted solution like heart health, digestive health, etc.
JB: Then couple that with product testimonies. And if your business is growing and you have your team involved in these daily/weekly experience meeting, where they’re keeping their focus on the revenue generating side of the business, and you’re following up with training and recognition, then you should be also getting some Senior Managers. Then you’ll have Quarterly Senior Manager Schools. I like to see people start as Senior Manager. I believe in obligating myself and others to success.
KENDRA: What do points do you focus on when you’re encouraging someone to start as a Senior Manager with 1,000 points.
JB: First of all, you’ll earn 10% more with the Sales Volume Bonus. If you’re going to be in business and sell products, then you need to experience the products. If you just go through the catalog and ask, “Do you wash your clothes? Clean your house? Do you want everyone in your family to take the products and be healthy?”. Yes. If you didn’t sell any, worst case scenario is you’d use it in a couple months. Then you get your 10% back. That’s money you didn’t spend. It’s like a profit. Plus, you save money with our cleaning products. The economy is built into them. If you decide to sell some of this inventory, you also can have a retail profit, so 10% SVB + 25% retail profit, means you can earn 35% on that product.
KENDRA: Then there’s Bi-Annual Director Events.
JB: Yes, Directors get together, old and new. You need to be a Director to attend. Anytime you let people into an event when they’re not qualified, you’re virtually killing your business. This is 2-3 hours. This is put on by some World Team members, and most likely Rubies and above are leading the charge.
KENDRA: There’s one more type of event.
JB: That would be your Team Retreats. These are so effective. Once or twice a year. Usually hosted by a President’s Team member or 3,4,5 Ruby.
KENDRA: Let’s take a deep dive into one of the most powerful sources of revenue
generation and business growth – meetings and events.
JB: In order to get the full benefit of an event, you need to plan out front, so you are working and selling the benefits of attending. That first is what I call the “anticipation benefit”. The anticipation of attending is very important and sometimes just as important as the event itself.
KENDRA: That can generate excitement, not only for the person you invite, but
also all the people they’re going to invite too. So that’s the first third. I’ve seen you draw it as a pie before. What’s the second third?
JB: The second benefit is the actual experience itself. The “experience benefit”. The benefit of being there isn’t limited to just what’s done at the front of the room. Visiting one-on-one or in small groups and meeting other successful people just like you and me
and hearing their stories is so valuable. It’s about the whole experience.
KENDRA: What’s the last third?
JB: What happens after you leave. We get clear goals, re-motivated, and belief as a result of being there. These lead to what I like to call “residual benefits”. Your new momentum becomes infectious. It really pains when I hear or see people tell their team “no, don’t go and I’ll record the event and bring it back to you”. Think about it. You miss out on all the experience of the fun, party night, dinners, interaction with all the people and you get some boring recording. I think of it like telling someone “here let’s sit down and I’ll show you this album of my family photos”. It’s boring to the person who isn’t in the album themselves. I’m just against it, and I think that falls into the “business killer” category. I’ve had so many people tell me that their career took off as a result of a certain event. You don’t know what is going to create that moment for you or your people. And I’ll tell you, if you can get your people to the major company events, then don’t pass it up. Don’t diminish their chance to be successful. Attending events like Convention is the best investment you could possibly make. Give yourself that extra opportunity by being there. Convention is where leaders are born.
Ask your sponsor about upcoming events in your team and check out NeoLifeEvents.com for company events around the world.
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