Are you a Good Mentor or a Recruiter?

When you have received a new team member it is very important for you to offer your support and knowledge. You will want to ensure that they know where to go in order to get questions answered and that you will be their first point of contact for guidance and training. Your support and encouragement early on will make all the difference to their success! Our upline has shared some amazing ways to be the best mentor you can be while growing your business and sharing that journey/success with others!

Define the role of an Origami Owl Mentor and You Should:
+ Provide your contact information
+ Ensure they understand that you are their first point of contact
+ Be available to answer questions in a timely manner
+ Understand their reasons and intent for joining the team; support their goals
+ Help them to choose a business launch date
+ Provide them with coaching tips and suggestions for her first 30 days of Jewelry Bar parties (2-3 minimum)
+ Explain and review the ordering and payment process
+ Encourage participation in Training Calls
+ Review the Career Plan and explain how they will make money and the value of Mentoring
+ Continue to coach, guide and mentor via regular (weekly and monthly)

Another amazing designer shared three B's for being a GOOD Mentor:

+Be Active
If you have downlines then you have no excuse not to be active and to run your business. You passed on this business as an opportunity worth signing up for, so you need to be an example of that in action. You need to be booking shows, making phone calls, attending events, and checking in with your downlines at least once a week. Being a Mentor is alot like being a parent. Your downlines, like your children, learn by example and being taught. You need to be constantly training. Bring your new recruits to shows to explain to them how everything is done. They need to see it in person which is why you need to be working your business.  Keep up with news in your back office. You need to keep current on everything going on with your company such as specials, sales, promos, company news, new products, any new changes in policy and procedure, and just EVERYTHING. If you are being looked at as a leader, you need to be a leader.
+Be Professional
I cannot stress this one enough.  No matter what rank you are from just signing up to the tops in the company you need to understand that THIS IS A BUSINESS. You need to conduct yourself as if you are at work because you are! Dress appropriately for events and Jewelry Bars. Ensure that you DO NOT show up late for shows or set up booths after events have already started. As a mentor, you need to set an example of what to be not what NOT to be.

+Be Available
My biggest pet peeve is mentors who are not available to their downlines. You cannot just sign people up to make money and never train them or help them. If you are doing that then you are a recruiter not a mentor.  You get paid as a mentor to take care of your people. You need to take care of issues within your team and between team mates that cannot solve problems themselves. You need to be available if you can to attend your new designers launch party or available by phone. Reach up to your upline if your unable to attend their party to see if she can. Hold meetings and make sure everyone feels connected. That is what you are being paid for. You are ON all the time. If you have a situation where you can't be ON then you are responsible to find someone to field all these things while you are unavailable. If you are on vacation and can be reached then you are ON. If you are on vacation on a cruise and can't be then you reach out to someone and say hey I need you to take care of my team for me while I'm gone. Then you reach out to your team and say I will be unavailable but here is the contact information to contact someone who will help you. You are responsible for these people. If you don't want to be responsible or don't have the time to manage a team then please do not sign people up. You can always refer New Potential Designers to your upline, who will find a placement for them. If you have a team and you can't or won't take care of them than you are creating more work for someone else who is helping them. If you want to be paid for work, you have to put it in.

Communication is a 2-way street. You should expect communication from your upline and you should also expect to communicate with your upline. While your sponsor has some responsibility to get in contact with you to be sure that you are getting the training materials you need, maybe give you a pep talk the day of your first party, talk you home on that night you are driving from a $50 party (yes ladies, even I have $50 parties once in a while!!) You should always expect to be part of that equation too by calling when you have a question, calling to show appreciation, or calling to tell her some awesome news! (We LOVE to hear good news!!!) So, you should always expect communication from your upline but should always expect to give some back also.

What you should NOT expect from Sponsor/Upline:
Party Leads
New Designer Leads
24 Hour Availability
Money Loans
Contests for their team

What your sponsor expects from YOU:

1.) In order to get the most you must communicate often.

2.) Attend Meetings. Whether it’s a conference call or local meetings!

3.) Acknowledge Upline. And I don't mean just on Facebook. I mean in general. Your upline is human just like you are. They like to be appreciated just like you do. They don't like to be constantly expected to just give and give and give and never get a thank you, or an I appreciate all you do/have done for me, or something similar. Does this mean send flowers and candy and treat them like a goddess?? NO, but some people don't even have sponsors that give them any training or help at all. Be sure you are being appreciative of what you HAVE.

4.) Report back with solutions that don't work. This is important because if the solutions to your problems do not work then more help is needed either from her upline or corporate.

5.) Hot buttons. You MUST tell your sponsor what your "hot button" is or how will they know? Sponsors are not mind readers. We cannot just assume what it is that you want. You must tell us. I guarantee you that if you tell your sponsor what it is that you want from your business, she WILL help you get it!

6.) Be friendly to everyone around you. This includes your O2 sisters in the FB group and or from other teams. You catch more flies with honey. You are more apt to get help from people if they think you are a likable person.

This is a pick and choose business. It is not mandatory for you to attend any training, corporate or otherwise. Take what you can get and appreciate that you had the chance to get it and if it works for you then great. You'll make more money and you'll maybe even be a better leader or you'll be inspired to BE a leader.

Just keep in mind that your leaders are human too. We truly care about your success but we also care about our families and other commitments too.

Booking Ideas

Hey, I just wanted to share a great post from another designer who blogs for her team and thought it would be very helpful to share as well. 

 

I receive tons of questions on booking ideas and thought this would be very beneficial, especially for my new team mates.  I am sure a lot of you are in the same boat as my new girls....you just received your kit, you are absolutely in love with the beautiful jewelry, but now what???  You need to start booking Jewelry Bars!!!

 

Here is a list of ideas to help you think outside of the box and start booking those parties!

 

• Have a Facebook/Virtual Party - Connect with your friends all over the country.  Set a date and time for everyone to log in to Facebook.  Offer a door prize to those who attend, an additional incentive to those who ask questions about your business and then let them shop away!  As the hostess, you can either earn the hostess rewards for yourself to earn inventory, or raffle off the rewards as an extra incentive to those who attend and place an order. 

• Party On the Go - Fill up a pouch or bag with a few catalogs, orders forms, hostess exclusive flier, recruiting flier and a few lockets complete with charms, dangles and a chain and let the products sell themselves!  Give to the hostess to take to work, a friend's house, family get together or a girl's night out.  She collects the orders and earns FREE jewelry from all the hostess benefits.  

• Mystery Hostess Party - Guests earn tickets various ways in order to win the hostess rewards.  This can be done on-line or in a home.  Guests can earn tickets by bringing a friend, bringing an outside order, booking a party, or signing up as a Designer.  Get creative!!!  Once all the orders are in, draw a ticket to see who wins the hostess benefits.   

• Heels and Deals Booking Blitz - Pull together your list of FRANKS (Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors, Kids (Mom's of Your Kids's friends), Spouse (Wife's of your Spouses friends).  Put on your sassiest pair of heels, your hottest lip stick and set the timer on your phone for one hour.  Call as many people as you can in that hour asking them to host a party or just to say thank you for supporting your business.  Build that relationship with your customer, a phone call really does go a long way.  Having those sassy heals and lipstick on really does go along way, when you feel sassy and confident, it will shine through to the other end of the line.  Try it and see what happens!!! 

• Booking Blitz Buddies - You know how they say you are more likely to succeed with your diet if you have a buddy?  The same goes for Booking Blitz's!  Try the Heels and Deals booking blitz with a fellow Designer.  Knowing that you have the support of a fellow Origami Owl sister will make the Booking Blitz go a lot quicker and will be a little less scary if you know you have a buddy cheering you on.  Once your power hour is up, call each other to share your success stories!

• Open House/Launch Party/New Product Premier - You do not have to have your launch party only when you first become a Designer.  You can have an Open House/Launch Party/New Product Premier style party to celebrate a new catalog, a new special, or just an excuse to get your family and friends together. 

• School Events - Ask to set up a table at a School sporting event, Open house, PTA meeting, Band Concert, etc.

• Kid's Sporting Event - I am actually using this idea from a fellow Hoot Mama.  She set up a small table display at her child's Soccer game and the Soccer Mom's went wild!!  Make sure to pass out catalogs to all the Mom's for both the home and away teams.  Soccer Mom's love Origami Owl.  Don't forget to purchase in advance a lot of Soccer ball charms!

• Mommy and Me Tea Party/Brunch - Have Mom's and Daughters of all ages gather at your home or even a Tea room/Coffee shop for a morning of fun and pampering.   Serve finger sandwiches, cookies and tea/punch.  You can even team up with anther direct sales company that offers pampering products and have her invite her guests.  You can both share in the leads and the pampering!

• Neighborhood Ambush - Distribute fliers with your information and a coupon for 'One FREE Charm' for scheduling a party with you.  You can choose your neighborhood or every neighborhood in the city!  I love to do this during my Kid's naptime.  I load up the kids in the car with a few hundred fliers and pass them out to all the neighborhoods in my city as the kids sleep soundly in their car seats.  It's a great way to have a very productive nap time!

• Shopapalooza - This is a great idea to do around the holidays.  Team up with friends who sell for other Direct Sales Companies and host a one stop shop!!   Each consultant will invite their friends, family, contacts and previous customers.  In return, you all gain new customers from the huge pool of attendees.  It's a great way to network with other Direct Sales consultants and gain new customers at the same time!

• Have Your Friends Help! - Give your friends a locket to wear if they do not own one already.  Have them wear it to work, the grocery store, Target, their kids's extracurricular activities.  Arm them with catalogs and Business cards too so when people ask them where they bought their beautiful locket, your friends will let them know!

• Booking Games - There are so many different booking games out there to play during your Jewelry Bar®.  I shared with you my favorite booking game, Deal or No Deal, and it has worked many times!!  Team Hoot Mamas can provide real life testimonials on how well it has worked for them too!

Great Places to Leave Catalogs for Potential Bookings

• Hair Salons/Boutiques/Personal Gyms - Ask to set up a small display with catalogs and fliers, if a display will not work, ask to leave your catalogs in a common area of the facility.

• Doctors Offices/Hospital Waiting Rooms- Leave several catalogs Doctor's offices and Hospital Waiting rooms.  Be sure to introduce yourself to the receptionist and let her know of your new business.  See if she will mind if you leave a few catalogs behind.

• Break Room at Place of Employment -  Leave a catalog in the break room/lunchroom at your place of employment.  Are you a Stay At Home Mom?  Then ask your spouse to bring catalogs to work and pass them around and leave them in his break room or lunch room.

• Teacher's Lounge at Your Child's School - Ask your child's teach or principal if they have a lounge that they could leave a few of your catalogs in.  Teacher's love Origami Owl®!!

• Leave a Catalog with your Waitress - If you received amazing service while you were out to dinner or think your waitress would make an amazing Designer on your team, leave her a catalog or your Business Card.  Leave a personalized note just for her on how she would make an amazing addition to your team or party hostess.  She will give you a call just to hear more!  .

Do you have any booking ideas that worked for you?  I would love to hear!  Please leave me a comment and share your success stories!

To Have Extra Inventory or to Not

To Have Origami Owl Inventory or To Not Have Inventory is a question that is always asked by new designers. Origami Owl is a unique company because designers are able to run their business how they want and what works for their life style. There are pros and cons to both ways of running your business and then there is always the option of doing both.

I love Origami Owl because once someone sees a locket, it sells itself. I think you are smart business person when you look for a business that is something that people want and not just what you like. Origami Owl is just that.

Having an Inventory Based Origami Owl business

Having lots of inventory on hand can definitely have its perks. The great thing about having inventory is that you can sell for personal orders and at events. Your customers are able to take their order home that day or night. Cash and carry is great for Events and then you can just order the items that they may need if you don't have it - huge instant gratification when they can take it with them. We all know that being women and shoppers, we tend to be impulsive buyers and when we see something we love we want it right away...the longer it takes to order, the easier it is to change your mind and make excuses of why you shouldn't buy it yet. Plus we all carry a card...so it just makes it so easy to swipe away :). We love to have our goodies immediately. Also having inventory on hand allows friends or family members who need a quick gift to come over any time they want to purchase things or for them to buy a charm here or there to add to their locket. Doing this will allow for your inventory to fly off the shelves. They save on the time it would take to ship to them. You will make a ton of money immediately if you have stuff on hand but……here is the con and the idea behind having an order based business.

Orders for Jewelry Bars with a Hostess

Origami Owl is not Hostess Reward Sponsored, meaning that the company will cover the hostess rewards; therefore, in order for the Hostess to receive FULL credit on all her party orders the orders must be placed under her Party ID Number. If you have a customer that needs the order for a quick gift, you can allow those customers to do make in take from your inventory but you will need to reorder those new inventory items that equals that Order total so that the Hostess still receives credit and you can replenish your inventory by having those orders shipped to you. 

Having an Order Based Origami Owl Business

Origami Owl is a party planning company. The idea is have parties, fill your calendar with bookings and interest people in regards to running their own Origami Owl business. If people think they can just purchase Origami Owl whenever they want, they are way less likely to book parties . Sales are you paycheck for today, Bookings are your paycheck for tomorrow and Recruits are your paycheck for years to come. ” When you have parties on your calendar, you are guaranteed 5-15 people per party. That is a lot of people to be in front of to 1. sell lockets 2. book more parties and sell more lockets and 3. talk to people about joining your team. So let’s just say, you keep inventory and you see 10 people a month who buy. If you booked 4 parties, that would be on average 40 buying customers who would probably book more parties (with more people) and probably 4 to 5 of those people would want to start their own business. See the potential here?

Yes having inventory is great for events or craft fairs. It gets the products out there but even with events, the key is to network and talk about how great having jewelry bars would be. We all like to sell product and get immediate cash but the big money is in the long haul.  I do have a little inventory for prizes and those last minute gifts for my VIP customers but I truly focus on bookings and recruiting.  Origami Owl became a party planning business to share their lockets at girls nights out and let people have the experience.  That is what it is all about. As I said there are pros and cons to each but I believe if you want to have a successful long term business, designers need to focus on being in front of people and sharing how amazing Origami Owl truly is.