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Make your team feel important from day one. 5 tips to use:
Posted by karen moehr | Posted in Leadership | Posted on 09-06-2009
One of the best parts of being in direct sales is the fact that you can recruit, train and motivate a team that works for you not only building their own little empire, but helping to boost yours as well. It’s the number one reason many direct sellers concentrate so hard at recruiting a team of their own.
Now that you are a leader of a team, you’ll need to build a strong relationship with team members to not only help them stay strong in their business, but to help your business grow stronger as well. A solid relationship will be one that’s mutually helpful and everyone benefits.
How can you make certain your team is feeling included and supported, but still maintain some sense of balance within your own life and business? It can be demanding trying to provide support to everyone (especially if you have a large team). Follow these five ideas for sustaining a supportive and good connection with your team:
1. Don’t wait to get going! New recruits need lots of communication and support. Even if she doesn’t even have her kit yet, be there to answer questions and provide training materials.
Don’t wait to communicate once she gets her kit. Start the training and mentoring the minute she signs up. You can do this easily via email or texting. Don’t make it a monumental task; just be sure to touch base frequently.
2. GIVE 15. Set aside fifteen minutes of each workday for team phone calls. Use those minutes to call one to five members of your group for a quick “just checking in” call. Leave a message if you get voicemail. The idea is to let them know that you’re thinking of them and giving them a chance to hear your voice. This is a great time to ask how they’re doing with their life as well and get beyond your company to show you care about them. They don’t want to get the feeling you only care because you are making money off of them.
3. Even if you have a personal website for your business, make a team website. It is great for communication. You can post new members, meeting dates and updates, etc. Your team can check it at their convenience and it keeps everyone connected.
4. Meetings are essential, but you can set up tele-seminars and host phone call meeting or online meetings. Whatever method you choose, just do it! Your group will falter faster if they don’t feel supported and meetings are the best way to keep them together and involved.
5. Ecards. They are FREE (great!), but also convenient and fun. Use an Internet calendar function to keep track of birthdays. Once a month go through the upcoming month and set up the ecard deliveries for the birthdays, anniversary dates for the next month or more. You can set these up to deliver up to a year in advance! Everyone likes to get an ecard!
Bottom line…communicate, communicate, communicate! Your team needs to know you are there for them and that you care about them. They’ll be more likely to stay in business, work hard and stay motivated if you do these simple things.


