We all know in direct sales the “phone” is our “friend.”  If you have fear of the phone, I would recommend you find a training or find a way to help you overcome your fear because the phone is a very lucrative financial ally in your business.

Every telephone call you make is an “Income Producing”  activity.   Whether you’re calling a customer, a hostess, a prospect, a new recruit or a team member, each one of these calls builds relationships and future books of business.

Making time for phone calls is directly related to the amount of income you receive.  Some people like to make calls 15 minutes a day.  Some prefer to set 2 power hours twice a week.  It’s up to you, the individual, to schedule phone calls each week to maximize relationships with your customers, hostesses and prospects.  Using email to communicate is simple and easy, but nothing replaces the sound of your voice in building a relationship.  Maximizing your phone call activity every week increases the chances to build a sale, book a party or set an interview appointment.  All, of which, relates to income.

As a leader growing a million dollar team, I had a goal to have the “highest” personal recruits in the company.  I was going a little crazy trying to find a way to organize my phone calls around my calendar.  So, I sat down one day and decided there had to be a system to fit in all these phone calls around my parties, networking events, team meetings and tele-classes. I created a simple little tool that I called “My Weekly Call Worksheet.”  It was just a sheet of paper with a list of the 20 people I needed to call each week, and once I got into the rhythm of using this simple tool, I felt more organized and scheduled more parties, more interviews.

Nowadays, there are many sophisticated software programs to organize your business, but sometimes, it’s just one simple little sheet of paper that makes a difference.  What I love most is how it fits into your purse, your daytimer, your notebook,  your pocket (if necessary) where you can take 5 minutes while waiting in the dentist’s office, or 20 minutes while you’re on your lunch hour.  If you are one of those people who like to sit at your desk for a power hour, you whip through those calls with your calendar and order forms writing a ton of business.

This simple one-sheet of paper has 5 columns for the “reasons” you’re making the calls.

1. Customer Care calls Column.  I called every customer after she received her order to check in and see if she was happy with her purchase.  This also included the customers I needed to call every season if I hadn’t heard from them for a while.    Many times I sent out a new catalogue and always followed up with a call.  Staying in touch with customers increase your sales and your income.
2. New Customer calls Column.   Adopting the attitude to increase your customer base by 50 new customers every season increases your income.  To keep a consistent calendar of bookings, it’s important to replenish your customer base.  I LOVE meeting new people.  Every new person I meet is a potential customer, hostess and recruit.  However, first she must try my product.  So I always followed up to invite her to my next event to build the relationship and try my products. Using the phone to follow-up after meeting new people at networking events, increased my business greatly.
3. Hostess Coaching & Creative Booking calls column.  Every hostess gets three calls before the party.  Some people have a hostess checklist to make their calls.  When you include your hostess calls on this call sheet, and you use it every day, you are not going to miss one precious call to any hostess.  If you’re looking for more bookings then use this column to call potential hostesses to get confirmed bookings.
4. Recruiting & Big M.A.C. Interview calls.  The morning after the party was my favorite time to make calls to three people I’d identified as hot prospects leads for the business.  This is one of the KEY phone calls to recruiting consistently every month.
5. Team Member Recognition Calls.  Nothing was more inspiring to me than getting a call from my Leader to congratulate me when I had the highest sales in her group.  A simple little 3 minute phone call of praise and recognition to team members can change many people’s lives.  And isn’t that what direct sales is all about?

The beauty of this simple little tool is it folds up into half, or fourths or even eighths and you are never with out it.  You transport it with you wherever you go.   Every week, you refresh your sheet, by transferring the names of the people you didn’t connect with, and start a new week of calls.It’s a fantastic tool for leaders to train all “New” consultants and help them get over the initial fear of making phone calls.  If you’d like a copy of this simple little worksheet, email me at galebates@mymentorbiz.com.

I’m wondering if you have a system using your phone as a financial  ally?  Share it with us in the comments below.