This week, our featured Shop Consultant is successful UnFranchise® Owner and Professional Coordinator Matt Lucas! Last Thursday we asked our Facebook audience what questions they would like to ask Matt about building a successful business. See what he has to say about building a successful business, recruiting prospects, and his favorite SHOP.COM feature in his interview below!
What is YOUR favorite SHOP.COM feature you always share with your customers?
ShopBuddy; it’s simply amazing! Make sure to install it on every one of your browsers. This will help you create the habit of using SHOP.COM to its full potential.
How do you add a personal touch to your business?
I like to give plenty of support materials to my customers along with brochures and a catalog of products. I put my labels with my contact information on everything that has space for one. I love giving samples out of any product that comes in a sample size pack as a thank you for their business. If the last time I talked with a customer they mentioned that something significant was going on in their life, I will send a note, email, or Facebook message to see how it was resolved and to show that I care about them.
Can you give us a few of your best recruiting tips?
You have to create a habit of talking to people and making friends everywhere you go. Just be yourself and have fun and make it a point to have conversations with people every day. Talk to everyone, not just people who you think would be good for the business. Become a people person and you will see how quickly you are able to build relationships with new individuals.
Practice using a common item or situation as a conversation starter. For example, this summer my iPhone broke and I had to use my old smartphone until it was fixed. I got into regular conversations with people about their cell phones. It started like this. They just finished a call or a text in front of me in line getting a cup of coffee and I say, “Do you like your phone?” This simple question would a conversation in which I could learn a little about them. Do they use your phone for work or business? What are their favorite apps?
Also, remember to smile. If you make eye contact with someone, smile. Smiling makes you look more approachable and happy; the kind of person that other people want to be around.
Try asking someone a question you want them to ask you. Let’s say you want someone to ask you what you do, so instead, ask them! It’s similar to the situation while standing in line waiting for coffee; you exchange a few words and then say, “You seem pretty interesting, what sort of work do you do?” Chances are they will ask the same of you – so be ready!
How influential have events like World Conference and International Convention been on your continued success?
Attending and promoting major events is the MOST effective use of your time, period. Think of it like this: you have a job where you earn $25 /hour for everything you do. But then you find out that there is one part of your job, that if you do it, you get paid $2,500 / hour. How often would you want to do THAT part of your job? Getting new people to the major events is that part of being a Market America UnFranchise® Owner. Everything I do in the business is focused on that end result of bringing a new person to a major event. Right now, my focus is to get new people to the Northeast Regional Convention in Providence Rhode Island on November 16th-17th because it’s the next big event for here in the Northeast.
If you could have an unlimited amount of any Market America product, what would it be?
Well my gut reaction to this question is Isotonix® OPC-3 because of how amazing it is. But then I thought, hmm, I’d probably not get BV on an unlimited supply, so that’s out. I’d have to venture into a grey area and say World Conference and International Convention tickets. An unlimited supply of those would REALLY valuable!
What is one thing that the majority of UFOs don’t do every day but should?
Floss! But once you do floss every day, the other thing that you should be doing is monitoring your goals. I have found that my inner motivation is closely related to having a specific goal that has an emotional impact on me. It has to be a goal that is bigger than my fear. You want to monitor your goals because sometimes what you thought was important isn’t anymore and other times you have achieved that goal and it isn’t driving you anymore. Monitoring and adjusting your goals to fit your needs and situation is of utmost importance.
What is the biggest mistake that UnFranchise® Owners make when using social media to build their business, and how can they avoid it?
I see it all the time on Facebook where people blast out invites and share “ask me how” posts that are impersonal. These kind of posts have a negative effect on their business instead of positive. They spam all their friends with invites to HBPs/UBPs, and make obvious recruiting pitches. What they have to understand is that their friends, followers, and people on social media in general are shut off to approaches like that. If you are trying to attract new customers and business partners through social media, then your posts need to be geared towards doing just that. Chances at least 50 people on your friends list are already in Market America. Your posts aren’t for them, but if your posts are geared towards that audience, create a group page and post it there instead.
Look for ways to create positive communication. For example, this spring I participated in the TLS® Weight Loss Find Your Fit Challenge and lost 36 lbs. I did it for my health, but I also wanted to leverage my results to help others. I didn’t post on Facebook, “Hey look at me I lost 36 pounds. If you are heavy and want to lose weight, message me for details.” What I did do was share my results on Facebook, post a thank you to my coach Tammy Seger, and upload this YouTube video showing my results. This created a major buzz, more buzz than posting something like, “If you are overweight, message me because this program worked for me” would ever create. I started receiving messages and comments from people asking how I did it. You want to be subtle in your approach when using social media. Your goal should be to make people curious about what’s going on in your life (the places your visit, the new friends you have), and not feel recruited.
What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you started the business?
Don’t want success for someone more than they want it for themselves. We aren’t in the business of saving people who don’t want to be saved, and you need to focus on people who can positively duplicate the expansion of your business. You need to get a return on your time invested, or it will set in motion a whole pattern of diminishing returns. Time spent with someone who is never going to positively duplicate result-producing activities keeps you from spending time with someone who is. Your business is never static; it’s either growing or shrinking. Keep growing your business by spending your time with people who are ready and willing to duplicate result-producing activities.
We would like to thank Matt Lucas for taking the time to speak with us and revealing some of his best business-building tips! To submit a question for a featured Shop Consultant, keep a close eye on the Market America Facebook page. This Thursday at 12 PM EST we’ll give you an opportunity to submit questions you would like to ask week’s Shop Consultant. Then, read the ma® Blog on Wednesday to see if your question has been answered!
Now it’s your turn: which one of Matt’s tips do you think will be the most helpful to your UnFranchise® Business and why? Comment your answer below!
