Critical Business-Building Activity Number Two:
Setting The Appointment

For some business builders, inviting someone to attend an in-home is the hardest part of the process. For whatever reason, the phone takes on 500 pounds when it comes time to make an approach.
Nonetheless, any successful business builder can tell you stepping out of your comfort zone will pay dividends for your business in the long run. To help you lift that 500-pound phone up to your ear a little more confidently, here are a few thoughts about setting appointments:

Naturally
Do you remember the last time you recommended a restaurant to someone? How did that conversation go? Were you “pushy” or overeager? Or were you straightforward and sincere? Chances are, someone said something like, “I’m in the mood for Chinese food,” and you chimed in with, “I know a great place over on Seventh Street, you ought to go tonight and check it out.”
Sharing Melaleuca doesn’t have to be any different than sharing your favorite restaurant or sharing your favorite book: “You would love this—why don’t you come over right now and take a look?”
The simple key to making a fluid approach is this: think about how Melaleuca will make a difference for the person you’re talking to. If you approach potential customers thinking about how their enrollment will benefit you, you’re bound to miss the mark. Instead, approach customers with the intention of enhancing their lives.
“Don’t go to every event with a ‘hungry’ look,” warns Executive Director IV Trixie Overcashier. “Always approach others with a ‘How can I help you?’ mindset, and even when you aren’t approaching others, make yourself approachable.”
With Melaleuca’s vast product line and amazing financial opportunity, it’s simply a matter of matching Melaleuca with your prospective customers’ needs. Writer Peter Drucker once wrote, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him [or her] and sells itself.”

The Power of a ‘Listening Ear’
Executive Director II Kevin Harris has no problem sharing Melaleuca with those he’s never met before. Generally, when he speaks with a prospective customer, he allows him or her ask the question, “What do you do for a living?” Once that comes out, the approach is simple: “It’s called ‘Melaleuca’—I should tell you about it sometime. What’s your schedule like on Friday …”
According to Kevin, it’s no different than talking to a friend. “You just have to strike up a conversation,” he says. “I just approach people in a way that isn’t overbearing. I tell people, ‘I work for a wellness company.’ People want to know about it. If they have different ailments or they need additional income, they’ll ask you.”
Your desire to help someone is more sincere and more effective when you know how you can help, or more specifically, how Melaleuca’s products can help your prospective customer.
“Because we’re with Melaleuca, we have different ‘listening ears,’” Kevin says. “When you hear someone say, ‘I just came from the doctor’s office …’ or ‘I have a sick family member at home …’ you can just respond, ‘You know, I work for a company that could probably help you.’ Show genuine concern and remember it isn’t about you.”
Trixie says when you hear someone complain about sore knees or some other ailment, that’s an opportunity to speak up and say, “Hey, I think I can help you. Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll get you some information about that?”
“It’s not a sales pitch; you just said you’re going to help them,” she says, “and isn’t that the best part of this business? If you tell someone you’re going to help them, they’ll give you their information.”

Create Urgency
None of these suggestions is a ‘sales technique’ by any stretch of the imagination, and neither is this one; creating urgency is something you do naturally when you’re excited about something:
“This is something I really love, and I think you’ll love it too. Why don’t you come over in a couple of hours …”
Set the appointment sooner rather than later to take advantage of your prospective customer’s initial curiosity. Appointments set too far in the future will result in more no-shows and less interest at the presentation. When you put too much time between the invitation and the presentation, you allow your potential customer’s curiosity to be crowded out by the millions of other busy things they encounter during the week.
If possible, set the appointment for less than 72 hours in the future.
If the prospective customer pushes for more information, use that as an opportunity to build more curiosity: “I want to give you all the information you need to make a well-informed decision about this. Just come. If you still have questions when it’s over, I’ll answer them.”
Your goal in making the approach is just to get the prospective customer to the presentation. The last thing you want to do is give the presentation with the invitation or over the phone.
“You can’t sell the farm over the phone, so don’t even try,” says Corporate Director V Ed Bestoso. “The longer we’re on the phone with someone, the more they try to get out of us. If we’re on too long, they’ll start to think this is multi-level marketing, and we all know it isn’t.”
If the presentation is scheduled for a day or two after your call, call to remind your guests about the appointment.
“I just wanted to confirm, are you coming to the 6 p.m. meeting or the 7:15 p.m. meeting?”

Finding the next ‘big leader’
Approaching someone about the business shouldn’t be different from approaching someone about the products—you’re matching a fantastic opportunity to a potential business builder’s needs.
Let your prospective business partners know you won’t partner up with just anyone; you’re asking them to join in because you feel they display leadership qualities and they would be successful in what you’re asking them to do.
Thus, meeting with potential leaders is also an opportunity for you to practice sincerely empowering or complimenting others:
“I know you’re the kind of person who really takes pride in what he does. I have a business venture I’m involved in right now, and I’m looking for a business partner. Can I take down your number so we can talk about it more in-depth?”
Sometimes, business builders make the mistake of thinking former multi-level marketers are the only source of leadership for their businesses. Remember that leadership is leadership, regardless of its background. Within any industry, there are thousands of undiscovered leaders just waiting for the right opportunity to ‘come along.’

On Schedule
Those who work the business part time discover creative ways to optimize their schedules. Some business builders who commute to work each morning take that time to make calls and schedule appointments (it’s also a great time to listen to BEST Series and other training CDs). Other part-time builders use their lunch hours and coffee breaks as times to schedule their evening presentations.
Use foresight when setting appointment times. Group appointments together on your weekly schedule to optimize your time and better allow yourself to focus on sharing strong presentations, but don’t set appointments so close together that you have to speed from one to the next. Punctuality is a sign of professionalism.

A word about ‘the bumps’
Don’t become frustrated if a prospective customer says ‘no’ to your invitation. Another mark of professionalism is a willingness to accept a ‘no’ without becoming offended or hurt.
If your contact ends on good terms, even after a ‘no,’ the bridge is intact, which means there will be other opportunities in the future.
As Trixie and hundreds of other business builders have echoed, ‘no’ often means ‘not now,’ ‘not yet’ or ‘I don’t know.’ Many Executive Directors said ‘no’ the first time they were invited to Melaleuca presentations, a fact that only reinforces the adage, “Persistence beats resistance.”

If you still have 500-pound phone syndrome after reading these suggestions, take some time to remember your ‘why’ for sharing Melaleuca with others. Turning to that ‘why’ may not relieve your discomfort, but it will certainly keep you going.

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