I Am a New Consultant and Need Some Advice

[tafaye]

Not sure if this is where i should post this but here it goes...

Ok, so I am a new consultant. I currently have 4 shows, although show 3 does not qualify yet. And am already having a dilemma....

I live in the northeastern part of Charlotte NC. I have not attended a show in several years, and I have just moved to the area. My sister used to be a consultant, and I thought, hey i need extra money I could do that. So, I sent my info to HO to be connected with a Director. The one that put me with is 40 mins from me and our cluster meetings (i am just finding out) are just over an hour. On top of it my Director lost her directorship last month. I will probably be the first person to qualify under her.

So here are my problems....
1. Because i am new to the area I don't know many people. I don't have kids and work about 55 hours a week other then pc 7 days a week. Due to this I am unable to be active in my church and am lucky if i get to go. I was hoping to meet some people in my area in doing pc, but am teamed up with people that live more then 30mins from me.

2. My director has not been working as often or as hard as she once did. She is now a grandma and has admitted pc is not a priority as it once was. She has been helpful when i have questions tho.

I am not sure there is anything i could do to alleviate my situation, but all and any suggestions would be helpful.

THANKS

 

[chefann]

First off - Welcome! Both to PC and to Chef Success.

You've made a smart move joining this site. There are LOTS of people with great ideas who are willing to share to help you out. That's one of the smartest things you could have done for your business.

You sound like a very busy person. When you say "meet people through PC" do you mean meet other consultants or meet customers and hosts? There are a lot of ways you can meet prospective hosts/customers when you're out: leave business cards with the tip in restaurants, start a conversation with the checker at the grocery store, etc. If you want to meet other consultants, that can be trickier with your distance from your cluster. Does your Director's upline hold meeting with the extended group that you can attend?

 

[tafaye]

I am looking at meeting anyone and every one. I am not shy, so I talk to everyone about it. Yesterday I talked to my checker at the grocery store and talk to anyone that will listen owhterwise.

As for the meetings thats the problem, the meeting are a joint cluster and are further away. about an hour. All the extended parts of the group all seem to be further even yet. all streaching west of charlotte.

 

[Dawn4]

You don't have to go to your directors cluster meetings. Did you look into hospitality??

 

[BethCooks4U]

Welcome! I wish you were closer to me so you could join in on my meetings but I am almost 2 hours from you.

Have your director contact Home Office to see if there is a director closer to you. There very well may be. The lead system connected you with the director in your area who was next in line to get the lead, not the director closest to you. It's not a perfect system but they try to be fair.

I hope you are able to find someone to meet with but if not remember that PC offers extensive training through the website, newsletter and other venues. Your upline probably does email and phone training as well. Most clusters have consultants all over the country and consider that when putting the information out there.

Keep on meeting people and having fun!!

 

[chefann]

Well, the obvious solution is to start recruiting as you do shows, and then you can hold your own meetings.

OK- I know that the thought of recruiting scares most new consultants, but it's not hard, and if you get a group going near you, maybe your Director would be willing to travel to you, even if just every other month.

Carry information with you, so you can give it to people you talk to while out. The mini catalogs are PERFECT for this. And toss a couple of drawing slips in your purse, so people can write down their information. Then you have it to follow up, and the drawing slip looks more professional than writing it on a scrap of paper. Posted in several places on here is a list of 118 Ways to get bookings - search for that and use it. It's got some great non-traditional ideas for getting your business moving.

And very important for people who are busy is TIME MANAGEMENT. Control your own calendar. Pick a couple of days a week, and make those your show days. Use another couple days for phone evenings. DON'T GET SUCKED INTO SPENDING ALL YOUR TIME HERE. (LOL - I'm the worst offender for that.) Work smarter, not harder. If you plan things out you absolutely can do this and be very successful.

 

[tafaye]

This may sound silly, but I plan on really start recruting in October. I am quiting 1 of my three jobs then and it will alow me to have the time to devote to help other people. I have been a stage manager for about 7 years and have no problem talking to people or infront of a group. I don't mind being busy and can manage my time well, but there is only so much time in a week, and I don't think i have the time to give to others at the moment.

I want my business to do well and I have clear set goals and markers to hit to achive them.

My directors on vacation right now, but i will find out from her if she can help me find a meeting that is a bit closer then an hour. I want to meet with somebody face to face i learn and remember more that way.

Thanks for your help and sugestions.

 

[Dawn4]

Best of luck!!!

 

[BethCooks4U]

Great! You have a plan and you will succeed!! I would still offer the opportunity from the start though. Be honest and tell them that you are limited in your time for the next month or so but you do not want to miss a potential star!

BTW: I love the saying in your sig! I used to quote that all the time but had forgotten it in recent years. Thanks for the reminder.

I also loved the one that starts: "They're coming to get me in their clean white coats..." (at least I think that's how it starts...)

 

[pckelly]

Welcome to this site and to PC. If it makes you feel better, I don't attend cluster meetings either. I have even made top sales in my directors cluster many times and can't go to the meetings to get recognized for it. She lives about an hour and 15 minutes away. My husband and I have only one car, so it makes it hard. I do spend alot of time on this site which really helps and I always get my questions answered here! ALWAYS!! Their is so much encouragement and ideas, it's like one big cluster meeting everyday! I think there is another director going east about another hour or so away, so I cna't do a hospitality director either. Don't even think she does hospitality. So for right now, I just spend alot of time on here and talk with my director once a week! Well I want to encourage you and I hope you will enjoy doing PC and it can be done, very well at that, without going to cluster meetings. Be blessed!

 

[Jennie4PC]

Tara,
Kelly is right it can be done without going to cluster meetings I have been doing PC for 2 1/2 yrs now and driving the 3 hrs to my cluster meetings is impossible, and there is no one out here. BUT I would definitly try to get a hospitality director closer to you, There are a lot of times I would love to go to my cluster meetings for the recognition and such I do get a lot of good info from here. One thing if you are trying to find more people to do shows with try seeing if you can find a fair to do. I have been doing tatse of home for the last 2 yrs and am going to do it again. The most important thing is to call all the people who put that they are interested. It sonds like you will do an awsome job though.
By the way I was #1 in overall sales for the yr 2 yrs in a row and I totally plan on being #1 3yrs in a row.

 

[tafaye]

It is great to hear from you that do not go to cluster meetings. I am glad that i signed up here to get the suport i need.

I am going to try to find meetings that i can attend closer to home, but if there are none i can come here for the ideas and suport that i need.

Thanks again to all of you!

Way to go Jennie that is awesome.

 

[cmdtrgd]

Even though you can do it without going to cluster meetings, I would still try to either get hospitality or try to go every other month or something - the meetings reenergize you, you get to see other people do demos, you get to see new products, you get recognized - it is worth it. There is a lady who attends the same meetings I attend and she drives 4 hours each way. She is a grandma and her parents live across the street from her - dad only has two limbs and mom has dymentia...it can be done!

 

[tafaye]

So, I had a great outcome to this whole thing! It looks as though the woman I signed under is pretty much phasing out. Her Director contacted me the other day and she seems to be wonderful. I am looking forward to working with her! And when I expressed the fact that I am so far from her she said that they have Hospitality with a Cluster very close to me and would contact them for me so I can attend there. And then offered that if there meeting was a different day then ours, then she would gladly come up and go with me. I am having a much more positive relationship with her, she does this full time and is very involved and seem very enthusiastic!

I am so excited!

 

[BethCooks4U]

That is awesome Tara! I know you'll do well!!

 

[tlennhoff]

Fantastic Tara, that is great news. Keep up the enthusiasm and you'll do great.

 

[PamperedTammy]

Hey Tara--I am glad that things are looking up for you. Keep up the good work, everything will fall right into place.

 

[chesse]

I highly recommend the PC CD called "balancing PC with another job" or something like that. Lots of ideas for working smarter, not harder.

 

[chefjeanine]

There is a lady who attends the same meetings I attend and she drives 4 hours each way.

I used to drive 1-1/2 hrs. each way and I'm so glad I did. I think attending a cluster meeting is very important.

Before I started making that drive (to my actual Director's home) I tried two hospitality Directors and they were less than inspiring. So, I decided I would make the trip and see how it went. By the time my recruiter promoted to Director (maybe 2.5 years after I started traveling), I had anywhere from 3 to 4 people going with me each month. It was well worth going to a great meeting and the time we spent in the car (sharing ideas and getting to know each other) was priceless.

 

[Cindycooks]

Good Luck Tara! I'm clear on the other end of the state but it is always nice meeting someone from NC on here! My niece (who has since gone inactive lives in Huntersville and was part of a pretty active cluster there - it may be the same one you are in, I know it was big and had lots of smaller clusters under it in the area. She did very well with some vendor fairs - you may want to look into something like that to jumpstart your business!
You will love chefsuccess!

 

[tafaye]

Thanks a lot you guys! I plan on trying the hopitality meeting and then if that doesn't work I will make the drive. I plan on trying to do some fairs and things, but it probably won't pick up for a few months (when I get to quit my day job).