Possible Recruit Worried About Money

[Morgan032032]

Ok, so I was carrying my PC tote with the catalog and one of my friends saw it and started asking a MILLION questions about the business! She straight out told me that she really wanted to start selling PC and that she had done direct sales in the past and loved it (had to quit selling for personal reasons). We started talking about all the great benefits of selling PC, and then she asked if there was any initial investment. I showed her all of the products in the starter kit and explained to her the kit credit and kit rebate deal. She was still concerned about paying for the starter kit. She said that she is very low on cash and has NO money whatsoever to pay for the quit. Anyone have any advice as to how we could work this out? I would love to have her on my team and I think she would make a great consultant, but I don't want the initial investment to stop her from starting up her own business!

 

[esavvymom]

Would she be willing to host a show with you? You could do it two ways....(1) She is the Host, and gets regular benefits of a hosting- and can use $40 for Kit Credit making it $115. BUT there may not be time to combine that option with the kit rebate...since we've only got about a week left in the month. IF she can pull a show together in the next few days, it probably could work- but I'm not sure how long it takes to get the Kit Credit coupon - the show has to submit first, I know that.
- She can also get the bookings from that show to get started.

(2) She has her own show...and you help her do it. She signs up before you close her show- so that she can submit it as HER first show. She'll get the commission on it, and earn it towards her rebate (if she does it in the next week), or towards PC $. If she has at least a $500 in sales show, it could almost pay for the kit with the commission!

Either option- she can obviously change her mind and just get the host benefits..but it gives her a chance to try it out with you, get bookings from her friends/family at the show (which is sometimes easier than calling/following up with them LATER)...and can give her a great jump start to her business and to getting commission. She could get a commission check before she even gets the Credit Card bill for her Kit!

That would be how I'd look at it.

 

[MLinAZ]

Can she have a garage sale, sell something on craigslist, borrow money until her commission check comes, etc.?

Help her brainstorm ways to come up with the money. If it's important enough to her she'll find a way to afford it, especially when she knows she'll have a return on the investment quickly. She'll get a check on March 8th or March 22nd!

 

[esavvymom]

I did the E-bay thing too to pay for my kit. I had tons of Scrapbook products in my closet (my last DS adventure...I was my best customer!!). Video games they don't play, movies, CDs, anything of decent value- it adds up. Kids toys, games, etc. Do some research on what those items are selling for on Ebay and then either sell at local consignment sales, or on Ebay or Craigslist like Michelle suggested.

 

[Sheila]

You said she's your friend, do you trust her enough to pay for her kit & have her reimburse you with her commission checks until she pays off the kit? If so, make sure she has her first show lined up and THEN do the new consultant agreement. If you have her 1st show next weekend and get it submitted before the 28th, she could get paid on the 8th & start paying you back for the kit very soon. If she advertises enough & does a $1,250 show with her very first one, even better!!! You would REALLY need to host coach her & stay on top of it to make sure she doesn't flake out. If you wanted to have something drawn up & notarized that YOU get the kit if she doesn't fulfill her obligation then you have yourself covered a little more. And I'm only suggesting this because you said she was your friend. I'd never do it with someone you don't have a background on, or someone with whom you are not familiar with their ethics.

 

[Morgan032032]

Well, Sheila, we're friends, but I've only known her for about a year, so I feel kind of weird doing something like that! I thought about spotting her the money, but I just don't want to get myself into a situation where I have to nag and nag to be payed back (not sure whether that would happen, but you never know!).

I like the idea of helping her do her first show and then signing her, but would she be able to get any type of kit credit for that? I don't want her to have to pay the full amount if there was a chance that she could get at least a little money off.
And as for the kit rebate, it ends on Feb. 28th? I don't think it would be humanly possible to throw a show together by then. My calendar is booked up for the rest of this month and I'd have to skip my night classes to fit another show in..

Also, if we did it that way, would I just download P3 on her computer from MY disk? Would it let me do that? I'm very interested and confused about all this! lol

 

[babywings76]

Could she do a catalog show before the end of the month? She'd need enough sales to get her the FPV amount for the $20 or $40 kit credit. She'd need to have things gathered a couple days before the 28th, so that there's time for the show to get processed and her kit credit to be available to sign by the 28th. If she signed on the very last day of Feb, then she could have all of March (probably the beginning of April, too) for her 30 days to earn the rebate.I'd let her know that there definitely are ways it can be done. It depends how much she wants that discount and the rebate. I'd say it's doable, but she's got to be willing to get the sales super fast and shows on her calendar right away for March.The other thing, and I know this may sound bad...but does she have a credit card she could put it on? Then she doesn't have to necessarily work for a show and Kit coupon. If she is bound and determined to save money and get that rebate, then she could sign on the 28th and then work the heck out of March and get paid a bunch. Definitely plenty to pay off the charge on her card, plus extras. Plus the rebate. Plus all the PC $ she'll get to buy supplies or products. But that's taking the credit card route, which maybe she doesn't have or can't qualify for, or is against the practice.

 

[Jolie_Paradoxe]

She will be able to apply the kit credit with 24 hours of submitting the show. Any chance she has a CC? If so, she can pay for the kit with it and use her commission check to pay before the APR kicks in. Have her line up her shows asap so that she does receive the rebate and comission within the 30 day grace period.

 

[esavvymom]

Alot of options given here...but one other that I've heard on one of the audio workshops. If she has close family or friends who would be willing to help her out...here is what they explained:The Mom or relative or friend instead of placing a $30 order to help her at her show, they give her the money to invest in getting started in the business. Then THEY host a show with her, and they get Free Product in return from our Host Benefits. They get much more than the $30 "investment". SHe could also pay them back with a little extra product ....she could add that $30 in product to their Host order...since it would be discounted. Since she'd be getting commission on the show, it wouldn't really be much if any money out of her pocket.Not sure if that makes sense.
Bottom line I guess is you could give her a couple of options- but SHE has to be serious enough about it. I'd strongly encourage her to have her calendar of 4-6 shows lined up in the next 30-45 days BEFORE she signs. It gives HER the assurance of a strong start and a good commission check, and it gives you the assurance she'll at least stick with it awhile. Help her with her Contact list- do a "50 guests in 5 minutes" sort of thing (flyer in the files or the "40 Guests" one)....give her some word choices for getting a couple of bookings.The catalog show option in the next week- if she sees enough people, will also be a good litmus test of her determination. She has about 1 week to gather orders to help her start her business. She would need a $300-400 show to get the $20-40 Kit Credit. If she does that, closes it by the 25th, that should give enough time to get the credit and sign by the 28th. If she used the $40 kit credit, then if she can do her $1250 in her 30days during March, she'd be able to get the 50% refund on the $115- making her kit only $57.50!Give her hard numbers and see what she does.Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Morgan032032]

Thanks guys! There are a lot of good ideas here and I feel like I have enough options that at least one will have to work I'm going to try to talk to her today, so I'll let you know how it goes