Increasing the Odds of Getting a "Yes"
Training from Sarah Johnson
Sarah Training on "Getting a YES"
From her book recommendation - "Make people like you in 90 Seconds"
Hi Team!
If you were on the call last night you heard me share a bit on a book called "How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds...or Less." I highly recommend it because it addresses one of the essentials of building an AdvoCare business which is the art of attracting and connecting with people. It gives tips on how to do this quickly, effectively since the average human attention span is about 30 seconds and because we live in a fast-paced society that is always in a time crunch and typically people don't have lots of time to listen to a lengthy explanation of AdvoCare.
However, if we can become skilled at connecting with someone in 30-90 seconds, they'll typically soften up, let their guard down and begin to engage in meaningful conversation. But it goes back to connecting quickly in the first part of conversation. The author suggests 3 things that can help or hinder our initial attraction and connection with someone. Because Wayne and I want to help everyone increase their odds of getting a "Yes," we feel these are good things to consider. Just like all of us who have kids want the
very best for them and continually model and teach them how to succeed in life with regards to dress, attitude, making friends, etc...our hearts are aimed at helping everyone on the team be their personal best.
The first suggestion for increasing our odds of connection is: *Dress attire/how you look. Note that this has nothing to do with our individual body-type/size but most importantly how people perceive us based on attire/overall look. I touched on a couple aspects of this but want to share some other thoughts.
First, I feel taking the conservative approach is best. This doesn't mean turtlenecks and ski jackets, but classy and appropriate attire. For me personally, that means I don't wear tops that show cleavage or tops that show my stomach. I don't wear short skirts or short shorts. The reason for this is multifaceted. The bottom line is as humans we are quick to make judgements and assessments and if our goal is to attract and connect with people in the first 30 seconds, we want to try our best to eliminate any pre-judgement based on attire/appearance. The other reason is that people are always going to be either motivated by what they see and hear, or intimidated. For me, because my goal is to attract and connect with other women and moms and we ask people to introduce us to their friends and family, I want them to feel comfortable introducing me to a wide spectrum of people in their lives including their husband or boyfriend.
Dress attire changes according to whom we are meeting with. If I'm going to my daughter's softball game, nice jeans, tennis shoes, and an advocare top is my typical attire. If I'm going to do a lunchtime mixer at a bank or a two-on-one appointment with a business professional, I typically wear slacks or dress jeans with heels and a cute top. If we're meeting with a trainer or doing a mixer at a gym, I typically wear my boot-leg cut black workout pants with an advocare T-shirt or workout-type top and tennis shoes.
Please don't interpret this as black and white, I know gym owners and trainers dress according to their specific setting and that's absolutely fine. I'm just talking about ncreasing our odds as we go out and about in our daily lives with a goal of recruiting people to AdvoCare.
Men, I suggest taking hats off when you enter a building to meet with someone as a sign of respect (again if you're going to a gym or athletic setting, hats are probably fine). You can't go wrong with a nice pair of jeans and an AdvoCare polo or nice button down shirt. In an athletic setting, nice, clean workout wear is fine although I'd
avoid tank tops for a meeting or mixer at a gym. If going to meet with an attorney or to do a meeting for a group of professionals, aim for a pair of slacks or dressy dark jeans with a button down shirt tucked in with a belt (that matches the shoes if we want to get technical...LOL). That's a lot of information for what seems like a relatively simple
idea. But it's one of the first things people see so let's get off on the right foot with attire.
*The second key to connection is: What you say and how you communicate. The best way to connect is to always greet with a smile and handshake and say "it's nice to meet you." Next, the key is to immediately start asking questions like "what do you do for a living?" "do you have kids?" "any summer vacation plans?" just simple little things that
show the person you are interested in learning about them and hopefully it will open the door to an AdvoCare conversation since most people will reciprocate the questions you're asking. This is where you want to have you're story mastered in a quick but casual and intriguing way.
Finally, the key to connection that I feel is so important...How Do I Make People Feel?
This has to do with our demeanor, putting people at ease, smiling, being genuinely interested in what they have to say, asking more questions when they say something like "yes I have two kids." Like "how old are they or what grades are they in? Do they play any sports? Or asking if someone likes what they do for a living when they tell you where they work. I'm always looking for connections where I can make a transitional statement. This goes back to what you say now...
For example, through a series of conversations with two women I met recently while working out in a small group setting, I asked them about their kids and what grades they were in and what activities they liked. They told me their kids do tae kwon do. Cha-ching!! I said "oh that's so cool, me and my daughters do tae kwon do as well!" that opened up conversation about our instructors and the different schools we train at. It lead me to share how thru our AdvoCare business we have been able to lock arms with the instructor (Chris Seymour, new 3-star Gold distributor) and help him over the last 18 months get to a place where as a single dad of 3, he's earning an extra $2500/month. I said he's been thankful because with the economy the way it is, some families have to cut out extracurricular activities like TKD which then affects his income. That got them asking questions about the products I sell and then I was able to say, I don't know if your instructor would be interested in knowing more, but I could easily connect the two of them if so.
So, knowing how to weave a story into conversation when a connection comes up is huge.
Ok, that is the end of my mini-novel. Have an awesome Thursday my friends!
Love,
Sarah