20)  KEEP WHAT YOU HAVE & GROW

The keep-what-you-have-and-grow philosophy is something your business should adhere to if you want to make it through the first few years of instability.  It is also good to continue with this philosophy if you want your business to continue thriving years after you started.

Keep What You Have
It is true in every business that attrition of customers is inevitable.  People may be very excited about the product and/or the business one day and a few months later they’ll move on to something new.  Some people are like that. They move from one job to another, from one relationship to another, from one interest to another.  They haven’t come to terms with the concept of forever. 
 
Other members drop off because you, the company, another member, or something else did them wrong.  You didn’t respond to their last email, their order arrived late, no one informed them about the last meeting… These people have a victim mentality and get hurt very easily when they feel slighted.
 
There are other members that drop off simply because they forget to order which causes their membership to be terminated.  Or they forgot to update their credit card on file.  These people can be careless because they don’t care enough or simply because they are absentminded. They blame no one but themselves when they overlook their responsibilities.
 
There are many, many reasons why people drop off your organization.  The fault may not always be yours.  So don’t take it personally.  On the other hand, if your attrition rate is significantly high than you have to see what you are doing or not doing that could be creating the problem. 
 
Here are some things you can to do to keep your customer database stable:

• Keep your members informed, directing them to your website, or to some page on the YL site,  sending a flyer on a new product, sharing a testimonials
• Have weekly/monthly phone calls that members can tap into and talk new company policies, new product, promotions…Allow time for a Q&A so members can share their concerns or ask for help.
• Have weekly/monthly meetings, workshops, events...
• Make daily personal calls to x amount of people. It can be a targeted informational call about the business or the product or a new company policy.  You can call them just because …you want to know if they need help with anything..how their life is going…wish them a happy birthday, holiday.. Keep notes on the people you called so that the next you call them you can mention that wedding they were planning for their daughter, or the trip they took this summer.
• Have contest and inform one of your organization or a particular leg.  Tell them you will send a free bottle oil to the first person who does____.  Be creative.

 
Look at your downline report and do a search for members that haven’t ordered in a while.  Call them and talk about new product or a promotion the company is having.  Do a search for members that are about to be terminated.  Give those members a call and let them know their membership is in jeopardy.

REMEMBER If you call your customers at the end of the month, both you, and your customer, will know that the call is all about you and your need to meet qualifying volume. If you call at the beginning of the month, both you and your customer will know that it is more about his or her needs.  Keep in mind that you want all your customers to know that you care about them and that they are part of your Young Living family. Keep your customers happy and your business will thrive.

Grow
Study your downline report.  Keep track of your numbers. NUMBERS DON’T LIE. 
How is your business growing?  

• Are you increasing the number of new members at a good rate?  
• Are all Team Leaders growing their business? 
• What about your volume?  What percentage of growth is there from one month to another? 
• How can you increase your sales?  
• How many members are on autoship?
• How many people are showing that their autoship didn’t ship out?  Find out why. 
• Are there any members that have significant volume under them but they themselves haven’t ordered?  
• Are there any members that did not meet their PV and are at risk of missing out on commissions? 
• What is your attrition rate? 
• How can you lower that percentage? 
• Do a search on your downline report.  How many people haven’t ordered in the past six months? Call them, talk to them about promotions, etc. 
• How many people are about to go inactive?  What are you going to do about it?

 
CONSISTENCY: Whatever it is you do to KEEP WHAT YOU HAVE AND GROW, do it consistently; strong and steady.  Steady growth is a much more valued commodity in your network business than booming growth that is impossible or extremely difficult for you to handle.  Your business should run smoothly and effectively. If you keep it strong and steady than you’ll be able to run your business instead of your business running you.

Growing the number of customers and leaders you have in your organization and keeping them loyal and committed to the product is the only measure of your effectiveness.  Numbers don’t lie.  It doesn’t matter how nice your work space looks, how many fires you put out, how much knowledge you have, how many items you marked off on your To-Do List…If you do not keep what you have and grow, you will not experience great success.   RE-HIRED OR FIRED Remember:  You are the CEO, you are the supervisor, and you are the employee of your company. At the end of a day that you have committed to your business, ask yourself:  “When I walk into my office on my next scheduled ‘workday,’ will I be re-hired or fired?”  If you feel, that the efforts that you put into your business that day, were worthy of your being rehired, pat yourself on the back.  If you think your efforts were lacking, than do something worthy before your next scheduled work day.  Something that you can bring to the table, that will re-assure your boss (in this case you) that you really are worthy of being re-hired. Take this ritual seriously. Being an independent contractor means that you get to lay down the law whenever, if ever you want to.