All the holiday fun at this time of year makes it easier to put off making comfort-zone-breaking booking calls, and can take the focus off of IGAs – Income Generating Activities. We’ll get to that tomorrow, or the next day, because there are cookies to bake and shopping to do. The reality is, tomorrow usually doesn’t come until after the New Year, when everyone wakes up and realizes they have zero parties on their calendar. That means the majority of your team might not have a party booked until around the 3rd week of January. If it holds. EEK.
Now is the time to create the perfect holiday challenge that fosters camaraderie, generates a little healthy competition and drives action and results. Whose team is booking parties for the first two weeks of January? That would be yours. Holla.
These 15 action steps will help you create a Countdown to Christmas Challenge event for your team…right now. Delegate the daily training topics to your rock stars (side perk: delegation builds leaders). Grab some fun prizes, throw on your ugly Christmas sweater – maybe some reindeer ears – and lead the way. These ideas can be shared via a Facebook post, prerecorded video, or my personal fave – live video.
Holiday Challenge Kickoff: Days 1-3
Day 1: Make 10 customer service calls. Customer service calls are way easier to make than booking calls. And guess what? Focusing on customer service is how you book more parties!
Training Topic: How to serve customers and identify potential solutions by asking questions. Include verbiage and real-life examples.
Day 2: Take a Survey. Use Google Forms to create a survey for your VIP Customer Facebook Group Members. Identify leads and follow-up.
Training Topic: How to do an end-of-year survey in your VIP Group to best serve your members. Ask key questions to identify leads:
- Are you interested in a free personalized shopping consult?
- What kind of topics would you like to see in the New Year?
- Have you ever thought of hosting a party and earning free or discounted (products)? If yes, what type of party interests you most? (give choices)
- As we look forward to the New Year, is one of your goals to have more fun, flexibility, or funds? If yes, what appeals to you most? (give multiple monthly income options)
- Please share any feedback or questions!
Day 3: Go LIVE on your Facebook Business Page. Attract new leads by sharing a valuable holiday tip or how-to that relates to the problem you solve. Example: If you sell makeup, your tip could be ‘Easy Holiday Makeup Tips’. Share the video with your Group members and ask members to share it with friends who’d love your tip! Because you are focusing on value, this would be fun to share on your Profile, too. That’s how you sell without selling.
Training Topic: What to say and do when you go LIVE to get results, including how to include a call-to-action. Need ideas? Check out my Facebook Live tips.
Holiday Challenge Momentum: Days 4-6
Day 4: Make 10 customer service calls. The more calls Consultants make, the more confident they’ll feel about making calls. So yeah, they need to do this one again.
Training Topic: How to leave a voice message that inspires your customer to call you back. Include how to leave a voice message via texting and Facebook Messenger.
Day 5: 24 Hour Booking Blitz! By Day 5, you’ve got momentum going and there might even be some fun, healthy competition. Challenge your team to book at least 2 new parties in the next 24 hours – to be held by January 14! Don’t forget to wear your Ugly Sweater and include fun theme party ideas!
Training Topic: Teach consultants how to add one more December party to their calendar (deadline schmeadline) and book parties dated between Jan. 1-14. Award prizes: 1 chance for each party booked! Need ideas on how to run a team booking blitz? Read How To Plan An Epic Booking Blitz.
Day 6: Party Packet Palooza. Help your team keep the parties they just booked during your booking blitz and any other January parties on their calendar.
Training Topic: How to prevent January cancellations by sending out a virtual party packet (even if you don’t have catalogs yet) to the January hosts they just booked during your booking blitz. Focus on the guest list and coach Hosts to send a Save the Date invite, which you can create via Canva. *Bonus tip: How to use Canva to create a digital save the date. Need ideas? Read 5 Best Ever Solutions To Prevent January Cancellations.
Holiday Challenge Personal Touch: Days 7-9
Day 7: Get out and network with intention. ‘Tis the season to use Facebook to meet new people and expand outside your warm market.
Training Topic: How to use interest-based Facebook Groups to network and meet new people. Include best practices for starting conversations and making new friends. You’ll want to make sure consultants know how to follow Group rules and are not spamming Group members with marketing messages.
Day 8: Take a family Holiday photo and make personalized Holiday (or New Year’s) cards for your VIP Customers and Hostesses…including January Hostesses. Have fun and ask Consultants to share their holiday card photo in the comments.
Training Topic: How to build the know-like-trust factor, show appreciation, and stay top of mind during the season. That means no web links on holiday cards.
Day 9: Create a Customer/Host appreciation bring-back offer to insert in your Holiday cards.
Training Topic: Make your customers/hosts feel appreciated with a special New Year offer from you – or your company – that will keep them coming back to buy and/or book in the first 2 weeks of January. Create the insert in a Word doc or get fancy and use Canva to make it look awesome. I used the following call-to-action to get my customers to reach out to me first, and it worked like a charm every year:
“Message me before I message you and get [special bonus offer]!”
Holiday Challenge Home Stretch: Days 10-12
Day 10: The Holiday deadline is quickly approaching! Create a last-minute gift idea Mystery Host virtual party! There’s always time to add one more party. If you’re reading this and your deadline has passed, then shift gears and challenge your team to plan an After-Christmas Pop-Up, because many adults get cash for Christmas and the shopping continues through the end of the year. If you have products retiring to make room for a new season, use a fun “Last Chance – First Glance” theme.
Training Topic: How to hold a mystery host virtual pop-up that generates sales, parties, and sponsoring leads.
Day 11: Make 10 customer service calls. Seriously, you could just make this your challenge every day.
Training Topic: How to use various methods of contact to get a YES, because research shows it takes a least 3 contacts to connect with your customers. Your team needs to know that so they don’t get frustrated when no one calls them back. Keep calling.
Day 12: Your focus today is to ask your top customers and hosts to recommend your business….via a Facebook Business Page recommendation! Teach your team how to get their customers to do their Facebook Marketing for them.
Training Topic: Fun ideas to ask for – and get – referrals. Include a testimonial from a Consultant or Leader who is getting referrals.
Holiday Challenge Wrap-Up: Days 13-15
Day 13: Plan a virtual VIP Customer Appreciation Party the first week of January. While everyone is still in the “merry-making” mood, host an appreciation party. I did this every year, and even though it was all about appreciation, my customers and hosts always shopped and booked.
Training Topic: How to kick off the new year with a VIP party. This could be in-person, virtual, or both.
Day 14: Holiday cards are here. Mail them today!
Training Topic: How to ask your family to pitch in and help you sticker/stamp Holiday cards. It takes a village! Bonus tip: What to post on Facebook during the season to attract interest in what you do.
Day 15: Celebrate! You completed the Countdown to Christmas Challenge. Cheers to YOU!
Pick prizes and feature consultants and leaders who took action and got results, so they can inspire everyone else. Ask, “What did you take action on? What worked, and why? How do you feel about your business as a result of participating in this challenge?”
And here’s the best part. Once you hold this event in your Facebook Team Group you can make it an annual tradition. Copy/paste daily challenges with new leaders filling in to do the training.
Ready to really rock your direct sales biz?
Join my VIP Group for direct sellers and get my popular Vendor Event Course as a bonus... a $97 value! PLUS 2 more gifts: What to post on your Facebook Page to book more Facebook parties and my Top 10 Call-To-Action Posts For Facebook Parties, along with How To Build A Booming Facebook Group in your exclusive Members-Only Learning Center. Learn more. Lynn Bardowski is an award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl. In addition, she speaks to global audiences about Direct Sales Success, Women’s Empowerment, and Social Selling. What's more, she's a valuable resource for press, media and bloggers. Follow Lynn on her social sites by clicking on the icons on the top left of this page.
