In January, most companies put their starter kits on sale. Everyone knows that January tends to not be a great month in direct sales–people are tapped out from spending money on Christmas gifts, and just don’t have the discretionary income to spend at parties.

For that reason, January is also a great month to recruit–people NEED money. They tend to over-spend during the holidays, those credit card bills came due, and they need money NOW to pay them. It’s a catch 22–they need to make money, but don’t have the money for starter kits. Hence January being “kit sale month” with most companies–who can resist a sale?

So, fast forward to March. Some people who “started their new direct selling business” in January have nothing more than a kit. They are not making money. And they still have the credit card bills, just now they have a little more debt with a starter kit added on.

Where is the disconnect? What happens from the “I am going to start a business, make some money, have some fun” to NOTHING happening?

Many of you who read this are leaders, and have struggled with this for years. It’s always been a big debate with me personally. In one of my former companies, it would be required, at times, and by zones, to make sure the new start had SIX PARTIES BOOKED, period, end of discussion, before ordering their starter kit.

I always had very vocal debates about that “requirement”. There is one lady who I admire greatly in that business who wouldn’t even let her own daughter sign up without her six parties on the books, and she has an amazing proven track record and it works for her. Five parties is NOT an option, it’s six, or you absolutely cannot join her team, period, end of discussion. I have always respected that she holds firm to that, no waffling, no matter what the circumstances are.

I, on the other hand, have never felt comfortable with that, for one big reason–I would not be doing direct sales today if that was required of me. My original game plan was that I was doing ONE PARTY AND QUITTING. I am not kidding. One and done. The only reason I signed up is because the lady who did my party kept bugging me to join, and at the end of the night, she said she’d pay for my starter kit, and I could do one party and quit if I wanted to, and she’d never call me again. In Joyce-land, all I heard was I was basically getting over $500 in jewelry, doing one party, and getting rid of the irritating jewelry lady because she would never be calling me again after I quit after doing my ONE PARTY.

Well, that ONE PARTY was a huge success, $1800 in sales, six bookings, and two recruits, so…I stuck with that company for almost ten years, and in my last year, ironically, finished #1 in recruiting.

So, I always felt if I required six parties, I would be a hypocrite, and I might miss out on the next “me”. I remember chatting one time with the lady who did require the six parties, and we were debating the merits of it, and I told her I would not have been able to join her team with her requirement, and would that have been worth losing out on someone like me? She said to me that she would have been able to convince me to get those six parties booked. I still smile thinking about that, because if anyone could have done so, it was her.

So, honestly, it’s been ten years, and I still vacillate on that. In January, I recruited 14 people into my new company. Have all 14 had their launch shows and become huge successes? NOPE. Does it really bother me? YEP. As a leader, do I sit and wonder what else can I possibly do to get them going? ALL THE TIME.

What I find surprising is the people who I LEAST expected to be successful, the gals who came across as the least confident, are the ones who are taking the business by storm. They are the newbies with not much direct selling experience at all. I like to analyze the heck out of everything (just ask my husband), so I wonder if there is some correlation there. Are the direct sales newbies more inclined to get on the web site, watch all the videos, read all the training materials, come to all the meetings, and ask all the questions because they don’t have any point of reference and are not jaded from any previous experiences? Do people who come from multiple other businesses come in with the “I got this” attitude, and it negatively affects their new business? Usually we look forward to those who come from other businesses–they have experience, and they have networks already somewhat established.

I constantly analyze how I am running my business, where I spend my time, and where to most efficiently use the limited time I have (I still do 20+ personal parties a month). Conventional wisdom tells you to spend your time with those who “make you the most money”. I have always bristled at that. First, personally I am a self-starter and HATED, I mean HATED getting calls from my upline micromanaging me. I did not need it, and never welcomed it. I have a group of self-starters who do very well, and probably don’t need or  want me to call them all the time and ask what they have lined up. Next, I have the group in the middle who are plugging away, working their business, and could use the encouragement, tips and interaction. I see them actively talking about their business on their Facebook pages, they interact on our team Facebook page, and come to meetings, but maybe just have not hit their full stride yet. I personally find that group the best to pour my time into.

And lastly, you always will have people who, once they get their kit, don’t interact much with you. All you can do is encourage them, encourage them some more, invite them to meetings, invite them to shadow you, reach out to them, and at some point, realize that they bought a kit. They maybe thought they were starting a business, and had every intention to start a business, but for whatever reason, ended up buying a kit. The toughest thing as a leader is to decide when it’s time to stop putting time and effort into those teammates. I always think, “If I reach out ONE MORE TIME…if I encourage them ONE MORE TIME, we can get something going.” It’s addicting, like playing the slot machines–you always want to stick one more quarter in and pull that lever one more time, and never feel comfortable when you make that decision to walk away. You always have that “WHAT IF” thought process going….

My husband, when I discuss this with him (he’s the director of sales and marketing for a 100 million dollar a year company, so he deals with these things as well, just on a different and larger scale) always tells me, “You can’t push a rope.” I know you can’t. But I also like to accomplish things that I am told CAN’T BE DONE. I think that is what makes many people successful–the drive to prove people wrong (especially if that person is your HUSBAND!).

If you are a leader reading this, realize you are not a failure or alone when you have teammates who never got their business going after you bring them on board. I always took it personally, that it was my personal failure–that *I* could not inspire them in some way. I have one situation that I might talk about some day that REALLY sticks in my craw when it comes to this situation. Truth be told, it still does–another story for another day. The ultimate decision whether they “start a business” or “bought a kit” lies with them. The biggest favor you can do yourself is let it go, and go work with that middle group who wants and NEEDS your time and attention. They STARTED A BUSINESS. Give them your time.