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Recruit to Retain – 3 Key Practices
By Terrel Transtrum and David Taylor
At the heart of retention must be the field reps' personal goal to develop life-long relationships with their customers and recruits. An effective retention leader wants their recruits and downline organization to stay with the team for many years. This is the only way to build a long-term business with long-term income.
The way field reps recruit will have a dramatic impact on their retention levels. Three powerful practices will help them in their efforts to recruit to retain. All three begin by truly striving to understand the needs and wants of their recruits. First, always understand and manage expectations. Second, know the person's reasons for joining. Third, help them experience a successful fast start into their pursuit, at whatever level of involvement they wish to pursue.
Expectations
One of the secrets of retention is expectations: managing, knowing, understanding, meeting and exceeding expectations. Manage the expectations of new recruits by accurately portraying the likely rewards they will receive through involvement with your company - based on their anticipated level of commitment and activity. Don't oversell! The company's products and programs will stand on their own. The field reps' job is to know and embrace the features and benefits of all of your company's offerings, then share those in a forthright, enthusiastic manner. If people come to the business with expectations that cannot be met, they can quickly become discouraged and leave.
When field reps know the expectations of a new recruit and understand what he or she really wants, they are in a powerful position to make sure that their expectations are met, and even exceeded.
Market Segmentation
Market segmentation is a complex phrase for a simple subject. It means knowing what a person wants and giving it to them, and not trying to force everybody into the same program at the same level. At the time of discovery and enrollment, determine and document the new recruit's wants and needs ̵ their reasons for joining your company. Then using this as a starting point, wisely and patiently nurture mew recruits to help them get what they seek from their involvement in the business. Field reps should not assume that the new recruit wants what they want. Find out what they want and then help them to make it a reality.
If field reps will keep a notebook and carefully track each recruit's wants and needs, then help them progress on their terms, they will enjoy an increased quality in their business relationships and should see a remarkable increase in retention. When the time is right, they can wisely and gently encourage those who begin as product users or lower-income business builders to progress into higher levels of sharing the products, referring friends, and presenting the business options.
Successful Fast Start
The new recruit's first 90 days are vital! Of those who will drop from the company, 45% to 60% go inactive in the first 90 days. Sponsors must do all you can to get them off to a great start – by helping them achieve success within the first 90 days. Remember, "success" is relative to their expectations.
Many companies, possibly including yours, have developed powerful Fast Start Success systems for new recruits. Too often, however, a new recruit does not know where to start or how to take advantage of the tools and methods that work. Sponsors must be sure that a new recruit knows about your company's Fast Start System. At a minimum, they should help new recruits with the following:
- Learning about and ordering the highest value product offerings
- Ensuring their first order goes smoothly and arrives quickly
- Getting connected through Email, conference calls, training systems and field meetings
- Signing up for auto-ship
- Learning how to tell their own simple stories:
- Why they have chosen this company
- What is it about the products that they like
- How interesting do they find the business offering
- Mentoring them through their first prospecting contacts and demonstrations
- Making sure they understand the steps they must take - indeed the formula - for achieving their goals and expectations
- Checking their progress and offering help often
(The content of this article is extracted from ServiceQuest® RetentionSmarts™ Modules. Click here for more information on RetentionSmarts™ training and mentoring systems.)
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