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Oh friends. Today’s episode is going to be PURE fire. I mean, anything that starts with “Confessions” has to be juicy, right?! Well, buckle your seat belts, make sure your tray tables and seats are in an upright position and get those notepads and hearts ready.
Over the last 3 years, I’ve worked tirelessly to become one of the top sellers in Paparazzi Accessories. I’m not saying this to brag or to pat myself on the back, but I want you to know that I have been a top seller and I’ve also NOT been a top seller. I’ve seen both sides of this particular coin and so I have a perspective that is different from someone who has always been a top seller or from someone who has yet to hit those sales levels.
So lets jump in.
Confession 1- No Early Access. I hear this ALL the time. Top sellers get early access to all the new releases, Fashion Fix items or Life of the Party exclusives and buy them all up so no one else can get them. Well, my friend, this is 100%, absolutely not the case. Top sellers get the SAME access as every other consultant. And there aren’t any exceptions to this.
And to be honest – seeing this from both sides, I love this about Paparazzi. A few of the other companies I tried would have items available to the top sellers or the top leaders that no one else could get and it was super frustrating. But with Paparazzi – equal treatment for all consultants. The same things I get access to, the newest consultant just getting started also has access to.
The only exception to this is bring back pieces for earning Black Diamond sales or higher. The consultant who earned that rank and their team get access to the ONE piece they brought back for 48 hours, but everyone on that team, regardless of their personal sales or rank get access at the exact same time.
Confession 2- The most of a single piece we can get per order is 50. This doesn’t change regardless of your sales level. Notice I said “per order” so if you are able to put in multiple orders for the same piece, it is possible you can buy more than 50 but it would be over multiple orders.
This is a point that I would get hung up on a lot in my pre-top-seller days but that was when I was only buying one and two of pieces. So I couldn’t understand how someone, anyone, could possibly need 50 of anything.
Well, as my customer base grew and as I sold more and more, I found I needed to order more of each piece. I started to order 3-5 of each item and soon, as I continued to grow, I was ordering 5-8 of each piece and so on. Now my customers snatch pieces up SO fast and I don’t always get enough.
So what I’m trying to say is that if your customer base supports what you are buying, that’s awesome! Yes, there needs to be limits and that is why we can only order 50 of each item per order. Top sellers have a customer base to support buying many of the same pieces and so that’s what they do. We don’t buy them to hid them away in a closet or snuggle them at night. And contrary to popular belief, we don’t have an evil laugh that we use when pieces sell out.
Confession 3- I don’t get all the pieces. I don’t. A lot of consultants believe that the top sellers get ALL the pieces ALL the time. Truth is we miss out too. We don’t always get the hottest pieces. We have our off days or weeks and fail just like every other consultant. But here is the key. When I miss out of a hot pair of earrings or the coolest new necklace, I still order. There are loads of other cute accessories and pieces that I can also sell.
My grandma used to say “don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater”. If you miss a piece you wanted, do you just quit for the day? Do you forget even ordering? That’s throwing out the baby and the bathwater. Find other pieces you don’t have yet. Replenish your supply of Blockbuster pieces or order in a new Zi Collection piece. The website is always stocked FULL of great items so keep pushing forward. Your customers will appreciate new pieces whether you got that one you had your eye on or not.
But isn’t not like I’m immune to the disappointment that comes when I miss a piece I really wanted. I just don’t let it keep me down. I will admit to eating a brownie or a candy bar because I felt sad after new releases didn’t go the way I had hoped. And my kids can testify to the fact that sometimes Mom is a little cranky if I run into a website glitch. But we have 2 choices – let it get us down or push on through and I refuse to let a few hiccups stall my entire business so I push through.
Confession 4- I get a little crazy when it is time for new jewelry to drop. Seriously. I have had friends visiting to witness this daily event and I’m pretty sure they leave with a permanent twitch. I have alarms set in my phone every day to remind me when new releases are coming. When that alarm sounds the kids run through the house shouting “New releases- Off the internet!”. Yep. That’s right. I make EVERYONE in the house get off the internet and put their phones into airplane mode. All music gets turned off and any shows Netflix or Disney + is playing on the tv get paused or turned off too.
I’m not even kidding. Every day. Monday through Fridays. And on Fashion Fix night and Life of the Party nights too.
And then I sit and watch the website for 5 minutes, sometimes more. Searching for hidden gems or things I might have missed the day before. Watching for any slight twitch that might indicate that new pieces have dropped.
It is like a daily ritual. A routine. But it usually works so I don’t deviate.
I honestly don’t know if my teenager streaming some music on her phone will change what I get to order or not, but I’m not about to start taking chances.
I am such a fanatic about that that there have been times when we are traveling when I will pull over the car and wait for 15 minutes to order because I know I have full bars on my phone and I’m not sure I will if I keep driving. I have rescheduled appointments, changed lunch plans and even picked different flights on airlines because I didn’t want to miss out on new releases.
Here’s my point though. Are you this dedicated when you order? I mean, I know I can be a bit intense with this but how dedicated are you to when those new things drop?
Maybe you aren’t to the point yet in your business where you are ordering every day. And that’s ok. But on the days you are ordering, what steps do you take to ensure your success?
Confession 5- I work my business EVERY day. Every every day. Whether I am doing a live show, a party, posting albums or wall drops. I could be invoicing, shipping orders or all of the above. I work my business daily. I have a schedule of when I post, what I post, when I go live and when I do parties.
And then I stick to it.
If you thought I was a little OCD about new releases, you should see me with the rest of my schedule. But – being consistent day in and day out is how I started gaining traction with my sales and how I started to grow my business. It was when I got SUPER intentional that the biggest milestones started coming for my business. And when I start to see my sales tapering off, I know I can always look at my schedule and where I’ve been spending my time and it is usually pretty obvious where the breakdown has been.
So if you want to see your sales and your business start to take off, get intentional. Get consistent. Set a schedule that works for you and then work it for a MINIMUM of 6 months, especially if you find yourself getting discouraged. Keep pushing. And then re-evaluate at the end of the 6 months. Decide, commit and then you will find the success.
I also realize that with little kiddos around this can be especially difficult (hello! Kids over here!) So this is when you need to enlist help. Hire a sitter one night a week. Ask your Hubby or SO to take 2 nights a week to snuggle and tuck in the kids to bed so you can go live. Ask your mom to watch the kids for a grandma day so you can do a party or home show. Do what you need to do to carve out those times to consistently work your business and then you can squeeze in other things around your kiddos. I have invoiced many a time while the kids were snuggling next to me watching a princess movie and eating popcorn or I’ve posted albums for customers to shop while the kids played in a bubble bath. I did many a party while nursing my littlest. You just figure it out when you decide to make your business a priority.
Confession 6- If there isn’t money in my account, I don’t buy jewelry. Period. I’ve heard of consultants who wrack up credit card debt to hit a Life of the Party Sales level or to just be able to get new jewelry. This isn’t something I personally do or recommend. You don’t need the extra pressure of a card payment hanging over you. You don’t need to pay the interest on a credit card or loan. That’s just less money you get to keep or buy new jewelry with at the end of the day.
If you want to order jewelry – sell jewelry. If your account balance is low- get busy. Start selling. Drop an album. Start booking parties. Do a messenger party or a live show. Or all of the above. And then when those invoices are paid or the money from your live show or event is deposited, THEN put in your order. Keep your business in the green and it will serve you better in the long run.
Confession 7- I engage to the MAX. What do I mean? If there is a Paparazzi training, event, post, live show, video or anything in between – I am there. When Paparazzi announces Convention, the Passport Vacation or Empower Me Pink trainings, I snag those tickets. When they go live or post on social media, I’m there. Sneak Peeks with Misty? You know I’m watching. What about the Diners, Drive Ins and Dorks trainings. Yep. Watching. The Winners Circle? Better believe it.
I take every opportunity I can to watch, listen, stay informed and build my business. It might be a phrase someone uses that lights a fire in my soul. It might be one of the weekly challenges on the Winner’s Circle that helps me grow my customer base or team. It might be a random conversation I had standing in a line that gives me a pointer on how to work my business better or more effectively. You never know! So pay attention to those trainings. Show up. Be preset. Be open to learning and growing and building and the knowledge and inspiration you need will follow.
Confession 8- I don’t just sell ONE way. That would be the Paparazzi equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket. I sell on live shows, in parties, in a sales group, on my business page, in albums, in messenger, via text, when people to come to my house, in basket parties, home parties and so many more. I have pretty much tried it ALL. Why? Because some customers want to shop on a live show and others want to shop in a party. Some want to shop albums and some just aren’t techy at all and want to come see, touch and try on the jewelry they select.
Some of the ways might not be your favorite or might not work for your customers and that’s ok. BUT be sure to offer your customers multiple ways to shop from you and multiple opportunities as well so that they can feed their $5 jewelry addiction and you can you can find what works best for you. Again, I recommend giving any option a 4-6 month trial period to see if your customers like it or not. Any new sales method might be a learning curve for them and take them a minute to get used to and for you to work out the bugs.
One final thought for you. Did Michael Jordan become one of the greatest basketball players by stepping onto the court and shooting the ball at the hoop one time and then calling it a day? In truth, he didn’t make the varsity team his junior year of high school. His training schedule after that was grueling, shooting free throws again and again. Some stories state that he would shoot baskets for up to 8 hours a day. Michael even training by himself before and after team practices. Again and again and again. Perfecting his shot and putting in the hard work so that when game day came, he made the entire process look easy.
If you are ordering once or twice a week – that’s awesome!! But someone who orders every day and multiple times a day has worked to perfect and hone their ordering game. They have practiced again and again and again. Day in and day out. So wouldn’t it make sense that someone ordering at that level like myself and other top sellers in Paparazzi, have become quite skilled at what we do? Simply by the number of times we have put in an order, perused the website and completed the checkout process we have honed our skills.
You too can practice. You can build your sales and customer base to the levels I have. There is no limit to who can make it to the top. There is no limit to what you can achieve and the business you can build. You decide. Its up to you to dream big, hustle hard and reach for more. You can do this.
Show Notes:
Confessions of a Paparazzi Accessories Top Seller – printable show transcripts