Reasons Why You’re Failing in Mary Kay
Did you wonder why you were failing in Mary Kay? They don’t want you to think that it’s because of the system. 99% of people fail in MLM because it’s simply a pyramid scheme. You can’t retail enough products to make a living and recruiting is almost always a losing game too.
So one sales director will tell you all the ways you didn’t work hard enough in your Mary Kay “business.” And of course, she inflates the sales figures so you REALLY feel like a loser. And no, it’s not fun to count each no.
I first want to remind you that you are running a business and you have treat it like a business. When a major corporation is not getting their desired results, what do they do? Usually call in a consulting firm to evaluate their business. Do you treat your business like that? Do you call in your Director, a sister Consultant who is doing what you want to achieve, a National Sales Director to help? Do you evaluate your business constantly?
Mary Kay taught us to evaluate your class on the way home and ask yourself…
- How many new clients did you gain?
- How many bookings did you book?
- How much did you sell?
- Who is your strongest recruit prospect?
If you fall short in one of these 4 categories then it’s time to make an evaluation and in 17 years of business I can safely say that it falls into one of these categories…
- Do you have enough skills? Skills are the difference between a $50 class or a $500. Did you show sets? Did you do a table close? Did you do individual 5-10 min consultations with each guest? Did you give her two options? Did you help her to feel in control of the closing decisions? Just to name a few. Scripts are imperative!!! Skills are completely teachable if you are willing to learn. Start with the Consultants Guide in your kit…. amazing stuff in there!!!
- It could be the numbers… average class is now $250…. and for some it’s $350. Did you have a $1000 party last week and the $50 one this week is just keeping your averages in line? Try to prove me wrong 1 out of 4 interviews recruit. 1 out of 3 bookings hold on their original date. 10 new names will be one appointment. Face it… you have to get more no’s then yeses to be a success! Sometimes it’s fun to count how many no’s you can get.
- Attitude…did you have an attitude of expectancy or did you know they were going to cancel before you made the call? Your tone can create the expected answer. Consider these two scenarios…”Hi Karen I am calling to confirm our appt for tomorrow at 10.” or… “Hi Karen I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and pamper you with a MK makeover…it’s so much fun and you deserve it… remember it’s at 10 tomorrow and will you be bringing a friend with you?” Confirming appts is a yes/no and chances are they will say no. Or “you don’t want to have a party with me do you?” Enthusiasm sells!!!!!
- You didn’t create a big enough “what’s in it for her” She had good intentions but maybe you didn’t bond with her enough and she is too scared to meet a stranger in a hotel for a MK meeting. Bribing works! Maybe she was doing it for you but when she got home and Johnny needs help with homework then helping him became the priority … but she was helping you AND she was getting $20 free products and she needs stuff then she will show up. Does she know what to expect? Did you tell her what was going to happen at the event or at the party? Did you tell her that you have just the product to help her special need after pre-profiling her?
Be about business and use the business skills you may have learned in school! If you didn’t learn them there then call up your Director or National and ask for help!! I believe anyone can do this business and be successful…. if you learn the business and then just do it!!! Which goes back to an old email about respecting the time you need to work.. it’s an investment in your future!!
Visit the
she is too scared to meet a stranger in a hotel for a MK meeting.
Well, yeah. Not wanting to be at the mercy of a complete stranger especially one who has bullied her into being driven there is a perfectly acceptable response.
Maybe she was doing it for you but when she got home and Johnny needs help with homework then helping him became the priority .
God, family, career…I thought family comes before MK.
Just offer her some freebies and she’ll leave Johnny to crash and burn. Because what mother doesn’t care about some ugly lipgloss and a brow brush than her child’s success in school?
And, I’m sorry, “profiling” is what they do with serial killers and other horrible criminals. These pink barracuda creep me out more and more with every bit of “training material” of theirs that I read.
Bribery works!!!!!!
What a way to train your customer never to pay full price for anything.
“I first want to remind you that you are running a business and you have treat it like a business.”
Great! What is my territory, and what protections do I have from other IBCs encroaching on my territory?
And what is my pay for the time spent making calls and setting up for classes? Do I get an hourly wage plus bonuses/commissions from sales? What about overtime pay when I work more than 40 hours in a week?
My husband had a heart attack and I need time off to help him recover. My position is safe til I come back, right?
“That’s exactly why you NEED Mary Kay!”
Today’s post gave me a good laugh to start my day! Thanks!
“You have to run it like a business,” they say, then teach the most inane accounting practices ever. Don’t keep track of expenses, just plow a fixed percentage of sales back into more inventory. Not how real businesses work.
Corporations having difficulties hire consulting firms, but your consultants are…the people making money off of your orders! What do you suppose their advice will be after they lead with “you need more inventory!”?
And maybe it’s just me and rest of the world, but I’d feel much more comfortable keeping an appointment with someone who calls to confirm in a businesslike manner than with someone who gushes, “I can’t wait to pamper you!” Ick.
“You have to run it like a business,” they say, then teach the most inane accounting practices ever. Don’t keep track of expenses,
I used to help my husband with his work expenses. It could be complex at times. Internal rules versus USA rules since the company HQ was in the states.
Was he using a work issued credit card? was it his? different internal rules for each.
Did he drive a company vehicle? A hire car? His SUV? my mum-van? All had different accounting numbers. But both his car and mine had the same milage expenses. Company vehicle required a company credit card. Hire cars a separate set of rules.
Then there was the discussion about setting up a home office in our house. Since we didn’t have a mortgage, that was a problem. We have an in-law suite that we could easily turn into an office suite but I’d have to move the laundry machines unless they were purely for the business. We needed a dish-washer and cooking equipment, not just a microwave. I couldn’t park on the drive.
This was the early 20teens and post Covid it might have changed.
Every time I ask a MLMhun for their ledgers, they look blankly at me and bleat that you can write off your laptop, phone, travel against your taxes. When I ask which line I need to post this on my Canadian tax return, I get blank looks.
It’s like pulling teeth trying to get the smallest view at the wizard hiding behind the curtain. How can I decide if it is worthwhile investing my time and money if I can’t see what the actual results in red and black up front and centre.
I had this lightbulb moment the other day…they don’t track profit and loss because Mary Kay Ash said herself that P&L stood for “People & Love.” That right there sets the stage for the consultants to not look at customers as a number, even though, ironically, the consultants are just a number one n the unit and national area. Easily replaced.
“Hi Karen I can’t wait to see you tomorrow and pamper you with a MK makeover…it’s so much fun and you deserve it… remember it’s at 10 tomorrow and will you be bringing a friend with you?”
So cringey. And MK ladies, please stop using the word “pamper”. Yuck. It reminds me of dirty diapers.