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In the beginning, sales are easy! Your friends come to shop, they bring their friends, and everyone leaves happy. And then, things get harder. Your friends might not be as gung-ho about the clothes as you are. Before you start to get down on yourself and thinking that this isn’t the right business for you, STOP! All you have done is hit the edge of your warm market. You’re not a failure, you’ve just over-fished your pond. How are you going to recreate those previous sales? Well, you’ve got to find new ponds to fish! You need to work on growing your group. Now, there are lots of ways to do this, but I’m going to cover the two most common methods used to grow. So, let’s get down to business and talk about the different ways of growing your group.
The Various Methods To Growing Your Group
There are two different schools of thought when it comes to growing your VIP group, loops and a relationship-based approach. Loops are about growing your group through sharing customers with other consultants. Since each consultant has different inventory, hopefully you will have an item that each person is looking for. The focus is to constantly have new eyes by growing your group.
The second school of thought is about building a relationship-driven business. This school of thought is that by creating a fun environment, adding value, and providing superior customer service the customer will be attracted to stay in your group for the experience. The consultant works to foster relationships by getting to know their customers on an individual basis. There is a sense of community and belonging in this type of group. By creating this environment, your customers will want to refer you to your friends. If they’re having fun, they will want their friends to join in, right? This is all based on attraction.
Both of these method to growing your group have their own sets of pros and cons. Let’s cover these!
Looping-Pro’s
- You’re constantly getting new eyes on your inventory.
- Engagement on your loop posts is really high.
Attraction-Based Pro’s:
- You’ve built a community that’s about more than just shopping. My customers have become more than just customers. They truly have become my friends.
- There is constant engagement within your group, not just when you’re giving something away.
Looping-Cons
- People won’t interact. They forget that they are in the group, so they are quiet. Their numbers bring down the group engagement, so your group doesn’t show up in people’s news feeds. This includes people who used to actively engage. Unless they’re seeking out your group, chances are they won’t find you.
- Most people join for the prizes. You’ve incentivized popping up and being active only when they can win something for free (if they see your posts), so chances are they won’t shop. Don’t believe me? Look into large groups of sellers. I guarantee that you won’t have to scroll too far to find a post where people are talking about having a dead group or that no one shops or engages.
- You’re advertising for other sellers. Now don’t get me wrong. I know that not every person will only shop with me. I’ve got different inventory than the next person. However, by looping, you’re inviting them to go shop somewhere else. Let’s think of this in terms of large box stores, Target and Walmart. They have similar, yet different product lines. Do you think that Target advertises for Walmart and vice versa? HELL NO! So, why are you?
Attraction-Cons
- This method takes time. It’s not going make you a million dollars overnight. This is a slow and steady approach to growth. You need to be patient.
Overall, I’m not a fan of looping. It’s like a get quick rich plan that doesn’t pan out long term. Plus, it’s kinda comes off spammy, a behavior I’m NOT a fan of. (Want to read more about my hate for spammy behavior? HERE you go!) To me, this business model is not sustainable. You are constantly trying to fight to create a group that engages while they’ve been taught that the only time they should engage is when you’re giving something away.
Want to see an engaged group in action? Feel free to join my community group HERE! However, I do ask that you don’t lurk. Come hang out with us!
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