Oh my goodness. There seems to be a great deal of misinformation circulating in the world of Mary Kay concerning inventory and credit.
You can read my personal experience at posting #148 (Archive 3). No one has to carry inventory. It is a personal decision that you need to make based on you, your financial position, and your personality. Here is what I mean...
There are people who are easily discouraged (or depressed) by walking into their closet and seeing inventory on a shelf. They may begin to question their decision and doubt that they are ever going to sell the products. If they purchased the inventory on credit, the monthly bill is another depressing factor! This type of person may not want to keep inventory, but may be able to go out and sell their socks off.
Then, there are people who have no credit or poor credit. Many times this happens because people do not understand that they have a credit report or they may not care. There are plenty of very nice, hard working people out there with poor credit these days. I firmly believe that these people can be great MK consultants.
There may also be ladies out there whose husbands are not supportive and will not allow their wives to spend money on inventory...especially when they are just getting started. This is certainly an issue for many stay-at-home moms. Again, another group of excellent MK consultants.
Here is what I have done with my recruits who do not want to carry inventory or can not afford to. I teach them to follow the 50-40-10 rule of business from the start. 50% of the retail price goes toward purchasing the product, 40% is their PROFIT, and 10% is their fund for catalogs, samples, Preferred Customer Program, and Section 2 stuff. So, how do they get started??
Facial her (if you haven't already) and explain the products to her. Answer all her questions, then ask if she has any more questions. Get her excited about the products and her decision to come aboard on this exciting adventure! Have her sign her contract and order her GoKit?.
THEN...schedule a BIG Debut Party! Have her invite EVERYONE to their Debut Party. Treat this like you would your most important booking ever. Follow up and make sure that everything is ready for the big day. Set a goal to have a minimum of $600 in retail sales. Your new recruit can get started even before the party. Have her take the catalogs and some order forms from her GoKit? and have her start taking outside orders. The goal for outside orders is a minimum of $200.
You as the recruiter need to have display items and samples for her Debut Party. Your new consultant can use her products from her GoKit? to Satin Hands her guests. You can set up the party in shifts if you want to facial the guests. For instance, invite 8 people at 1 pm, 8 people at 2 pm, 8 people at 3 pm. Half of them will show up and you will have the time to make sure they get a great introduction to the products. Close the facials for your new recruit and make sure that you let all of the customers know that their products will arrive in about a week.
Total up the orders and help your new consultant get her first order figured up. Chances are, she will have more than enough orders to easily qualify for the 50% discount. If she is a little below that, remind her to order her own personal products.
You will be shocked at the results of this. Most often, the recruit will have an incredible order. She may even have enough to qualify for the $600 WS order...and ALL of it will be SOLD already! Cha-ching!
By working the Debut Party as mentioned above, your new consultant only needs a DEBIT card from her bank. She can take all the money from her orders and deposit it into her account, then place her order online. It is quick and she is NOT going into ANY debt!
Another HUGE benefit of this is that her husband will see the MONEY from her profits...not just a closet full of stuff. Guys are usually VERY supportive IF they can see the $CASH$. :)
If your consultant is HONEST and UPFRONT with her customers and lets them know that she is not going to be carrying inventory, most of them will not have any problem. Most customers are happy to know that they are getting the FRESHEST product directly from the company. She also needs to make sure that she does excellent follow-up with her customers to prevent any MK product emergencies.
Now, to effectively run a MK business without inventory, you will need to let your consultant know that she is going to have to spend the 10% from her retail sales (the "10" in the 50-40-10 program from above)on SAMPLES! MK has sample strips of nearly everything EXCEPT mascara, nail color, and some Ltd. Ed. items. She needs to have enough samples to give to any customers who are having a MK emergency and who can not wait for their product to arrive from the distribution center.
This CAN work. It DOES work! I have seen it and it is a BEAUTIFUL thing!
So, once again...if someone tries to tell you that you MUST have an initial order of $600 wholesale to become a consultant...RUN!!!! Do your homework and study the company. Check out the UnitNet site and see what is going on out there in the world of Mary Kay. There are MANY truly honest consultants and directors out there. I encourage you to find one who will honor you, your personality, and your financial situation while inspiring you to make and achieve your goals! :)
Love and prayers,
Stephanie
Any questions?? Email me at: kies@marykay.com
StephanieKiesewetter 
- 16 Mar 2004
Hi Stephanie, This is Wendy T. and this is EXACTLY what I was saying in earlier posts. I just don't think the recruiters or Directors are doing these very often with new consultants. It may be because the Director and/or recruiter is out of state but if the new consultant is effectively coached on how to hold a debut, she can do it on her own.
The best debuts are when the new consultant gets jazzed about it! She invites everyone and the results for me are usually between $600-$1,300+ Then there is NO NEED to get a loan or use a credit card. I prefer doing these if I am close to her because I know she has nothing on credit and I can sleep at night! I have a gal who is laid off and she has ZERO debt into this business and actually has around $170 in the bank profit from MK! Go figure! She started out qualified too!
It's very, very wise to put all the profit into product and reinvest it all back in when you are new, especially if you have no inventory. I would say keep a small percentage for samples but put the rest right back in. You are not losing a thing but just not taking an immediate profit. You will quickly be up to a full inventory ($3,600) if you do this and this is how I built my business. It's your choice of course.
Second is to get hooked up with a group of MK consultants (your meeting). This is so very important for so many reasons. Even if you don't attend weekly, get hooked up with one. If you go to one and you don't "connect", there are several more options for other meetings usually. Most of you also konw that I am an advocate of finding another meeting you connect with even if it means leaving yours. I feel that it's more important you are in a meeting you are motivated by and can learn from, even if it means getting adopted and your Director is close. This is my feeling and I know others look at this differently.
Also, get yourself hooked up with other consultants so you can dove tail appointments and get "leads" together. My expo's are successful for the simple fact that I have around 40 other consultants to do them with and some come from about 5 other units. I do not want to invest an entire weekend (Thurs-Sun) on my feet at an expo....alone! A few women together can accomplish more than you alone AND you can split the cost! I can explain these in more detail over the phone if you like. You are also able to give away (yes I said give away) names when you get too many. I do this frequently because I get bogged down with too many names! This is awesome when you are a recruiter because you are TOTALLY being Go-Give and helping your recruits! I love expo's!
There are certainly ways to make this work, if you want to. Just find your niche and put your thumbprint on this business.
And by the way...I am a new auntie of a little girl! I am so excited! My sister is coming home today with Arianna! My sister is a consultant and is already talking about phone calls she has to make! I am so proud of her because she isn't putting this totally on the back burner but is working smart and dove tailed ALL her appts. to me...one of which have to go do NOW!
Hugs and Take Care!
Wendy T. (612) 588-1569
you know you can always call/email
Oh, by the way Hi Stephanie S....haven't heard from you this week!
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