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Here's the "training" - (notice the product SOLD is Inventory to Consultants, not product to customers).

How I Explain Inventory

What I do on the inventory is not to give them a packet to read without me being there. Instead, I like to be there with them to guide their thinking or to read their faces when they are discovering that they may need to have inventory. If they go through this alone, and are scared, I may lose them. It is better for me to be there with them and to guide them through how we think about this.

People do not read everything that we give them. I know you know this from selling our products. Someone still has to make the sale. It is all in the words we use.

Instead, I take the packet to them, and go over it with them in a positive way. I set this appointment up to occur at least one day after the agreement is signed and sent in. I never do it at the same appointment. If you are there explaining it, it seems perfectly natural. But if she is alone and she reads it alone, and the idea of tying up money in inventory scares her, you have more to overcome, expecially if she talks it over with her husband, and he buys into her fears or is against it.

I feel this is like sending a child in to do a woman's work! It leaves too much to chance, and is also too passive.

So, I get with them, under the guise of explaining company specials, in a friendly sort of way, so they will know what the company is giving away free right now.

You can explain Star Consultant, the prizes, and show them the ladders.

Then, you show the brochure with the photographs of the various sized orders. I start with the highest order, and they are about to faint! But then I flip back to the $600 one and show that one. Then, I flip back to the start of the booklet, show the $3600 order, then the $3000 one and on down back to the $600. With each of these, I write down the dollar amount of what they will get free by adding the categories together. Next to the picture and this total, I write, FREE.

Then, I slowly flip from the $600 to the $1200 to the $1800 order, and pause. I point out how each one is better than the one before it.

The $1800 order is really a decent order since you get all the free things, plus you are a Star Consultant. But the $3600 order is still by far the best way to go because your perfume department is open, your nail care department is open, you spa department is open, your men's department, well, all of them!

And, THIS is what you get free!! You get the New Consultant Special which is $XX plus the other things from the Applause Magazine of $XX for a grand total of $XX!

Then I say, It doesn't really matter to me which way you start. It is really up to you. but I like to see people go with at least a Star Consultant order since you get so much more free. Now, most people don't have a lot of cash lying around, so they put it on a credit card. Mary Kay realizes this, and that is why they are giving you so much free, because when you sell it there is more than enough to pay your interest! It is like having an interest free loan on your credit card. Usually a bank will not do a loan for under $4000, so consultants who use the bank usually start with at least a $3600 order.

For you, which order looks the best for you, do you feel? It doesn't really matter to me...but it is a good idea to have some inventory to start with....

Then I keep my eyes on the pictures, but WAIT for her to say something. If she says, $600, I don't say, Yippee! That's wonderful! Instead, I say, Well, that is an ok order but if you could do just a little bit more, say the $1200 here, that would be so much better for you..., if you can't go as high as the $1800. Sometimes by saying this, they will upgrade their choice to the $1200, or even sometimes $1800, whereas if I left it alone, all they would order would be the tiny $600 order.

The thing to remember is this: Either they sell YOU or you sell THEM! So, be aware that you may be able to upgrade someone from their first reaction.

Also, if they say, Gee, I can't afford it, then YOU say, "How's your credit because a lot of women just put it on their credit card or take a loan from the bank. Essentially the free product when sold will give you the money to pay the interest, so it is like having an interest free loan! How's your credit?

If she says, OK, then you say, "Well, if you were my own sister, I'd tell you to take out a loan and get the $3600 order, because you won't regret it!"

If she says, "Not so good, we had a pickup repossessed last year... you say, well, that's ok, you can just bloom where you are planted. You can start with just the showcase, but it is better if you can find some money from somewhere to get some inventory. Do you have 9 people who would each lend you $200 each for 6 months, 9 people who believe in you enough for you to start your own business? Or, three people to lend you $600 would be the same, enough to be a Star Consultant, not counting tax." Sometimes I say, "What about your grandmother, one of your ex-husbands, someone you know...do you have anything you can sell that you don't want in order to raise the money?" This lets them know I am serious about them getting some inventory, and it puts the responsibility clearly on her shoulders. Do not offer to use your own inventory to help her start because it will make her weak, and she may never order, if she can use you for her warehouse. That is not fair to you. You can say, if she brings it up, "My accountant won't let me."

Listen to what she says, and then you know what to say. Because most women don't have money lying around for this, and they use their credit card or take out a loan from the bank to pay for it. Essentially, the free product when sold means that Mary Kay is paying your interest, so it is an interest free loan!!

Just remember that if you are sure of yourself, they will be too. You either sell them, or they sell you on why it is not possible.

I also mention that Mary Kay knows the women need inventory, but at the same time she realized they were conservative, so that is why we get all the free things, so our loan is interest free, AND we have a 90% buy back policy. That is wonderful! If something were to happen like a train wreck or quadruplets, you would have a way to send it back and get 90% of your money back, so you can't lose because of all the free things they are giving you. But the catch is, they will never let you back in the company again if you send back inventory and get out. Instead, if someone is slowing down, they trade with other consultants to get more cleansers, and then have a sale with their customers, and gradually phase out. This way they can come back in again whenever they are ready.

If they are still not sure, keep pedaling. By this I mean that you talk about when she is going to start her first classes, and making her list of who she is going to ask. You act like everything is NORMAL. But she will get to thinking about how she really needs some merchandise there to sell at her first parties. You will get a call, "I've got the money, my husband is giving it to me!"

I know you can successfully guide them to starting with a decent inventory. It is not hard, but I recommend meeting with them like this rather than being passive and handing out a packet. That leaves too much to chance, no matter how well-crafted the words are. You are better off meeting with them than just giving out a packet.

(I do recommend that at the first visit you coach her and give her a script on how to book her first classes, and also help her select her Kick Off Week for when she is getting started. Don't let any grass grow under her feet. Plunge her into the business. It is great if she has already booked a couple of classes before you have your inventory talk. You call the inventory talk, "letting her know about the Company Specials and what they are giving away free right now."

Obviously, if she is out of town, you have to do this on the phone with her. Also, when I discuss starting her business, I let her know about the Perfect Start and the Power Start. But then I say, "Our group does something that is a cut above the rest of the Mary Kay world. In our unit, most of the consultants pick out a two week window for kicking off their business, and in this two week period, they book 8 and hold at least 5 beginning classes. It is easier to ask the people you call for a gathering instead of just a private facial. If they say no to the class, you can always just do the facial. It is faster and you get the 15 or 30 faces done very quickly and make some quick money. So, I want to challenge you to do the Book 8, Hold 5 in a two week period.

Let's take a look at the calendar and pick out your two week window. What looks good to you? She will pick something out, and even is she has not made an inventory decision, she is starting her business with or without product. This puts pressure on her to DECIDE about inventory, and you don't have to keep talking about it. It will be

on her mind.

If you wait for her to get her inventory before she starts, she may NEVER get started!! This is why we have people who buy the kit and never get an order in at all.

To prevent this, just get them started with or without inventory. Many times, once they are started, they come up with the money miraculously from grandma or an ex-boyfriend. Who knows. But letting them sit around and think about it doesn't help you get them qualified. In any case, your getting them to make those calls on their own is tons better than your doing a Business Debut. A business debut that you or anyone else puts on is a time hog. Better to get her to make those calls herself. Please read my other articles about the business debuts for clarification. I do not recommend them.

I know you have what it takes to sell inventory! It is a skill like everything else!!

xxxxxxxxxx, NSD
LauraRyan  - 07 Oct 2005

I find this full of tactics and manipulation. I find this "teaching" breaking moral values as well and I will give some specifics:

..... "That leaves too much to chance, no matter how well-crafted the words are."......

There's choosing your words carefully with someone out of respect and then there is choosing your words, "crafting them" to get something from them. I find the use of the word "craft" very telling.

..... "I know you have what it takes to sell inventory!"......

To me, this really reveals what's truly being sold. If people cannot see that as a problem, knowing the true definition of a PYRAMID SCHEME, then that, in itself, is a problem.

.... "But the catch is, they will never let you back in the company again if you send back inventory and get out."......

This is a false statement and an NSD should know that the company has let people back in. Even if it is a small percentage, they STILL let people back in.

.... "But if she is alone and she reads it alone, and the idea of tying up money in inventory scares her, you have more to overcome, expecially if she talks it over with her husband, and he buys into her fears or is against it."......

And, if he is against it, then what? Call him unsupportive and start division in the marriage with "how to do this without your husband knowing it teachings?"

......." But letting them sit around and think about it doesn't help you get them qualified."......

For what? One of the many contests to get the $600 min wholesale order which constitutes a "qualified" consultant?

......."You call the inventory talk, "letting her know about the Company Specials and what they are giving away free right now."

And, later when she discovers that she was being quickly coersed into "the Company Specials" and that it was inventory they were after in addition to finding out how much time she had to make this decision, how do you think she'd feel about that deception?

....."So, I get with them, under the guise of explaining company specials,"

If you had a question about my comment about deception, these well-crafted words from the NSD should explain my insight about her motives.

........"but at the same time she realized they were conservative, so that is why we get all the free things, so our loan is interest free,".........

Really?! OK, so because you got the free stuff, just know that the interest charges on your credit card really aren't "interest charges". Consider all the stuff you got for free.

....."If they go through this alone, and are scared, I may lose them. It is better for me to be there with them and to guide them through how we think about this.".....

Whoops, can't have them looking at the Inventory catalog alone or worse, WITH THEIR HUSBAND! They might be thinking logically at this point. I like the part about "guiding them through how WE think about this". What do they call trying to get someone to think YOUR way regardless of logic or what they think?

...."What about your grandmother, one of your ex-husbands, someone you know...do you have anything you can sell that you don't want in order to raise the money?" ..........

"One of your ex-husbands?" How condescending. She also refers to ex-boyfriends. Does this show any sort of desperation being taught by the NSD. Just get the money where you can - rob the kids piggybank if you have to - just so you can be a star and I can meet my goals! Time's a wastin!

....."She will pick something out, and even isshe has not made an inventory decision, she is starting her business with or without product. This puts pressure on her to DECIDE about inventory, and you don't have to keep talking about it.".....

What was the word the NSD used..."PRESSURE??" on her to decide about inventory. Even out of context, it still implies, to me, the equivalent of that "gun to your head" that they say they do not hold.

I could dissect this so much more because it's just filled with "tactics" on "getting something" from the consultant.

Even when the consultant sees that she can afford $600, the NSD puts the pressure on for her to get more even using bank minimum loans as an excuse to HAVE to buy more. I want to know where the consultant is considered, where is the teaching if their economics seem to forbid spending more money when they seemingly don't have any to begin with? You just pursue, pursue, pursue the highest inventory and please someone, answer, who benefits here?
LauraRyan  - 21 Oct 2005

Deleted my post since some here are so rude...I thought this site was to help others but it's about bashing people!

Well Tracey, there's a big difference between not telling "every little detail" and not telling everything that would be considered a negative. We all know that MK recruiters sugarcoat everything and won't even venture down the path of any drawbacks to the "business".

And keep deducting all your "household bills" on your taxes. I can't wait till you get audited and slapped with interest and penalties. The deductions most sales directors suggest that you take are not al. Oh well....good luck!

Why are you so rude. I don't take ALL my household bills. I take a percentage that is associated with my spare room that I use as a home office. Sorry if I worded it incorrectly before. My uncle works for the IRS as well and suggested that I use a spare room specifically for my inventory, facials, etc...and strictly for MK.

People come here for help and you are just so mad at MK that your taking it out on everyone else. Again, I didn't word it as good as I should...so shoot me...or maybe next time, try saying it more politely. I know directors give false information, I don't like when they say there are "No Quotas". To me there are quotas. This board is suppose to be about helping others, but maybe I'm wrong?!?!

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