Loyalty and how it affects you….
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
and your teams……
Hello Everyone! I know that each and every one of you reading this will say “yes, I can relate!” I strongly encourage you to post a comment about your views on this subject.
I want to start out this conversation by letting all of you know what a HUGE supporter of the “home based indsutry” I am. Let there be no mistake in this post that I fully and completely believe from all standpoints, that home based business IS the best chance people have to break out of their financial bondage of a monitarily limiting JOB.
I am sure, like me, many of you have put your self out on a limb for a company in the past or even now, only to find out they really do not give a second thought to your “loyalty” at least in bad times. In good times, they seem to dote over you, because they know WE are the company. Traditional home based business’s put up the infrastructure, the product, and indeed the money to get up and going. So they are coming to the table with “skin” in the game. They “recruit” you and I to then build their “base” in the form of a salesforce as well as retail clients. For that, we are to be rewarded.
Our “skin” in the game is we bring the customers and associates to the table, we put our names and reputations on the line and influence others to jump on board at our say so that the company has a great product, a great compensation package and a solid backbone for them to build a long term sustainable residual income on the PROMISE that the company will continue, in a TIMELY fashion to produce what is needed for the field to continue to do what they do, MAKE SALES FOR THE COMPANY.
Now, I am not such a country girl that I do not understand that ALL companies go thru the following:
1. start up hicups 2. growing pains 3. technology issues
NO COMPANY ever runs smoothly, or perfectly. That however, does not excuse companies from cutting the legs off of their sales force for any reason. (except when a unethical leader tries to ruin a company by thinking they are more than the company)
One misconception in this industry is that its the only industry you see business’s fail.. NOT TRUE! Over 80% of all business’s started, no matter what type, in what indsutry fail in the first 5 years. So we should all expect and not be surprised when a company in this industy fails. The reason it gets so much attention in this industry is because in the bigger picture, this indsutry is fairly small. Yet, it is THIS industry that has and will continue to create the most millionaires! That is something to be proud of!
Companies in this indsutry need to remember that in order to keep their sales force loyal, they need to PRODUCE! When they do not produce, some of them will resort to telling leaders to “just go out there and motivate people” this is one of the stupidest statements I have ever heard! When a company fails to produce, tells the leaders to “motivate your group” and then still fails to produce, they then become hostile when not only sales teams leave, but leaders leave.
Leaders need to remember that they too must work in integrity. We all know that in todays day and age most “associates” believe in “multiple streams of income. SO DO I! and have for a long time. I do believe however, that in many cases that gets abused, putting companies in a precarious situation. Most companies these days will allow, thru their P&P for associates to be involved in other companies, after all, I have always wondered why a company thinks they can OWN you.. I do understand tho, that if you are going to have multiple streams, you must do it with a NON COMPETING company. Associates must also remember that the only thing you do when you “distract” your teams by trying to get them involed in every company that comes along, is kill their income and yours! Many people are not able to ride two horses at the same time. You not only hurt them and their business, but you hurt your own as well.
I have been on the inside of companies and have seen what they go thru when dishonest “leaders” do things that are just stupid.. and then they wonder why people quit following them.. its because they are greedy and give bad info thinking it will line their pockets, and in the short term it may,, but in the long run, they are exposed.. This not only hurts individual companies but this indsutry as well.
… just like a company is exposed when it does not keep its integrity in giving a product of good value, in making sure they deliver on, or at least close to when they say they will, or when they have a compensation that shows most of the money going back to their pockets…
There is a fine balance that must happen both with companies and with associates. When a company treats its leaders like junk, the leaders will not prodcue and will leave. When the leaders treat the company like junk, the company resorts to pulling in the reins thus no one is happy.
I have done blogs before on “quit jumping from company to company” you must find one, and I have gone over what to look for, what to choose and how. The point of this post is to open peoples eyes to the fact that
“TIME WILL EITHER EXPOSE YOU OR PROMOTE YOU”
Again, this goes for companies as well as associates. Now lets talk about “loyalty” a little bit and what it can do for you.
A company must have and know that it has loyal leaders, and the best way for a company to get and KEEP loyal leaders is to treat them as they are, the paycheck for the company. When any company fails to treat its leaders with honesty and integrity then the leaders fail to continue to be loyal to a company.. The company MUST create an environment, that leaders will love, and leaders must show their loyalty back to the company, by creating the community that is loyal to the company, thus both work hand in hand. When the culture and environment are out of balance, you will see mass exedous and this cheats not only the company, but the field base as well.
Most people cannot and will not be able to jump from company to company and build and rebuild. As a leader you need to realize that when you jump and ask your groups to jump, you are hurting them more than your hurting you. Those who keep jumping from company to company never get any traction and end up spending even more money that they could not afford in the first place. I have seen people from this time last year who have jumped into 3, 4, 5 different “next best greatest thing” and have yet to make any money… when if they had stayed put and put forth effort, they would be making money
Any company that loses the faith of the field, will never get its legs back unless they make major changes in the areas that cause leaders and associates to bail
I have done blog posts on all of the topics below… check them out and give me your feedback!
1. Compensation– Compenstion must be fair, balanced and above average or you will not keep people. On the same token, it must also be balanced so the company can stay in business.
2. Product- If the product is not unique, either in structure, results, or niche, and there is too much competiton, you better make sure that you have a comp plan that will attract people to be loyal
3. Management- It becomes very clear to leaders when there are too many chiefs and not enough indians in a company. It also be comes very clear to all, when a companies managment team are not all on the same page. The most successful companies have management teams that involve their leaders, circle the wagons around and with those leaders and udnerstand that ALL may have good imput and NONE have all the answers. but that together, they can form an unstoppable team.. and TEAM has NO “I” in it!
4. Financial- both sides, the company and field must realize that growth means scaling, and scaling is not always an easy thing to determine. As a good leader, you can difuse much of the “growing” pains by helping your team understand that in growth, there are pains..and using your leadership skills to step in with your team and help thus allowing the company to scale. The company must also step up the game BEFORE it gets critical, and this means put your money where your mouth is. You cannot grow a company with out financial planning..and yes, this means that if you as a company may have to choose between paying a support person and paying a non productive VP of “xxx”. At least when your getting started! Best case scenario, is you have enough cash to start the company with enough staff to provide what is needed.
5. Promises- Most companies, make the all to big mistake of making promises and not delivering, or at least not in a timely fashion. You cannot, as a company expect your leaders and their teams to build and “sell the dream” if you cannot back that up with working product, timely commissions, knowledgeable support staff, sales support material, recognition and TONS of communication.
I have seen both sides of the coin here. From the inside of companies watching unethical associates purposfully hurting companies and also from the inside, seeing how companies unethical behavior hurts an associates income and that of their teams.
Having been on both sides of the fence, I can honestly say that companies make a HUGE mistake of not treating LOYAL leaders/associates in a manner that encourages them to be loyal, to sell out…
As a leader I would strongly encourage all of you, do not “drag your groups from company to company” you hurt them the most.. If your a true leader, lead with entegrity and if you choose to leave, leave with integrity,, beleive me, I know from experience it pays off!
As a company, dont screw your leaders, and dont think that every flash in the pan has the companies best interest at heart… there are crooked companies in this indsutry as well as very crooked so called leaders….
and always, always, always remember that you may get a second chance if you screw up, but…….TIME WILL ALWAYS EITHER PROMOTE YOU OR EXPOSE YOU.. no matter who you are….
Until next time,, feel free to leave a comment, let me know your experiences, and if your looking for a great leader/company, use the above info to help you decide. INTERVIEW companies and leaders before you jump… next post will be on how to choose a good leader to lock arms with.. and run!
Ruth “The Million Dollar Maven”