Written by So Lost In Wisconsin

So you sat through the class. You have all the makeup on. You love it all, because your hostess and instructor have romanced the product, and now you simply can’t live without it. How does she make sure you buy?

The consultant has inventory here . . . ready to take home, because she was taught that if she doesn’t have it on hand, you’ll just stop at Walmart on the way home and get something else. She needs to unload this stuff. You are on a pink high. What happens next?

The consultant shows you the “I Deserve It All” Bag. In fact, she hands each of you a bag filled with all the products you just tried. She makes you feel the bag . . . take each velcro pocket off . . . look inside each one. Touch all the products. As you do this, she tells you the price of each product. The price of each pocket, and finally the price of it all. She does the math for you . . . showing you how getting the bag at $299 is a great deal.

Notice how your consultant never says “DOLLARS.” Unless, of course, she is referring to other companies or other products. She will actually say, “two ninety-nine.” She is detaching you from the aspect–the concept–of money. She is retraining your brain. The bag is FREE!! Woo hoo!

Now that she has told you how much everything is, she wants to meet with each of you individually. Talking money is a private and personal thing, and a consultant doesn’t want to embarrass you by letting the whole room know how much or little you have spent. This will probably be the only ethical thing she does from this point on.

During this private session, you will be sitting on the couch or a chair. She will be on the floor. She will be looking up at you. You have the power. She is subservient. She is approachable and empathetic. You have all the control. Or do you?

“How does your skin feel?” she asks, as she touches her face. You immediately touch your face as well and agree that it is soft and supple. You don’t feel the foundation, and admit that you rarely wear foundation. She has just gotten you to open up, and her body gestures are going to cause you to mimic her.

“Did you understand all the specials?” Of course you did, but she is trying to get you to organize in your head what you want versus what you need. You nod or say yes, and she continues. How many pockets would you like, or do you just want to get started with the entire program right away?

Here is where your consultant will shut her mouth. She will not speak again until you have told her what you want. The rule is, “Whoever talks first . . . loses.” Your consultant will not be the loser.

It does not matter what you order. Should you decide you only need a lip gloss, she will offer you a lip liner. She will continue to ask until she gets three “no’s.” Then she’s done with you. Almost.

Should you make money the issue . . . there’s the fifty percent now, fifty percent later plan. Meaning you pay half, she’s covered her costs, and if you end up being a leaker she hasn’t lost anything. But, she will take your postdated check to guarantee payment.

Or the husband ignorance plan. Where you max a credit card and don’t tell him. Or, a little cash, a check and a credit card, so he doesn’t know that a huge lump went into this. Feeling good about that makeup still? It’s dripping off your face as her lies drip off her tongue.

She will now bag up your products, take your money, give you a receipt. If you don’t buy, she will give you a bag with a book so you aren’t embarrassed. Then she will ask you if you will assist her with her training.

“Just watch a video, and call me in 24 hours. I’ll give you _______ for free.” She will choose something she knows you really want as that freebie. A recruit only stays hot for 24 hours, so she will be right on you.

Not interested in that? How about hostessing your own class so you can get the products you loved tonight for free? But she won’t ask you that way. Nor for the video. Here’s what she will say.

“Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to get free products?”

Snap reaction? NO!

Well, she just gotcha. You just said yes.

How about that great hostess offer? New consultants are usually taught the $75 for $25 offer for hostesses. That way, the money they lose on that will be made up at the show. Technically, the consultant is losing $12.50 should there be no sales.

It’s these tactics . . . these words that make it so difficult for ex-consultants. We know the lies we told. We know that hard working women bought products they didn’t need from us because we led them to believe they couldn’t live without them. We twisted our words. Manipulated others to get what we wanted. A sale. Some of those women resent us for what we did once they got off their pink high and realized they had just spent $200 on makeup. The reason die hard consultants get upset when we try to speak the truth, and the reason none of us wanted to admit we couldn’t cut it. One day we all just woke up and were tired of the lies.