The Most Effective Ways to Annoy People on Your Mary Kay PCP List
Ah yes, the Mary Kay Preferred Customer Program. A program meant to help you service your customers better, get them to order more, and help you develop a better relationship with them. The reality? Another way for Mary Kay to make money off the consultant.
Make money?? The loyal Kaybots pooh-pooh the idea that Mary Kay would be making money off PCP. Surely the program is only for the benefit of the consultants. Really? Then why the minimums? Why make consultants have a minimum number on the list before they can participate. It’s not like it costs the company any more money if you have 5 people on your list of 50 on your list. It’s all computerized and there’s no good reason to make minimums other than to squeeze a little extra dough out of the consultants.
And the PCP program is expensive for consultants to participate in, and doesn’t seem to produce good results. (That’s a post for another day, however.) Did you have customers who would wait until a gift they liked came along? And then they placed their order and ordered just enough to qualify for the gift? When you do the math on the cost of the gift and the gas or postage to get the order to the customer, you’re making very little profit. Seems counter-productive.
And talk about annoying the customers! I was taught to call my customers each quarter when they got the Look Book. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it sure was once I was dialing the phone. I felt like I was constantly bothering my customers, and that it went beyond good service and being available to them, to being in their faces too often.
Here’s one director’s instructions for the best ways to annoy your customers:
With out a doubt the best time to reach the most people at home is on Saturdays between 4pm and 7pm. If they do errands on Saturday they get home between those times. If they are going out that night they are home getting ready. I can call for 2 hours each night four days a week a total of 8-10 hours and still reach by far more people 4-7 on Saturday night during those 3 hours.
Be sure and get your customer’s work and cell number. If she puts it on her profile then it OK for you to call her at work. If it is not OK for you to call her at work she will not put her work number on the profile or give it to you when you ask. Once she has given you her work number you do not have to ask her if it is OK for you to call her there. When you call say, “I know I have reached you at work, so I will only take a minute, can you spare a minute right now or what time should I call you back?”
Having every customer on your Preferred Customer Program is a must. This creates the best reasons possible to stay in touch with your customers by phone. It is so simple. It automatically gives you a reason to call your customers and helps you to know what to say.
1. Call your customer three to four days after you have facialed her to ask her how she likes the products and if she has any questions. Then share with her, “Mary, I would like to put you on my Preferred Mailings which entitles you to specials, gift with purchase and be the first to know what is new in skin care and color putting you on the cutting edge of personal care. I know you would want that”
2. Call her the first quarter just before you enroll her on your PCP and say, “Hi Mary, this is Barbara with MK have you got a minute? Great, I am putting together a Special mailing and I wanted to touch base with you to make sure I have your address correct. I wouldn’t want someone else to get your specials.” Check her address and say, “I am preparing it now and I will get back with you once it is in the mail so you can be on the lookout for it.”
After her first quarter say, “I’m just checking to see if you are still at this address, I do my mailing third class and it is not forwarded so you would miss the specials unless I have your new address.” They usually laugh and say something like, “yes, I’m still here, I’m not going anywhere.”
3. Call her after the mailing has gone out and say, “Hi Mary, this is Barbara with MK, have you got a minute? I wanted to make sure you received the new Look Book. Remember, I send it third class and the Post Office does not return it if I do not have the correct address on it. Did you get it?” Wait for an answer then say; “Have you had a chance to look at it yet?” If they say no, I say; “would you mind getting it out, I have something exciting to share with you. Turn to page____ and check out the sample of the ______. Some of my customers have missed it and I didn’t want that to happen to you.” At this time I share some information about the product.
Notes: If they are not home hang up and call back later. After calling three times and still not reaching them leave a message and ask them to call you. If they do not call, keep calling until you reach them. Cell phones numbers are great to have. When you call them on their cell do not leave a message, they will not know who you are when they see the number and they will definitely call you back to find out.
I don’t know about you, but those instructions sound a little psycho stalker to me. Keep calling until you reach her? Are you really going to call 6 or 7 times or more? Especially if you suspect she’s avoiding your calls?
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You know…I know sales is sales…but I honestly can no longer tolerate the LIES that just drip off these sales trainers lips.
“Some of my customers have missed it and I didn’t want that to happen to you.” It’s a lie. Made up for effect. Totally unnecessary, but a lie just as well. And the idea that they can put their manipulation and lies IN PRINT, and not even see how disingenuous and conniving they are, speaks to the slippery slope!
When you are new, the first lies you hear ping off your conscience. Soon after, they’re accepted. Later still, you are telling your own. After a few years in Mary Kay you don’t recognize yourself anymore.
In this article, the “Action” of what you have to do to build a so called business— persistent trickery— is completely missed. Everything in Mary Kay has an ulterior motive.
“When you call them on their cell do not leave a message, they will not know who you are when they see the number and they will definitely call you back to find out.”
This stood out to me – Reality is – they will know who you are when they see the number and they will intentionally not answer and will never call you back. The best you can hope for is that they will be distracted and will answer without taking time to check who’s calling.
I can’t imagine asking someone three different times if I have their address right. What an idiot I would sound like.
And how completely deluded is it to think that someone is just on the edge of their seat waiting breathlessly for the Look Book to arrive! Like they have nothing else more important in their lives.
It amazes me that this is presented as reality – and believed! – when it’s the farthest thing from it. But when you’re caught up in the fog and your critical thinking skills have been turned off, you feel that it works this way for everyone else, I must be doing something wrong. Gah.
I love cell phones. It only takes 10 seconds after I say Hello to ID a Kaybot before “the line accidentally drops” – oops… that happens sooo often… must be a problem with the carrier…
And only 10 more seconds for me to add the Kaybot to my blocked caller list. Joy!
Sort of reminds me of a Rena Tarbet rule: If a party host calls you before the scheduled party you KNOW she’s calling to cancel. So you answer the phone thusly:
“OH Mary Jane! It’s such a coincidence you called! I’m wrapping a gift for you right now–looks just like you”
Mary Jane will NOT cancel then, Rena assured us. Her curiosity will be piqued too much.
This was, of course, before Called ID, so I guess the new advice is to disengage voice mail & DON’T ANSWER YOUR PHONE!
But if you do, fob Mary Jane off with a trinket. Works for the consultants.
I used to hate this kind of nonsense. Like I personally didn’t have anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon than call my PCP list?? I had anywhere from 250-300 people on that list, and there would have been no way to call them all repeatedly.
I feel like I was always on the phone trying to book, coach, sell and recruit, and I’m sure I annoyed the hell out of my customers. If the roles had been reversed, I would have put out a restraining order against myself.
I also had a couple hundred on my PCP list. When I would actually reach someone I would get responses like
“Nope, I didn’t get the Look Book”
“Yeah I got it – why don’t they save paper and just put it on the internet”
“Yeah I got it. If I want something, I will call you”
Those are just a few…
I remember those calls as a customer. My consultant would try to go through the whole look book with me page by page. I finally told her “I know how to read, you don’t have to go through this with me.” What a mess.
I am still on a friend’s list and get the look book. I look through it to see if there is anything I like and then go on ebay to find it.
Love seeing all the Facebook posts of Director’s begging for roommates for Leadership conference. Thought these were executive women making executive income.
Amber, you mention this because they should have at least made enough for room fees with their PCP?? LOL!!
I think back to all the times I was told to sell another “basic”. Yea all you Directors..what’s your problem? Just sell another “complete”…or “roll up”.
Hi!
Just here to leave you a word of thanks for creating a really good resource here. I found you from looking up Mary Kay after a friend of mine got suckered into it. Smelled fishy, and she exhibited all the symptoms I’ve seen in other people who have bought into other borderline-pyramid-schemes, so I looked it up, found you, and yep, sad to find out that it it really *is* as fishy as a morning at Lowestoft. Sometimes, it seems, even the smart ones get reeled in (bonus points: REVERSE fish analogy for ya).
Keep up the great work folks. 🙂
— Bob
There is now a minimum for the PCP List?
That woman sounds like a nut. After call # 1, if she spoke about “putting me on the cutting edge of personal care” she’d get “Ignore” added to her name in my contact list. Since I recently started in MK, I had a few people tell me about their former Consultants and I was surprised by negative sentiment — many talked about wanting to get restraining orders on theirs! It’s the fault of such training, I believe.
I am 4 months into MK. I’ve already gone through my family and friends and now I’m really slow. I am ok with that. I already work full time. MK was supposed to be my fun/a little extra money gig but my recruiter and director are all over me because I’m not bringing in any money or going to every Monday meeting. I have 3 kids and a husband. I want to spend time with them. I really like this site. I see the truth.
I know PCP stands for Preferred Customer Program but I kept thinking about something else. Oddly enough I think the other thing I was thinking would probably cause less hardship for the people involved….
I never called an unknown number out of curiosity. I wonder if they still suggest calling customers this often. Most people I know do not want to talk the phone.