Adding personalization, customization and emotion to your icebreaker

Icebreakers Episode 2 

The Happy Network Marketer ebook 

Master the Four Core Skills 

Free Magic Words for Prospecting audios 

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

Networkers. The ultimate podcast for networkers in direct health. Network marketing. MLM for NXL side platform. You'll learn the skills for the how-to and the mindset to make it work. I'm the author of over 20 best-selling books and over 25 years in the business. Here's your host, Pete Strider.

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If you have ever struggled to bring up your business in conversations offline or online, this episode is for you. Today in the zone, we are talking about adding personalization, customization, and emotion to your icebreaker. If you've been following the podcast for weeks or months, you probably already know that I reference episode two, which is the icebreakers, because it's the most listened to, it's the easiest to understand. And when people utilize the icebreakers and make it their own, they see amazing results. But I get it. Sometimes it's a little bit hard to say, okay, it's a formula, you could use these, but you know, make it your own, make it customized. But we're we're going to do that in this episode. Like I get it, you will see results, but let's add fuel to the fire. If you see results, why not let's see a bigger percentage in your numbers when using your icebreaker? Just a quick story for those of you that have heard some episodes previously. You know, I have a teenage daughter, she happens to be in the marching band. This is her last year in the marching band. And one of the things that I personally like doing and volunteering for is to be a chaperone. So when we go to whether it's football games or competitions or field trips, I just like to be with the kids. It's just one of the things I enjoy, like giving back. I like the chaos, I like the noise, and I like being able to give back because I have the freedom or the free time to do it. And one of the traditions that I've done, and this is my fourth year in doing it, is I always bring treats for the kids at the end of the night. Number one, for selfish reasons, because I like treats too. But also, they know that I'm bringing treats. There's a little bit of karma or reciprocity that they'll behave a little bit better, knowing that I'm going to give them a treat. Like subconsciously, they probably think, oh, if I'm uh bad or I'm uh doing bad things, I probably won't get treats. Well, that's really not the case, but subconsciously it's there as well. That's probably the second reason. But really, the third reason is I just like making people happy, whether it's uh kids, adults, it's always cool to put a smile on faces. And every week I try to mix it up. I do different recipes. Sometimes I use different mixes. If I'm lazy and don't want to do recipes, I'll just use a mix. And what caught my attention is Friday, as I'm recording this episode, the the the previous Friday, I receive some extra attention. I give out the cookies at the end of the night, and when I'm going back into the school, these kids are staring at me, and I'm like, What? What's going on? Like, well, maybe it's somebody behind me. And I realize, okay, it's some kids from our bus and some of their friends, and they're just kind of looking at me and they're like, uh, so what's in the bag, Mr. Keith? And I go, uh, did you guys want a cookie? They're like, Yes, please. And apparently some of the kids on my bus had told some of the other kids, and that just happens, and sometimes I bring extras for some of the parents and my daughters' friends and all sorts of things. But for some reason, these cookies were a big hit. Like, they're always a hit because it's sugar. There's no healthy, redeeming quality about it. Sugar is sugar, it's exciting. But for some reason, these cookies just like blew them out of the water. And I was trying to figure out like, okay, what did I do differently? What made such a splash that kids are stalking me for these cookies? And what had happened was I used a recipe because I don't I mostly cook. Like baking is like a lot of science and stuff you have to pay attention to. So I I have to follow a recipe versus cooking. So I used a recipe, which was for a brownie cookie. So all the flavors of a really good brownie and an easy to handle cookie form. Pretty cool. And previously I did salted caramel brownie cookie, because I thought, okay, well, salted caramel sounds good. It adds a little bit of you know saltiness or sweetness to something that's already sweet. And I go, okay, well, that's that's been done before because everyone does salted caramel, everything. I mean, that thing is taking over every dessert. But this time I did salted butterscotch cookie brownies or brownie cookie. I'm not really sure what you're what you call. I use salted butterscotch because butterscotch is like caramel, except for it's I guess it's a little bit creamier. There's something to butter, I don't even know. But all I know is it's delicious. So I said, okay, I'm gonna do salted butternut cookie brownies or brownie cookie. And for some reason, it just hit hard. I mean, kids were talking about it, the parents were jealous, it was great. And all I did was I followed a recipe and I added some customization. I added just a little bit of my personality, which is pretty much just can't do anything normal, gotta go over the top with everything. But just by adding that customization, it created a big splash. Like everyone's had brownies before, everyone's had cookies before. People have had salted caramel stuff before. Let's do salted butterscotch brownie cookie, and it just it hit hard. Like it, like I'm using kid terminology now, aren't I? But it was a success because of the customization. And whether you are cooking, baking, or just in any business, every business has some sort of recipe. It's the customization or the personalization that makes the difference. I know I've talked about it previously, how I'm looking for a car for my teenage daughter, and most of the shopping I do is online. So I will just message the local dealerships, and it's it's really interesting that they all kind of follow a formula which is come in, test drive the car, let's sit down, let me talk to my manager. Which I get it, that formula works, but it's the ones that do things differently that stand out that say, Oh, let me be transparent with the pricing, let me give you everything you need up front, let me service you and focus on your needs. It's that customization that stands out versus the noise of the traditional car sales. Just like in business, Amazon is making massive waves because they say, okay, let's do things differently. Let's uh ship things faster, let's uh get things out the door, let's make it easy for people to shop online. And that's like online shopping's been around for 20 plus years, but Amazon, over the course of the years and now decades, they've made things easier. They've taken away the friction. But it's that it's just that that personalization, that customization, and of course, there's emotional reasons you don't have to deal with some of the junk of online retailing and all that stuff. That's what makes a difference. So let's use all the techniques at work and let's make sure we're using that in our business, especially our icebreaker. I will make sure to put a link in to episode two, which has all the icebreakers and the rapport building skills and the optional closes already in there. If you haven't listened to that episode, I definitely highly recommend that episode. But just for the sake of time, I just want to go to the ones with instant rapport, icebreakers, and optional clothes already in it. So, for example, one of the icebreakers that we have on that episode is well, you know how it gets harder to lose weight as we age. I just found out how to fit into our skinny jeans. If you'd ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. So obviously, if you're in weight management, it's a great icebreaker. There is some emotion already in there, but what can we do to add our personality or to customize it so people pay more attention? Because the more niche, the better or the more effective it's going to be in your business. So, if, for example, you're like myself, you're in your late 40s, you probably want to use that, especially when you're talking to your same demographic. So if there's someone in their late 40s, you happen to be in your late 40s, or it's really all about the prospect, you could use that in your icebreaker. So you could turn it into, well, you know how it gets harder to lose weight in our late 40s? I just found out how to fit into our skinny jeans. If you'd like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. Okay, cool. But let's amp it up even further. You could say, well, you know how it gets harder to lose weight in our late 40s. I just found out how to fit into our high school genes. If you'd ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. So, what are they thinking? High school jeans. Oh, I've gained five inches in my waist. That's impossible. And they start thinking nostalgically of how skinny they felt in high school. So that's just an example. Well, let's go through some other icebreakers you can use right away. If you have an energy type product, you can say, Well, you know how we all get tired in the afternoons. I just found out how we can get all day energy even during that afternoon slump. If you ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. And if we want to add some customization, personalization, if you know the prospect has kids, especially let's you kind of know if it's uh you know middle school or elementary school or high school, you add that information into your icebreaker. So you could say, well, you know how we all get tired in the afternoons with all the kids' activities. I just found out how we can have all day energy even during the afternoon slump. If you'd ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. So just by adding the little bit of details makes a huge difference. And people know that it's something for them. You're not talking about somebody else. And you could use this for, of course, opportunity. The original icebreaker would be well, you know how we all want to retire before it gets too hard to save up for it. I just found out how we can save for retirement without wrecking our budget. If you'd ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. So I'll take the optional close out just for the sake of time. And I like this one because you can be in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. By adding that personalization, if you know, let's say they're in their 30s, and you happen to be in your 30s as well, it makes it a little bit more relatable. We'll say, well, you know how we all want to retire in our late 30s versus our late 60s, but it's really hard to save up for it. I just found out how we could save for retirement for without wrecking our family budget. If you'd ever like to know about it, I'd be glad to tell you. Again, those small details, especially when you know your prospects, make a huge difference. I'll do a couple more really quick. If you're in a nutrition or stress or CBD type of company, you could say, Well, you know how we're stressed out more every single year? I just found out how we can get rid of stress. Great icebreaker by itself, simple to the point, easy to use. How can we use some customization, some emotions, and personalization into it? We could say, Well, you know how we get stressed out with all the family obligations and the kid activities and everything that's going on in the world. I just found how we get rid of all our stress. Again, you can add the optional cloth, but just by adding those simple tips, especially when you know their prospect, if you know what they're stressed out about. Maybe they're stressed about their commute, maybe they're stressed out about losing their job, maybe they're stressed out about certain bills you know that are coming at certain times because they have certain activities that they have to pay for. Those make a huge difference and more importantly, make an emotional connection with your prospect. A couple more really quick. If you're in a service company, especially uh utilities, electricity, you could use the well, you know how electricity bills get higher every year. I just found out we get instant discount on our electricity bills. Great, perfect. But if we had some emotion, we could say, well, you know how inflation is completely out of control and the electricity bills are just getting higher and higher every year. I just found out we get an instant discount on our electricity bills. And if you're in skincare or cosmetics, you could use the well, you know how wrinkles keep popping up out of nowhere. I just found out how to look 10 years younger. That's great as is. If we want to kick it up a notch, and we know that our prospect is a certain demographic, especially if in there in our demographic, you can use a little bit more rapport on this one. You can say, Well, you know how in our 40s wrinkles just keep popping up out of nowhere in places we didn't know existed. I just found out how we could do 10 years younger. Again, optional close if needed. And there are so many different ways to use customization, personalization, and emotion if you know they like certain sports teams or dislike certain sports teams. Well, on the same token, you could say if they like or dislike certain political parties, or they have certain hobbies that they like. And and I get it, you don't want to be sleazy, but remember you're doing this for good. Most people use this for evil, they use it for social media clicks, or just like the news, like they're they're in the attention business. The more attention and emotion they get, the the more ad revenue they get. Like you're doing this for good. Whether they take advantage of our offer or not, we know that if they purchase the product or use the service or join the business, they can see results if it's something for them. So we're always realizing that we're doing this for good. And if you don't believe in your company or your products, I definitely say keep plugging in to your company and team, Zooms and events, and that's what makes you feel comfortable about talking to prospects. Again, be yourself. Don't worry too much if it sounds too weird. Well, you can customize it. Try it out. Do what I call the teenager test. If it makes sense for a teenager, you're golden. If it sounds weird, you gotta change it. Most of my time recently in coaching has been customizing people's icebreakers, customizing people's rapport building. And if you don't want to do the coaching route, guess what? There's a network marketing questions Facebook group page where you can post about it. Now, it's not for recruiting. Say, well, I happen to be in a health company, we focus on stress. How does this sound for my icebreaker? Please give me feedback. Now you're gonna get good feedback, you're gonna get bad feedback, you're gonna get some feedback that is constructive, you're gonna get some feedback that may help you, may not help you, you're you're gonna get feedback. But it's good to test things out. And yes, sometimes I get some really interesting ones when I I follow up with people as far as their icebreaker, and some of them I just get ones that I say, uh this is unique, I don't think I would use it, but you know what? I'm only one person. There's billions of people in the world. Why don't you test it out? Let me know how it goes. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work. But either way, just by testing it out, that's the most important part. And of course, I'll put links to the Happy Network Marketer, which will give you some free icebreakers or rapport building skills. I'll put a link into the episode two, which gives you the basic icebreakers, and of course, the four core skills audio pack. A couple of weeks ago I did receive a testimonial of someone said they should have brought the audio pack earlier. And I said, now the timing wasn't right. You have plenty of free resources, including this podcast, including the Happy Network Marketer book. When you want to kick things up, or when your business comes to a standstill, that's when the timing is right for you to, whether it's books, audios, coaching, the timing is right when the timing is right. Everybody's going to be unique. But all I know is if the timing is right for you to build a business, the first thing is the core skills, especially your icebreaker. So find an icebreaker you could easily use. Add some customization, personalization, and or emotion, and you will see success right away. That's all I have for you in today's episode. If you like this episode, please share it. Or if you know someone that could use the information, please share it. But more importantly, looking forward to sharing another episode with another successful networker next week.

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