Failing Your Way To Success

Well, I've screwed up big time this month.

I decided to increase my sponsoring efforts and as a result I'm not getting my retail bonus for the first time in 6 months.

I need to find a way to do both with the limited hours at my disposal. Looks like it's back to Review, Revise and Refocus.

Still, I've learnt that I can either put out catalogues (this time, with recruitment flyers in), or I can put out recruitment flyers. I don't have the time for both. I'm having problems finding the time to fit everything in as it is.

My typical week goes something like this (with the exception of trips to Heathrow; that only happens once every 3 months):

	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
05:00					Get up, breakfast	Get up, breakfast
06:00	Get up, wake son	Get up, wake son	Get up, wake son	Get up, wake son	Leave for Heathrow, wake son	Leave for Leicestershire, wake son by phone	Get up, wake son
07:00	Son's paperround, breakfast	Son's paperround, breakfast	Son's paperround, breakfast	Son's paperround, breakfast	Son's paperround, breakfast, Travel to Heathrow	Son's paperround, breakfast, travel to Leicestershire	Son's paperround, breakfast
08:00	Travel to Chichester	Rebag catalogues	Drop son at school, car share, travel to work	Drop son at school, car share, travel to work	Arrive at Heathrow	Car share, travel to work	Car share, travel to work
09:00	Travel to Chichester	Rebag catalogues	Arrive at day job	Arrive at day job	Collect fiance	Arrive at day job	Arrive at day job
10:00	Travel to Chichester	Gardening	Work	Work	Travel to Oxfordshire	Work	Work
11:00	Arrive at Chichester	Gardening	Work	Work	Arrive at Oxfordshire	Work	Work
12:00	Family day out	Lunch	Work	Work	Lunch with fiance	Work	Work
13:00	Family day out	Shopping	Lunchtime phone calls to prospects	Lunchtime phone calls to prospects	Rest of day with fiance (just back from overseas contract)	Lunchtime phone calls to prospects	Lunchtime phone calls to prospects
14:00	Family day out	Housework	Work	Work	With fiance	Work	Work
15:00	Family day out	Decorating	Work	Work	With fiance	Work	Work
16:00	Travel home	Weekly talk to fiance in Kazakhstan	Work	Work	With fiance	Work	Work
17:00	Travel home	Weekly talk to fiance in Kazakhstan	Work	Work	With fiance	Work	Work
18:00	Travel home	Evening meal	Arrive home, get changed, start Kleeneze recruitment	Arrive home, get changed, start Kleeneze retail	With fiance	Arrive home, get changed, start Kleeneze retail	Arrive home, get changed, start Kleeneze retail
19:00	Shopping	Housework	Blanket drop flyers	Blanket drop catalogues	With fiance	Collect catalogues	Blanket drop catalogues
20:00	Evening meal	Review weekly activity	Blanket drop flyers	Blanket drop catalogues	With fiance	Collect catalogues	Blanket drop catalogues
21:00	Housework	Plan weekly activity	Arrive home, evening meal	Arrive home, evening meal	With fiance	Arrive home,  rebag catalogues	Arrive home, evening meal
22:00	Decorating	Bed	Housework	Housework	Bed	Input customer orders, eat	Housework
23:00	Bed		Bed	Bed		Housework	Bed
00:00						Bed

I have virtually no social life and consequently a very small warm market. That's due to being a single mum, who works full time. All I've done is swap surfing and TV time for Kleeneze time. My fiance lives 55 miles away, so we only see each other at weekends when he's not working overseas.

I know I need to work smarter; I know I'm still a Kleeneze apprentice and I'm learning all I can. I just haven't worked out how to improve my organisation and time management skills.

But I will, and when I do, I'll be on my way to achieving my goals.

Only Being Offered Minimal Part-Time Hours? Join Kleeneze!

My eldest son has got a job after being unemployed for over a year and it's left him more confused than ever.

He applied for a job at Morrisons, who are taking over a Netto's store near the town centre, immediately opposite the 24 hour Asda. He's been offered a job that totals 9 hours per week. That's right. Nine hours per week. Morrisons think he'll accept a job that pays him £4 more per week than he'd get on Job Seeker's Allowance; luckily for them, they were right.

Interestingly enough, he is being sent on the standard warehouse training induction course - 1 month at 39 hours per week. After the initial flurry of money in his bank account, he'll receive a level of pay that means neither he nor the employer are liable for tax or national insurance contributions.

To undertake his training, he needs to start work at 8 am in a town 10 miles away. Not a problem if you've got a car. A big problem if you're reliant on public transport and the buses run hourly and aren't available when you need to get to and from work. Cycling is too dangerous - cyclists are severely injured and killed every year on that road due to a lack of safe cycle routes. So, for the next month, my hour-long journey to and from work will involve yet another 20 minute detour each way. All this so he can earn a grand total of £55 per week!

He's taking the job because, as he points out, "It stops the endless humiliation of Job Seeker's Allowance." Despite the fact that he's supposed to stay on JSA until he's got at least 16 hours per week of part-time work, he's signing off at the first opportunity. His views on the tick-box mentality of the Job Centre Plus staff are not complementary; he's lost count of the number of jobs he's applied for where the only criteria appears to be "they can't prove I can't do this."

Now, my son would be an ideal Kleeneze distributor - he's hard working, supportive, genial and believes in good customer service. Unfortunately, he needs to move to another address before I can recruit him to join my team. He's not going to manage that on £55 per week.

For everybody else out there who are offered jobs so part-time, they're not worth spending the bus fare on, consider this - if you still don't want to take advantage of the Kleeneze opportunity to run your own full-time business, running a Kleeneze business from home is the ideal compliment to this sort of minimal part-time work.

Staying Positive After Negative Customer Behaviour

Some customers really need to get a professional mindset when dealing with their suppliers. They need to realise that, just as they will react badly to poor or unprofessional service from a retailer, we will react badly to their behaviour.

In the past few days, I've had more than my usual share of negativity from customers. In no particular order, I've had to deal with:

1. Customers who, despite numerous visits, phonecalls or notes telling them when I'll visit, etc. never have the money to pay for the goods they've ordered, yet get upset when I ask if they still want them.
2. Customers who see it as a God-given right (judging by the reaction when I catch them at it) to short-change me.
3. Customers who try to pull a fast one regarding free replacements for items they've not bought from me.
4. Customers who demand refunds for items with no receipt to support their refund request.
5. Customers who, despite never being in when I call, and never taking the opportunity to call me back using the phone number on the numerous "sorry I missed you" slips, still harangue me when I finally get them to answer the door, before refusing to pay for goods they've ordered.

As always, I'm polite, assertive and calm in these situations, despite how I feel towards them.

In every single case, I've thought long and hard about whether I actually want the hassle of having these people as customers. Some will never get a catalogue from me again, some will get a second chance.

How do you deal with your negative customers?

Need Extra Income in Northampton? Join My Team!

I'm currently expanding my team of distributors in the Northamptonshire area. I'm looking for 5 hard working, enthusiastic people who want to earn £50-£250 per week part time, or £10,000-£50,000 per annum full time.

I'm looking for two different types of people:

Firstly, those who wish to earn money by delivering and collecting our home shopping catalogues, either on a part or full time basis. This can typically earn you between £50-£250 per week part-time, or £500+ per week full-time.

Secondly, those who want to be team leaders, building their own team of distributors. This can typically earn you between £10,000 - £50,000 per annum, again on a part or full time basis.

Interested? Fill in your contact details on my website, and I'll call you back.