Referrals are a type of word of mouth marketing. In essence, someone that knows you refers someone else they know to consider doing business with you. Word of mouth is by far the most effective way to get clients in any business, but in direct sales, it’s an imperative.

The challenge with word of mouth in most industries is that it’s difficult to measure. In direct sales, however, you have an incredible opportunity to get instant referrals at every show: bookings!

Bookings from shows are essentially word of mouth on steroids, because people are instantly attracted to you enough to say yes to hosting a show. It pays to make it easy for potential hosts to say yes. Direct sales speaker Belinda Ellsworth often shares a story about a research study that was done recently that shows more than 50% of your party guests are deciding (during your presentation) whether or not to have a show with you.

Make it easy (but not too easy) for guests to say “yes” to hosting their own home party!

Hosting is a risk. It takes social courage for your guests to raise their hands and commit to having a home party. By eliminating or reducing the risk in your prospects mind, you’ll have a much easier time of securing those bookings.

How do you reduce that risk? That’s all about the Know, Like and Trust factor.

Four tips to increase the “Know, Like and Trust” factor at your home parties

1. Friendly sells – Be friendly and ask about the guests at a show. Take a genuine interest in the folks you’d most like to work with. Greet people at the door and have them sign your guest book. Get to know them and call them by name. Being friendly goes a long way toward increasing your like-ability.

2. Share yourself appropriately– As you are sharing your product knowledge (a trust factor), be sure to inject your personality (a like factor), as well as share a few personal details. Let people get to know you as a person, not just as a trusted product consultant. Share details that make you relate-able to your audience. That means listening to them, and discovering what you have in common with them. When clients find common points of interest, not only do they like you more, they trust you more because they feel like they know you. But don’t go overboard, and don’t share inappropriately. There’s no sense in telling people the gory details about your recent bunion surgery. That’s taking things a bit too far.

3. Ask with confidence. Whether you’re asking for a booking, to add an item to an order, or for directions to the lavatory, ask confidently. When you assert your needs from a place of confidence, instead of desperation, you come across as more trustworthy because you are seen as someone who knows what they want. That, in turn enhances like-ablility.

4. Capitalize on your fascination triggers. Sally Hogshead wrote a fantastic book called “Fascinate“, which outlines seven fascination triggers that you are already using in one degree or another. My top two are passion and prestige. When I am at my best, I am capitalizing on those two triggers in my presentations. Discover your triggers, use them to engage your guests, and watch your results soar. This is a particularly effective tip if you want to work with more of your perfect-fit customers. Your triggers won’t engage everyone in the room, and that’s okay. Instead of using a shotgun approach to booking everyone in the room, you’ll be connecting with the folks who are the very best for your business.

There are many ways to get bookings, but it makes sense to maximize your results at your shows in every possible way. Then, you’ll spend less time passing out business cards in the checkout aisle, and more time raking in sales.