Introduction to Guiding & Mentoring the 3 Business Types
Your team is built with these three business types:
- The Seller
- The Builder
- The Leader/Guide
Knowing which business type your petPros identify with will help you provide the right kind of guidance for them. It will also help you understand what to and what not to expect of them. It’s important to understand that while each business type brings different value to your business growth strategy, all business types are valuable!
Before we dig into knowing how to guide each business type, your team will also have some of these NON-business type petPros:
- Hobbyist
- Pops in and out of selling - not here for consistent income
- Personal User
- Signed on for the discount
- Tribe Member
- Not driven to create a steady income stream but will do what it takes to stay a petPro because this is where their people are!
These are NOT business types. These petPros are valued as part of the community but aren’t contributors to your business-building strategy. It’s important to know the difference. Business type petPros get your business time and attention; non-business types do not. Sure... non-business types are always invited to events, meetings, socials, etc., but when it comes to giving dedicated time to individuals for guiding conversations and support, that only goes to business types. Non-business types might ask for it, but it doesn’t serve you or them well until they are willing to show that they are committed to doing the actions of a Seller, Builder, or Leader/Guide.
Why Define the Business Type?
First and foremost, defining a petPro’s business type is about empowering that petPro to know they are valued no matter what business type they are. It’s not uncommon for a person to start their pawTree business, or think about starting one, and have the misconception that everyone expects them to sell xx amount a month and sponsor xx amount a month to be any good or valued. They may come with that perception from experiencing it in other businesses, hearing it from others with bad experiences, or having a general misunderstanding.
Everyone wants to know that they have a place and they are valued. Valued because they are here, not because they are chart toppers or record setters. When a person sees that pawTree has a business plan or success path for the business type they identify with, it says ‘Welcome - you belong here!’.
Identifying with a business type is also fluid. A person will often start the business identifying as a Seller but migrate over time to Builder and possibly Leader/Guide. The best part is that it’s not expected. It’s an opportunity there for the taking, but choosing not to move beyond a Seller or Builder doesn’t reduce their value or eliminate them from having a place in the family.
The secondary benefit of identifying a business type is to make sure they get the right kind of guidance needed. In addition, defining business types is the best way to know how to prioritize your time for team guidance while still leaving time in your month for personal business.
Defining petPros by Business Type
It’s a simple process to identify business types. It doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time and isn’t a painful interview process that leaves you or them feeling overwhelmed or judged. This defining process is great to do when a petPro first enrolls and can also be helpful as a part of the guiding and mentoring process later on as their business changes or grows.
Step one:
Educate yourself on how to identify a business type here, and then… ASK! Share with them the training post for identifying your business type and just ask, “Which business type do you identify with?” Share how knowing this will help you give them the best support possible and not overwhelm them with information they don’t care about. Most of all, celebrate them! Share your excitement with them! Remember, the most important thing about knowing their business type is THEM knowing they have a place here and we are excited to help them find the success they desire in the way they want to reach it.
Typically, a new petPro is going to identify as a Seller or a Builder. Rarely will a new petPro start out identifying as a Leader/Guide. If they do, it’s best to guide them to focus on being the best Builder possible at first and move into Leader/Guide when they’ve reached VP or Executive Director titles.
If they are hesitant to identify with one of the 3 types or if they say something like, ‘I’m not sure where I stand. I just want to take a look around’, let them know you respect that. Guide them to the training resources available and offer to set up a check-in chat in the next few days or so. The ‘unidentified’ business type is most likely starting out as a ‘non-business’ type, so definitely get them connected to all of the social groups, chat groups, and other places where they can connect with the tribe.
When you reconnect with them, ask again, “Have you determined what business type you most closely identify with?" If yes, move forward with the next steps. If not, ask them what kind of guidance would serve them best at this time and ask for a date that they’d like you to check in with them one more time.
Step two:
If they identify with one of the 3 business types, follow up with a few more clarifying questions to help you know the best way to guide and support them.
- As a [business type here], what’s your desired monthly income?
- How soon would you like to reach that income level? [asap / within 2-3 months / no hurry / other]
- As a [business type here], what kind of time are you ready or willing to give to your business?
- A few hours a month / around 10 hours a month / part-time hours (around 20 a month) / full-time hours (20-40 a week)
- As a [business type here], what kind of guidance and support are you looking for?
- Regular check-in chats would be great / weekly check-in chats with accountability would be perfect / just point me in the right direction to get started and let me message you when I need help / other?
Defining Conversations Outside of Enrollment
There are other times when business-type conversations are helpful and recommended.
- When a petPro leaves the Fast Start period
- When a petPro’s business shows an upward trend
- When a petPro’s business is stagnant or in decline
- When a Seller petPro is sponsoring regularly
- When a Builder petPro isn’t sponsoring
As a petPro’s business evolves, using the defining conversation process is helpful to get clarity. Clarity for them to be sure they are getting guidance that’s serving them well, and that they still feel valued and have a place in the family. Clarity for you to be sure you’re time and commitment is still aligned with their business type. This is as simple as following the defining conversation flow as outlined above for enrolling petPros [Ask them to identify the type they connect with and ask the other clarifying questions].
Here are some examples of checkpoint flags for using defining conversations:
- A Seller whose income has dropped may benefit from a defining chat to see if they still see themselves as a Seller or not. They may have slipped into ‘hobbyist’ or another non-business type and just need a guiding conversation to get back on track. Or... they may have just decided to step back and this will help you know how to adjust your expectations for your time and team strategy.
- A Seller who has sponsored several times may have moved into Builder and this defining chat will help adjust guidance expectations for both parties.
- A Seller who has strong or consistent income growth will benefit from a check-in chat to ask them if they could see themselves as a Builder now with their new level of confidence in the business. If yes, you’ll both benefit from an adjustment in guidance expectations.
- A Builder who isn’t sponsoring may benefit from a defining conversation to see if they need some skill-building or shadow training help to get more confident with sponsoring or to find out if they’ve decided to identify more as a Seller. Knowing either answer helps you know how to prioritize your time for guiding them.
- A Builder who has strong or consistent team growth may be ready for a check-in chat about seeing themselves as a Leader/Guide either now or in the near future. This will be a great time to establish new commitments and/or accountability plans.
- A Leader/Guid on your team is most likely getting prioritized time with you already. A guiding benchmark to watch for is a trending drop in team growth. The defining conversation will either help them reconnect to their original commitment and vision, or it will be a time to align their and your expectations back to Builder.
VERY IMPORTANT: Always remember WHY defining the business type is helpful. It’s all about being empowered with knowing what to expect for them and for them to feel valued. All business types are valued in a team!
Guiding By Business Type
Once you’ve identified business types, use the following blog posts to help you know the best way to guide and mentor each type.
pawTree makes no promises or guarantees regarding earning additional income or any other earnings opportunity. The success or failure of each PetPro, like any other business opportunity, depends on your own skills and personal effort.
The financial results of all PetPros for the preceding year under the existing compensation plan are contained in the pawTree Income Disclosure chart that can be found here, which does not include PetPro costs.
