Connecting with International USANA Leads

As USANA Associates are having more success with generating leads online, they are starting to also generate international contacts. They are excited, but also a little confused on the best way to go about contacting the person. You still follow the communication process and whatever marketing process that is outlined. The mechanics of speaking with the person will be different.

This post will discuss what I do to contact international contacts. The video will walk you through step by step as well.




First, get the basics setup:

1) Download Skype and create a Skype account. It's free and works on all platforms. Skype is also the most popular video calling software. The majority of international contacts I've worked with, have an account and use it on a regular basis.

2) Get a Skype calling plan or Skype Credit. Go to their site to see what is best for you: http://www.skype.com/en/rates/  I use Skype Credit, which is the equivalent to a prepaid calling card, because I have unlimited calling on my cell phone (if you don't, you should get it). I just use Skype for international calling. You can buy them in $10 blocks. I typically spend about $30 a year on Skype credit, which is a great deal!

As contacts come through my Integritas Group system, here's the process I do:

1) Determine what country they are in. You probably don't have their address in your contact record. Take the country code (typically the first two digits of the phone number) and Google it.

2) Determine their time zone. The IG system does a very good job of calculating the timezone. It's not 100%. If the system doesn't tell you the timezone, use http://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/ to see what time it is. You don't want to call someone at 3AM!

3) Take the contacts email address and search for them on Skype. You'll be surprised at how many people you find on Skype. If you find them, add them as a contact and send an appropriate message with the contact request. If they are on Skype and accept you, start with an instant message (IM) before calling. Just take what you would say on the phone and send it in an IM. Move the conversation to a Skype call.

4) If the person is NOT on Skype, then call them using your Skype Credit and call their phone number. If they answer, treat the conversation as you would any other. Depending on the what country you're calling it could be one cent a minute or 20 cents a minute. If it's a lot per minute, don't go broke talking with the person. Ask if they have Skype, get their username and move the conversation to Skype. I do this a lot. I'm not a fan of $8 first time phone calls.

If they don't answer, leave a voicemail as you would, but include that you're going to "send an email with my Skype username… hopefully we can connect on there" Then send them an email, as you normally would, but put a sentence in there that includes your Skype username and ask if they have one.

5) Search for the person on Facebook, Google+, and Linkedin as outlined in this USANA training video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGx85da9E8w

6) Update the IG system and follow the communication steps.

When I have a Skype call with someone, I typically just do voice, not video. This makes it more like a phone call. I find most people I talk with are the same. You should start with just a voice call as well.

Making free calls to Canada can be accomplished be creating a Google Voice account. It's a free service that Google offers. It allows you to gat a phone number and use that number to make calls from your cell phone, computer or land line. You can call the U.S. and Canada for free. I use Google Voice to call Canada from my cell phone and it works great! You can also send text messages for free to Canada.