A paradigm shift is defined as a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions. Let me give you few examples.
Wickless vs. Wicked
One of Scentsy’s product offerings are our wickless candles. That means there is no smoke, no wick, no flame and no soot. If you think about a traditional wicked candle, when the candle burns down and there is nothing left, you would not expect the candle to keep scenting your home. Yet with a wickless candle because only the fragrance oil evaporates and the wax does not, new customers tend to think their wickless candle should scent their area longer.
However if they had a votive candle which burned for 8 hours and then was gone, that’d be expected. Yet a wickless candle warming for 24 hours should still have the same scent as when first melted (in their minds). However that’s not how wickless candles work. This is a situation that requires a paradigm shift.
Over time, when the wickless concept is no longer new to anyone, there should no longer be the misunderstanding of how long wickless scents last. For now, it’s a matter of patience and education to create the shift. Some experts suggest it can take ten or more years to complete a paradigm shift.
Host vs. Hostess
Another area in Direct Sales that is long overdue for a paradigm shift is in the use of the word hostess. Direct sales is about home parties, online parties or catalog parties. The person who hosts the party can earn free or reduced pricing on products. However this isn’t your 1965 Tupperware party. Today consultants, hosts, and customers are both women and men.
Men also have direct sales businesses. Men have friends over for parties. Men do not want to be referred to as a hostess. Rather, host is a generic gender term. The male customer, host, and consultant market is greatly untapped. In part that is because society has not yet completed a paradigm shift in many marketing efforts and still refers to hosts as hostesses.
It’s 2015. The paradigm shift needs to be from Direct Sales Hostess (obsolete); to Host (inclusive).
Of course if a female is hosting guests it’s perfectly permissible to refer to her as a hostess. Although if you’re a direct sales consultant looking to increase your bookings or expand your team, you’re missing out on a valuable segment by using the word hostess.
What other paradigm shifts can you think of that have taken place over the years or that still need to happen – sooner, rather than later?
About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, France, Austria, Germany, Ireland and the UK. To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a home business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to https://www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/
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