The Social Selling Leadership Podcast

Why Your Onboarding Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

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Episode Summary

Here’s the truth: if your onboarding isn’t creating duplication, nothing has gone wrong. This is a normal part of growth—especially for high-achieving leaders in network marketing who are scaling and realizing their current systems aren’t strong enough to support the next level.

In this episode, Rachael Bodie breaks down why most onboarding systems fail—not because you’re not working, but because there isn’t a simple, duplicatable process in place. She walks you through how to activate new team members, create early wins, and implement a clear framework that drives action, leadership, and sustainable growth.

Why You Should Listen: What You’ll Learn

  • Fix Your Onboarding So It Actually Creates Duplication
    When you haven’t developed this skill, it looks like new people joining, getting access to resources, and then doing nothing. You’ll learn how to create an onboarding system that drives action, builds momentum, and supports consistent volume and rank advancement in your network marketing business. 
  • Use the Tell–Show–Give Framework to Simplify Leadership
    When this is missing, it looks like telling people what to do without helping them execute. Once you implement tell, show, give, everything changes because your team gains clarity, confidence, and the ability to duplicate results across your organization. 
  • Make the First 30 Days Count
    When you don’t understand this, it looks like onboarding calls followed by occasional check-ins and hoping people figure it out. You’ll learn how to use the first 30 days as a critical window to create quick wins, increase retention, and build belief in your recruiting system. 
  • Stop Posting and Praying and Start Driving Conversations
    When this skill is missing, it looks like relying on content without connection. You’ll learn how to set expectations around conversations, follow-up, and skill development so your team can generate real results in social selling. 
  • Build an Onboarding System You Can Trust
    When this is missing, it looks like hesitation to recruit because you’re unsure your system will support new people. Once you create a simple, structured onboarding process, everything changes because you lead with confidence and scale your team with clarity. 
  • Simplify to Scale Your Team Faster
    When onboarding is too complex, duplication breaks. You’ll learn how to identify gaps, focus on what’s working, and simplify one key piece so your systems and structure for scaling actually support long-term, sustainable growth. 

Resources Mentioned

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Social Selling Leadership Podcast, the show for six-figure network marketers ready to scale with alignment and simple systems. I'm your host, Rachel Bodie, network marketing expert and industry veteran. Each week you'll learn the strategies and systems top leaders use to enroll high-quality recruits, create duplication in their downline, and lead with confidence. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the show. So you guys know if you've been listening to the show that I love the book The Gap in the Gain. Such a killer book by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And the whole premise of the book is living in the game, focusing on what's good, focusing on the progress you've made versus being in the gap is more focusing on scarcity, what you don't have, etc. So I was telling my daughter about this on the way home from school with Carpool line, picked her up, my 13-year-old Lily, and I was telling her that I noticed and reading this book that I was complaining more than I'd like to. So as I shared it with her, she said, you know what, mommy, really, maybe you should try every time you have a gap, you fill it in with two gains. So we've been doing this now for, I guess this was about four weeks ago. So now our entire family, anytime someone is in the gap, we have to say two gains. And it's been such a positive thing for our entire family to shift into gratitude. And this is such an important piece in your business, too, to intentionally start to rewire neural pathways to be more in gratitude, more in abundance, more in abundance. And most of us, the way our brains are wired, our brains are wired for survival, right? So it's constantly scanning the environment looking for what could be wrong, what's missing, you know, what could be a threat. And so this exercise of two gaps in a game, it trains your brain to look for what's working, what's good. So it may be something for you to test out in your own life and with your family. But here's the thing, too, I want you to know this isn't just about like rah-rah, feel good flots. There's actually science behind this. And I remember reading uh in another book this uh concept called the broadened and built theory of emotion. And the whole premise of this was that positive emotions actually broaden your thinking, they broaden your attention, broaden your actions, and then build creativity. So it increases creativity, it increases problem solving, it increases resiliency or being gritty. And all of these things are necessary to scale your network marketing business. So again, this isn't just about feeling good. It's a practice that can actually shift the results of your business and how you experience your business. The other part of this that I loved is that it's biblical. So you may be familiar with the scripture in Philippians 4:8, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. I just love that idea of taking thoughts captive and just really shifting how we see things. And I gotta tell you, I feel so much more peaceful, I feel more present than I've almost I've ever felt. It's really changed the way, not even how I'm showing up, but how I'm experiencing my life and business. So I want to share that with you. So, okay, let's get into today's topic. We're gonna be talking about mentorship, but specifically onboarding. Because for so many of you, your onboarding isn't working. So I'm gonna talk to you about that and uh and of course talk about how to fix it. When I talk about onboarding, I'm I mean activating new team members. And it's something I love to talk about because it's such a key piece of creating duplication and leadership. And I really feel like I have a unique edge on this topic. You know, after working directly for John Maxwell for 14 years, I've had the privilege of creating hundreds of leadership development programs over that, you know, over a decade. And I would help onboard leaders into a culture of leadership, not just a role. So, you know, I'd work with the executive teams of Microsoft and Chick-fil-A and Coca-Cola here in Atlanta, where I fly out to San Francisco for GAP. And I was able to take elements out of what I learned in my time with John, and I brought those principles into how I onboarded and mentored my team in my business, and then of course, uh, the teams of my six and seven figure network marketing plans. So we're gonna talk about that today because this is an area where so many leaders need help, and it's a conversation that not enough, not enough of us are having. So here's where I want to start. The entire purpose of onboarding is to help that new team member take action, right? So that they can create results and duplicate results. And I want to start by shifting the way that you view duplication. Duplication is just a rank advancement, right? Whether you are in an organization that has an affiliate model and a team building piece too, it's really just about creating that additional volume. And most onboarding systems aren't built to create true duplication. And I talk to leaders all the time who tell me they, yeah, I have a system in place. But here's the truth: if it was working, you would see consistent volume increasing and consistent rank advancements. And if you're just you know dropping someone into a team chat or giving them access to boards and checking in occasionally, you will never consistently see duplication across the board. That occasional check-in is not a system. And just to be super clear, I am not talking about dragging people along, uh aggressively hand-holding, because that just creates codependency. But in the beginning, particularly that first 30 days, you have a unique window of opportunity. Really, I see it as the most critical window to show this new person what's possible to help them create a quick win so that they stick around, right? So, quick side story here. I want you to think about two phases in your business. There's the moment you decided to join your company, and then there's the moment you go all in. And I want you to even think about that for yourself, right? Well, when did you join and when did you go all in? Well, as a mentor, we want to focus on creating systems and a culture that helps to bridge the gap for when they join to when they go all in. And just to give you an example, I joined my company back in February 2016, but then I really went all in after I went to my first big convention. That was in May 2016. So it was about three months, but for many, it's longer. But I want you to think about those first 30 days as a critical runway because this is the place where it's easiest for them to quit because they have the least amount of skin in the game. So that's why having an onboarding system that activates, that activates action and duplicates is so key. And then there's the emotional cost no one talks about. I get messages from leaders out there on this all the time. So every single person who joins you and then quits right away, that chips away at your confidence to recruit, right? So that's why a lot of leaders start to avoid recruiting. It's this self-preservation or protecting yourself from you know the disappointment or frustration of feeling like you're doing all these things just to bring someone in, just be, you know, just to have them quit less than 30 days later. Or maybe they don't even, they don't say they're quitting, maybe they just silently check out. So a strong onboarding system is gonna protect both you and your new teammate. And I'll tell you, one of my current clients, she came to me in this same situation where she found herself shying away from recruiting. She was still recruiting, she was sponsoring about one a month, one team member. We've been working together for about four months. So I'm definitely gonna have her on the podcast because she has some incredible results to share. But when we first started to work together, we we were digging into what was happening. You know, why was she kind of avoiding recruiting? And it was because she didn't have an onboarding system that she trusted. You know, she was telling me things like, I'm not clear on our duplication system, or I don't have a lot of confidence in what we're doing. And she was afraid to bring someone in because she was worried she didn't want to let that person down, right? She didn't want to bring them in and then not have them succeed. And this is something that uh I hear so frequently. So we launched her onboarding system in our first 30 days working together. We customized it, and this month she's already enrolled four of five team members. We have five days left in the month, and she has a pipeline that's full. So, this is the power of having a system that you can trust and you can you have confidence in because it gives you confidence to go out there and recruit. So, I want to give you a high-level overview and duplication. It's something that I call tell, show, give. Tell, show, give. Now, before I get into the detail here, this is something that was modeled for me at the John Maxwell Company by the CEO, by John. And this same process holds true in your business with your new team member. So we start with tell. Of course, we have to tell them what to do, but the second part of that is telling them what to do, but then selling them on why it matters, right? Giving them really strong reasons to show up and do the do versus do it because I said. So you tell them what to do and why it matters. Secondly, show, you show them how. You give them real life examples, not theory, right? So often people don't do the thing because they don't know how. They don't know how to start a new conversation, they don't know what a launch post looks like. So we tell them what to do, why it matters, we show them how, and then we give feedback. That last piece is so critical, and this is where duplication often breaks. If you think about, you know, if you were to teach your 10-year-old to cook dinner, you wouldn't just give her the recipe and send her off into the kitchen. But that's what a lot of us do. That's what network marketers do. They tell their people what to do, and then they just hope that they're able to figure it out. And maybe you do a call, but then you drop them into a chat or you know, plug them into a board, but there's no sequence or feedback. And for the average person, what happens is overwhelm, right? All of these different resources and places to go and things to learn overwhelm them. And an overwhelmed mind shuts down and does nothing. You may have heard if you confuse, you lose. So simplicity is so key here when we're talking about an effective onboarding system. And when I'm talking about a system, this really isn't just you know that kickoff call, this refers to the having a really strong process those first 30 days. So that's what we're gonna focus on today. So the first piece here is making sure that kickoff call counts. That initial onboarding call is really key. And you want to think about balancing two pieces here: the relational aspect of creating trust and building the relationship, but then also helping them get results. So it needs to be action-oriented, has to be designed to help that new teammate create a quick win. And this call really sets the entire tone of the relationship. What I see is leaders get it wrong by going too deep in one area. So give you some examples. Some leaders are too product focused on that call, so they end up spending a lot of time educating on all the products. Others are too social media focused, so they're getting in there auditing the person's account, their social media accounts, before they've even taken any action. Others are too heavily focused on personal connection and relationship building. So they're so focused on connecting, but they're not actually leaning into activating action. So that call needs to be intentional enough to help them create clarity on their why, right? Be able to set a goal and why they want that goal, and then giving them a clear assignment so they have they know exactly what their next action is with the deadline, and to schedule a touch point for accountability before you move on. So that 30-day process, it needs to have consistent support, not just an occasional check-in. I love to think about uh what I would call an accountability loop. So you don't just leave them alone, going back to the example of the 10-year-old cooking dinner. You create a feedback cycle. So it's that tell, show, give on repeat. And that helps to create clear expectations about what they should be doing daily. And those are things like, you know, conversations. I think uh one of the things I'm hearing a lot now from leaders is people who are just posting and praying, right? They feel really frustrated because they're telling their people to have conversations, but that's not happening. And it's so key because conversations are the current the currency of converting. Social media, of course, is the door opener. It's like flipping the lights on in your business, but the conversations are so key. Things like skill development, you know, teaching them to follow up or invite or handle objections, uh, covering setting expectation around a timeline, right? Helping them to see that, you know, there's a law game here. Normalizing doubt and normalizing overwhelm and normalizing fear. And what that does is it prevents dropout and it creates a psychological buy-in so they know they don't feel discouraged if results take longer than they like. And I think uh one of the really important pieces uh that is sometimes missed is recognition. You know, people will work hard for money, but they will die for recognition. I think that was Mary Kay Ash that said that. Uh, but it's so true, right? Like people want to be recognized, especially in an industry that is really dominated by women, as uh as moms, as wives, as women, like oftentimes we are not celebrated for our work. So this is an opportunity to really create something that is free and simple. And as you recognize, you want to think about not just celebrating results, of course, that's great, but celebrating actions. There's a uh a term that I've coined, process pride. And the whole premise here is celebrating the actions that you and or that person is taking to create results, not just the end result. And what happens is this accelerates progress and it keeps you emotionally invested because you're not so you're not just focused on the end goal, you know, you're the process is the prize. So with this, with this entire framework, I'm gonna give you a very clear next action, but not so you can go fix your entire onboarding process overnight. Because if it were that simple, you would have already done it, right? Um, but this is so you can actually see where the breakdown is, you can diagnose something that you can take action on. Because the truth is, most leaders aren't lacking effort, they're lacking a true system that makes this duplication a consistent thing. So, number one, identify your gap. Okay, when you look at your onboarding process right now, and you can even look at your last five to ten people, maybe even your last five people, look and see where are you losing people? Is it right after they join? Is it after the onboarding call? Is it after their first objection? So this is gonna allow you to diagnose an area that you can fix. Secondly, look at the game. This is a great opportunity to celebrate what you're doing right. So ask yourself what's working? Where are people taking action? What things are working in your onboarding process? And then third, this is the most important part. I want you to choose one piece of your onboarding and simplify it. So not overhauling, not creating all these extra resources and simplifying. So, what is one clear first action you can give them? Or one clear feedback loop, or maybe a clear expectation. Because if it's not duplicating, that's typically because it's too complicated. Remember, when you confuse, you lose. One of the best questions you can use as a starting point is what helps that person earn first? Sometimes we we want to share all the things and we're giving them everything but the kitchen sink, and it complicates the thing they need to do to be able to earn first. And I want to recommend that you do this within the next 48 hours, not next week, not when you have more time, because the leaders who scale to the next level, they don't wait for the perfect moment, they create it through messy action. And as you do this, you're probably gonna notice that you're gonna see lots of gaps. You know, you'll see where people are dropping off, but you may not know how to fix it in a way that actually duplicates across a team. That's the difference between knowing what to do and having a system that ensures it happens. And if you're honest, for a lot of you, you probably already know this is a place that isn't working in your business right now. So if you're listening to this and realizing, gosh, my onboarding is not duplicating the way it should, it's impacting my recruiting, and you still feel like you're the one who's holding everything together behind the scenes. This is exactly what I do, the work I do in my one-on-one coaching practice. We build onboarding systems that actually duplicate so that your team produces results without you having to drag people along, without you burning out, so you can actually wake up excited to work for business again and feel confident that when you bring someone on, you can actually help them succeed. So if this is where you're at, you can apply for a discovery call. You'll find the link in the show notes. Okay, guys, that's what I have for you. We'll see you next week. Thanks for listening to the Social Selling Leadership Podcast. If today's episode resonated, be sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode. If you want to go deeper into what I teach here, join my free email series, the Social Selling Leadership Edit. It's where I share all my best tools and strategies. Just head to the show notes for the link and all the details. I'll see you next time.