Archive for the ‘network marketing training’ Category

I have met lots of network marketer in my local Chamber of Commerce. I am not sure how much success they have had, but I know that one in particular confessed to not having much success. The comment made was that “people looked at them as if they had the plague.” Truth be told, network marketers don’t always have the most welcomed reception, and it’s often their own fault.

The Chamber of Commerce is a great place to network with business owners and others in the community, so it’s a great place for any business owner to network. The key here is to realize that most business owners won’t be interested in what they see as another money making scheme. What they might be interested in is your products or services and this is where you will find success if you play your cards right. I cringe when I hear amateur network marketers throw up their own shield by blurting out these catch phrases:

• It’s an MLM (people don’t like MLM’s)
• It’s network marketing (people don’t like network marketers)
• We are in pre-launch (what does that mean? You can’t really do business with me right now?)
• There is a great business opportunity also (Are you trying to recruit me, or do you really have a product to sell?)
• If you are looking to make some extra money (I don’t know you and I want you to think my business is successful… why would I tell you that?)
• If you want to be a millionaire (that’s why I started my business, are you saying I should join yours instead?)
• If you are sick of what they are doing (We just met, why would I discredit my company by admitting that to a stranger?)

I hope you enjoyed the side commentary, but that’s not far off from what many will think when they hear those kind of things. If they are sincere, they may even say them out loud.

The Key to Success
Sell your product or service and nothing more. Keep in mind, money is made when you sell something, not when you recruit someone.  Treat it like a business and it will pay you like a business (have you heard that one… it’s true!). Make the sale, ask for referrals, and then when you have a referral about ready to purchase, you can go back to the referrer and thank them for the referral. At that time, you can also introduce your referral program by simply saying “Thanks for referring Mary. She, too, is ready to become a customer, so I wanted to let you know about our referral program where we pay people a commission for their referrals. Is that something you are interested in?” If they are, then set up a time to discuss it, if they aren’t close the sale and move on.

You will earn money and you will also earn respect for being a straight shooter.

One of the things that frustrates me so much is hearing network marketers blow an opportunity to have credibility or make a sale. I guess it’s because I am so passionate about this industry that I want to see people do it well and succeed.

When you are approaching a prospect, you need to decide whether or not you are approaching them as a customer or as someone who wants to build a business. If you have read my book, Why People Fail in Network Marketing, you know that my philosophy is that you should always approach people as customers first because you get paid to generate customers, and it is easier to get someone excited about selling a product they use and love as opposed to getting them excited about money first, and then convincing them to like your product or service.

I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to someone give a pitch about their company in a professional setting, and lose an opportunity to gain a customer (which I assume was their original intent) because they feel the need to throw in the line “and their is a business opportunity also.” Why is this a problem? Because so many people have been turned off by the clowns that misrepresent network marketing, that any mention of an “opportunity” can discredit the actual product or service being sold. The goal in any business is having customers, network marketing just allows you to turn your customers into paid advocates that get their products for free.

The next time you are in front of a prospect, resist the urge to tell them about how they can make more money than they have ever made before, and just get a sale.   Trust me, a sales commission feels far better than recruiting a rep that does not produce.

Recently, I saw an ad for a great product on a Social Networking site.  I clicked the link in the ad and noticed that the product was offered through a network marketing company.  I replied to the person telling them that I would check out their product and that it looked great. I also offered to add this person as a connection on the site.

Her reply was something to the tune of:

Yes, it’s a great product… if you want to learn more we have a meeting on Tuesday night at 7… it is a great product and a great opportunity.

I replied and thanked her but also asked if I could offer her some business  advice related to network marketing.

Problem #1 – If someone shows interest in your product or service, they most likely want to buy it, but I am sure they don’t want to go to a meeting to learn more about it.  Can you imagine if Amazon invited you to a book signing every time you showed interest in a book?

Problem #2 – Opportunity?  I will use Amazon again as an example.  If you were going to buy a book from Amazon and they had a popup that stopped you from buying but let you know that they had an affiliate program where you can make money by referring people to the site, do you think that would annoy most people? (the answer is YES!)

 Most people that show interest in your product will not be intersted in your opportunity, but MANY will be turned off by an offer of a business opportunity and people will miss out on the quality products and services.

Most network marketers fail by never knowing what message they are sending to their prospects or sending a mixed message. 

Here is a strategy that I recommend, that will make you lots of money:

1. Close your sale first (which puts money in your pocket). If someone asks about your product, sell it to them. End of story.

2. Follow up with your prospects and ask them for customer referrals. Again, resist the temptation of sharing the business opportunity with them (no matter what you have been taught). Your customers WILL refer you customers if they are happy with your products.  Keep in mind that making sales is how you make money.

3. After you close at least one of the referrals, go back to the referrer and thank them again for the referrals.  THEN, drop this line “by the way, I get paid for all of the business that my customers refer me… I am curious to know if you are interested in getting paid for the referrals you’ve been sending me?”  Some will want to know more, but most will not. You should be happy with this referral source, and I would personally give them a gift certificate or something depending on how much I made off of their referrals.

4. Find out how you can help them. Ask them if they have any needs that you might be able to help them with. If they have a business, ask them who their ideal client is and sincerely try to send them referrals (and do not ask for a referral fee).

The key here is finding customers because happy customers make the best referrals.  This is how traditional business works, and how most network marketers fail.  If you are prospecting for reps, then do just that.  Sell the opportunity and focus on the money making, but in the end, know that your reps will have to have passion about your products or services or they will rarely succeed.

I hope this helps you build a solid business.  I’d love to hear how this helps you or if you have any questions.

Have a great day!

Many people often think that the best people to recruit for their network marketing business are network marketers. It is a reasonable assumption, especially for someone who is new to the business or perhaps has not had any quality training. The faulty logic says “if I show them a better product or compensation plan, surely they will want to switch companies.” Here are a few reasons why this is not true:

1. So few people are successful in network marketing that chances are you might get a new rep without seeing any positive impact (i.e. income) to your business.

2. If they are not committted to their current company, they most likely won’t be committed to yours.  You will sign them up and have them on your team until they find the new “flavor of the month.”

3. Most network marketers are lazy and not willing to work for the money that is sitting right in front of them. If you are offended by this, then you have some work to do (on your personal development).

4. Most network marketers do not invest in training or personal development, therefore will likely share more misinformation about your company, products, or services (and maybe even your team) to people they talk to. You need to make it very clear up front that you have a solid training program and that is mandatory for them to go through it in order to work with you.  You will “filter out” some people up front, but this is not a loss, it is just saving time.

5. If you recruit them based on your compensation plan, they won’t stay.  Why? If they don’t beleive in the product, they will never sell enough or recruit enough to earn money at the lowest level of the plan, let alone “real money”.

So where should you seek to find prospects for your business? I would start with your satisfied customers. If you don’t have any you need to go get some customers, after all that is how money is made in network marketing, right? Assuming you do have customers, go back to your customers and ask them for customer referrals. If you get referrals then pitch them on your product or service and try to acquire them as customers. As you close those referrals, simply go back to the referral source and thank them and then ask if they would be interested in getting paid for their referrals. If they say yes, then move into your recruiting dialogue. If they say no… move on. Do not try to convince them that they need to join you, simply keep on getting those referrals and getting paid.  They may come around and they may not; it doesn’t matter as long as you are building your customer base and giving people the opportunity to join you.  Sure it’s a soft sell, but keep in mind that most people can’t sell and if you “hard sell” someone into your business or product, they will pick up on that and you will never recruit them because they will realize that they don’t want to have to hard sell people to make money.

I hope you found this insightful  For more helpful tips, please download my free ebook, Why People Fail in Network Marketing.