Proper Response to a Network Marketing Prospect

One of the biggest fears for network marketing distributors is the fear of not knowing what to say when network marketing prospects ask certain questions. If this is a concern for you, it doesn't need to be. If you are relatively new to the industry or relatively new to your specific business opportunity, you should primarily be leveraging the talents of your up line organization and leadership to assist you in this process.

For example, whenever I get a prospect on the phone that has looked at some information one of the things that I like to do is to do a three way call. I will talk about this topic exclusively later this week, but getting a prospect on the phone with your up line or another experienced leader will eliminate most of the challenges you get when determining the proper response. This is because your leaders will already know how to properly respond.

However, if you ARE the leader or an up and coming leader, you will need to learn the proper responses when network marketing prospects ask certain questions and make certain responses.

Setting Realistic Expectation in Your MLM Business

One of the reasons why I believe so many people fail in the MLM business is because of unrealistic expectations that are set. To be frank, we as an industry cause a lot of these problems to begin with. 

In this business of direct sales/network marketing, many people invest an enormous amount of effort and time in bringing in a new business partner.  But without setting the proper expectations and helping them get quick results (earn their ROI month one, achieve a company “fast start” bonus or goal, and get their first customer and partner), many new people leave this business before they even get started.

This Is Not “Get Rich Quick”

We need to set realistic expectations in our MLM business to succeed. The bottom line is most people aren't going to earn 1,000,000 Pesos or $20,000 a year. What's great about MLM is that everyone has an open opportunity to earn that type of income or more.

It doesn't matter what your education is, what connections and relationships you have, as long as you meet the requirements for earning this type of money in the compensation plan you can earn this type of income in MLM.

Lead With The Product To Recruit

Most of the times it makes sense to lead with the product as oppose to leading with the business opportunity.

Why?

First off, there are some people who have had a bad experience with network marketing in the past. If you try to lead with the opportunity, you will immediately get shut down and you will lose out on the opportunity to sign them up. However, if you lead with the product, if they see a value in the product, they will sign up to become a customer of yours. You can then always come back later and try to recruit them.

Secondly, there are some people who are actually seeking out your product right now. If you are always leading with the business opportunity, you will miss out on those people.

Third, sometimes, particularly in the beginning stages of our business or when we run out of our warm market and are moving over to the cold market, our income may not be anything to write home about. One of the best ways to break out of a recruiting slump is to go retail some product, get a check and then use that check as part of your recruiting story.

So let's say you are struggling with recruiting and not getting the results that you are looking for. How can leading with the product help you?

Network Marketers Doesn't Know How To Do Networking

Why is it that many distributors seem to struggle with this fundamental skill that is so vital to success in this industry? It is because there are so many leaders and trainers out there that are teaching distributors that they don't need to network anymore.

Is networking important in network marketing? Yes, It's very important. Are there some people who have succeeded in the industry without it? There are, but those people are few and far between.

Case in point. The next time you go to a business overview or a training for your network marketing opportunity in your area, ask your fellow distributors how they were recruited into the company. 80 to 90% of them were recruited through networking. They were either recruited by someone that they know personally or they were recruited by someone who knew someone.

The challenge with the skill of networking is that it's not really a science.

In Network Marketing, It is Not about You

"Have more than thou showest... speak less than thou knowest..."-- William Shakespeare

Ego in MLM and Network Marketing can kill your business.

Know anybody that has a big one?

As one of the top mentors Ben Johnson says (a 5 billion dollar producer):

"Ego is a reverse disease. The person that has it is not sick, but it makes everybody else around him sick."

Ol' Willy knew what he was talking about when he wrote that quote --it's called: "Don't show all your cards in the game of life and Network Marketing. Hold something back, so you will have an extra ace or two to play when you need it."

Why would someone who is really successful want to not let people know how wonderful they are in MLM? They have earned it, many times deserve it.

Why Network Marketing Doesn’t Get Respect

When I first joined the network marketing industry almost 5 years ago, I always wondered why network marketing doesn't get the same level of respect as other business models. 

Here you have an industry that has millions of participants all over the world. Tens of thousands of people have been able to earn a full time income. Thousands of people have been able to earn a 6 figure income. Hundreds of people have been able to earn a 7 figure income. And a select few have even been able to earn an 8 figure income.

However, some events over the last several weeks and months have really allowed me to see why network marketing doesn't get respect. I believe it is the same reason why religious people don't get respect and why politicians don't get respect.

Network Marketers Don't Practice What They Preach!

Do I need to Get a Job while doing Part time Networking?

A lot of distributors get started in the network marketing industry because they want to quit their jobs and create a lifestyle of time freedom and financial independence. However, when you are first getting started in the industry it can take some time before you start to experience the success that you are looking for.

Jeff Olson, one of the most successful network marketing distributors in the history of this industry got started many years ago in NSA. Within 2 years, he had gone from brand new to one of the top distributors in the company. However, he acknowledges that in the beginning, he didn't make any money because he reinvested his commission checks back into the business in the form of tools, meeting rooms, etc.

Olson is the exception in many cases and not the rule. In my dealings with many of the top distributors in many network marketing companies, whether it is in person, listening to their story or reading their books, the overwhelming majority of them report that it took them about 5 years of struggle before they were able to put the pieces together and really begin to build a financially successful business.