A few years ago I got a phone call from a lady in Texas. Sometime earlier, she had started a major corporation, whose name you know. It probably had a branch in your town. It's since been bought out by an even bigger fish.
Anyway, this lady was very gracious. She was going to start an MLM company, and she wanted feedback from some MLM leaders on what she was doing. She flew Linda & me to what must have been the biggest ranch in all of Texas. We were there 3 days, along with several MLM "Heavy Hitters". ***They Told Her She Had a HUGE Winner!*** She showed us her products and she showed us her compensation plan, and she asked for our thoughts.
The Big Boys (and Girls) were flabbergasted by her wonderful products and astonished by her compensation plan. Every single one of them wanted to be THE master distributor, so she would build the company under them. ***The Painful Truth*** When my turn came, I told her the truth: she was dead in the water. She had a bunch of "me-too" products.
And her compensation plan was from the dark ages of MLM, piling up money for the leaders and sacrificing all the part-timers who would hope to fulfill their lifelong dream of having their own business. With this comp plan, the part-timers were destined to fail. They'd never understand why. They would blame themselves, and many would never take the risk again. Dora (not her real name) pulled me aside before we left and thanked me.
Somehow, despite all the smoke coming from the MLM Heavy Hitters, she knew Truth when she heard it. She stuck to the business she knew. But if the Heavy Hitters would try pulling that stuff with one of the richest women in the country, imagine what they'd figure they could put over on YOU! ***Have You Fallen For The All-Time Favorite Heavy Hitter Line?*** Tell me you've never heard THIS one before: "Go get one hundred NO's every day. You're just getting closer to a YES." Think about this. Isn't it the stupidest thing? What nitwit came up with this idea? The word "NO" has taken more good people out of network marketing that any other word in the English language.
Picture this: all day long you've been flirting with your spouse. At night you take a bath, candles around the tub, soft music, perfect for romance. Some hugging, some kissing.
And your spouse says "NO!" GREAT! Just 99 more "NO"s and you'll get lucky! And those MLM Heavy Hitters tell you "NO" is a good thing. ***More Heavy Hitter Marketing Insanity*** Another bit of wonderful Hitter advice for you: "Talk to EVERYBODY about your business opportunity." Oh, man, don't get me started! There's an old saying you hear from time to time: the reason you have 2 ears and 1 mouth is you should LISTEN twice as much as you TALK. Take a good look next time you see a Heavy Hitter. I swear, if you look closely, you'll see they have zero ears and THREE MOUTHS! But for the sake of argument, let's see where their advice leads us. Let's say you owned a shoe store.
You get 300 visitors. If you have the right styles, colors, & price, could you sell some shoes? Absolutely. But you'd never try fitting a corporate Secretary working at the Trump Towers with men's construction work boots.
Not appropriate. And not everyone wants your business opportunity. "Talk to everybody" works great for the MLM Heavy Hitters - the 8% of the population who are salespeople.
But if you're part of the 92% who hate pushy, aggressive salespeople, THIS lie will make you feel totally inadequate to ever build a networking business. ***The Key Is Target Marketing*** If you're recruiting, just talk to people who want a home business. Lead with benefits. Tell success stories so that REAL prospects see the value in your offer. And NEVER close them.
Just offer them more information. The right people will ask to work with you. Believe me, it works just that way.
Michael Dlouhy is a 27-year veteran legendary network marketing trainer who will mentor you and help you program yourself for MLM success.