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Are You Hurting Your Network Marketing Business by Working Too Hard to Sign People Up?
One of the keys to making money with a network marketing business is finding prospects who are really fired up and ready to put in the effort to be successful for the long term. I once had a truly exceptional downline team member who seemed to fit the mold of the person you'd want to sponsor. Tom was highly motivated, very driven, and seemed like a sure superstar in the making.
Tom showed a lot of effort and determination during his first year in business. He uncovered a lot of new prospects for his business, and worked hard to follow up and sponsor them.
The results of Tom's work were surprising. He never got things moving, and never made much money, despite his efforts. Two thing about Tom's efforts stood out.
For that first year, he effectively used pay per click advertising, created a web presence with his own personal site, drove lots of traffic, and brought in a substantial number of new prospects.
During Tom's first year, despite having more prospects for his network marketing business than anyone, very few of his prospects signed up with him.
Watching Tom attract so many good prospects, while sponsoring so few of them, was frustrating for his upline leaders. We knew this guy had huge potential. We talked to him at length, and it appeared that everything he was doing was in line. Something was going right, because he was attracting qualified prospects in significant numbers.
All of the new home business prospects that Tom attracted were sent through the same online prospecting system as everyone else's, and they received the same detailed information about our business as all the others.
The question was obvious - what was going on with these prospects between their initial strong interest in our business, and the point they went cold?
After working that hard for a year, Tom became discouraged and decided to move on to something else. Once he let us know of his decision, we took the opportunity to contact some of his prospects directly.
Known to everyone as a nice guy and quite outgoing, Tom had seemed a natural for building a big network marketing business. This wasn't a man you thought would fail. After we had a chance to talk to some of his prospects, we began to see why he had so little success in sponsoring.
- he was promising great wealth and fast riches and exaggerating so much that he almost instantly lost credibility with prospects who were seeking a legitimate opportunity
- his determination to sponsor each and every prospect caused him to come across as desperate, and few people will want to work with someone who appears desperate
Tom, in years prior to starting his network marketing business, had been pretty successful in direct selling. He had been trained in the "one call close" techniques that traditionally define a salesperson's approach to selling products like vacuum cleaners and cell phone service. You knew if you didn't get the sale on the first call, you'd likely never get it. So, the pressure to get the sale each time was intense. Tom was literally approaching his prospects with a "one call close" mentality.
It isn't wise to try building a network marketing business with high pressure manipulative techniques. This isn't a business where you "close" a prospect then move on to the next one. It requires building a working relationship, and this doesn't always happen immediately.
Tom never realized that his approach was wrong, even though he had been coached on how to work with prospects who showed interest in his network marketing business. He chose to put all his focus on sponsoring prospects quickly, with a goal of sponsoring as many as fast as he possibly could.
A key lesson in Tom's story - remember to always approach your prospects and leads as people with unique goals and dreams. Don't be pushy or try to do a sales job on them. You want to lead prospects to a positive decision, but never push them.
That's one of the great things about a network marketing business - you don't need to be a polished salesperson, and you don't want to be.
About the Author Are you having the success you desire with your network marketing business? Find out more about choosing the right opportunity, sponsoring, becoming a leader, and many other network marketing tips that will help you achieve your goals and dreams for your business.
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