MLM - Success Starts Now.
Written by Travis Flaherty on Sep 22, 2008 12:47 am
Read More: Leadership | Mindset | Personal Development | Prospecting | Sponsoring and RecruitingSuccess Starts Now is a proven system that if followed, will ensure your success in this business. We teach this system as a certification process in our organization. Everyone must be SSN certified when they first enrolled. I am not trying to sell anything, nor do I want your money. I simply want to share with you a proven system that has been passed down to me from some of the greats in this industry. As many of you already know, the key to success in this business is duplication. Anyone can plug into this system and start having immediate success. The only requirement is that you are coachable! This system is simple to teach, and even easier to follow. Below you will find the first two steps of the Succeess Starts Now system.
#1) Define your why.The most important thing you can do when getting started in this business is to take the time to identify your "whys". Why are you involved in the MLM business that you are in? What is your main motivation? How would you like to see your life change with this business? Take a moment and identify the top reasons why you are doing this business? Make sure not to list just generic goals, things such as; I want to make more money, travel, a new car, etc. Be as detailed and specific as possible. How much money would you need to make this worthwhile? Where would you travel? What car do you see yourself in? What color is the interior? Every physical manifestation begins with a mental creation. Your ability to take your goals and continually hold them in your thoughts with passion, excitement and enthusiasm will eventually cause them to become real. Remember, dreams that aren't written down are just wishes!
When things get tough, (and I promise they will) your subconscious is going to ask you a question. Why must I go through this pain? Almost immediately, the brain begins its defense by responding with excuses. "My up line hasn't done anything for me, this is too hard, I don't have time, this will never work, cut your losses now and get out". (Sound familiar?) This is the brains way of creating justification for quitting so you can avoid any more unnecessary pain. Unfortunately, this is where the journey ends for most people. The significant difference between the winners and losers in this business is how you will respond to this one question. A successful network marketing professional will respond to this question by saying I must go through this pain, I must face these challenges BECAUSE MY DREAMS, GOALS, DESIRES are important enough to me that I will push forward NO MATTER WHAT! If your why is strong enough anything is possible in life!
#2) Create your names list. Now that you have identified your why's it's time to make a names list. This is where many new enrollees make mistakes. This is not a list of people who you "think" will do this business with you. Create your list as if you were getting paid $100.00 for every name you can come up with on your list. Never prequalify anyone. It is not fair for you to make the decision for someone else by not including them on your list, just because you assume they wouldn't be interested. More often than not, those individuals are the ones that end up having the most success. Remember, you never know what may be happening in someone's life that might inspire them to take a closer look at this opportunity. You were fortunate enough to have made it on to someone else's list. By not sharing it with others, you are doing them a disservice by not including them on yours. A names list is crucial because without it most new distributors will make the mistake of focusing in on a few key contacts. When things don't work out with those people, the new enrollee is left discouraged and doubting their decision to get involved in this industry. The same distributor with a names list will simply cross those names off their list and move on to the next person.
Remember getting off to the right start from the beginning is crucial for your success. Negating these two steps is similar to setting sail with a hole in your boat. Take the time to master these two steps with your business and I promise you'll be glad you did!
In the spirit of success,
Travis Flaherty
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About the Author: Travis Flaherty
Member Since: 09/22/2008
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Hmm...
Well, I definitely agree with your "why" comment. A great WHY will get you through everything, definitely.
As far as the name list, though, I'd like to suggest a different way of going about it. It's fine to make a list and everything if it helps. However, your friends and family probably would rather not hear about your business opportunity. Even if you get them on, they probably won't stay for very long because they probably only joined to help you.
Myself, I'd rather talk to complete strangers (preferably those who are already in or had once been in an MLM). I'm not saying that I haven't talked to my friends and family about it, but I never offered them the opportunity (as in I haven't said "hey! You should join!"). If they're interested, it's likely they already have a great WHY, and they'll say something to you like, "Wow. That's pretty cool. I'd like to get into something like that."
But that's just me.
Shane Enochs
ShaneEnochs@gmail.com
Http://shaneenochs.MentoringForFree.com/
.Its all about duplication....
Shane;
I appreciate your feedback. My only concern with your concept of approaching strangers for a new enrollee is that it's not duplicable. A seasoned network marketing professional may be comfortable approaching an absolute stranger, but most new enrollees surely are not. In fact, the very thought of approaching someone they don’t know is usually enough to push an inspiring new distributor out of this business. You see, they don’t yet have the belief level that would be required to overcome such a fear. In time as their business, confidence and testimony grows - it will be much easier for a newbie to consider approaching a stranger. I would agree, there is certainly a place for cold contacting in this business, but I would respectfully recommend teaching that as a more of level two training. (after they have had time to build up their confidence) Creating a friends and family list allows them to start comfortably, easing into prospecting with those that may be a little more forgiving if they make a mistake. Also, who better to approach then your own circle of influence? If a names list is done properly, you should have 80-100 contacts and if approached correctly, and should produce minimum 10-15 new enrollees. This foundation is essential for the ongoing success of a brand new network marketer moving forward. By not contacting your warm market you are essentially making the decision for them and that isn’t fair.
I would also have to disagree with your statement "your friends and family probably don’t want to hear about your business". So what you are saying is your friends and family doesn’t deserve the opportunity of taking a look at something that you have found to be great? Some of the biggest names in this industry have all promoted this concept for one reason – it works! You never know what may be going on within your family, friends or network. Appearance means nothing, especially in this economy. I would be willing to bet that we all have someone close to us right now that is going to bed at night, praying for a solution to their financial woes. Especially in this economy! It all comes back to that one word “BELIEF”. If you truly believe you are involved with an amazing opportunity, then why wouldn’t you want those closest to you to also share in the excitement. The way I personally see it, I have the answer to so many people’s dreams and prayers, and I would be doing my friends and family a disservice if I didn’t share it with them. I owe them the opportunity of allowing them to choose if this is something that might change their lives. Think about it, if you have found something great that you are excited to be involved In. Does it make sense that you would rather share it with complete strangers rather than those closest to you? That is usually a comment that I receive from team members that don’t quite have the confidence or belief level in their business!
In close, what I would say is that you have to create a system of duplication. Anyone can make a contact list. Anyone can invite or share (not sell) a company tool with their warm contacts, and anyone can utilize their up line as a source of third party edification when the time comes for follow up. That is a system that can be duplicated over and over again no matter what the skill level. There is definitely a place for cold contacting, but it isn’t in your best interest to teach a brand new enrollee to go out and start cold calling. Give them a chance to develop their belief level and confidence first.
In the spirit of Success;
Travis A. Flaherty
Actually...
I think you may have misread my comment.
I'm all about talking with your warm market. I do it all the time. My point was as far as ADVERTISING to them (such as saying "hey, I need you to join" or "you'll make millions!") is probably a bad idea. They're going to block your calls. You can count on it. What I do, as far as my warm market goes, is use the products with them around (we have cookies and shakes and things). After seeing me use the products, they'll want to try it. It's human nature to try new things when it's right in front of us (think window shopping). I'll half my cookie with them or give them a shake, and then if they enjoy it, they'll say "where can I get these?"
If I'm still not making sense, let's turn this around. You're fairly content with your life. You're a middle class person who has a decent job. Your friend/family member comes up to you and says "Hey, Travis! I just got into business (details here). You should join!" Now you, being the content person you are, aren't really interested, but you don't want to hurt their feelings. You ask for more information (which misleads them to think that you really are interested). You tell them that you'll get back to them. Days later, they'll approach you again telling you excitedly about their opportunity. You've heard it all before, but you don't want to hurt their feelings. Eventually you'll try to avoid them, not answer their phone calls, etc.
All that time that they wasted on someone who actually cared about hurting their feelings was wasted when they could have been talking to people who were genuinely interested. Eventually, they get their feelings hurt anyway because you'll obviously HAVE to tell them that you're not interested. For Yellows (I have articles posted about personality colors, or you can google them), this is a HUGE setback, and probably enough to cause them to quit the business.
In a nutshell: It's fine to talk to your friends and family about your business, but I wouldn't count on any of them joining. If they do, it's <b>probably</b> (not definitely) to not hurt your feelings. They probably won't last very long because they won't have a strong WHY. There's a whole world to speak to via the internet who most likely won't lead you on. They'll either say yes or no. I'd target those people with a lot more energy than my friends or family.
Shane Enochs
ShaneEnochs@gmail.com
Http://ShaneEnochs.MentoringForFree.com/
Got ya..
Shane;
It sounds like for the most part we are saying the same thing.
In this business, its all about utilizing any and all resources availabe. However; I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the F&F. Again, you can't make a decision for someone else because you never really know who will take off and run. You just have to throw as many snowballs as possible off the mountain and hope one sticks and begins to grow. Also, again you never really know who is "comfortable" in today's day and age. Situations are changng fast for many people. I have had many friends who were in my network who are now financially retired because we thought enough of them to invite them to take a look at our opportunity. I can assure you they didnt join simply not to hurt our feelings. We also have thousands of team members who have had family members go on to build some build some massive organizations. I strongly disagree with your statement "I wouldnt count on any of them joining or it's just so they wouldnt hurt your feelings". My experiences have been far different. I couldnt imagine what our business would look like today if we didnt use the F&F model as the foundation for getting started. Again it's simple and duplicable and that is key! We also teach online marketing techniques, etc. However; with a new prospect we always start by teaching the initial warm contact list. I feel it is the single most important thing you can do for someone when they get started. Again, it has been the cornerstone for us building a worldwide organization. I think the outcome comes back to training and education. Initial Contacting is an art in itself. If a friend or family member is feeling pressured, then I would agree with the outcome as you suggest. Again, it's all in the art of initial contacting. That comes back to good leadership and coaching your people what to say and what not to say. That is step 3 of our success starts now program. If done correctly, a relationship should never be jepordized and nobody should ever be uncomfortabe or pressured. It's really all about posture when making the contact.
In my personal experience, leading with a product has always led to "product users", which if that is your target goal for your company..then great. However if you are looking for people serious about building a business. I would personally recommend focusing in on the prospect, their challenges, goals, dreams, why's etc. Then show them how your company can help them achieve their goals. Freind, Family or Cold Contact it's all the same.
It is good to hear others views. Whats great about this industry is there is no right way or wrong way (per say), it's what works best for you.
In the spirit of Success;
Travis A. Flaherty