False Expectations – Are You Building Them?

Join today and you won’t have to do any work, buy any product, talk to any of your friends or family, I’ll build your downline for you, and you can make $100,000 per month.  How does that sound?  Unfortunately because of these kinds of comments, the MLM industry has gotten a horrible reputation.  New distributors join a “hot” opportunity and then proceed to believe they can now just sit on their Lazyboy (aptly named), watch TV, and make a ton of money.  When they find out this isn’t true, they get mad at their sponsor and then bash the industry and everything about these “pyramid schemes” to everyone within 3 feet of them.  Ugh!

So, what can we do to stop this practice?  In chapter 4 of “Your First Year in Network Marketing,” by Mark and Rene Reid Yarnell, the topic of “Blocking the False Expectation Tank” is covered in great detail and many of the myths used to recruit unwitting distributors are exposed.

The thing that always gets me about this particular topic is the fact that people actually BELIEVE they can truly get something for doing absolutely nothing.  After all, I spent about 6 years in sales in the welding industry.  Had I ever seen a welding rod before joining this company?  NO!  Did I know the first thing about calling on big, burly and sometimes grouchy welding supervisors?  NO!  So what did I do about it?  Let’s see, I read books, I joined the American Welding Society, I attended meetings, I got involved, I went out and made calls – day after day, month after month, until I learned what I was doing and became proficient at it.  It was hard work.  Some days were absolutely horrible as I had to deal with customers that from time to time would not even talk to me because “no woman should be in the welding industry.”  Others threw me out because our rod was “too expensive” and my claims about its performance sounded “too good to be true.”  But I continued to work my business and I succeeded, turning my territory into a top producing territory within 2 years.

So, what in the world does this story have to do with network marketing?  Well, the most important thing is that my boss did not give me any type of false expectations when I joined the company.  How do you think my career would have been if he would have said, “You know Lisa, this product sells itself, you don’t have to worry about approaching anyone or learning anything about our products.  Just let them know you’re in the business and wait for the orders to start rolling in.  As a matter of fact, I’ll come into your territory every week and build your business for you.” Would I have experienced any type of success whatesoever?  I think not.

Because it’s tough enough to get people to talk to you about your business in the first place, you certainly don’t want to scare them off by letting them know that there’s work involved.  You want to make it as easy for them as possible because you desperately want to sign up someone - anyone, to go into business with you.  After all, once they get involved, they will “magically” see what the opportunity has to offer and THEN they will get that same fire in their eyes that you have in yours.  Right?  Um, NO.

We need to find those rare individuals that have the fire in their eyes to begin with, and then paint a realistic picture of the amount of work that’s going to be involved.  Yes, they will have to use the product to build up their personal belief (so they will actually have to BUY something).  They will have to learn and study the company and the industry.  They may have to (or want to) attend meetings, seminars or conventions to mingle with and learn from industry experts. Most importantly, they will have to NETWORK with people – telling them about the product/service and about the opportunity.  NO product sells itself!  (If they did, why would companies need distributors in the first place???)  We need to offer our support, but NEVER offer to do the work or build the business for them.

Also, part-time effort leads to part-time results.  It’s ok if you are doing the business part-time (like I am right now), but don’t expect to make $100,000 a month in your first 6 months in business if you are only devoting a couple hours a week to your business.  Unless you have a lottery mentality – and you happen to hit the MLM lottery – that’s just not going to happen.  After all, have you ever met a person that became a millionaire in their spare time?  No?  I haven’t either.

So, next time you have a hot prospect, make sure you manage their expectations effectively.  Let them know that we are in the most lucrative and fun profession in the world, but that they will also work harder than they ever have had to work before.  MLM is not a get rich quick scheme, but people do get rich if they are willing to put in the time and effort to do so.  Not only that, this is a 2-5 year plan instead of the 45 year plan that they are currently vested in.  Devote 2-5 years of steady effort and persistence to this industry, and you can supplement your income nicely, have more time freedom than you’ve ever had before, and maybe even become financially free.

When you are honest about the efforts that it takes to be successful in MLM, your prospects will appreciate you for it, and you’ll never be accused of being a scam artist.  Even though everyone CAN do MLM, not everyone WILL.  Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find those people whose dreams are worthy of your time.  Work with them, support them, but be honest with them and you will build a high retention, enthusiastic sales team.

Have fun,

Lisa