"Many Enemies, Great Honor"
Read More: Recently here at Better Networker I posted a few forum themes that ruffled the feathers of the usual suspects perched there. (If you visit often enough you know who they are, but I'm not writing about them.) Instead I want to address what seems to make so many so uncomfortable that my original questions are seldom if ever addressed.
And the critical attacks don't bother me either. The title of this article is a quote from the great Doctor himself, Sigmund Freud. When someone is so criticized, he must be onto something that threatens the status quo and its ability to keep bilking the public, keeping it ignorant and in darkness. There are ideas poised to set free the minds of those who dare peek, who dare question the conventional way of thinking and doing business.
In my last post I asked how networkers negotiated a paradox in human behavior, namely, that "People like to Buy but do NOT like to be Sold."
The overwhelming response had nothing to do with my question. Mostly what was posted was How MLM or Networking was a sales business and how noble the sales profession is. Blah. Blah. Blah.
But what really irked and set off these conventional believers in that trite (and questionable) wisdom was my insistence that MLM IS NOT A SALES BUSINESS.
If you or any critical thinker will stop and think about it you'll see that it indeed is NOT a sales business. While it of course touches on sales -- as any business must -- it is primarily NOT sales. MLM is about enlisting people to join you because you have a way of helping them fulfill their dream. (That dear friends and readers is about MARKETING not Sales. It is, after all, Multi-Level Marketing not Multi-Level Selling!)
Please consider: if the vast, VAST majority of the human race hates to be sold, dislikes salespeople and would never dream of being in sales, how can you get people to join you when you are preaching that MLM is a sales business? Especially when it is NOT. You'd be lying besides being foolish.
MLM is a people business consisting of relationships where teaching, coaching and mentoring goes on. It has also been brilliantly called Personal Development with a Compensation or Pay plan.
Consider this: How can a networker bring in 50, 100, 899 reps in one week, call that a triumph, and expect to cultivate any kind of working relationship with any kind of worthwhile training going on? Can't be done.
And if all these reps are brought in and not trained, how many do you think will stick around?
And if you have such a great amount of attrition in your organization, how much time will you have to spend recruiting again and again? And again? Where's the time freedom you were attracted to in the first place? It ain't there!
Please consider this: why must a networker NEED to recruit 100s of reps per week or month to make any kind of appreciable money to speak of? Could it be because the company pay plan stinks and pays next to nothing in commissions and bonuses?
Wouldn't a company that paid more generously allow you the time to recruit, train and cultivate a downline that will pay you royalty income in perpetuity? (After all it is DEPTH in any downline where the financial security and freedom exists, not in a great number of front line reps. That's why Unilevel and Matrix pay plans are not any good if you're building a business around security for you or your grandchildren.)
Does any of this intrigue you, raise any questions for you, pique your curiosity?
Want to learn more AT ABSOLUTELY NO COST TO YOU?
http://ajlauria.BigMLMsecrets.com
Here's another great quote, this one from Dandy Don Meredith of the Dallas Cowboys:
"It ain't bragging if you can do it!"
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About the Author: Tony Lauria
Member Since: 11/30/2007
Company: Not Posted
Industry: MLM
Primary Web Site: http://mlm-skills-for-success.com
"MLM is about enlisting
"MLM is about enlisting people to join you because you have a way of helping them fulfill their dream."
You're not alone, Tony. Many people feel there is a difference between marketing and sales. They are so intricately connected that they are in essence just an inch further along the circle. Especially in MLM.
Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. - Wikipedia
And you can't forget the age old truth that you don't get paid until you make sales. That one has to be front and centre or you're lying to people. Plain and simple.
Have a great day,
Joyce
Love The Final Quote Tony !
Great Article Tony !
You Really Got Your Point Across !
You Had The Final Word.
Incorrect Premise
Great article, Tony! We love your thought-provoking posts and enjoy reading the squabbles that follow!
Much of the discussion in the forums is based on the false premise that a thing must be A OR B. It becomes nonsensical when people ignore the possibility of a thing being both A AND B at the same time.
Asking questions like "Is MLM a people business or a sales business?" or "Should I build deep or build wide?" is like asking "Should I walk to work or take my lunch?"
I can walk to work AND take my lunch. Doing one does not preclude the other.
MLM is a sales business AND a people business.
There is no reason why you should not build wide AND build deep.
When people get their backs up over a question, they often have not read the question or have read only what they want to read. Selective reading is just as common as selective hearing.
They may also have their status quo to protect, as you say, and may not want to entertain the possibility of a naked emperor.
They may also have been led astray by a false premise in the question. Speaking of that, I'm headed over to the forum to ask ...
"Is a crow black or two legged?"
I think you hit it Bob
When you said "MLM is a sales business AND a people business."
Can't make money without sales and you need the sales skills with people to make the sale.
AND you need to be able to teach the people you want to help build their dreams become professional sales people as well. No sales, no money, no dreams.
All boils down to sales and marketing.
Yes we sell.....!
Hi Tony, yes we sell products to customers, that's where the money comes form in the business. At the same time, to get a real income, we need to build a team. That's where the coaching comes in.
I do believe it is wiser to build a team slowly and personally, so the retention rate is higher. It also just feels better to really get to know the people in your team.
If all on your team do the same thing, the team itself will grow constantly, without so many fallbacks in numbers.
Thanks Tony for sharing your ideas. :-)
Thanks for the Comments
I guess my frustration with the evasion of my question finally got the better of me.
But I DO think I got my point heard. The insistence that MLM is a sales business is ludicrous and can only serve to alienate potential partners. As I wrote above, any business entails making a sale but to present your opportunity as a "sales business" is like saying it's a "sales position".
How many people will jump at that?
As Bob Bassett has pointed out, MLM is BOTH a people AND a sales business. It is also many other things. In fact, if you can't wear many hats, this is no place for you at all.
But with so many people hurting financially, people are looking more than ever for help. And I stand by what I wrote:
"While it of course touches on sales -- as any business must -- it is primarily NOT sales. MLM is about enlisting people to join you because you have a way of helping them fulfill their dream."
But to sell them on your opportunity? No, they must already have been sold, that's the DREAM, and you had better be the fit they are seeking. That's the MARKETING.
Thanks to all.
Good stuff
Your article is very true Tony, thanks for your insight!
Hide the very method of generating income?
"The insistence that MLM is a sales business is ludicrous and can only serve to alienate potential partners."
I'd sooner be honest but that's just me I guess.
My thoughts
It is said, "Build people. People will build your business."
Yes, we have products. Fabulous products! My experience is that people join ME because they have come to know & trust me. What an honor & a responsibility that is!
Thanks, Tony, for your insights into our industry.
Tony You are Right On!
There are people that just have to be Right. But this has me thinking is a crow black or does it have two legs. And is it part of the Animal kingdom? The thing that I got from you is the most important part of the procedure is do not Sell. It does not work. Lead with There Dream. And however they choose to go after it does not matter to us. Some however will choose to join us with out ever selling. At least that is how I sponsored over 25 people. The ones that needed to be sold I did not allow them to join me in my MLM. I have told many potential people no. I am not in a sales business. I suck at sales.
Joyce . . .
Please read a new article that I posted titled THE PERDITION OF BEING A LIAR. Maybe then you'll understand better and resist calling me a liar.
Good quote and the answer is ....
"Some however will choose to join us with out ever selling." - Juanita
How do you make money? If your product isn't sold.
They ask to join me!
But I do not have to convience or Sell them or Share. They love to Buy from me when they are ready. But I do not sell them. They want to work with me in my Company. That is how I make money. And it works. If I have to sell them I do not want them to join me I will be selling them every flipping month if that happens.
You shouldn't need 100 recruits per day!
"And if you have such a great amount of attrition in your organization, how much time will you have to spend recruiting again and again? And again? Where's the time freedom you were attracted to in the first place? It ain't there!"
I agree with you 100% Tony. If you spend the time to help your people, you shouldn't have to focus on those huge numbers of daily, weekly recruits because the few that you do recruit will stay and become loyal, repeating the process. That's what team building is all about, and what leads to eventual time freedom.
Thanks for the thought provoking article.