Why You Should Always Lead With Benefits

How to turn ordinary people into hot, eager prospects (Or, what do you do for a living?) Distributor Joe waited patiently at the grocery store cash register. The lady behind Joe pleasantly attempted a little conversation while they waited their turn for checkout. She said, “And by the way Joe, what do you do for a living?” Wow! What a question. Here was Joe’s chance to tell her about his exciting MLM program, the Wonderful Company. There is so much to tell her. The great products, the superb training weekends, how MLM will revolutionize American economics, how buying wholesale was a smart move, the low cost of the distributor kit, the no-freight policy on larger orders, the upline support from experienced leaders . . . oh boy, just where should he start? Joe blushed. “Uh . . . uh, well . . . you see . . . uh” and waved his hands in his attempt to speak. The lady replied, “Oh, I see. You’re a mime. You’re one of those guys who don’t talk but kind of act things out, right?” Disaster. Because there was too much to say, Joe couldn’t say anything. Boy, did Joe feel stupid. A great prospect and he didn’t even get to communicate what he did for a living. “Maybe I should work on my approach,” thought Joe. “I’ll certainly do better next time. I’ll just come up with a better answer.” Joe’s next opportunity to interest new prospects came later that evening. His nephew’s graduation party was boring. Distributor Joe stood alone in the corner. Not many prospects here. Besides, it would be rude to actively recruit at his nephew’s party. Joe’s cousin, Ben, walked over and asked, “Hey, partner. What are you doing nowadays for a living?” The pressure was on. Joe’s conscious began panicking. “Quick, quick! Come up with something. Don’t mess up like you did in the grocery store. Just tell Ben what you do in a simple, straightforward manner. He’ll surely see the wisdom and benefits of coming to an opportunity meeting.” Joe answered, “I work for the Wonderful Company, an international lifestyle focus corporation, in an executive distributor capacity.” “Oh,” answered his cousin. “I’m working for IBM. I feel job security is important in these times. By the way, great weather we’ve been having. Think it’s going to rain?” Ouch. Joe blew it again. It’s easy to tell when your answer bores people. They’ll quickly change the subject to the weather or sports. “I really have to expand more on my answer,” thought Joe. “International lifestyle focus corporation doesn’t seem to spark enthusiasm in prospects. I guess it’s too vague.”   Later, Aunt Mary stepped behind Joe in the buffet line. She pinched his cheek and asked, “Well, how are things with my little nephew? What kind of work are you doing now?” Great. Another chance to reel in a good prospect with a snappy answer. This time Joe’s reply would expand on his company. Joe blushed and said, “I’m an independent distributor with a nationwide company that specializes in health and wealth. Mainly, I focus on new distributor procurement and educating them toward upper level advancement in our tri-level, unilateral, PV volume marketing plan.” “Oh,” nodded Aunt Mary. “And, how’s the wife and kids?” Definitely a bust. Aunt Mary’s eyes glazed over as she reached for more food. She probably didn’t hear another word Joe said. Maybe Joe’s answer was too expansive and complicated. Aunt Mary certainly didn’t look interested in the conversation. In fact, the rest of the evening Aunt Mary kept her distance.   Later, Joe’s old classmate Eric asked, “Joe, haven’t seen you for awhile. What are you doing now?” Joe thought, “This time my answer will focus on benefits. That will get prospects interested.” Joe turned to Eric and said, “I’m independent now, in my own business of specializing in income diversification and incremental cash flow opportunities for potential entrepreneurs.” “Yeah, uh sure,” Eric replied. “And, how about those Knicks? They’re playing some pretty good ball lately.” Eric thought Joe’s answer sounded like he might be a stealth insurance agent. Maybe talking sports would keep Joe from selling him a life insurance policy. Joe drove home from the party. He thought, “Boy, what a dull party. No prospects there. None of those losers share my interest in MLM or getting ahead. I bet their idea of a good time is cable TV and popcorn. I wonder, where can I find some good prospects for my MLM business?” One year later. Joe’s niece graduated this year. At the party Joe met his cousin Ben again. Joe asked, “Hey Ben, what are you doing nowadays? Still work for IBM?” Ben answered, “I sell diet products that help people lose weight fast. Plus, I’m always looking for some additional help to spread the word. Seems more and more people today want to make some extra money on the side.” Joe replied, “Oh, really? How does the extra money part work?” Ben explained about his MLM diet products and the MLM extra income opportunity. Joe commented, “You know Ben, I’ve been in MLM for years now. I never thought you’d be interested in MLM. I’m not interested personally because I already have an MLM opportunity, but I sure wish you success. By the way, why did you quit your secure job at IBM?” Ben answered, “What security? I quit months ago. I’m fulltime in MLM now. There’s no security working for someone else. They can fire or lay off employees anytime they want. I feel a lot more secure now that I’m in charge of my life.” “What a change in attitude,” Joe thought. “Last year Ben wanted to talk about the weather. This year he’s an MLM maniac. I guess he could have been a good prospect after all.”   Aunt Mary walked by with a plate of food. Joe said, “Aunt Mary, haven’t seen you since last year. What are you doing nowadays?” Aunt Mary replied, “I help people find good educational toys for their children and grandchildren. It’s lots of fun and my MLM business is growing. I’m always looking for some partners who would like to make some extra money with me.” Joe gasped. “I never thought you’d get involved in MLM, Aunt Mary. What got you started?” Aunt Mary said, “A friend of mine asked if I wanted to earn some extra money. Well, of course, I do. Doesn’t everyone? And I love working with people, giving toy parties, sponsoring new distributors. It doesn’t get any better than this. I only wish I knew about this a year ago.” “Low blow,” thought Joe. “I had a chance to get her into MLM a year ago, but she didn’t show any interest. What gives?”   Soon Joe’s old classmate Eric drifted by with a portable TV in his hand. “Hey Eric, haven’t seen you since last year. What’s happening?” asked Joe. “Knicks are up by 10 points. I won this hand-held color TV from my MLM company. Say Joe, did you know that there are two types of people in this world? Those who get a word-ofmouth advertising bonus check once a month . . . and those who don’t. Which group would you like to be in?” Joe stuttered, “The first group, of course. The ones that get those word-of-mouth bonus checks. I never really looked at things that way. However, I’m already in MLM and glad you’re taking advantage of MLM too.” “Gee, what gives?” thought Joe. “I’m depressed. My best prospects were stolen by other people into their MLM companies. How cruel and unfair this world is.” Joe left the party suffering from acute perverse prosecution complex. The prospecting breakthrough Joe stopped at his local hangout and ordered a beer (vitaminfortified, with a secret blend of herbs and spices, and nonalcoholic, of course). Across the room Big Al just finished a two-on-one recruiting presentation. The prospect smiled, grabbed his new distributor kit, and ran out the front door excited about his new business opportunity. It must have been a pretty good presentation. Big Al yelled across the room, “Hey Joe, how’s it going? Run across any new prospects lately?” Joe winced. “Low blow, Big Al. I just found out that three of my best prospects started their MLM careers recently — with competitors! They weren’t the least bit interested when I talked with them. Life’s unfair. Why do other people get all the good prospects?” Big Al smiled. “Other people get all the good prospects because they have better skills. They don’t practice stealth recruiting. Professional recruiters let people know what kind of business they are in and why their business would benefit the prospect. Joe, too many distributors never let their prospects know what they do for a living. Or, when they tell their prospects what they do for a living, they answer in generic, confusing, defensive, cryptic nonsense. Is that how you answer, Joe?” “Generic, confusing, defensive, cryptic nonsense? Well yeah, that’s sort of how I’ve been answering prospects who ask what I do for a living. Let me see. Last year at my nephew’s party, all three prospects asked what I did for a living. I answered: 1. “I work for the Wonderful Company, an international lifestyle focus corporation, in an executive distributor capacity. Whoops, I guess there aren’t many prospect benefits there. 2. “I’m an independent distributor with a nationwide company that specializes in health and wealth. Mainly, I focus on new distributor procurement and educating them toward upper level advancement in our tri-level, unilateral, PV volume marketing plan. Yeah, that’s pretty confusing, cryptic nonsense. 3. “I’m independent now, in my own business of specializing in income diversification and incremental cash flow opportunities for potential entrepreneurs. Boy, that sounds like it’s coming from a badly-dressed used car salesman.”   Big Al said, “Joe, are you embarrassed about what you do? Or, do you have trouble explaining what you do?” “I love what I do, Big Al. I guess I just don’t know how to explain it. I don’t want to answer that I recruit new distributors, go to opportunity meetings, put on training sessions, retail product, listen to tapes, attend rallies, etc., etc., etc.. Sounds too complicated and hard, especially in a social situation.” “You’re right, Joe. That’s way too complicated. What do people want to know? 1. What you do, and 2. If what you do would be of interest to them. “That’s it. So why not answer their question with a strong benefits statement of what you do for a living?” Joe scratched his head. “Sounds easy, but what would I say that would get people interested in what I do?” “Let’s see, Joe. You had three prospects sponsored by other people recently. They must like what their sponsors said — after all, they joined after hearing their sponsor’s explanation. I bet they even use the same answer as their sponsor’s when asked the same question. So, what did they answer when you asked them, ‘What do you do for a living?’” Joe said, “Well, they did have pretty strong benefit statements. Let’s see . . . they said: 1. “I sell diet products that help people lose weight fast. Plus, I’m always looking for some help. Seems more and more people want to make some extra money on the side. Hmmm, there are two great attention-getting benefits there. 2. “I help people find good educational toys for their children and grandchildren. It’s lots of fun and my business is growing. I’m always looking for some partners who would like to make some extra money with me. Yeah, Aunt Mary had two great attention-getting benefits, too. 3. “Did you know that there are two types of people in this world? Those that get a wordof- mouth advertising bonus check once a month . . . and those that don’t? Which group would you like to be in? Wow! That benefit even got me excited. “My three lost prospects gave great benefit answers when they were asked what they did for a living. They talked about how their product helped people and also checked to see if I was interested or looking for some part-time income. I’m starting to see a pattern here.” “That’s right,” continued Big Al. “You don’t have to be offensive or pushy to let prospects know about your product’s benefit or that you have a part-time income opportunity. Just mention what you do . . . and if the prospects are interested, they’ll ask for more information. If they’re not interested, they’ll quickly change the subject to sports or the weather. Your interested prospects will have answers such as: ¨  “Hmmm. That’s interesting. How does the part-time income thing work?” ¨  “What kind of diet products? Will it help us nonexercisers?” ¨  “Really, a part-time business that won’t interfere with my work?” ¨  “Educational toys? I’m always looking for good gifts for my grandchildren.” ¨  “Do you have to have any special background to do what you’re doing?” “All these replies are saying, ‘I’m interested. Tell me more.’ Isn’t that a great feeling when people come to you saying ‘I’m interested.’ And, you don’t have to be pushy.” “Right!” answered Joe. “Sure would make sponsoring distributors a lot more pleasant for me and for the prospects. So, all I got to do is change my answer into sort of a benefit statement, right?” “You’ve got the picture, Joe. Your three former prospects had great benefit statements. Let’s look at some answers to the question, ‘What do you do for a living?’ ” ¨  I show people how to get bottled water for only 3 cents a gallon. ¨  I show people how to lose weight without changing their eating habits. ¨  I show people how to have a high-vitamin, high-protein delicious breakfast drink for only 74 cents. ¨  I show people how to get rebates on their cleaning products. ¨  I help people get lower insurance premiums. ¨  I locate wholesale buying services so people won’t have to pay retail. ¨  I show people how to get a rebate and referral check in their mailbox once a month. ¨  I’m working my own part-time business. I wanted something part-time that would help me get ahead financially. ¨  I always loved skin care, so now I give mini-facials to people who want to upgrade and try new skin care products. ¨  I’m still an environmentalist. Now, I change people’s cleaning supplies to biodegradable cleaners. Plus, it saves people an extra $15 per month on what they're spending now at the store. ¨  I’m letting people know how they can get wholesale long distance rates, just like the big corporations. It saves folks about $20 a month on their regular telephone bill. ¨  I show people how to feel great, like they’re 16 years old, but with better judgment. ¨  I put people on the fast-track to retirement. I save them money and help them retire 15 years early. ¨  I show people how to lose weight while they’re eating cookies. Plus, they get paid to eat! ¨  You know, there are two types of people in the world, those who get paid to eat . . . and those who don’t. Which group would you like to be in? ¨  Ever wonder if you might pay too much for something? I put people in contact with an 800 number where you get the guaranteed lowest quote on any item you purchase. “See the difference Joe? All these answers give benefits. If the prospect has a need, interest, or desire, the prospect will ask you some questions. Those questions could lead to an appointment to talk in detail, or an invitation to an opportunity meeting. All we’re doing is announcing the benefits. It is up to the prospects to sort themselves into those who are interested in knowing more, and those who aren’t.” “I get it now,” said Joe. “My generic answers really didn’t say anything. There’s no way a prospect could get excited about the confusing answers I gave. From now on, I’m answering with a strong, strong, benefits statement.” Big Al finished his drink (a caffeine-free, acid-free, biocatalyst nutritionally-enhanced coffee) and said: “When you answer clearly with a benefit that may appeal to your prospect, you've produced a strong benefits statement. This makes the prospect come to you asking for more information. That’s better than you pushing your information down the throat of an uninterested prospect. Plus, it’s a more pleasant, low-key way to sponsor new prospects.” Joe got up to leave the local hangout. On his way out, he asked the bartender, “By the way, what do you do for a living?” The bartender replied, “I provide a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to patrons in a social setting to help induce an acceptable climate for conversation exchanges to occur.” Clearly the bartender needed to talk with Big Al about his benefits statement.   When Talking with a prospect about your company, always lead with benefits. The prospect will always want to know what value they will get for their money. If the benefits are not big enough they will not join. Thanks to Tom "Big Al" Schreiter for this wonderful story. Donnie Norton