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[Mario Sanders Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 6]

I was doing a little prospecting and inquiring about a thought to a co-worker.
I asked would you trade what you are making on your job for a job making more than $100 per hour?
The prospect thought about the question, and asked what will I be doing?
I responded that you will be doing less than what you are doing now. You can do this whenever you wish, at your leisure.
Her eyebrows were raised and asked another question. What will I be doing?
I said that all you do is talk to people and to get them to sign up and join you in your business.
She then stated that you will be profitting off other people who sign up. She concluded in saying that she would not want to profit off of someone else's hard work. My income would be relying on someone else's efforts.
Could I have worded it differently?
Would you stay on a job knowing that you could be making over $100 per hour?
What would you have said instead?

[Brother Kaleem Company: Magnetic Sponsoring Contribution Level: 3]

Oh, man, I feel for you! Been there too many times...

You've got this great thing that would change people's lives if they would just open up long enough to see what it is. That way, they could get enough information to at least know what they're saying "no" to, right?

And some of them might even want a taste. But you can't substantiate it the way you said it.

Mind if we look at it from the listener's perspective?

First, it's not a "job making $100 per hour" if there's no wage or salary. If it's performance based, it's not trading time for dollars, like a job with an I-9, a W-2, and a paycheck with deductions ("Job".)

What will I be doing? "Less than what you are doing now". Too vague. Smells fishy if someone tells you that. That's why she asked you again. She thought enough of you to give you another chance to come clean. See that?

But then, look at what came next.

"All you do (she's thinking, 'Yeah, right') is talk to people AND get them to..."

She heard, "All you do is SELL."

Then, she said, "You will be profiting off other people...". Where did THAT come from?

If you're in business, OF COURSE you'll be profiting off other people. Nothing wrong with that.

But the trouble is, she mentally associates what YOU said with some scam she's familiar with.

And she consciously (or unconsciously) knows that the $100 per hour only applies IF she can "get" people.

Who in their right mind would pass up less work and $100 per hour?

Nobody, but they've got to BELIEVE in the $100. It can't come with an asterisk.

"You can make $100 per hour*.
(*You have to "get" people...)

INSTEAD, if you put it like you did, here's how it goes:

Would you trade what you're making on your JOB for a JOB making $100 per hour?

"What will I be doing?"

You'll be an advertising substitute. The company will pay you $100 per hour to advertise and demonstrate its products. You can work as much or as little as you want, and, if you qualify, the JOB pays $100 per hour.

(Then, they go to work. A week, two weeks, or a month later, they say)

"OK, I'm done! And I worked 8 hours."

Thank you! Here's your check.

How would I have done it?

"I see the President is trying to get us some more jobs out here. That's good, because we need it! If it wasn't for that little money I was making on the side, I don't know WHAT I'd do."

(What are you doing?)

"I'm doing some freelance work for a greeting card company. I show business people how to use their customer lists to send personalized greeting cards to all their customers at wholesale cost, which is about 1/3 of the regular price. It's great advertising for them. I get the system set up for them for about $450, and I make $140 per sale, plus residuals on the greeting cards. Do you know of anybody who would like to make some extra money, and can sink their teeth into something like that?"

(ME!)

"Oh, really? Do you know of any business people who would send cards to their customers if they could do it for a third of the price?"

(I know LOTS of them! How do I get hooked up?)

See what I'm saying?

Man, I hope that helps.

[jon patrick Contribution Level: 2]

I was doing a little prospecting and inquiring about a thought to a co-worker.
I asked would you trade what you are making on your job for a job making more than $100 per hour?
The prospect thought about the question, and asked what will I be doing?
I responded that you will be doing less than what you are doing now. You can do this whenever you wish, at your leisure.
Her eyebrows were raised and asked another question. What will I be doing?
I said that all you do is talk to people and to get them to sign up and join you in your business.
She then stated that you will be profitting off other people who sign up. She concluded in saying that she would not want to profit off of someone else's hard work. My income would be relying on someone else's efforts.
Could I have worded it differently?
Would you stay on a job knowing that you could be making over $100 per hour?
What would you have said instead?

I think there's a few things here. Have you ever listened to Tim Sale's "Professional Inviter" series? It's by far the BEST resource I've ever seen to listen in as a multi-million dollar producer walks you through recorded calls he personally has made to prospects.
One of the keys is to ask questions that let the prospect sell themselves. (I also avoid the word 'job' - you're not offering a job but work.)
While you could start with something like this - asking if they like their job, if it gives them everything they need, or what would they do different if they had more free time.
of course, you use your words.
If they open to you - you just found at least a bit of their 'why'.
Then you could use something like
"I've been working part-time with a company that rewards me for helping others start their own home based businesses. I earn about $100 an hour with them and have been for xx months".
or something like that. Don't promise income, don't promise an hourly pay.

I personally think you lost this one with the "...get them to sign up and join you in your business."
People will immediately close-up with this. Ponzi, scam, whatever they think - this will shut their mind immediately.

Instead, you could try something like:
"you'd be doing what I'm doing now! I share our products with interested people, and help show them how to earn an income doing the same."

You want something that:
1. answers their question.
2. Doesn't lead them to 'selling' - people are terrified of that word.
3. Doesn't let them think "I earn money by getting others in". Again, people think that and they think Bernie Madoff.

Hope that helps.
JP

[Brother Kaleem Company: Magnetic Sponsoring Contribution Level: 3]

The best answer to a direct question is a direct answer.

"I'm working with a company..." still sounds like a job, not you getting paid for sales.

"Rewarded for finding customers..." too vague. What do you get? Money? Coupons? Discounts? Points? What kind of "reward"?

According to FTC rules effective in November 2009, the only way you can legally say "I'm making $100 an hour, and have been for XX months" is if you provide proof AND a disclaimer.

Examples of proof: bank deposits, tax returns, etc. No one in their right mind would provide that.

A "disclaimer" says "You might make this much, you might make more, or nothing at all".

The best practice is to send someone to the company provided and approved compensation details, and let them crunch their own numbers.

Meantime, here's a question for you guys:

If the "opportunity" is so great, why reach out to people at all? If it's that good, shouldn't THEY be coming to YOU?

[Melvin Goodrum Company: AdvoCare International, L.P. Contribution Level: 4]

The best answer to a direct question is a direct answer.

"I'm working with a company..." still sounds like a job, not you getting paid for sales.

"Rewarded for finding customers..." too vague. What do you get? Money? Coupons? Discounts? Points? What kind of "reward"?

According to FTC rules effective in November 2009, the only way you can legally say "I'm making $100 an hour, and have been for XX months" is if you provide proof AND a disclaimer.

Examples of proof: bank deposits, tax returns, etc. No one in their right mind would provide that.

A "disclaimer" says "You might make this much, you might make more, or nothing at all".

The best practice is to send someone to the company provided and approved compensation details, and let them crunch their own numbers.

Meantime, here's a question for you guys:

If the "opportunity" is so great, why reach out to people at all? If it's that good, shouldn't THEY be coming to YOU?

Honestly, even if I am making over 100 dollars an hour, I leave out my revenue out of discussing business to new prospects simply because you don't know what they'll do when they join their business and lets face it....very few people will ever get 100 dollars an hours much less even a dollar for that matter.

What I tell people is that your income is dependent on how hard you study and work this business

[Adam Taha Contribution Level: 8]

I was doing a little prospecting and inquiring about a thought to a co-worker.
I asked would you trade what you are making on your job for a job making more than $100 per hour?
The prospect thought about the question, and asked what will I be doing?
I responded that you will be doing less than what you are doing now. You can do this whenever you wish, at your leisure.
Her eyebrows were raised and asked another question. What will I be doing?
I said that all you do is talk to people and to get them to sign up and join you in your business.
She then stated that you will be profitting off other people who sign up. She concluded in saying that she would not want to profit off of someone else's hard work. My income would be relying on someone else's efforts.
Could I have worded it differently?
Would you stay on a job knowing that you could be making over $100 per hour?
What would you have said instead?

Hi Mario

How did the conversation start.

I cannot answer thoroughly until I know exactly how it was lead to the conversation of job, money etc.

What was the initial start of the conversation?

What got you to think your friend had a need to have addictional income? What was said to show they are seriously looking? And there's a committment there?

Hope to hear how it started, how you lead to the converstion.

Be interesting to hear and then give the input.

Adam Taha

[Lynda Cromar Company: Empower Network, LLC Contribution Level: 9]

The hardest part of the job is to teach them why they want leverage, which is what you were trying to explain. The rich get leverage but the poor do not, that is why they are poor. The best question Is to ask
"Is it okay with you if your boss makes money off of your efforts?" Then when you get her thinking about that, then say
"Then why wouldn't it be okay to make money as you help others? Isn't that what a social worker does?"

There are many 3rd party tools which sometimes works better to introduce these concepts that the worker-bee types have never been taught anything about it

Hope that helps!

Lynda

[Marius Lombaard Company: Amway Contribution Level: 3]

She then stated that you will be profitting off other people who sign up. She concluded in saying that she would not want to profit off of someone else's hard work.

i would've responded as follows:

"Well, let's say we were to form a new company right now that sold the next generation of computer hardware. Who would we be making money out of?"

the idea is to lead her to the answer "people", because logically it couldn't be anything else right? the next question might be:

"Who would be doing the majority of work in that company?"

the idea is to lead her to the answer "other people", or even more specific professions like sales people in a call centre to facilitate sales, a repairs division with repair technicians, etc etc.

the majority of work would be done by people however, and its them who make it possible for the owners to enjoy the income that entrepreneurs enjoy.

so in summary, she can't really use as an objection any of the following statements:

1) i dont want to make money off of people
2) i dont want to be compensated by the efforts of others

because this is what happens in the real world in ANY and EVERY business known to man, is that every business:

1) makes money off of people (customers)
2) utilizes the efforts of other people (employees)

so how is MLM any different? its not!

other than the fact that mlm offers every person involved the equal benefit of gaining leverage. its a normal business with the advantage that it levels the playing field.

hope that helps mario!

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

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Hey Mario...
I know exactly where you're coming from.

First, here's a quick analysis of one of her responses:
The first huge piece that stuck out to me is this person is conflicted to begin with.
Her own philosophy is fundamentally flawed... the rejection point was that she would not want to profit off someone elses efforts. However that is precisely what she supports every day she shows up to work. She is working for "the company" who is profiting from her efforts. So that isn't her true reason.


Second, let me share something that has helped me tremendously when it comes to recruiting or doing business in general:

"You can't say the wrong thing to the right person.
And you can't say the right thing to the wrong person."

This one philosophy has lifted so much of the burden and stress that comes with talking to people.

The next thing I'd like to share is something I learned years ago from Jerry Clark:

To build your business use TTP. When you're done with that use TTMP.
TTP = Talk To People | TTMP = Talk To More People

The point in sharing both of these little philosophies is this...
Don't get too hung up or stuck on any one person.
Why didn't they come to the meeting?
Why didn't they sign-up?
Why did they quit? etc., etc.

Jim Rohn says "Don't Take That Class!"
It will drive you mad and send you chasing birds instead of tending the fields.


OK, so the next thing I can share with you is my own personal philosophy I've developed over the years.
And it's this...

I don't know what it is about sales & network marketing that gets us all so worked up, but it changes the way we talk to people. Considering Jerry's advice I'd say this is a pretty important area to analyze.

It took me years to get to a place where no matter who it is, I talk to them like a friend or family.
I cut out all the rhetoric and gimmicky, cliché verbiage from my vocabulary and just started sharing with people. Talking with them, not at them. And I started listening more than I talk.

I learned to get people to open up, or at least try to, to get them talking about themselves.
People love to talk about themselves and they love to hear about themselves.
When you get someone to share what's up in their life, you can then "share" what you have to offer in a way that's tailored to their needs and your message becomes their message. Your solution becomes their solution.

Of course this isn't always the case, at which point you apply the fist philosophy I shared and TTMP.

The other thing I've learned is that I have nothing to be ashamed of or shy about when it comes to this industry, my company, our business model, our products or me as a person with a solution to people's needs, wants, problems and desires in life.

Here's another anecdote from my own experience...
I've raised dogs all my life and one critical thing I've learned over the years is that your emotions are displaced to the animal. If you're angry the dog picks that up. If you're happy the dog picks that up. If you're nervous the dog picks that up. If you're scared the dog picks that up.

Out of all the emotions and responses, the most interesting is that if you are nervous, scared, shy or timid, it makes the dog nervous and inadvertently aggressive and defensive. People are the same way.

If you are talking with someone about your business and inviting them to look at your opportunity, but you are nervous or shy, unsure of what you're saying or seem to be coming from a place that "feels" shady, they'll pick up on that and immediately (instinctually) go on the defensive. It's basic self preservation psychology.

Too many people, including myself when I first got started, get so shy and worked up and nervous about talking about network marketing. There's no reason for it. The key is, you have to believe that.

We have to believe in what we're doing 100%
We have to believe in our company 100%
We have to believe in the products 100%
We have to believe in ourselves 1000%

That belief is transpired in our voice, our posture (physically and verbally), our excitement and energy and our ability to demonstrate to the person that we really do have something valuable to share that may be beneficial to them.

My point here is that at least for me, it has made this business so much more fun when I can simply talk to people like anyone else I meet or know. No pressure. No weird tactics. No agenda. No scripts.
Just me and them having a conversation.

I share this because it was the main points that stuck out to me in your post.
I think I may have responded the same way she did if someone talked to me and used the language you did. It's sounds like a pitch.

I asked would you trade what you are making on your job for a job making more than $100 per hour? The prospect thought about the question, and asked what will I be doing?
I responded that you will be doing less than what you are doing now. You can do this whenever you wish, at your leisure.

Here's the filtered version of what you asked her:
Would you quit your job to get paid $100 per hour to do nothing?

**Internal alarms will go off instantly with most people at a subconscious level.

Her eyebrows were raised and asked another question. What will I be doing?
I said that all you do is talk to people and to get them to sign up and join you in your business.

Asking the same question she asked initially is a sign of distrust, not misunderstanding.
She asked you again because she didn't vibe with the answer the first time.
It triggered that internal alarm.

The unfiltered answer this time was:
I'm going to show you how to make money taking advantage of people.
You know, like a telemarketer or whatever negative avatar you just associated with the phrase "sign-up and join."

Again, I firmly believe this is because we talk to people in such an alien way about what we do.
It's down right scary to some people, even cultish to some.

In my experience the most valuable quality we can develop as network marketers is how to be natural and organic with people we share our business with.

Would you talk to your best friend that way?
Would you talk to your mom or dad that way?
Would you talk to your cousin that way?

I'm willing to bet no.


Be honest, be direct and tell them exactly why you're talking to them
- confidently and with enthusiasm.

That's what people are desperately looking for today.
Authentic, honest leadership that has a real solution.
Plain and simple.


Hope that helps Mario...
~Bravo
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[Connie Harvey Company: Rodan + Fields Dermatologists Contribution Level: 1]

I think both Richard and Jon had some really good points. You need to get out there and talk to people. No gimics. Be excited about the opportunity that you have. We also say "you can't say the wrong thing to the Right person and you can't say the right thing to the Wrong person!" I you feel like you have a great opportunity, it should come across in your voice, your face and your body language!