Talking to a New Prospect [Part 1]

The best way to be talking to new prospects is to--well, simply talk to them. Don't think of them as "prospects" you need to recruit or sell to. Treat them simply as folks you'd casually talk to, a friend or new acquaintance, not a "sales target." So your goal is really friendship, second to selling. Actually, it may or may not end up with selling. And it's okay. I prefer this approach. Talk informally and simply relax. Enjoy the conversational adventure. This is the first most important step. Then the rest will follow.

When you meet a new prospect [let's call him John], your first aim is to make him comfortable talking with you. Often, it's best that John doesn't know you're into network marketing so you can start a casual conversation. This makes him put down his guard. You see, the moment people discover you're a networker or you're into sales, they'll put up their guards and be defensive about it all. They'd block anything that sounds like selling. Rather, present yourself as a health buff. So be one.

For more in-depth insights about talking to prospects and turning them into new recruits casually, see this link.

But don't tell a lie. If you schedule an appointment solely as a seller, tell the guy you're into selling. Introduce yourself as a direct seller, even if you're a networker, because that's what networkers should be. Some people want to go directly to selling and meet prospects strictly as sellers or networkers, not friends. And that's okay. The only thing I hate about this is when prospects don't buy or join and networkers get pissed off, and obviously at that. I have met several networkers who changed their friendly approach once they saw I wouldn't buy. 

So I hate the strictly business approach. I meet prospects and offer them new friendship, talk, introduce the product or business, but give leeway to prospects' freedom to choose--even choose whether they drop the topic or stay with it. I never want to be a pain in the neck just to make a sale. NEVER. If I don't make a sale, fine. But I make sure I make a new friend who I can always go back to another day for another try at selling.

And this way, I get rid of the nervousness about 80 percent. Relax and do not aim at anything. I know how being in sales makes you think nothing but your sales target and the commissions resulting from that plus your performance rating. But don't be like that. It's going to eat you like gangrene and dictate your character soon enough. You begin to treat people nothing more as prospects.

I'd Rather Have It Like This

It's better to just meet a person for a casual talk, and it can be indirectly about a concern connected to your product. If you're into health products, for instance, how about arranging a meeting for a health survey you're undertaking to see what people are doing to stay healthy? And that's honestly connected to your job. Or, say, because you're a health agent, you're part of an info campaign to share to people about an update or breakthrough.

What some big pharma companies are doing is conduct a free consultation campaign where a medical specialist talks to people and then recommends the company's product. You can adopt the idea in a smaller scale, like conducting a free blood pressure or blood sugar test and then share a short talk about your product health benefits. Something like that. I did that when I was marketing manager of a company and it turned out well. And that takes out about one half of the nervousness in product presentation because people willingly go to you and it's some kind of a public service. 

Nervousness sets in the moment you aim to turn a guy, like John, into a recruit or sell him something outright. You feel the stress, and the stress will often make you look awkward and do or say stupid things. So don't aim to turn John into a downline or instant buyer. Just treat him as a person with respect. But do find a way to talk about health. And do aim to make him a friend, sincerely. The best sales strategy is relational that is sincere.

You can apply the mentioned strategy above with any product or service. If you're into insurance, real estate, car sales, pharmaceuticals, wifi connections, etc. You can do sales naturally, as if you're not doing sales. 

Health is a universal topic. Everyone is interested about it and it's among the most natural topics to talk about. Besides, almost everyone is sick with something. So try to lead the conversation naturally to health matters. For instance, when talking to a new prospect, try to ask him or her about sports or hobbies or food.

Selling Example

Let's say, you are suddenly introduced to John and at once you thought of presenting him your product or business. If you do it directly, you'd make a negative impression on John, even an ugly impression. Or an offensive or too aggressive impression suggesting greediness. That's bad self intro. Nobody wants sales people selling them something, especially strangers. 

So what you do is perhaps talk about the recent Olympics (if there was one) or the recent NBA games or maybe about a popular public figure who recently made news about his health regiment or perhaps his death due to an illness. And then you can casually inject, "Getting healthy is getting to be more important in our times, right? This is why I jog everyday. What do you do John, for health?"

That's a well sales camouflaged intro. What exercise or hobby is John into? If not, why not? If yes, why pick that particular sport or activity? Most people love talking about themselves especially with an interested audience. So make sure you're a good listener. Then share about your health and fitness activity and your commitment to good health. Now, listen--all networkers selling health and wellness products should be deep into health. You should be exercising regularly. That's part of your career. Be as fit as you can.

No use telling a prospect you're a health buff or taking health products when you're overweight and your tummy bulges incredibly. All you are to your prospect is a joke, if that's the case. Imagine selling weight loss supplements and you're the same size as Santa Claus.

But it's different if you're at least slim or at least your tummy doesn't bulge--or doesn't look too bulging. Then, you can easily and naturally talk about what supplements benefits you most. Just talk about the health benefits you get from your product. Don't talk about selling it until later.

Let's take this conversation for example:

YOU: Are you into basketball or something? I like basketball. Did you see the NBA game last night?
JOHN: Oh yeah! What a game!
YOU: They say players today jump higher, stand taller, and are physically stronger than players 10 or 20 years ago. They're all health buffs today! What do you do to keep healthy, John?
JOHN: Basically, I play sports now and then.
YOU: Yeah? How about food? Are you particular about food?
JOHN: Well, I just eat anything.
[Laughter]
YOU: You know, being a health buff, I'm particular about food. The problem is, you seldom get safe and healthy food today, especially if you cannot do home cooking. Did you know that people practically eat poison everyday?
JOHN: Hmm?
YOU: Yes, we get it from daily food we eat bombarded with chemicals and artificial flavorings. That's why I take this supplement. Ever heard of ****? I get lots of antioxidants from it to fight free radicals. I really started feeling stronger since I started taking it And it helps me lots with my sport...

Then you start out introducing the product. It even helps to ask John what ailments or health problems he has and link that to your product. But remember, never hard sell. Always sound casual. Don't be too eager or too obvious. It turns off most people. Even me. And looking desperate is not good an image for a networker to have.

To get more in-depth tips on clean networking and how to present your business to people in a more effective way, checkout the link below.

For more in-depth insights about talking to prospects and turning them into new recruits casually, see this link.

Stop Empire Building

I will be featuring more on what the big difference is between a network and an empire. You see, once your network marketing degrades into an empire, all sorts of greed happen. A network builds up people, an empire builds up one ambition--the emperor's. Stop empire building.

Always look for a networking business where 01s and uplines work manually on the grassroots level with their remotest of downlines. Get out of those with emperors staying up there on their pedestals and doing nothing but showing off their splendor to their downlines, boasting of their "blessings" and excursions abroad, all in the name of "financial freedom." That's freedom at others' expense. Boasting like that does nothing for downlines except develop envy and greed in them. Nope, those things never "inspire" people to work more--they tempt you to covet more. Stop empire building by getting out of them.

Network

I've been in the networking business long enough [since 1996] to have seen enough. We thought that emperors were the natural result of a "growing" network. But after examining everything carefully, and studying the true nature of a network, I saw how networkers mistake empires for networks. We fail to see what a true network really is.

A network is a system where groups of people [uplines and downlines] benefit from each other because they both have to offer something beneficial. They don't use each other--on the contrary, they gain from each other, spurring both sides to gainful ends. Yes, it is people oriented, but if I say that, crooks would start thinking it's about recruiting people to be under them. And to them, that means people "working for" them. In a real network, no one is "under" anyone, except in structure. And no one should work for anybody but himself.

Networks are "people-oriented" only because it's about people helping people. For instance, if government should need a rescue and relief effort to save flood victims, it "networks" with NGOs, not to have them work under them but to work with them to achieve an end. And the end is to help other people. Of course, in structure or organization, the government stands to be at the top coordinating with and overseeing the private agencies. But that does not mean it becomes an emperor using agencies under it to achieve its selfish ambition, enriching itself--though in a corrupt sense, that happens in the real world.

Empire

An empire is entirely different--and obnoxious. Everyone down below works to enrich the "emperor" or folks on top. The top guys or emperors or lords do nothing except wallow in their riches and brag about that to their downlines to keep them desiring what they have--like carrot dangling on a stick. They show off their bank accounts, posh cars, mansions, and extravagant trips in the guise of "encouraging" their downlines to work more to have the same. But that's far from "inspiring" them to reach top leadership. Actually, it's making them work more for the uplines' selfish enrichment. Pretty much like how the pyramids of Egypt were constructed, sacrificing the masses to do all the work. And then Pharaoh gets all the applause, glamor, and wealth.

What Network Uplines Should Be

To make a network a real network, the emperor should be taken out of the system. How do we do this? Of course, there will always be 01s on top as well as uplines who would be benefited the most by our corporate efforts. But the thing is to have them go down again as downlines of their downlines and workout their new slots. All uplines should keep getting new slots now and then down the line and make those slots work. This means they re-enter the system as new members and do the business again, selling products and getting new recruits, aside from helping their downlines.

Once downlines become uplines and earn big, they also get new slots and become downlines of their downlines. This cycle must go on and on. There should be sub-systems like this developed in the system to somehow even up the labor and distribute wealth more equally. Or, it should be the uplines' initiative to do so. After all, a network should be like that--ensuring that all gets fair share of everything all the time.

What 01s are Doing Wrong

Loiter around the office or the BOM venue, waiting for their downlines to bring in their recruits--this is what 01s or networking leaders do wrong. They believe their presence there works magic, like a charm or spell that will make recruits beg for membership. Most 01s think their role in networking is just to inspire their downlines and do the business presentation for them. They are now exempt from doing the dirty job of recruiting.

Nothing else can be more wrong. You 01s should know better than just sit around and brag about your hefty checks and incomes. If you haven't noticed, guests are tired of you doing that. Most people today understand that networkers occupying top positions earn the most in the business and they just use their downlines for that. And they don't want to end up under you and have the same miserable fate as the guy who invited them has. To many people, networking is nothing but lords who have slaves under them making them richer. You should realize this by now.

The Proper Leadership Attitude

Leaders should never stop rolling up their sleeves and getting to the grassroots to recruit new people. Don't sit on your thrones above your pedestals just because you're now comfortably making residual income out of nothing. You owe it to all your downlines. And because of this, the least you can do is try supplying some of them with their downlines.

You should gather your immediate team leaders [those next in line earning big incomes]--downlines from second to 5th or 10th level immediately below you--and figure out a way how you could put downlines on those at the farthest ends of your network, especially those exerting effort. In this case, the network won't be an "empire" but a family--with the fathers providing well for their sons and daughters down the line. At the same time, the fathers should teach their immediate sons how to support their younger siblings. And by "support" we don't mean just presenting the business for them or inspiring them to go on recruiting [which is really nothing but garbage]. We mean actually putting downlines on some of your far-end active downlines to equal their efforts. This puts fairness and equality in the network. Gets rid of greed and stupid pride, too.

When God gave the Israelites manna in the desert, he instructed them how those who got much should share with those who got less. Those who got much should not just inspire or pray for those who got less--they should actually give them part of their blessings. Clean Network Marketing should be like this!

The Folly of Being Empires

Many networking groups like to think of themselves as empires. In history, no empire in the world networked with other empires for the common good--helping each other out. Empires always invaded territories out of greed and pride. There's a big difference between networking and annexing. The Acts church in the bible had a network. But empires annexed people to make slaves of them. Network marketing today annexes people.

Wrong or unrighteous network marketing is where you find a lord or an emperor on top. He has lots of slaves under him working to make him richer. Then he brags his riches to his slaves and they applaud him. When the empire falls, he transfers to another territory and sets up his new empire by taking his slaves with him there--and the slaves willingly and mindlessly rejoin him. That's what most 01s today are all about.

But righteous, fair, and clean network marketing is a big family setting. The leaders continue working with their downlines for a common good. A father will never just inspire his sons and daughters to work hard so he can be richer. He works with them and provides their needs. He actually goes with them to the fields to till the soil with their hands and see to it his children who toil with him are well provided for. What father can stand to see his child working in the field and going hungry? Would he just pray for him or inspire him to work more?

To do this gargantuan work, he enlists the help of his older sons and daughters. Together, they support the younger ones. The younger family members, in turn, also work harder as they see their father and older siblings helping them. That's a real functioning network. That's how 01s should care for their networks, if they really understand what a network is all about, and how it is different from an empire.

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Running Out of Recruits

One principle in Economics very applicable to network marketing is the law of diminishing returns. After reaching the peak, you have nowhere else to go but down. Some people will not accept this and claim to be able to cancel the law, but they go through the downhill phase of business nonetheless. It's a universal principle because we all need the downhill experience now and then. It's part of growth and strength and to come out of the ordeal wiser.

Life is not all positives. We need the negatives. And don't believe those hyping [and often lying] motivational speakers when they say business should all be an upward trend, rejecting any idea of negative times in it. Remember, God put in creation good and bad, weak and strong, light and darkness, rain and sunlight, dry and wet, abundance and famine. They balance life so it can continue. Thus, marriage vows include times in sickness and in health.

So, too, there will be times of running out of recruits in network marketing. It's normal; don't panic. When there are no people to recruit, probably it's time to update your knowledge and see what's the latest in your field. It's time for intellectual nourishment. Spend time reading the latest networking literature or searching the Net. Grow yourself!

But then again, you cannot run out of recruits. There are more than 70 million people in the Philippines alone. How can you run out of prospects? In Philippine or world history, there has never yet been a time when everybody has become a networker. Just look around your neighborhood and I'm sure people there are yet uninitiated in networking--and what they think they know about it is pestered with misinformation. Enlighten them.

You should always think of new approaches to recruitment. Everything has a season, and seasons provide opportunity for renewal. Plants and animals renew each season--snakes change scales, birds change feathers, plants shed off old leaves and sprout new ones, etc. Even stale air is changed each time a storm passes. You cannot use the same recruitment method or style forever. It has to change and conform to the times, as you also change to the better.

A tip here is to study your prospects first before you present your business. Nothing beats relational sales or networking. Befriend them sincerely and see how you can help them succeed. This is a timeless networking principle.

To get more tips and strategies for connecting with people effectively, Click Here!

How to Earn More from Networking with Direct Selling

Some networkers recruit for profit, some sell for profit, and others do both. You do both. I don't buy the idea that in network marketing, there's no selling. In fact, you grow your network more by encouraging everyone [including yourself] to sell the product. And selling can be made easier and more effective through the proven secret strategies of Crackerjack Selling. But later with that. First, get my tip!

Here's how you can earn more money as you sell while network marketing. And remember this tip!

Don't Recruit People Who Will Not Network

Never recruit people into your team who will not do the networking business. If you do, they become members and get the discount, while you lessen your direct selling profits. Here's what I mean. For instance, your product SRP is P2,400 and the members' price is P2000. Once your recruit becomes a member, he gets the product at P2,000 leaving you little to profit, like a Unilever bonus, if any. Unilever bonuses get smaller as the levels get deeper. At most, you get what? P20 per sales? Too small. Yes, it grows big with bulk purchases, but what if the bulk isn't there yet?

Worse is that, the guy you recruited gets the discount but then he does not do the networking business. He does not recruit. What happens to you? You just get P20 per bottle or pack he buys. If you didn't make him a member, he won't get the discount, and each time he buys from you, you get P400 from the P2,400 SRP plus the Unilevel bonus of P20. You get P420 profit in all. See?

Worse Scenario

Worse is, if the guy gets the discount as a member, doesn't do the business, but asks you to buy the product for him. You spend money on bus fare going to the office to buy, buy some snacks because you're bound to get hungry in the process, and all you get from his purchase is P20. That sucks. But if you didn't make him a member, you get P420 from his purchase, and with that you won't mind spending bus fare and some snacks when you do him the favor of going to the office to buy the product for him. See again?

Be able to weigh people you join in your business. If they're just users, don't make them members so they won't get the discount you should be getting. But if they're networkers, count them in because their efforts will produce the bulk purchases you need for big Unilevel bonuses and the binary bonuses from their recruitment efforts.

Now, if you want all your team players [and yourself] selling more and more products and getting bulk sales, I recommend you and your team to check out this new material, all 101 tips! To check it out,
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