Let’s say that we’re both distributors. After the regular weekly opportunity meeting, I go to Denny’s Restaurant to get a late-night meal. I sit at a table and the waitress comes up and says, 

“What would you like to order?”

I reply, “Oh, I’d like to order a hamburger, French fries, a side salad, a Caesar salad, some macaroni and cheese, garlic bread, a blueberry muffin, apple pie, ice cream, some chocolate cake and a Diet Coke.” 

The waitress brings the food. I eat. I leave to go to my car in the parking lot and I say to myself, 

“What a poor and miserable business. Nobody here is interested in opportunity. Nobody wants a part-time job. Nobody wants to invest money to start a business. Nobody wants to be a salesman. Everyone just wants to watch television when they go home. What a poor and miserable business!”

Now you attend the same weekly opportunity meeting. After the meeting, you go to Denny’s Restaurant also to get your late-night meal. You sit at the table next to me, and the same waitress comes up to you and says, 

“What would you like to order?” 

And you say, “Are you married to your job or are you open-minded?” 

The waitress thinks for a second and says, “What?”

You repeat, “Are you married to your job or are you open-minded?” 

The waitress quickly says, “Hey, I’m open-minded. I don’t want to be a waitress at Denny’s Restaurant all my life. What’s it all about?” 

You reply, “Well. I can’t talk to you now. You’re at work.”

The waitress interrupts, 

“Well, do you have a brochure? Can you send me to a website? What is your telephone number? Do you have a business card? Do you have an audio or a video? What’s it all about? I have a coffee break coming up in 30 minutes, I can follow you out to your car. When can we talk?”

You finish your meal at Denny’s Restaurant and go to your car and think,

“What a poor and miserable business. I can’t even have a meal at Denny’s without people harassing me, asking for opportunity, asking for presentations. I have to push prospects away just to finish my meal!”

Whoa, what was the difference? 

We both went to Denny’s Restaurant to eat. We both had the same waitress. The only difference is that you chose different words.

Because you chose different “trained words,” you have unlimited prospects begging you for a presentation and are living the life of your dreams. Because I chose “untrained words,” I complain that no one wants to do my business and I spend my network marketing career in frustration.

The only difference in this scenario is that you chose different words. Everything else was the same.

These few words (“Are you married to your job or are you open-minded?”) separate me, with my life of frustration and no bonus checks, from you, enjoying unlimited pre-sold prospects and the life of your dreams.

Just a few trained words.

Q: What do Mongolian prisoners, seven-year-old children and our competitors have in common?

A: They are not our customers!

I asked a distributor to describe his ideal customer. Why?

Because we want to know how our customer thinks. We want to sell what our customer wants. We want to bond with our customer. And we can’t do this unless we know who our customer is.

Here is our conversation:

Big Al: Who are your customers? 

Distributor: Everyone!

Big Al: Everyone?

Distributor: Yes, everybody is a customer for my wonderful products.

Big Al: Well, what about prisoners in Mongolia? Are they customers for your wonderful products?

Distributor: Well, no, of course not. They live in a foreign country and we haven’t expanded there yet. Plus, they won’t have any extra income as a prisoner in Mongolia. And they don’t speak English. Gee, they couldn’t even read our classy brochure. So no, I don’t think Mongolian prisoners are customers for my wonderful products.

Big Al: So what you are saying is that everybody is a customer for your wonderful products except for Mongolian prisoners, right?

Distributor: Yes. Everybody else is a customer.

Big Al: What about somebody who is only seven years old? Is that person a customer for your wonderful products?

Distributor: Uh, no, of course not, because that person is only seven years old. They wouldn’t understand our wonderful products. Plus, they wouldn’t have any money unless they asked their parents.

Big Al: So, what you are saying is that everybody is a customer for your wonderful products except Mongolian prisoners and people who are seven years old, right?

Distributor: Right. Everybody else is a customer.

Big Al: Well, out of curiosity, what about competitors who don’t like your wonderful products? They want to criticize your wonderful products so that their products look better.

Distributor: Well, of course not. They want to push their inferior products to the public. So of course they are not customers for my wonderful products.

Big Al: Let me understand. What you are saying is that everybody is a customer for your wonderful products except for Mongolian prisoners, people who are seven years old, and competitors who sell inferior products. Is that right?

Distributor: Uh, right.

Big Al: Well, what about ...

And so the conversation continues. After mentioning several more categories of people, the distributor finally says:

“You’re right. I guess not everybody is a customer for my wonderful products. Only some people are good customers for my wonderful products. I need to identify that group.”

So how about our wonderful products? If we don’t know who our customers are, how can we effectively market our wonderful products to them?

How can we know what our customers want if we don’t know who our customers are?

Targeting a small group of highly-qualified candidates will make retailing easier. These people will want to become customers because they want what we have to offer.

Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Ashley markets air filters.

This is easy. Let’s make a list of prospects for her products.

• People with asthma.
• People who have allergies and hay fever.
• People who can’t sleep at night because of their allergies.
• People who work with smokers.
• People with pets.
• People who cook with onions and garlic.
• People who live next to a busy highway.
• People who live in cities with smog.
• People who work with sick people who sneeze and cough.

This is pretty easy. With a little creative thinking we can come up with more, but let’s look at another example of marketing to a niche of highly-qualified potential customers.

Dan sells energy products.

This is too easy. Let’s make a list of people who would want what he sells.

• Computer programmers who sit all day.
• Taxi drivers.
• People working the night shift.
• Office workers with boring jobs.
• Truck drivers.
• Parents with full-time jobs.
• Joggers.
• People who work out at health clubs.
• College students.

As you can see, it is so much easier to talk to these people. They have a big problem that we can solve.

Heather sells diet products.

Overweight people are easy to spot. Again, it is obvious that not everyone wants what Heather sells. So where should we find these overweight people?

• Donut shops.
• Large and tall men’s stores.
• By the candy bar vending machines.
• Health clubs, where they are walking ever so slowly on the treadmills.
• All-you-can-eat buffets.
• Stationary people on moving walkways.

But wait, what about other people who want to lose weight? These are motivated buyers. Let’s make a list.

• Brides-to-be.
• Mothers of brides-to-be. (Yes, they will be in the pictures.)
• Thin people who work out and want to stay thin.
• Fashion-conscious people who always want to look good.

Brides-to-be? Mothers of brides-to-be? Can they be hot prospects?

Yes! In our book, 51 Ways and Places to Sponsor New Distributors: Discover Hot Prospects For Your Network Marketing Business, we tell a story about selling to brides-to-be.

While eating Mexican food with distributors from a workshop, I asked the lady across the table what she sold. She answered, “I sell diet products.”

To continue the conversation, I asked, “So how is it going?”

She told me, “I am so tired. Every day I am delivering boxes and boxes of my diet products to customers all over the city. This is exhausting.”

Now, I am thinking, “That is pretty incredible. She must have a secret. Maybe the diet products are a bargain or something.” So I asked her, “Well, how much do these diet products cost?”

She said, “Well, the cheapest package is $350 for a month supply, but I normally sell the $600 packs.”

I now think, “$600 a pack? I could buy 300 baskets of these tortilla chips for that. That is expensive for a month of diet products. How could she sell that many packs so easily?” But, I kept my composure and posture. I then asked, “So tell me. Where do you find these prospects for those expensive $600 diet packs? Let me know and maybe I could give you some advice or a tip or two.”

Her reply sums up why it is important to know who our prospects are. She said:

“I go to bridal shows and talk to the brides-to-be. When I ask them if they want to lose a little weight before the wedding, they instantly say, ‘Yes.’ This is the big day in their life. No matter how anorexic-looking the bride-to-be is, every bride wants to lose a little more weight before their special moment.

“The average wedding costs between $20,000 and $50,000 here. The $600 diet pack isn’t even a thought, it is barely a tip. So the bride-to-be orders immediately, no questions asked.

“But then the mother of the bride thinks that she wants to lose weight too. She doesn’t want to look fat in those wedding pictures for the rest of eternity. She orders her pack.

“And so does the future mother-in-law. She doesn’t want to be the fat one in the picture.

“And ... the bridesmaids. They already are going to look awful in those off-colored dresses they have to wear to make the bride look pretty. They don’t want to look awful and fat. They order too.

“So I load up my car with as many packs as I can, and I spend the entire day delivering and talking to my new, enthusiastic customers.”

Needless to say, I didn’t give her any advice or tips. She was doing fine with her very targeted market.

Ed sells discounted electricity and gas.

So who are the people who want to save money?

• People who buy boring and efficient used cars.
• People who shop at discount warehouses.
• People who complain that their house taxes are too high.
• Young families with stretched budgets.
• People who shop with coupons. Elderly people on fixed budgets.
• People who would feel embarrassed that they were overpaying, while their neighbors got discounts.

Janet sells cosmetics and fragrances.

Well, let’s get a little creative here. Ready to look at a bigger picture?

Let’s find potential customers that will spend lots of money, no questions asked.

Janet approaches men. She terrorizes them with this simple question: “Do you like to go gift shopping?” The men freeze. Their thoughts turn to standing helplessly in a department store, knowing that whatever they buy will be wrong. Most men have a big problem with shopping for gifts. They hate it. They don’t know what to get. It will always be the wrong thing.

While the men are still stunned and unable to talk, Janet continues, “Would it be okay if I took care of it for you?”

Instant relief from the men’s faces. Mentally they think, “Here is all my money. Relieve me of this gift-shopping torture.”

Janet asks, “Who do you need to buy gifts for?”

The men might say, “Wife, girlfriend, co-worker, mom, daughter and more.” That is a lot of uncomfortable shopping.

But Janet has more questions. She asks, “And how many times a year do you have to buy these gifts?”

“Oh, Christmas, their birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and ... oh yes, our anniversary too. That seems to come around every year! Just tell me how much I should spend on each gift.”

Plenty of instant sales for Janet. No price objections ever. Janet doesn’t know any of the people receiving the gifts, but she can do a much better job of guessing because she knows her products and her market. She is solving a huge problem for the men.

It doesn’t stop here. Janet picks up some extra cash by asking, “Do you want me to get the present gift-wrapped?” The men think, “Yes! I don’t know how to wrap gifts. I would have to buy duct tape from the local hardware store, and where would I look for gift-wrapping paper? Any paper mills in town?” So for a few more dollars of profit, Janet solves their gift-wrapping problem.

Next Janet asks, “Do you want me to buy a card for your gift? I can show you where to sign the card.” The men think, “Card? I need a card? I better leave this in the hands of a professional. Janet can have all my money!”

But wait! There is more! Janet says, “And you should buy a gift card also, to make sure she can get anything we missed in the gift basket.” This means the gift recipient will be calling Janet to redeem her gift card. A chance for a personal conversation and more sales.

And finally, Janet says, “And I will deliver the gift basket to your office.”

Why does she deliver to the office? Because every other man in the office will see the delivery and ask for her gift-shopping services. What an easy way to get more retail customers who are big spenders.

The purpose of business is to solve problems.

Which problems does Janet solve?

First, she relieves men of a recurring stress in their lives, gift shopping.

Second, the gift recipients will be getting a gift basket they love, instead of ill-conceived gifts from men.

Janet finds new customers easily by asking men, “Do you like to go gift shopping?”

Not everyone is a prospect for what we sell. We don’t want to waste our time and efforts. Instead, we can target hot prospects who are ready for what we have to offer.

Can I target even hotter potential customers?

Yes. We do that by promoting our products to select individuals. Exclusive offers attract highly-qualified people who are eager to buy.

Think of it this way. Which offer appears better to a dieter?

Offer #1. Diet products that will help you lose weight.

Offer #2. Diet products for people who need to lose 20+ pounds.

The second offer sounds better. It sounds more attractive to people who have 20+ pounds to lose. They feel like the products are designed for people with a lot of weight to lose.

The bad news? Some people with less than 20 pounds to lose might not be interested.

The good news? People with 20+ pounds to lose will feel like our diet products are formulated just for them. Hardly any salesmanship needed.

Here are some examples of making our products more exclusive:

• Homeowners only. Special utility plans for people who own their own homes.
• Skincare for women over 55.
• Affordable legal services for small business owners only.
• Natural cleaners for people with sensitive skin and allergies.
• Coffee for people with sensitive stomachs.
• Water filters for people in the new Hometown Village.
• Antioxidants for senior citizens.
• Natural whitening toothpaste for coffee drinkers.

Our customers are everywhere. When we promote our products to a special group, qualified customers “raise their hands” and want to buy from us.

Do prospects’ ears actually work, or are they just for show?

Here is the “no” conversation that plagued my early career.

When I started network marketing 50 years ago, I wanted to be “Master of the Universe.” This was my chance to get paid what I was worth.

And yes, I got paid exactly what I was worth. Zero!

With the confidence that comes with ignorance, and a bit of amateur pride, the universe overpaid me by allowing me to earn zero. I assumed that network marketing was the only profession in the universe that didn’t require skills. That was a dumb assumption.

My conversations with prospects went something like this:

Me: “Hi.”

Prospect: “No.”

Me: “My name is Big Al.”

Prospect: “No.”

Me: “But don’t you want to--”

Prospect: “No.”

Me: “Well, can I at least tell you--”

Prospect: “No.”

How do amateur network marketers explain this? They don’t. They shrug their shoulders and say, “We are victims. Prospects are stupid. We’ll talk to someone else.”

That is why there is a difference between amateur network marketers and professional network marketers.

We can choose which group we want to be in.

The “insiders,” the professional network marketers, learn brain rules. What are brain rules?

These are shortcuts and tools that we use to control our brains. We want our brains to work for us, and not against us.

We can use these same shortcuts and tools to get our message past our prospects' natural brain defenses. Now our prospects hear our message. And isn’t that what we want? For our prospects to actually hear our message? To be able to give them one more option to improve their lives?

It doesn’t matter how wonderful our company video or presentation is ... if no one will look at it. We can’t help people if we can’t get through to them.

Want an example of one of these brain rules? 

See if this is useful.

Brain rule: “People don’t want to change their minds.”

Does that sound familiar?

 If we change our minds, we feel that we were wrong. Nobody wants to feel wrong. Plus, we have a strong bias against information that disagrees with our current beliefs. This is why we defend our favorite band or sports team; it’s called confirmation bias.

What is the solution? What if we want open-minded prospects who will say “yes” to our message? Simple!

If prospects don’t want to change their minds, then open with a question that has the “yes” answer we want.

Example #1: “Would you want to look at my part-time business?” (We can expect a negative reply.)

Example #2: “Do you hate commuting to work every day?” (Our odds of a “yes” reply are good. Our prospects don't have to change their minds to say “yes” to our question.)

Amateur network marketers who follow example #1 can expect massive rejection and no business.

Professional network marketers who follow example #2 will have lots of prospects to talk to.

This looks like fun. Before we move on, let’s do a few more examples of asking the right questions. Ready?

Example #1: “Can I give you a presentation on how you can get rich?”

Example #2: “My neighbor is earning a lot of extra money. Would you like to know how he is doing it?”

Obviously, Example #2 will get more prospects to listen.

Example #1: “Call your friends and relatives. Tell them how good our products and opportunity will be for them. Okay?” (Ugh, we can feel the resistance already.) 

Example #2: “Make sure to let your friends and relatives know first. You don’t want them to think you didn’t like them and wouldn’t even give them a chance. We don’t want to be embarrassed, do we?”

Example #2 feels better, doesn’t it?

Brain rules are not hard to learn. But if we don’t know brain rules, we will be victims for the rest of our careers.

We will struggle to find prospects, struggle to hold our prospects’ attention, and go bald from scratching our heads wondering why prospects don’t connect with us. Now that is an ugly career.

Top marketers use brain rules to communicate with us all the time. That is why we hear their messages. And that is how we decide if their message will serve us or not. We should give the same courtesy to our prospects.

Let’s take a look at another example of re-wording our message.

Imagine a salesman, who wants to help us save money by switching our utility service to his company, tells us:

“I want you to change your utility services to my company.”

Change? No, not for us. We don’t know this salesman. Our minds think, “What if the electricity fails in a storm? Would this new company fix the problem? What if we won’t save money, or there is some other trick? Will the new company drain out my old electricity and replace it with lower voltage that won’t work?”

A little re-wording could make a huge difference for our brains. Now imagine the salesman said:

“It takes a lot of time and effort to save money on our bills. But we can reduce our bill in only 4 minutes.”

Bam!

These words made it easier for us to open our minds, lower our prejudices, and add one more option for our lives.

We have two choices for our career:

Choice #1: Watch our conversations bounce off our prospects’ foreheads, shatter on the floor, and then complain, “Life isn’t fair! No one wants to listen.” (Yes, this is a strategy, but it’s a poor strategy. Yet many amateur networkers use it!)

Choice #2: Learn some brain rules. Become a professional network marketer. Feel the power. Watch prospects listen. Get the bonus checks we deserve.

I like things to be black and white, right or wrong with no ambiguity. Don’t you?

So, wouldn’t it be nice if there was only one right way to do network marketing?

This would make life simple, but I certainly haven’t found the one right way. And, I am not sure why there should be only one right way to do network marketing.

I see many ways of doing our business that work. Every day, people succeed in our business, each doing the business differently.

For example, I hate using the telephone. I am extremely uncomfortable whenever I am in a phone conversation longer than 30 seconds. (If you have ever called me, you already know that I try to make my phone conversations as short as possible.) 

So what would happen if my sponsor told me: 

“The only way to be successful in network marketing is to mail out an information package and follow up each lead using the telephone.” 

Or, 

“The only way to be successful in network marketing is to send people to your web page and follow up each lead with a three-way telephone call.”

 Maybe I could force myself to suffer for a month or two, but after a period of continued suffering, I’d look for another way to do the business that was more comfortable for me ... or I would quit. 

Imagine if my sponsor told me that using the telephone was the only correct way to do network marketing, and that if I didn’t follow my sponsor’s system … I should leave the business. 

Well, I would have to leave the business. And my sponsor would lose all the potential business that I could have created.

Is the telephone bad?

No. The telephone is great, but it is only one way of building our network marketing businesses. I have sponsored leaders who have built their entire business over the telephone. The process works. I just choose to do network marketing in a more enjoyable way for me. 

My favorite method is to sponsor someone across the kitchen table. Maybe it is my preoccupation with food, but that method works great for me.

But what about leaders who build their business by telephone?

 If I forced them to build their network marketing business across the kitchen table, they would quit. They would hate my system of building a business.

So, I do the smart thing. I allow leaders to build their business in the way that is most comfortable for them – using the telephone.

Here are just a few of the ways leaders build their businesses:

1. Opportunity meetings
2. Product parties
3. Person-to-person cold calls
4. Direct mail
5. Newspaper advertising
6. Autoresponders
7. Internet lead capture pages
8. Buying leads
9. Referrals
10. Coupons
11. Postcards

There are many more ways, but you get the point. People are different. Their skills are different. And they can successfully build their businesses in different ways. 

I respect all these methods. I don’t use them all myself, but I respect them. And, as a leader, I try to learn as much as I can about each method so that I can help new distributors who choose one of these alternate ways of building their businesses.

The biggest service we can render to our new distributors is to help them find which method works for them. Then, let’s help them use that method to build their business successfully.

Network marketing should be fun. We should enjoy our business. So why would you want to ruin your fun by using a business-building method you hate?

Ego and hero worship.

Here is how some leaders make their organizations very uncomfortable. If a specific method works for them, then these leaders believe that method should be imposed on everyone in their organization.

For example, imagine that you are a leader and have built your group by running radio ads for opportunity meetings.

Great! It works for you.

However, being human, you decide that you have found the one and only secret to success. 

In fact, you insist that everyone in your group must use the exact same method. You want your organization to worship you as the founder of the ultimate network marketing success truth.

 Then what happens?

* Soon the radio stations are full of similar ads from your organization. 

* Listeners turn off their attention as soon as they hear the overexposed ad. 

* Some of your distributors run their own versions of your ad, and those versions don’t work very well.

* Prospects with hearing disabilities will never hear of your opportunity.

* Some communities don’t get good radio reception.

* Some prospects only watch television.

You get the point. This one ultimate truth isn’t so ultimate after all. It won’t work for everyone in your network marketing organization.

How systems are created.

Most recruiting systems are based upon a true incident. Unfortunately, it is human nature to take single incidents and believe that they are the ultimate truths.

For example, let’s say that I am driving down the expressway one day listening to a “Big Al” training audio. The “Big Al” audio is so captivating, I forget about the traffic and I hit the car in front of me.

We both pull over to the side of the road. The other driver gets out of his car, looks at the damage to the rear of his car, and then he starts walking toward me. He bangs on my window. I open my window and say:

“Hey, check out this cool book, How to Get Rich without Winning the Lottery.”

He reads the book in his car while waiting for the police to come and fill out the accident report. After reading the book he tells me:

“Wow! This network marketing business sounds great! How can I join?”

This man eventually becomes the best leader in my group.

And now I have a system!

 All of my distributors should get on the expressway and rear-end other cars. That is how I got my best leader. My distributors need to duplicate my successful system. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? 

But that is how most “systems” are started. Someone had a successful experience and now believes that everyone can have the same successful experience.

The duplication myth.

I am not sure who started the rumor that your downline must be able to duplicate everything you do.

If you are limited to prospecting and sponsoring activities that are easily duplicated by your downline, you might be missing some giant possibilities.

There is no need to insist on blind duplication of your activities other than to get your ego massaged. 

It is okay to use different activities and methods to achieve the results you want. 

• Just because you don’t conduct opportunity meetings, doesn’t mean that your organization should be banned from using this proven activity in their business. 
• Just because you don’t contact referrals, doesn’t mean that your organization should be banned from using this proven activity in their business. 
• Just because you don’t contact and sponsor your relatives, doesn’t mean that your organization should be banned from using this proven activity in their business. 

Use your natural advantages.

Some people have natural strengths and talents and should take advantage of them to build their network marketing organizations.

One of my friends has 10,000 people on his mailing list of customers who know, like and trust him. What am I going to say to him?

 “Don’t mail or contact your customers. Sure, lots of them would love to join and be in your business, but that method doesn’t duplicate easily! No one else has 10,000 customers. Don’t do it. You are setting a bad example.”

I don’t think I could tell my friend that. That would be silly. Instead, I would encourage my friend to contact his natural market even though few people could duplicate his method.

What about someone who is a great speaker who motivates crowds to his cause? If your system insists that all activities be conducted one-on-one, across the kitchen table, aren’t you doing your speaker-distributor a disservice by not allowing him to use his natural talents to build his business?

The key difference. 

What we really need to duplicate are ... results!

What are the results we are looking for in network marketing? 

We want to:

“Sponsor distributors and make them successful.” 

If we focus on results, we can allow people the freedom to achieve those results in many different ways.

• Some will achieve results by contacting prospects by email. 
• Some will achieve results by giving product parties. 
• Some will achieve results by wearing three-piece suits and conducting opportunity meetings. 
• And some people will achieve these results even in Bermuda shorts at the beach.

The bottom line is: 

Don’t worry about duplicating activities. 

Focus on duplicating results.

 Why techniques and rigid systems don’t matter.

In the end, it is not so much what you do - it is who you are.

Have you ever seen a new distributor excited about your opportunity? Your new distributor will make many mistakes and still sponsor lots of people.

Why? 

Enthusiasm. Trust. Personal belief.

These things radiate through your new distributor’s presentation so loudly that the prospect doesn’t care about the business details. Prospects join because of who you are.

They don’t join because your marketing plan pays 4% on level three in the alternate months, or because your product has 21 different certifications from 21 different countries.

Prospects buy you … not your company.

How do you learn the sponsoring technique that is right for you?

I learned from personal trial and error. It’s a great way to learn. 

Unfortunately, trial and error has two drawbacks:

1. It takes a long time to try and test different techniques. It could take years of trial and error and you may end up with scars all over your heart and mind. If you have a lot of time and can wait a few years to get your business started, then you are one of the fortunate few. Most of us want results a bit faster.
2. It is expensive to fund all of your trial and error campaigns. Very expensive. If you have money to burn, or just enjoy being poor and abused by credit card collectors, then it is not so bad. However, most of us hate to waste money.

Those are the only two things I have against the trial and error method of finding a good sponsoring technique that works for you!

There is a better way.

Read some books. Attend seminars. Consult with your sponsor. And listen to some audio recordings of people who have gone before you (check to see if they have scar tissue.)

 Why beat yourself up and spend lots of money when you can read or listen to the results of leaders who have gone before you?

Capitalize on the experience of others! Learn how they approach the different methods of prospecting and sponsoring. 

You and your potential leaders are smart enough to pick out the techniques they enjoy.

As my good friend, Tom Paredes, says, 

“Even if you go to work at McDonald’s flipping hamburgers, they still make you go through their training program.”

Our business is more complicated than flipping hamburgers. Don’t you think it makes sense to learn or be aware of the many different ways to conduct our business?

What is the ultimate secret to network marketing success?

It is to build leaders and help them become successful.

Distributors come and go. It is the leaders who count! You want to develop a few good loyal leaders and then, if you choose, you can retire.

If I had my entire career to do all over again, I would concentrate on building and developing one leader each year.

We talk about the cumulative effect of our efforts in network marketing. Well, only leaders accumulate. That is why you should focus your effort into developing leaders.

I have a friend who started with me in network marketing many years ago. We lost touch for over 20 years. During the 20 years we were separated, we both worked hard in network marketing.

When we finally met again, I had a self-sustaining, large and profitable organization. He was starting all over again.

The difference?

 I had developed some leaders during my 20 years of hard work. He had sponsored distributors during his 20 years of hard work. We both worked hard. 

Twenty years later he had no organization. He was starting over.

While there is really no one right way to build your network marketing organization, you can at least focus on this: 

1. Help your new distributors find which prospecting and sponsoring method works for them. 
2. Then, help them become leaders doing what they do best.

Let’s not get caught up in which activity our organization uses to build their business, but instead, concentrate on their results.

Here is an exaggerated example of how you would talk to a yellow personality in their natural yellow language. 

All you are doing is informing them that you want them to come to your opportunity meeting, but you are putting your request in the language they understand. Here is your invitation: 

“I want to ask you for a favor. We have an opportunity meeting tomorrow night, would you please come? We need your help.

“We market some skin-care products that help women look younger, feel better about themselves, and lead happier, more confident lives. And we have some nutritional products that help young mothers have more energy so they can balance their families, their careers, and their personal lives.

“We also give young mothers a chance to work out of their homes, so they can be with their children, and stop warehousing their babies in daycare, paying strangers big money to watch their children grow up. Just think of all the commuting pollution we could reduce by helping people work out of their homes.

“And I just need to bring one more guest to the meeting so that I can win the ‘secret ribbon of happiness’ award. Would you please come with me to be my guest?

“Oh, and could you bring some refreshments also?”

Yes, your yellow prospect is coming.

The exaggerated script above communicates your invitation in the yellow language, so your yellow prospect wants to come. The yellow person will see what you see, that something good will happen at the meeting.

Remember, the skill is to quickly understand if you are talking to a yellow personality.

The words we use when we talk to yellow personalities are easy. And by adding just a few words such as “help” … “care” … etc., we will communicate with the yellows in a way they understand.

Now, you don’t have to change who you are. You don’t have to change the color personality you are.

All you have to do is translate your normal conversation into the yellow language.

Oh, I want to throw up!

Now, if the previous example of the yellow invitation doesn’t resonate with you, makes you ill, or you just don’t get it … don’t worry. 

That only means that you are not a yellow personality. You just see the world differently through one of the other three colors.

So let’s take a look at the next color personality now.

Why do questions make our listeners scared and uncomfortable?

Imagine this scenario. I call my good friend, Mary, and say, “What are you doing Thursday night at 7 PM?”

Do you feel it? Do you sense Mary’s uneasiness? Mary doesn’t want to answer my question. She is afraid to commit to 7 PM as I might ask her to do something she doesn’t want to do. She doesn’t know where this question is leading.

Mary might be thinking, “Oh, I better not commit. If I say I am free, maybe he will ask me to commit a double homicide. Or worse yet, maybe he will invite me to a two-hour sales presentation!”

Yes, Mary will be very hesitant to answer my question.

Now, feel the difference when I let Mary know why I am asking the question. I call Mary and say, “My daughter is having her birthday party on Thursday night. Would it be okay if you came over on Thursday night at 7 PM?”

Feel the difference? Mary is now more comfortable answering the question because she knows where the conversation is going. She knows why I am asking the question.

So how does this apply to our retailing?

First, we should give a bit more background to our contacts before asking our qualifying question. We don’t want to go too fast too soon. How will we do this?

By asking a “tiny question” first. This lets our listeners know where we are going with our conversation. Our “tiny question” will make people feel more comfortable with our conversation.

Second, if our “tiny question” is not intrusive, and easy to answer, most people will say, “Yes.” To build rapport and to be polite, we should start with easy questions in normal conversations. This is important. We want to stay in rapport and avoid stressing out our listener.

Now, when the people we are speaking with say “Yes” to this easy opening “tiny question,” they will believe their answer. They commit to their answer and opinion. As our conversation continues, they will want to stay consistent with their opening “Yes” answer.

So if our initial question was easy, such as, “Do you like to be healthy?” - then our potential customer will be more open-minded to health options. This would be consistent with their “Yes” answer to “Do you like to be healthy?”

Want to see how this would work?

Here are some examples.

Imagine we sell vitamins. We walk up to people and say, “Would you like to try some new vitamins?”

Well, we can imagine that most people would say, “No.” They wouldn’t be interested.

Now, imagine we sell vitamins and we ask this “tiny question” first. We walk up to people and say, “Do you like to take good care of your health?” Of course they would say, “Yes.”

And then we would continue the conversation by asking, “Would it be okay if you tried our new vitamins for two weeks and see how good you feel?”

This time more people would say, “Yes.” Why is this?

People like to be consistent. They resist change. If they commit to a position or viewpoint, they don’t want to flip-flop like a politician. So if they commit to wanting good health, it seems consistent to them to be open-minded about trying some new vitamins.

Let’s try a few more.

* “Do you find organic vegetables expensive? Would it be okay if you got the same nutrition in a capsule?”

* “Do your children go to school? Would it be okay if you could protect them from all the bacteria and viruses the other children bring to school?”

* “Feel tired in the mornings? Would it be okay if you could wake up feeling fresh and rested?”

* “Hate being sick? Would it be okay if you could have an efficient immune system to protect yourself?”

Imagine we sell discounted electricity.

We approach people and say, “Would you like to save some money on your electric bill?” Most people would say, “No.”

They might offer excuses such as, “We don’t want to change. We are happy where we are. We are afraid it won’t work out. We don’t really know you.”

Again we will add a “tiny question” to make our listeners more open-minded. We will ask, “Do you like saving money?” Most people will reply, “Yes.”

And then we will continue our conversation by asking, “Would it be okay if I saved you some money on your electric bill?” To remain consistent with their previous answer, more people will say, “Yes.”