Prior to becoming involved in network marketing, I was a member of the U.S. Navy’s Underwater Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (the Navy’s bomb squad). I learned many great lessons there that helped me with my MLM business years later, one of which was overcoming fear.

In the Navy, what allowed people to overcome their fear of defusing bombs under water was simple: drill, drill, drill – and when you’re sick of drilling, drill some more. Overcoming fear did not mean read, read and when you’re sick of reading, read some more; that doesn’t make someone skilled at defusing bombs. By the way, drill means repetitiously going over something to learn it well.

It’s the same with getting appointments so you can share either the MLM business opportunity or your products with someone. Not that reading and learning the way bombs go “boom” and phones go “ring-ring” isn’t important, it is. Reading or studying is only one part of knowing something and getting effective at it.

Here’s why some distributors in your MLM organization quit. Just think what would have happened if the bomb squad trainers told the bomb squad to go home and read about the most common ways a bomb blows up, and then sent them out by themselves to defuse a bomb.

Yet that’s what network marketing leaders are often guilty of – asking their new distributors to go home and make their list of prospects. They’re given a sheet (sometimes) of objections they “might” encounter, and then are told to call their prospects and invite them to take a look at a great MLM business…BOOM! Ever wonder why that new distributor in your network marketing organization disappears within 30 days?

What worked best for me was to start with a script. Very often I’ve heard people say they don’t/can’t use scripts. That’s fine. Write down what you plan to say anyway, because you need to get comfortable with making your call. You’ll need to repeat it several times. It’s very helpful to “invite yourself” into a tape recorder microphone. Listen to the tape and ask yourself “Would I accept that invitation?”

One of my scripts went something like this:

You: “Hi, John, this is Sue. Do you have a minute or did I catch you at a bad time?”

Prospect: “No, I have a minute. What’s up?”

You: “Great, are you open to a business outside of_______(what they currently do for a living)?”

Now, here are some likely responses you’ll hear. These are the common objections and questions that you can almost always expect to get from your MLM prospects:

What is it?
Is this a pyramid?
Is it Network Marketing or multi-level marketing?
Is this sales?
What would I be doing?
I’m too busy, I don’t have time.
What is the investment?

Here are the steps to take so you don’t get caught off guard by your prospect’s objections to your network marketing business:
Step 1) Drill
Step 2) Drill
Step 3) Drill

These are the questions and objections! You know what they are! Drilling these beforehand is like knowing what’s going to be on the test!

This is how I finish the invitation:
You” (This was already stated, but I put it here again so you get the whole sequence.) “Great, are you open to a business outside of ________ (what they currently do for a living)?”

The most common response is:

Prospect: “What is it?” This is exactly what you want them to ask.

You: “Do you have Internet access?” (If not, send them the Brilliant Compensation video.)

Prospect: “Yes”

You: “Do you have something to write with?”

Prospect: “Yes”

You: Give the web address of your Brilliant Compensation website and say, “This is a purely educational online movie that explains our marketing strategy – watch this and then we can have an intelligent conversation about the target market, product lines and things like that. Read me back the address.” (make sure it’s correct) Confirm when they will have the time to review the information. Set when you will talk again. Hang up the phone.

Now, that script is one I’ve used successfully for years. The reason it works is because it was designed to PREVENT the objections mentioned above. It took me a long time to develop that script. In the example below there are several phrases I identified that actually CREATED common objections to my network marketing business invitation.

Avoid These Phrases and Instead Use…
(Phrase to avoid listed first, then recommended phrase listed second.)

I recently became involved
I’m working on a project…

I’d like to get you involved
I’m looking for the right person that…

I want you to…
You might want to…

I think you would love this
It may or may not be for you…

You would be good at this
This might be lucrative for us…

New business opportunity
Business idea or project

Are you interested?
You might want to see this

Are you looking for a business opportunity?
Do you keep your eyes open for expansion/diversification?

The point is, to overcome any type of fear, you must have both knowledge and practice. Therefore you must get with your network marketing organization and practice what to say to prospects and drill how to handle questions and objections. This is the best kind of MLM training I know. I’ve not seen or heard of a better way of overcoming telephone fears, training your distributors on what to say and how to have a lot of guests at your MLM business meetings than TEAM CALLING.

I put together a program called Assault Team Training – an event to teach people how to get past the fear of the phone, as well as talking to strangers (in person).

Eight distributors were invited to my house (because I had four phone lines and wanted two people per phone). To attend, each distributor had to bring 250 names with phone numbers.

Everyone spent the first hour around a table writing a script of what they would say on the telephone to invite contacts to an MLM business briefing we scheduled three days later. Then each person read their script back to the group and the group critiqued the script with one major emphasis: prevent the objection. We all agreed that in the invitation call, it’s much easier to prevent objections than to have to handle them. (See example of what to say/what not to say above.)

Here’s the best way to overcome the most common MLM objections. With good communication skills and using the phrases from the example above, we still got “Is this one of those pyramids!?” objection 50 % of the time.

It was this objection that constantly stopped or severely slowed down my organization’s growth.

After everyone writes an MLM invitation script, the next step is to role play. At the Team Calling event, divide people into pairs and have them role-play with each other. Person A reads the script. Person B asks the most common questions or objections. Start slow and easy and get tougher as your partner gets better. It’s very important that your partner feel successful. Compliment his/her efforts ALL THE TIME. Then switch: Person B invites and Person A asks the questions.

Because during the role playing, one person is constantly reading the MLM invite script – this serves as a drilling of the invitation. Once you as the leader are satisfied that everyone attending team calling is able to handle the above objections, then hit the phones.

Two people on each phone line. One is prospecting – the other coaching. After 15 minutes, switch. The person that was coaching switches to prospecting. The one that was prospecting is now the coach. Do this for one uninterrupted hour.

The rules are: No getting up. No bathroom, no food, no water, no answering cell phones. Nothing! It’s so important to play by the rules. We all know the feeling of searching for any excuse not to dial the phone. Believe me, this is fear-facing at its best, but also one of the best forms of MLM training I know of.

By the way, people who show up late are not allowed in “the pit” until after the hour is up. I can’t stress enough the importance of this SOLID HOUR of no interruptions.

Use Monday – it’s the start of the week and the best day to invite to your weekly MLM business briefing without a weekend interfering. Charge $5.00 per person to cover the cost of the phone calls.

Your job as the leader is to help keep the calls under three minutes and to ensure that the person making the call wants to continue making calls. As a coach, resist the urge to correct “everything” you see a new person doing wrong. You don’t want to unintentionally invalidate the person or make him/her feel that they’re messing everything up. It’s much better for the coach to consider the whole exercise as a gradual learning process. For some people, it can be a huge success just to dial 10 numbers in an hour.

I suggest that you teach everyone how to keep accurate records. It’s very important for everyone to keep statistics while doing team calling. You want to keep track of Dials, Connects and Appointments. Set a goal for each, and then keep track of the activity.

This is the basis for coaching and measuring progress and is the backbone of successful mlm training. If anyone complains about their results, you can go straight to the Daily Marketing Worksheet and tell exactly where someone needs help. Maybe they need help with their actual phone skills, or maybe they’re just not dialing enough numbers!

What Results Can You Expect? After two one-hour sessions in which everyone kept their statistics, the least number of confirmed appointments we’ve seen was eight. The most was 64. That’s right!

The most impressive are those eight. What this represents is the minimum result of eight confirmed guests! What this means for you is that if someone spent two hours per week inviting through team calling, they would have a minimum of eight confirmed appointments at the weekly mlm business meeting.

The next time you or your distributors come to a business meeting without a guest, ask yourself and them, “How much actual time did you spend making calls?”

Making mlm prospecting phone calls isn’t as hazardous as bomb squad work, but it really can be just as scary. But the way to handle any fear is learn how to do it and do it over and over. Confront what you fear most enough times and you won’t fear it anymore.

Technorati Tags: Downline, Included, phone, phrases, power, Proven, Scripts, Steps, Training

I’ve made millions in network marketing, I’ve made millions through investments, and I’ve also lost a lot of money too. Profit from my mistakes and learn how to best invest the money you make in your MLM business.

Network Marketing professionals often ask me how to manage the profits earned from their MLM income.

Can you make more money by diversifying into investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, etc., and have your money working for you in other areas besides an MLM business? Or would you make more money by really focusing and investing your money back into your MLM business?

There are three items to think about when answering this question for yourself.

A. What else would you do with your time?

B. What else would you do with your money?

C. What else would you do with your attention (definition: the ability or power to concentrate mentally)?

Every investment (stocks, bonds, real estate, your sister’s business) requires that you learn about it. And just the learning costs time and attention. And it is the using up of your attention that rarely gets factored into the “diversify your money” advice.

Probably what’s most important here is, the greatest amount of money you will ever lose, is that amount you will never make because of misuse of A, B, and C from above.

I was listening to a radio talk show about 10 years ago and the advice given was to “Select the top three stock market sectors based on trends. Put one-third of your investment capital in each. Wait 10 years and you should be wealthy off your passive investments.” I was making about 50 thousand dollars a month above my expenses – so I thought, “Why not?”

I chose the following sectors: Health Care, Technology, and Telecommunications. After losing about half of my money I changed to three different sectors. I looked at my portfolio today and I have lost another $11,848.78.

Don’t get me wrong; there have been times I’ve made over $50,000 dollars in the stock market in a day. Fun! And there have been times I’ve lost $150,000 dollars in a day. Not fun.

In addition to that, I’ve spent an enormous amount of time on my “passive” investments. Many hours (per week) have gone into “pondering” (wasting item C from above) what the stock market is going to do next. Reading newsletters, magazines, newspapers, watching the stock market news and commentaries on TV. And still my return has been negative.

The only thing that has remained very stable and predictable is my network marketing income. Had I taken the same amount of money, roughly $500,000 and invested it into promoting my MLM home-based business would I have had a greater return? Yes.

So what about the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” philosophy of “Buy assets that produce more income?” Or the more common way it’s stated, “Create multiple streams of income?”

As you may know, I created a prospecting tool based on that philosophy where I explain to prospects how wealth is created by investing in assets. So I’m very close to this subject.

However, if you listen closely to the way I stated it in the online movie, I say, “So what are assets? Well the most obvious ones are: stocks, bonds, real estate…” Then I say, “…education and businesses.” And to that I’m referring to educating yourself about businesses. Whether that be your MLM home-based business or your pinball machine business.

Two common mistakes in making decisions on A, B,and C from above are:

1. Making decisions based on now vs. decisions based on future. Of course you need to pay your bills now. They’re screaming at you! But keep in mind what I talk about in Brilliant Compensation – it’s not faster (in the long run) to tie your young son’s shoes than teaching him how to do it himself. If you tie his shoes for him you silence the screaming urgency, but you’re still stuck with the job UNTIL you teach him to tie his own shoes. When you make financial decisions make sure you’re looking at the long-term. Residual income that can be generated from an mlm business is sweet.

2. Making decisions based on “could you” instead of what you “will you” do with your time, money or attention. Example: A guy determines that it’s a poor use of his time and attention to mow his own yard, so he hires the boy down the street to cut his grass. Now, what does he do with that extra time (A), and the extra attention (B)? He watches TV. Bad choice. When he was making the decision to hire the lawn boy he thought, “It’s a waste of my time to mow the grass when I could be doing more important things like building my MLM business.” Make sure when you free up any of the three resources you use them wisely.

Summary: My personal opinion is invest your time, money and attention into KNOWING your MLM home-based business and getting really good and profitable at it. Find and study MLM training that is proven and effective, and master it.

Continually reinvest your profits back into your network marketing business by promoting it more, that’s where the high return is. When you have a surplus of income, buy a secure investment like Treasury Bills, until you’re ready to learn another business FULLY. By business I’m including all investment activities as well. Then focus your time, money and attention (from the surplus only) on knowing THAT business.

From my experience, diversifying my money has done nothing more than dissipated my focus, which has in turn lost a lot of money, time, and attention.

Technorati Tags: Develop, Income, Multiple, Streams, Training

Prospects may choose to not join your MLM business for various reasons. In my years as an MLM success coach, I’ve trained thousands of people to avoid this one costly mistake that will most certainly drive people away from your business opportunity and your products.

Of all the mlm training I cover, this topic is the most controversial of any subject I discuss. But as you will learn, it could be the VERY reason your prospect doesn’t sign up with you…or that if you DO sponsor them – you can’t seem to get or keep them focused on their MLM business. This very important subject is one of my Ten Communication Qualities and is named: “Make sure your body doesn’t distract the prospect.”

There was a survey done at a very large trade show as people were walking out the door. They were asked a series of questions about the trade show.

Before I give you the answers to the survey, think about the money companies invest in trade shows: the booth fee (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars), the travel, the display materials – sometimes hundreds of thousands or even millions- the employees and sales reps that attend the trade show, etc.

While you’re thinking about all that expense…when asked the question, “What’s the number one reason you didn’t buy today?” guess what the answer was? The sales rep’s bad breath! Can you believe that?!

The prospects didn’t say the number one reason they didn’t buy was because of a poor presentation or that the event wasn’t exciting or anything else. The number one reason was bad breath!

This also goes for perfume and cologne. You may think your perfume makes you smell like a flower, but to some you might as well be wearing bug spray. You may even get compliments from some people – that doesn’t mean your specific prospect is going to love it.

People who wear perfume first put a dab on and over time their nose becomes less sensitive to it. Then for them to smell it they have to put two dabs, then three and pretty soon you can smell those people coming IN the room – not when they’ve walked past you, but when they enter the room!

If this scent is something that prospects don’t like they will be backing up (running away) trying to distance themselves from you. So, the rule is…MAKE SURE YOUR BODY DOESN’T DISTRACT YOUR PROSPECT.

This also goes for dress. Dress professionally. Ladies, if you have a beautiful body that you like to show off – great – but I don’t recommend it with prospects. Your body may get more of their attention than your business. The reason you’re there is to be interested in them – more specifically the problem your business can solve for them – not to have them be interested in your body.

Now I know what everyone thinks of when I say that: “But people buy you not the business or the product.” This statement is very true. But what about you do they buy?

In network marketing they buy your ability to help them get what they need or want as it relates to your mlm business or product. If you dress provocatively and your prospects join the business because they like looking at you, you will have a heck of time trying to keep them focused on the business. When you’ve concluded your business for the day and you want to dress up sexily and wear perfume – great! But keep business and personal separate.

Your dress code should be appropriate for the situation and the others present. In my MLM business, I work with health clubs and doctors’ offices. It’s not appropriate to wear a suit or even dress clothes for that matter. Nice shorts and polo shirts get the best response in the gym.

When we work in doctors’ offices we dress professionally but not in suits. In business presentations, suits work the best. The best rule of thumb is dress as nicely as the most nicely dressed guest.

From sloppily tied ties to body odor; from odd behaviors like tapping your feet to putting on lipstick in front of your prospects – all can be distracting and cause them to focus their attention on something other than the thing that can help them achieve what they want…and whatever you do make sure your breath is fresh!

Technorati Tags: Away, driving, prospects, Stop, Training

www.cassiestrom.com Reach Cassie Strom @ 914.613.3910 “MLM training” – Home Party HORROR… If you’re looking for “mlm training” Here’s some success tips on how to have a successful home party Demonstration You can grab some free “MLM Training” videos, podcasts, reports, articles and more at http Leaders Club has been a leading “MLM Training” program for 16 years and is at the core of providing hype free “mlm training” to struggling network marketers. For more information, free mlm training videos, podcasts and more from the leading mlm training program Leaders Club Plus a 7 day 97 cent trial to this mlm training program, please visit www.7DayBusinessBoost.com

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The first time you hear or read this mlm training tip it may seem a little odd. But by the end of this article it will make sense to you. The tip is: Never sell what the prospect won’t buy.

How can you accomplish this? The quick answer is: Do not mention to the prospect what you’re selling until you know they will buy it!

It’s as simple as that.

During the qualifying section of the Inviting Formula, you simply ask what your prospect needs/wants or doesn’t want. By doing this, you’re basically asking them what they WILL buy. Once you find that out, use it as your selling point. This is what they will buy! How do you know for sure they will buy it? They said they would!

As an example, if I’m talking with an MLM business prospect who answered an ad for “working from home,” I then ask them why they would want to work from home. If they say, “So I can spend more time with my children” – that is what the prospect will buy!

I don’t know if he’ll buy, “debt free company with 12 international patents.” I don’t know if he’ll buy -”my upline is making $20,000 per month.” But what I know he’ll buy is – “spend more time with my children.” So that’s all I sell!

In another example, let’s suppose your MLM business is focused on selling skin care products. You tell that person you have a product that gets rid of pimples and that person replies, “I don’t get pimples.” Well, you just destroyed your sale. From that point it’s very awkward to back up and say, “Well I have a product that reduces wrinkles.”

Instead, start by asking something like, “Do you use skin care products?” “What do you use them for?” With the answers you get, you’re able to communicate and sell them what they need, not what they don’t need.

A sharp salesperson knows exactly what their customer should buy, even more than the customer. If a person walks into a store to buy a drill bit, for example, the smart hardware salesperson will ask enough questions to get all the information before they make a recommendation. Questions like, “How big of a hole do you need?” “How deep do you need the hole?” “What material are you drilling through?” By asking the right questions, that salesperson will sell exactly what that prospect needs. You see, the prospect didn’t need a drill bit; they needed a hole.

Another angle on this is to eliminate what your prospect doesn’t want and then use that data to figure out the right products for them.

In short the success of your MLM business depends on your ability to sell. A) You must know how to sell your product. B) You have to know how to sell your mlm business opportunity. And, C) you must provide the right MLM training so the people you sponsor know how to do both A and B listed above.

Technorati Tags: EASY..., Effective, Enjoyable, makes, natural, sales, selling, Technique, Training

Having been successful in MLM for a decade we find it interesting that we get the same questions over and over again. One of the most common questions we hear is “How do I motivate my team?”

When you realize that people in the masses are predictable, you’ll find it easier to have success in MLM. The best mlm training cannot overcome people that have low self esteem or those who lack vision.

Amazingly, a large number of people have those two characteristics and there is very little we’re going to be able to do to help them.

Give them a copy of the classic Napoleon Hill book “Think and Grow Rich” and suggest that they read it from cover to cover, but do not waste a lot of time with people that suffer from low self esteem. If you are an MLM newbie you’ll probably be tempted to try desperately to save the world. That’s what we did when we first got started, and it nearly led to what seemed to be an obvious conclusion, MLM doesn’t work. Well it does work, but when you try to save everybody you might find it hard to believe.

When you try to save the world you become frustrated every time somebody fails. You start to play the “if only” blame game. If only I had picked them up and taken them to the meeting. If only I had called them more often. If only I had recruited people and stuck them under my new recruit, then they would have been able to see that they could become successful!

Don’t fall into that trap. When you start to play the “if only” blame game you are heading down the wrong road. It’s not your fault! The real truth is there is very little you can do to motivate your team. Sure, you can do some things, but for the most part, people are going to do what people are going to do, and we aren’t going to change them.

So what can you do to motivate your team? Go to work and change your life. The best leader is a leader that knows the way and shows the way. There’s an old saying that is so appropriate for MLM. What you’re doing speaks so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying. Some people will get motivated when they see you change from massive MLM loser, to phenomenal MLM success. If all you do is tell them to make it happen, but they see you do nothing, you will never motivate them.

You need to understand that it really does not matter how successful you become, some people will never get motivated and change their own life. It just isn’t going to happen, so quit trying to make it happen. Don’t worry about the things you can not control!

Have you ever tried to get your children to keep their room clean? Maybe you are better than we are, but no matter what we tried we could never get our kids to keep their room as clean as we wanted them to. No matter how hard you try to help some people, they just aren’t going to be a success in MLM.

When they decide that they are tired of the life that they are living, then and only then, will they become successful. So if you want to motivate your team go become a huge success in your MLM business, take lots of vacations, buy a second house, drive a much better car and then some people will get motivated.

Technorati Tags: Motivate, Team, Training

netbiz.successin10steps.com Janice Warburton here I want to talk about training for MLM When you started driving a car if you ever did Did you get in and just drive ? Probably not.. you got some training Every thing new you have ever started needed some form of training So it is with Network Marketing I began with a system that cost me $40/month When this failed to get me what I needed . I “Progressed ” to a system that started out free but on the calls it was always promoted that to really succeed you would need to attend a weekend workshop not just one but when I got there it was an on going process Well I put the money together and attended one that was across the country , then I paid for the workshop and of course you need to purchase the CD’s made at the workshop or you might forget some of the training So now after all this I was taught to sell and close I was certainly not happy with that approach but I had no other guidance A friend told me about the calls held by Mentoring For Free and I was skeptical… remember the other training started with free calls How ever MFF calls,and training are completely FREE IMAGINE THAT !! I have never regretted joining those calls and now want to help promote them for others The information is constantly being up dated as what worked last month may not be as effect now I am looking forward to working with you ‘ So now it is in your hands Start by downloading the free ebook Success in 10 Steps netbiz.successin10steps.com Or …

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One of the biggest mistakes you can make in any business is to lack confidence and credibility. Read these incredibly important MLM Training tips to help you build your confidence and increase your credibility.

Bonnie sent this great question to me:

A problem I face is: A feeling that prospects do not perceive me as credible or believable. Perhaps it’s only my “reading” of their thoughts, but it’s the feeling I get from their reaction or response.

Thank you for sending this question to me. I’m going to answer this in two parts.

1. Doubting yourself

2. How to increase your credibility

Let’s start by looking at what happens when you doubt yourself. You can study the most effective MLM training on this planet, but it won’t do a bit of good if you doubt yourself.

Throughout my life I have had many feelings similar to this one. Looking back I’m not sure if the person I was talking with really gave that “feeling” to me or if I was the one who gave it to myself because I didn’t feel like I had enough credibility to be talking to this person. Think about that for a few seconds – or a few minutes!

How can someone reach inside your head and make you feel [anything]?

I don’t think there’s a “no credibility” switch inside your head or mine that a person can reach in and flip.

What I’m trying to do is help you to see that this question mostly has to do with how you view yourself. Or how you allow others to influence the way you view yourself.

If you think about it, no one can MAKE you feel mad or angry or guilty or not credible – YOU are the only one who can accomplish that; even if someone says it to you.

Let’s suppose you’re a female and someone says to you, “You are a guy.” You would just look at them strangely and continue what you’re doing. You KNOW you’re not a guy. But if someone says something to you that you have already thought of – then you’re more likely to “allow” them to influence the way you see yourself. Like, “You’ve put on some weight.” But in reality, the two comments don’t have to affect you differently.

Here’s the way it worked for me and how I solved it. I used to have this thought that because I didn’t get a college degree, I wasn’t credible and that no one would listen to me. This wasn’t true – it was just in my thoughts. At a social gathering I would meet someone and they would ask, “Where did you go to school?” I would reply, “Hixson High School.” They would then say, “No, what college?” I would reply, “I didn’t go to college.” To that they would say, “Oh.”

I would walk away feeling like I had no credibility with them. And, perhaps I didn’t. But the real damage was when I didn’t talk to people simply because I thought I didn’t have the right to talk to someone because I didn’t go to college! That’s enormous damage.

Here’s how I worked it out in my head – Now, what’s the “truth?” Is there anyone who has ever been successful in life that didn’t go to college? YES!

People go to college so they can be more knowledgeable on a subject so they can get better results. So it’s results that matter. But I used to think [incorrectly] that college equaled better results. Perhaps if I was trying to be successful as a doctor it would matter – but in network marketing it did not.

So, I just dumped the idea that I needed a college degree to be successful because just having that thought would actually STOP ME FROM BEING SUCCESSFUL!

Talk about irony!

How to increase your credibility

Now, here’s the real mlm training nugget in this entire article. I knew the ONLY way I was going to gain the respect of others (college graduates or not) was to get results.

So number one I had to not stop myself no matter what anyone said to me or what I said to myself. I had to just keep on until I got results. Here’s what I did and what you should do if you want to increase your credibility:

1. Talk with people – no one can be successful without this step.

* Use the 10 Communication Qualities & Inviting Formula – you will immediately increase your credibility ENORMOUSLY by increasing your communication skills.

2. Help people and allow others to help you.

* When someone helps you, give back something of equal or greater value.

* When you help someone, allow them to help you back.

3. Be trustworthy.

* Do what you say you will do.

4. Increase your knowledge

* The more knowledge you have in the area you are advising or suggesting about, the more influence you will have. So know network marketing. Know your product/service. Know your company.

5. Increase your results (doing the above will accomplish this)

* The more results you’ve gotten in the area you are discussing or attempting to attract another into, the more influence you will have. This is not a requirement obviously because everyone in network marketing starts with zero results.

And finally, if I could leave you with one last MLM training pointer: If you sense someone isn’t giving you any credibility – move on and do not allow them to weaken your view of yourself. If your prospect needs credibility in order to listen to you then you can contact them after you’ve gotten results.

A person who is unable to evaluate a business has to judge the business based on their perception of the credibility of the person presenting it. Those who can not evaluate a business based on its merits will work for those who can, or miss out on a lot of money.

Technorati Tags: Confidence, Credibility, EASY..., Increase, Steps, Training

In this article I’m going to explain how to follow-up or follow through after you have invited your MLM prospect to look at either your network marketing business or your product. This is the final step of the Inviting Formula, the formula I successfully use to get prospects to take a look at my MLM Business.

The Inviting Formula is:
Greet
Qualify
Invite
Handle any Questions/Objections
Close to Action
Follow-up or Follow-through

The purpose of the Follow-Up is to re-contact your prospect and move him/her towards what they’ve stated they need, want or don’t want and it pertains to your network marketing business or product.

The purpose of the Follow-Through is when your prospect indicates readiness to act (join, enroll, sign-up in your mlm business) then you follow-through by delivering all they need to get what they’ve stated they need, want or don’t want. This can start with completing simple distributor agreements, getting products, signing them up for services and then moving on to provide them with mlm training.

Your ability to be effective at Follow-up, and get people signed up in your network marketing organization, depends on the previous step of the Inviting Formula – Close to Action. When you close your prospect to action, they agree to do some things, and you agree to do some things. One of which was to re-contact them at a scheduled time.

Do that.

That’s follow up.

You may need to follow-up or re-contact your prospect several times to get them to the stage where you follow-through with them.

I’m not going to pretend this is fun. It most certainly is not. But, it is a requirement to your success in network marketing.

I’ve identified three main areas about follow-up that need to be understood in order to be successful at it…and therefore successful in network marketing.

1. Close to action well, and you’re follow-ups will work out a lot better.

2. Do…follow-up. Most don’t, that’s why most don’t succeed.

3. It’s not you. I know that doesn’t make an ounce of sense – but read on and it will.

So let’s just picture a typical mlm prospecting scenario.

Mr. MLM Business Prospect has this need/want. For this discussion I’m going to say he needs money to pay down his debts and get some “breathing room.” I could interchange time or anything else here, but for this discussion I’m going to use money.

So Mr. MLM Business Prospect is very, very worried about his credit card bills. He’s gotten himself in over his head. There was a time when he didn’t have credit card bills. He could pay off the credit card the same month the charges came in. Then he charged something that required two or three months to pay it off. He used a little bit of discipline and reduced his expenses in other areas and with pride he sent in the payment and paid it all off.

And at some point he sunk too deep and wasn’t able to pay it off in a month or two. He’s been in debt for years. But Mr. MLM Business Prospect has pride. He is completely convinced he will pay it off. So convinced he starts erecting “walls of determination.”

“I will not spend any money on anything I don’t need!”

“Alright family, we need to tighten down on spending money.”

“We can’t afford that.”

“Honey, can we go to the movies tonight?” “GOOD GRIEF – can’t you see WE CAN’T SPEND ANY MORE MONEY!”

A post card hits his mailbox about making money from home. He calls and leaves a message. “I’m just curious…” he states on your message machine. You call him back. You do a good greeting and qualify. He doesn’t express all the above – he’s got pride. He wraps it all up in a tiny statement like – “Just looking to make some extra cash.”

The whole time you’re talking he’s got one thing on his mind…”What’s this going to cost me?” If it costs anything he’s going to put that wall of determination between you and him. This “what does it cost” question doesn’t come up because you’re moving right through the Inviting Formula. You conclude that he does in fact qualify as a prospect for your MLM business and you invite him to look at an online movie. He agrees and you schedule a time to follow-up.

You call at the designated time – he doesn’t answer the phone and doesn’t return your phone call. You think it’s you. You think he’s turning you down. You think you need to go back to the drawing board because “this thing (your MLM business) isn’t working.”

Networker – Mr. MLM Business Prospect needs your help. He’s trapped himself behind his “WALL of determination!” You need to help him get around, under, through, over this wall…which requires you to continually follow-up with him. Don’t sit around looking at YOUR issues and dreaming up all kinds of stuff – it’s not you. Call the man back, call him again, call him again and keep calling till you reach him – hold his hand and walk him through HIS wall.

That’s what follow-up is all about. It’s definitely not the best part about your network marketing business, but it’s tje honorable thing to always do.

When thinking about…or dreading…”Doing the numbers,” remember that every “number” is a human being. Help that human being and then follow-up is a lot easier, and you’ll be amazed at how your MLM business will continue to grow.

Technorati Tags: cold, from, prospects, Techniques, Training, Turning

If you want to increase the profits in your mlm business, a good starting place is to sell more product. There are hundreds of different “selling tactics” being taught, but I have always found this one specific approach to work like magic.

How in the world could ONE person sell a billion dollars worth of products? He knew his product…and he knew it well. The one thing that snagged my attention was how well he knew his product.

Which comes first? Knowledge of your product…or selling a billion dollars worth of it? Obviously knowledge of your product comes first.

This MLM training article is about the very important Communication Quality called, “Know what you’re talking about.”

The reason I mention this is because there is a group of characteristics an MLM business professional must possess in order to truly have success in speaking with customers and selling products.

I call these characteristics the 10 Communication Qualities. Once you’re fully knowledgeable about these qualities and have the proper and correct mlm training to learn them, you will be amazed at how many prospects and customers will be interested in your MLM business and/or products.

I was watching a TV infomercial not long ago of a guy who was selling cutting knives. I became greatly impressed with the knowledge of the sales person. By the way he presented his knives I could tell he really knew everything one could know about knives.

I’ll admit, in the beginning I was listening, trying to find a hole in what he was talking about.

The more I listened the more I could see and hear, “This man knows about knives!” There wasn’t one part of a knife he didn’t know about – and he demonstrated to me why he was right…and he discussed it so clearly that anyone could have understood it.

He did several demonstrations with his knives – everything from cutting a can in half to cutting other knives in half with his knife. He did everything without making me feel stupid for my lack of knowledge about knives. He did this without being too assertive (Communication Quality #4). In fact, the more I watched this man the more I realized he was using all 10 of the Communication Qualities.

Very rarely have I seen all the qualities in one person. Now, I didn’t personally talk to him to see if he was “truly interested in me.” But in the way he delivered his knowledge to me I could tell that he had researched everything about his knives. He explained what a good knife was, and then told where the largest cost is in a knife and why you (the listener) didn’t need to have that in your kitchen knives. He gave a “no questions asked, money back guarantee.” That certainly sounded like he was “interested” in me.

I bought the knives. The whole set.

Intrigued with his charisma, I started researching him. Ha! Guess what I found? He has sold over one billion dollars worth of goods! NOT through a downline of thousands of people…or a company with hundreds or thousands of stores…but he personally has sold a billion dollars worth of goods!

His name is Ron Popeil. His mother and father split up when he was three. Neither parent wanted him or his brother. So he grew up on the streets in the Bronx (a neighborhood in New York City). At 16, he visited his dad in Chicago and got a job working in a small kitchen appliance factory. One day walking home he walked past a place in Chicago called Maxwell Street. It was the equivalent of a dirty flea market today.

The main things sold on Maxwell Street were stolen goods – hub caps, steering wheels and car radios. As he watched the people selling their stolen goods and people buying them, he got an idea. The next day he bought some of the items from the appliance factory where he worked at wholesale (same price as a store would pay). He then went to Maxwell Street and sold them. As he describes it, “I had never been loved as a kid – I finally found love. It was with my customers. I made a connection with them.”

He then found out about state and county fairs…and mastered those. He then volunteered to do live demonstrations inside of stores that carried the manufacturer’s products. He mastered selling products live in stores. Then he went in front of cameras on television networks that sold products. You’ve probably heard his company name before; Ronco. He’s the man who came up with, “It slices and dices…, but wait, that’s not all…you’ll also get…,” and “If you order now you get absolutely FREE…”

To date, he has personally sold over one billion dollars worth of products.

You see, because he was the one working in the factory making those knives he KNEW HIS PRODUCT!

My whole interest in this was stimulated by his knowledge of knives. It was THIS quality of “know what you’re talking about” that jumped out and grabbed my attention. When you know what you’re talking about, prospects really admire it because your knowledge can help them get what they want.

Your downline will also greatly admire you if you know what you’re talking about…and they will follow you. If you invent answers to their questions (instead of knowing what you’re talking about) – they quickly learn you will say anything (truth or not) to get them to buy the product or sign up in your downline…and they won’t.

This doesn’t mean you have to work at a manufacturer to know all about the products you sell in your MLM business. It also doesn’t mean you have to have a master’s degree in nutrition to sell a nutrition product. The thing that impressed me the most was that Ron Popeil talked in such simple language that everyone could understand it.

He never tried to impress his audience with big words. He would say things like, “The steel this knife is made out of is tough – look how tough it is”…and then he would demonstrate it. He didn’t try to explain the difference between anodizing (pronounced an’a-diz’) and case hardening (two processes used to make steel hard and durable).

He instead would demonstrate for you what he wanted to communicate. It’s the sign of a true communicator – to know everything about something, but to communicate it simply to make it very easy for the prospect to make a decision.

Be knowledgeable about your MLM business. Know everything there is to know about the products you sell. Then, when you find people who can benefit from your business and/or your products, you can confidently help them get what they want. It’s this kind of knowledge that really pays you in network marketing.

Technorati Tags: Billion, Dollars, person, Products, sold, Training, Worth