“Making money beats collecting stamps or old bottles any day.
Get good at this hobby and you are liable to become wealthy.”
Sooner or later you will need to go beyond your family and friends to find prospects, and at this point you will either accept the requirement to call upon strangers, or quit the business. A few network marketers have been fortunate enough to create a self-building organization on the strength of acquaintances alone, but for the rest of us, drastic action becomes necessary about two days after we hop on the network marketing wagon.
This drastic action takes the form of introducing ourselves to strangers on the street, running classified ads, and joining civic groups and clubs to enlarge your fields of acquaintances. So, what can you do to enlarge your prospect pool? At this point you are not trying to recruit anybody, you’re just looking for candidates that may be receptive to hearing the plan. Here are four methods that have proven successful in the past:
A. Three Foot Rule
This technique is amazingly effective, but should be reserved for the more brash among us. The three-foot rule simply stated is this: If a person steps within three feet of you, show them the plan. The worst that can happen is that the prospect will look at you and tell you to get lost. “All right, I’m leaving. Sorry you’re having a bad day.”
On the other end of the spectrum, how do you know that the person standing next to you does not have the potential to break every record known to the multi-level marketing industry? And what about that “lucky” guy who recruited her?
B. Eyes Wide Open
To see opportunity, you must first have your eyes open to opportunity. Did you ever hear the story about the man whose ship came in, but he wasn’t at the dock to meet it, so it left without him? It could happen to you. Listen and observe what is going on around you. People are constantly complaining about lousy jobs, being broke, wanting a shot at the big leagues. People are discontent. If you can tune your ears to it, you can open a wealth of prospecting avenues to your organization building efforts.
The next time you hear somebody complaining, try this. Turn to them, and say: “I may have a solution to your problems if you’re serious. Here’s my business card, give me a call sometime.” Usually this approach will elicit a polite “thanks, I’ll keep it in mind,” or ideally a question such as, “what do you do?” To which you pull out a napkin and present your polished “here’s the plan” presentation.
C. Shout it Out
This is a simple technique of letting people know you are in business. Every waking day your are barraged by commercials, want ads, billboards, and magazine ads begging you to spend your money on “our” product or service. Within the policy limits of your sponsoring company, you can advertise also. Keep it simple and cheap, and if it doesn’t work, don’t waste your money. You may want to try: flyers, classified ads, and business cards.
D. Who do you Know
Never leave a prospect that has turned you down without asking these two questions: Would you like to become a customer? and, Do you know somebody (specifically ask for a co-worker, friend, or relative) who may be interested in hearing about this opportunity, risk free?
Some network marketers believe that family and friends invariably turn out to be the worst performers you’ll ever recruit into the business. Regardless of their individual performance, they serve an important role for you in that they provide an audience for your fledgling sales and opportunity presentations. People are more comfortable discussing the opportunity with family and friends then they are with total strangers. Eventually, however, you may need to find prospects beyond the scope of family and friends. It’s at this time that you must adopt different marketing techniques to find new prospects.
Newbie Trap: Discussing the business opportunity with family members before you have all your facts straight. Invariably, family members will discourage you from becoming involved in something they don’t understand., and as a beginner you will not be able to adequately address their questions and concerns.
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