Have you ever been certain an MLM lead was going to join your group, only to have him turn you down? Do you struggle to bring people into the business, while others in your company have much higher success rates? Have you ever wondered why some people, who are obviously “perfect” for the business, never even seriously consider it?

The answer to all these scenarios may be one or more of the 11 little-known but critical factors in play throughout your recruiting process. Each of these 11 factors has a serious effect on the ways prospects view both you and your MLM opportunity.  In fact, if you didn’t cover these with your current Reps, you will see they come in play there, too!

Some of them may be addressed by your website or personal meeting, others during a telephone call (with or without your sponsor); still others may be handled in the follow-up emails they receive; but they all must be addressed someplace, or your results will suffer.

For each of these factors that you don’t deal with correctly, you will meet with a corresponding decrease in the number of qualified people you sign up. By this, I mean that you will miss signing up good people, who would do well in an MLM business if they did join. The more of the 11 factors not addressed in your system, the more good people you’re missing.

Keep in mind that many of these 11 factors are not obvious or conscious for your prospects, but that doesn’t prevent them from creating detrimental uneasiness at a subconscious level. Your prospects won’t trust you, without being sure of the reason for their distrust. They will feel your opportunity is not quite credible, but not know exactly why.

Each of the 11 factors is critical to your achievement of maximum effectiveness through the presentation and sponsoring process.
When they are properly handled during the recruiting process, both you and your program have enhanced believability, credibility, and authority with your prospects. Likewise, if you address each one and teach your group to do the same, the positive results will be staggering. Let’s have a look at each of them.

Factor #1: Your prospect doesn’t like to go to strange meetings in strange places with strangers.

Why do you think most people don’t show up to the conference calls or meetings to which you invite them? Because they’ve never been to that call or meeting and they don’t know the people who will be on it — they’re strangers. It’s a strange place. What if they show up and the people aren’t “their kind of people”? Different ages, different nationality, different race, different something — your prospects are scared!

This is why it’s always best to do a website first and then a 3-way phone call with one of your partners. You have to get them excited enough about the possibilities that their excitement and interest is high enough to overcome their discomfort about doing something strange and meeting strangers. If we edify our sponsor hosting the call and tell our prospects things like, “You’ll love meeting Cheryl, she’s dynamic and a real rising star with the company”, they’ll feel more familiar for your talking about her.

Now there’s a benefit relationship to meeting Cheryl because you’ve told them that she’s the person who can really show them how to make money, get a new car, or that trip to Hawaii. Your prospects will have a vested interest in meeting her — and be more likely to show up as a result.

So they come to the call and meet Cheryl and five other people there. By the end of the meeting, those people are not strangers anymore. It’s now less threatening to conceive of attending anything because you will be there, and Cheryl and the others they just met will be there, too. You offer to 3-way your prospects up so you can talk before the call starts.

Factor #2: Your prospect isn’t happy with his life, but is fearful of change.

What to do? Make a compelling case for the benefits of change.  Discuss with him what you’ve learned — that in order for life to get better, you have to get better.

I don’t like to make my bed, but I like a neat room, so I do it.  I don’t like going to the dentist, but I hate toothaches worse, so I do that, too.
Like most people, your prospect doesn’t like to change, but if you show him how changing phone companies can lower his phone bill, for example, he will be much more motivated to. If you can show him how changing the way he spends eight to ten hours a week can bring him incredible residual income, more free time eventually, and financial security, he is more apt to do it. Tell him the success stories you’ve heard.

Factor #3: The prospect believes she doesn’t want to spend her money.

Think of what you do to get money — you work hard! Your prospects work hard for their money, too, and they want to hang on to that money. Everybody’s trying to take this money away from them.  Radio and TV commercials, billboards everywhere, bus bench ads, newspaper and magazine ads, their mailbox is choking with catalogs, people are cold-calling the house during dinnertime — everyone is trying to take their money, and they don’t have enough as it is!

The reality is, of course, that they don’t want their money,  they want the things they can purchase with that money. Think back to the last time you bought a new car. The last thing you wanted to do was give $25,000 to General Motors or Ford or Chrysler. You didn’t have the $25,000 anyway, did you? You had to finance it, and the last thing you wanted to do was sign a note promising to pay GM more than $25,000 of your hard-earned future earnings over the next five years. But still, you got into the car, closed the door, heard that nice solid sound, savored the new car smell, and enjoyed the great handling. All of a sudden, you don’t want the $25,000 — you want to drive the car home.

What I’m telling you is that you have to stop focusing on features and focus on benefits — things you can put the words “you get” in front of. Instead of reciting features like, “We’re a two year old company… we have a 10,000 square-foot office building and our products/services are the finest,” state benefits like, “You can earn a lifetime income, you’ll wake up with more peace of mind, you get. …”

Factor #4: Your prospect wonders, “Is this too good to be true?”

Many of your MLM leads believe that good things happen only to people in the movies and on TV. When you come along with a scenario of how they’re going to have joy, fun, and seasons in the sun, on a subconscious level they’re thinking, “Doesn’t she know this doesn’t happen in real life?”

For the most part, their lives have been a series of victim situations, and they believe really good things happen only to others — the “lucky” ones. Being their own boss and achieving financial independence is a bit much for many people to believe.

Your task? Show the credibility of the industry, and the only way you get that across is by having that belief yourself. Many people don’t have that belief, even though they’re in the industry. You may love your MLM product/service and your company but not have a real belief in Network Marketing. You need to own that — and that means know it, not think you know it or wonder about it.  YOU have to believe it.

The best way I know to develop belief is by hearing and learning first hand of the transformational success of others. That’s why events and books and tapes are so important.  When your company has an event, do whatever you have to do to get there. Ask about books or tapes and you’ll get all kinds of recommendations!

Factor #5: Your prospect doesn’t really believe he can do this even if it is true.

This factor requires that you show your prospect how he can be successful in your discussions. Show him examples of people like himself. If he’s a teacher, introduce him to other teachers. If he’s a truck driver, introduce him to other truck drivers.  Introduce him to people whose success will help him believe that he can do it, too. You will never, ever have a new distributor last if you cannot create this new belief in him.

Be sure to stress the benefits of your training program, how duplication works, and how simple the business really is — which it is, by the way. It’s not easy, but it is simple.

Factor #6: Your prospect wonders if you will help her.

We tell people that in Network Marketing you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself. What is the support structure you offer your organization? What does your company provide? With each prospect, you have to show how that’s going to work. Explain how your team structure works, how you’ll help with phone calls or emails, how she can access conference calls and other support resources. Talk about the partnership you will develop to help her reach success.

Factor #7: Your prospect wants to know how the business is done.

This is where you have to explain duplication. Your prospect has to understand what needs to take place for him to become successful. You have to show him how exponential growth works.

Why? Because until he understands this, he’ll be thinking at some level that in order to get an organization of 10,000 people, he has to sponsor 10,000 people! “If I want to do that in two years, that’d be 5,000 people a year, which is almost 14 people a day.  Obviously I can’t do that, so this is not for me.” Show him how exponential growth works.

This is where you draw the circles, show the expanding numbers, or whatever you do to illustrate exponential growth. Be sure that you both demonstrate and stress that the large example you show is created by personally sponsoring only a small number of key people!

Factor #8: The prospect is afraid of the secrecy approach.

This is an issue everywhere. People don’t respond well to the secrecy approach. It worked great in the Seventies; it doesn’t work today. Be honest, be open, be up front!

If your prospect asks, “Is this one of those Network Marketing deals?” answer, “Yes, what do you know about it?”

If she asks, “Is this XYZ company?” or “Is this the ABC service thing?” just answer, “Yes, what do you know about it?”

You will find that most people know only a fraction of what the MLM business or your Network Marketing company is about. When you respond openly and honestly to their inquiries, they are much more likely to keep an open mind and learn all the facts.

Factor #9: The prospect wonders why you would help him and want good things for him.

Your prospect has never had anyone want to help him for no reason. There’s always a catch. So disclose in an abstract way that you have a vested interest in his success. You can’t just say “I just want to help you be successful” or “If you make money, I make money,” because he’ll think, “Yeah, she’s going to make money off me!”

Build this into your presentation of how the compensation plan works. Most people have an innate understanding that there is no free lunch. When he sees how your helping him will benefit you in real terms, he can believe you will help him because you have a vested interest in his becoming successful.

Factor #10: Your prospect is comfortable with her current product/service or how she is doing things.

Most people will stay with what they have or know for years simply from inertia, laziness, and fear of change. Quite simply, you have to be prepared to Validate your Value. Know your USP — Unique Selling Proposition. What makes your MLM Product or service exclusive, unique, and worth the full retail price?  And remember, don’t focus on the features, instead, accentuate the actual benefits to the prospect.

Factor #11: Your prospect is secretly hoping for a “jihad” to join.

A jihad is a “holy war,” and I use it as a metaphor for the fact that your prospect is secretly hoping for a cause bigger than himself to be a part of. He’s looking for meaning in life and a way to contribute. 

Exposing prospects to company calls and the leadership team is critical for this. When they come to a hall and see 300 or 3,000 positive people all working for a better life, it’s very intoxicating. When they discover that their success comes from helping others be successful, it can be a very powerful lure.

The friendship, teamwork, and positive mental attitude of this business offer a very attractive and desirable alternative to the rat-eat-rat mentality of most jobs. Let people see the opportunities for personal development, growth, and service in Network Marketing and you’ll find a lot of people want to be a part of that picture.

I recommend you analyze your prospecting process and see how many of these eleven factors are not addressed in it. As soon as you integrate all of these dynamics in your system, you should see an immediate improvement in both the quality and quantity of people you bring into your MLM organization!

Tags: 3-way calling, believe it, incredible residual, MLM business, MLM leads, MLM opportunity, MLM organization, MLM product, Network Marketing, Network Marketing company, sponsor

Technorati Tags: 3-way calling, believe it, incredible residual, MLM business, MLM leads, MLM opportunity, MLM organization, MLM product, Network Marketing, Network Marketing company, sponsor

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