I’ve never been a big fan of “everything must be duplicatable” thinking.

That could be because in my experience so far, most people mean to make the tasks so simple that any idiot could do it. I never wanted to have a team of idiots!

To me, what I want team members to duplicate is the ability to THINK.

I want them to duplicate the CARING and GIVING that they see me model towards my customers and team members. I want them to duplicate my PASSION for learning new things and being willing to think outside of my own company’s training bubble. I want them to duplicate my DRIVE and AMITION toward my goals and dreams.

In short, I’m looking for team members that are businesspeople...

I agree that a simple system or steps to follow is important, but I want them to also realize that starting a business, any kind of business including a network marketing business, is going to take THINKING, CARING, GIVING, PASSION, DRIVE, AMBITION and more. It’s going to take real people, doing real work toward their real goals.

Here are three tips on making your team member’s lives easier when it comes to being duplicatable:

Keep it simple.

When a new team member joins your team, it is tempting to tell them everything you know about the company, the products, and how to do the business. If you do, you will likely overwhelm them and drive them away.  Instead, come up with an easy explanation that they can build on to get the ball rolling.

On my team, I call this the “Success Rule” which is: “you can be successful at anything if enough people know what you do”. So, I tell my new team members that what they really need to spend their time doing, especially at the beginning, is getting as many people as possible to know what they do. That’s it!

They don’t need to try and sell anyone, close anyone, or learn everything about the products. They just need to find ways every day to get more people to know what they do. I often tell my team members that if they took our company brochure and put it in a person’s hand and said, “Can I get you anything from there?” – if they just did that 10 times per day, day in and day out – they could easily earn full time money without any other knowledge. The volume and consistency would get them orders. Simple and Doable.

Give them a checklist or suggested script.

If, for example, your team members need to field calls asking for information about joining the company, it would be helpful for the new team member to have words to use that are clear and easily understood. I give my team members who are leaders a suggested “script” that includes wording written in a conversational tone and that also includes blanks to fill in while they are talking to the person and getting to know them. The script includes a brief overview of the opportunity, the fact that the pay is strictly commission, and asks questions that let the team member determine the person’s level of interest.

You might also have a checklist you give out with steps for placing an order or things that need to be done every sales period. Again, be sure and keep it simple with only a couple of these since having a notebook full of checklists and scripts will only make it more complicated. Pick your top activities and concentrate on making those as simple for your team members as possible.

Model the behavior you want to see from your team members.

I heard a saying a long time ago that makes so much sense: if everyone on your team did what you did today, would you earn any money? Set an example worth following. Want your team members to set up booths and sell products? How many booths do you have booked on your calendar right now?

Want your team members to bring on new team members? How many new team members did you add this week?

Want your team members to have team meetings and recognize their team member’s successes? When are your team meetings and how are you handling recognition?

In my experience so far, people are far more likely to watch what you DO rather than listen to what you SAY – so make sure that you are setting an example worth following.