One way to understand network marketing.

Want a great example of network marketing that your prospects can understand?

A joke.

If we like the joke, we share it with others. If we don’t like the joke, we don’t pass it on. That is exactly what we do in network marketing. We pass on to others what we like.

The only difference is that in network marketing … we get paid for it.

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Words not to use in your prospecting approach.

Some words and phrases are great to use among distributors. But these same words and phrases might mean something entirely different to a skeptical prospect. Here are some phrases to avoid:

Money freedom (means that an insurance agent is approaching).

Time freedom (impossible, you are lying, you are from outer space).

Residual income (residual is leftover stuff that nobody wants).

Ground floor opportunity (risky, I will lose my money).

Upline, downline, crossline … clothesline … it is all the same to them. :)

PV, GV, PGV, case count, unencumbered volume, unilevel, binary …

Gold direct, platinum, diamond manager, Star Trek Commander …

When we help new distributors get started, we should not only teach them some good words to say, but also some words to avoid.

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Vision?

Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream."

He didn’t say, "I have a great opportunity."

And he didn’t say, "I have a great presentation."

Think about it. Most people want better lives. They want to follow someone with a dream. So before we start presenting our network marketing business, maybe we can tell our prospects our dream.

If our prospects want our dream, the rest of the presentation will be easy.

Plus, we can listen to their dreams if they have any. Some may not. We can make a difference.

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Silencing my critics.

When I started, everyone was a critic. I wanted to silence my critics with my success.

Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than I expected.

I started my career with incompetence, and when that didn’t work, I worked even harder doing more incompetent things. Yes, I doubled my daily output of stupid activity.

How did that work out? Not well.

My results only improved when I learned new things to say. It was a humbling lesson. I couldn’t just use willpower. I had to learn to say better things.

Learning new things to say is easy for humans. Our minds are designed to look for patterns. We try to find patterns in everything, even when there are no patterns.

We can experiment our way to finding a winning pattern. How?

Use one opening sentence with every prospect we meet for a week. Notice how our prospects react.

Then, use a different opening sentence with prospects the following week. Notice how these prospects react.

See a pattern? We should.

Let’s look at an example.

I want to sell diet products to prospects. I ask prospects what they do for a living. In reaction, they will ask me what I do for a living. Now I can test my answers to see which answer gets the better results.

Ready?

Week #1:

Prospect: "And what do you do for a living?"
Me: "Well, you know how we always feel hungry?"

Week #2:

Prospect: "And what do you do for a living?"
Me: "For example, let’s imagine you were thin …"

I will pick up the pattern that the answer for week #1 performs better.

Trial and error work. But it works slowly. We can accelerate our learning by reading a book or listening to an audio. Learning from other people’s experiences is more efficient.

So what do we want to test? Here are a few ideas:
• First sentences.
• Closing statements.
• Our benefits.
• How to get referrals.
• How to motivate.
• How to change mindsets.
• And more.

The good news is that we will always be getting better.

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How quickly do our prospects make decisions?

We ask a prospect, "Are you married to your job, or are you open-minded?"

The decision is instant. An easy choice.

If our prospect is open-minded, the rest is easy.

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Get presentations with as little as five words.

Anyone can grab a prospect’s interest by using the correct words. The bad news is that we don’t know the words for each of our 25 basic skills. But the good news is that we can learn them.

Now, to get someone to anxiously await your presentation, simply start with these five words:

"Guess what happened to me?"

Magic.

Prospects lean forward. Humans can’t resist listening to stories. That is why we love gossip, books, and movies. We can’t go on in life unless we know how the story ends. Stories attract interested prospects.

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The hard truth about networkers.

Networkers are human. And guess what humans do?

Humans invest more time in planning their New Year’s Eve celebration than they invest in planning next year’s goals!

Then what happens?

We lose a year.

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What our prospects really want to hear.

Bill Jayne says it all in this famous quote:

"It doesn't matter what you're selling. Your direct marketing should never be about the product. It should always be about the prospect."

Consider these questions:

Q. How many minutes of our current opportunity presentation is about our company, products, and compensation plan?
Q. How many minutes of our current opportunity presentation is about our prospect?

Great recruiters know presentations should be about the prospect's favorite subject — the prospect.

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How tough is the real world?

Brutal.

Selfish prospects only care about themselves. Imagine that.

Our prospects don’t care about us, and they care even less about what we offer. Their thoughts are all about themselves.

Here is the mismatch.

If we talk about ourselves, our company, and what we have to offer … prospects won’t be interested. They have their own lives to live. They are so selfish! ☺

But, if we listen to our prospects, their problems, and their challenges, then we have our prospects’ interests. When prospects have problems, they look for solutions. Now we are the most interesting people in the world.

And that is why showing wonderful commercial videos and long presentations about our wonderful companies make our prospects yawn.

We can make our lives easy by listening, and then talking to our prospects about their problems.

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Let other people presell for us.

Examples?

Plumbers, electricians, and carpet installers can say, "I see you don't have a water filter. Is there a reason why?"

A dress saleslady can say, "Great choice of colors. You might consider some cosmetics that match that color."

A real estate salesman could say, "You are going to love this house. Would it be okay if you got a discount on your electricity bill?"

A tax preparer can say, "I see you don't have a part-time business to maximize your deductions. Would you like to save more on your taxes?"

A personal trainer can say, "You are making great progress. Would you like to accelerate your progress with better nutrition?"

Many people will help presell prospects for us, if we just tell them exactly what to say.