What is your retail system? What is the cycle you take ALL new customers through?  I believe the number one reason network marketing distributors don’t have more retail customers for their business is that they are not clear about what a customer really is. Here is what we have always taught.

If they buy ONCE they are a suspect.

If they buy TWICE they are a prospect. 

If they buy THREE times they are a customer!

If more network marketing distributors as well as traditional businesses operated their business like this on the front end they would be spending much more time with their SUSPECTS and PROSPECTS and a lot less time looking for new CUSTOMERS. Go back and read that sentence again, it is important.

SO HOW DO YOU REALLY DEVELOP A CUSTOMER BASE?

You have to understand that in network marketing the reason to retail is to recruit. That is your ultimate goal, to back customers into your business and make them distributors.

However the $15.00 or $20.00 retail profit you make on an item can add up. That extra cash can help with babysitting, gasoline, business tools, website fees, training programs, and other investments associated with your business. So let me ask you a question. What is your retail system? What is the cycle you take ALL new customers through? When I ask this question in live training events the crowd usually looks at me like a deer staring into headlights. Most network marketers make a sale and then it may be 3 – 4 or 6 months before they ever communicate with that (suspect) again. And usually that is only because the company is running some sort of promotion or they are short on the group volume requirements for the month. If you think you are going to sell the product once and then that person is going to log on to your website and re-order or put themselves on monthly auto-ship you’re mistaken. Yes, it will happen every now and then but if you depend on this to build a customer base it is not going to happen, you have to work smarter.

Build your customer base systematically by design, don’t depend on chance.

Think about it! Is this anyway to build a customer base? Of course not, but I have described the way the majority of network marketing distributors treat the suspects they sold products to and then they have the audacity to classify them as a customer. Listen, I am speaking from experience, when I go into a network marketing company to do training, usually one of the first things the corporate people want me to do is to help them implement a retail system for their distributors.

SO WHAT IS THE RETAIL SYSTEM?

I have been teaching this system for over twenty years. I first developed it when the company I was with at the time was getting ready to introduce a new nutritional product called Juice Plus. We have implemented this basic system with multiple products and companies. Consumable, non consumable, services, it doesn’t matter, the basic foundational concepts are the same. The number one rule when developing a customer base is to remember that...

FOLLOW UP is Always more Important than the Initial Sale!

You create a lead, and you make the sale. I am not going to get into the countless ways we teach to market your products here. After the sale is made to the suspect, you let them know that you will be contacting them in a few days to see how they are doing. Your first contact should be 3-days after they received the product. We are basically going to make contact with our suspect on the 3rd-14th & 29th day. Yes, I know this takes time, but this is what is necessary if you are going to create long term, repeat customers for your business.

3-DAY CALL or Email if You Must

Hi I just wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing with the product and if you have any questions on how to take it? Get on the phone and off. This is NOT a social call. If it is your momma you can call her back later.

14th DAY CALL

Hi I just wanted to check with you and see how you are doing with the product? I don’t have time in this article to get into all the reasons why this call is important, but psychologically for the suspect it is crucial that you make this call.

The fact is, if people don’t use products correctly and daily they will not get a result, if they don’t get a result they will not re-order.

Most suspects will use a product for a couple of days then if a miracle doesn’t happen they will stop using it consistently. Anything can happen with the 14-day call, but basically you are going to get one of two responses, I am using it and love it, or I can’t tell any difference. You must encourage those that “can’t tell a difference” and send them to a website with testimonies, or an article about someone who could tell no difference after 2 weeks, then the miracle occurred. You get the idea?

29 DAY CALL

Can you think why we want to make sure we do a 29 day call? If you are thinking, most products sold are a 30-day supply and we want the re-order you would be right. Hi According to my records, it is time for you to re-order XYZ product, how would you like to receive up to $10.00 off your next purchase? The basic concept here is that for every referral they give you, you will give them a $1.00 off per name in return. Again there is certain terminology that must be used correctly for this to work, but it works. We have distributor organizations all over the world getting referrals with this system every day. The goal, 10 names you can send a brochure to and then follow up and get 3-4 of the ten started on the product. The important thing here is you have a 2nd order and your suspect is now a prospect.

59 DAY CALL

Why 59 days? Exactly, it is time for next re-order. Now let’s see where we are with this prospect. They bought, we followed up quickly and professionally. They gave us 10 referrals and we gave them a $10.00 discount and now you have 3 new suspects you are taking through the system. This phone call is the one that will make your prospect a customer, or better yet a distributor. Hi It looks like it is time for you to re-order again. I can’t give you $10.00 off this month, but how would you like to learn how you can buy the product wholesale? There response will normally be something like How can I do that? What are you doing Tuesday night? Notice, I didn’t ask them to go to a meeting, conference call or webinar!!! Follow this script word-for-word!

They will normally say I don’t have anything planned.

Great, I will call you at about 10 minutes before 7:00 and 3-way you in on our short company overview and they will explain exactly how you can get the product wholesale.

GET OFF THE PHONE! At this point many people blow it, because they start answering questions! You have their curiosity, maintain it, and give them the chance to hear the whole story on the conference call.

At the end of the conference call you simply ask 1 question:

"What questions do I need to answer for you before we get you started?"

Remember you now have leverage and fear of loss working for you because they already have 3 customers to start their business with. (The 3 people from their 10 that have already bought – YES! Give them to them!) If you follow this system exactly as described you will sponsor a lot of people who initially were retail buyers and at the very least you will develop a true CUSTOMER base, and eliminate all those 1 time sales to people who never buy again.

Now here is the real power of what you have just read. Imagine this system duplicated throughout an entire organization of people.

This was the foundational system that allowed me to develop an organization of over 60,000 distributors who did over $100 Million dollars in wholesale product sales. Commit to implement this system in your business and you will be amazed at the results it creates for you.