Today I’d like to take some time and drop-kick another very common line of B.S. that seems to be very common in the MLM industry. If you happened to catch the first installment of this 5 part series, I gave a little background about myself, and my involvement with Network Marketing. You need to know that I’m not anti-MLM, or anti-home business. I think that the home business is the very definition of Entrepreneurial Capitalism, and I absolutely love the idea of a person embarking upon a venture, starting from scratch, with a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, and turning that into a fortune. I’m Pro-Home Business. However, I’m Anti-B.S. It absolutely disgusts me the amount of bad information that exists in my industry, and I am convinced that people involved with home businesses fail not because they are stupid or lazy, but because network marketing training and education is of pathetically low-quality. I believe, 100% without doubt that if MLM representatives received the training and education they needed and deserved, that 90% failure rate would flip to a 90% success rate. So today, we’ll be talking about: HOME BUSINESS LIE # 5: “Just Let The Prospect View The Presentation / Talk To Your Upline/ Try The Product – Then The Prospect Will Just Close Themselves And Join Your Business” Really? Do we really just close ourselves? Why do we buy in the first place? Here is are two facts: 1. PEOPLE HATE TO BE SOLD. 2. PEOPLE LOVE TO BUY. First, we absolutely hate to be sold something. Most of us have had that experience, where a pushy sleaze-ball salesman tried to sell us something. If we do buy it, most likely we felt like we were ripped off, and we resent that experience. We were sold. But we absolutely love to buy. We love it so much, we will spend money that we don’t even have yet. The average household credit-card debt is in the $8,000 - $10,000 range. We love to buy, we enjoy the buying experience. When we participate in the buying process, we have fun when we purchase. It’s enjoyable. But only we only enjoy buying in the presence of leadership. LEADERSHIP. Think about it. Lets look at two scenarios: Scenario #1 - Think about when you go to the a coffee shop. As you look at the menu board, you realize that you have hundreds of choices in front of you. You know you want something good to drink, but you just don’t know where to start. If the person behind the counter knows what they’re doing, they will ask you some questions to help you decide what you’re looking for. They will ask questions like: “Can I help you? Well, would you like something fruity, or something tasting like coffee? Ok, well, do you want it hot or cold? Ok, you could have this or that beverage, my favorite is this.” When someone asks us questions like that, then two things happen. 1. WE RECOGNIZE LEADERSHIP. We know that the person is an expert at coffee service, because they are steering us down the decision-making process by asking us questions. They know the product/service so well, that when they ask us questions, we attribute that to leadership, and we enjoy buying in the presence of leadership. 2. WE ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE BUYING PROCESS. This is the fun part for us as consumers. We like to buy, and by participating in that transaction, we feel like we are calling the shots, and we’re enjoying it. We enjoy that interpersonal interaction, and having a person as our guide during that transaction makes it fun. But what happens when someone doesn’t demonstrate leadership? Lets see: Scenario #2 – You walk into the coffee shop, same scenario as #1, but this time the person jumps from behind the counter and walks right up to you. “Would you like to try a sample? We have a special this week on coffee cake, here try some”. When you explain that you simply want a beverage, you notice they have a badge on their chest that says “Trainee”. This trainee doesn’t know the first thing about the menu. They can’t answer your questions. They don’t ask you anything. They just keep talking about the weekly special on coffee cake, and they keep trying to get you to buy it. When you finally close yourself on a beverage, the trainee cannot even ring the order up properly. You walk away frustrated, and in your mind, that coffee shop stinks. You will probably never come back to that particular coffee shop. The only difference between scenario #1 and scenario #2 is the person behind the counter. The coffee shop employee in scenario #1 closed the order quickly, conveniently, and effectively. The buyer enjoyed the process. The employee (sales person?) behind the counter wasn’t pushy, wasn’t the “salesy” type. They simply demonstrated leadership and confidence in their ability to get the consumer what they wanted. And even though the employee is being paid by the hour, they care enough about the consumer to actually reach out and help them to participate in the closing process to get them the exact beverage they are looking for. We love that. That is closing. The coffee shop employee in scenario #2 didn’t care about leadership or confidence. They didn’t care about the consumer at all. They were annoying and unprofessional. They didn’t close anything. They attempted to sell something. And the consumer hated the process. To grow your business, you are obligated to fulfill the desires of your consumer. You might get people into your business leading on opportunity, and you might hope that your upline will close your transactions for you, but if you have any hopes of building a true six-figure residual income from home, and having hundreds or thousands of happy, satisfied, clients and customers in your downline, then you have to be the expert of your business, and that means you have to develop the skills necessary to close your own transactions. And you have to close those transactions with the best interest of your prospect as your prime motivation. Otherwise, your prospect will know they have been sold. And they will hate the process. And they will resent the person who “sold” them. Stop selling. Start closing. If you don’t know how to close, that's fine. Learn how. If you do this, then your business (and your downline) will grow faster than you could possibly imagine. For more information about how to grow your network marketing business, refer to my website http://www.MLM-Truth.info I, Josh Fuson, accept full responsibility for these words. If you have any questions regarding this material, you can contact me directly at my home office at 641-856-7555. Copyright 2006 Fuson Enterprises. Joshua Fuson has an extensive background in both the home business industry as well as the retail marketing industry. He is most noted for his to-the-point style, and his no-nonsense approach to business. |
