The Keen Marketer

Having a daily prospecting formula is a mandatory strategy if you are to reach possible prospects and make new customers.

You know that network marketing is an occupation that certainly won’t kill you but that does not mean that you don’t need body armour.

The  armour I’m speaking about is the kind that protects you from bullets of rejection and negative thinking that surrounds you.

But  when you use a 3rd party recruiter to work for you, these rejection bullets get diverted away from you.

So how does this work?

Well, it’s a matter of rating and separating.

You rate the ones whose interest is high and separate them from product purchasers.

This 3rd party recruiter is all about the tools you use.  This can be a CD, a brochure or whatever tool that tells the story you want your prospects to hear.

I really like to use audio CDs and video DVDs.  By first qualifying your prospect, you will be able to decide which one is best to use.

So you hand out your tool to at least 2 persons a day.

Ask them if they have a few minutes and that you want  to share an idea  with them that has really helped your life.

If the prospect is one to whom you would give an audio CD then say something like “Do me a favor and put this in and listen to it while you drive home.”

Give them a day or so and then call them back and askthem what they liked best about the CD.

If they tell you the CD message was not for them, then that’s OK.  They are not rejecting you.

This is called rejection proof prospecting.

But this gets better.

You can fail 80% of the time and still create a solid business with prospecting tools.

It’s all about the numbers. It revolves around sharing your CD or brochure and you this 2 times a day with someone new.

Let’s say you have 5 people who are willing to hand out 2 CD’s a day.  This makes 300 exposures a month which equals 3600 exposure a year.

Now let’s assume 2 out of 10 purchase some product.  That’s 720 new customers and that out of every 100, 5 enroll as new distributors and start doing the same.  You’d have 180 new distributors.  Now out of those 720 customers, if all they gave you were 2 referrals each that would mean 1140 referrals a year.

And of that is for failing 80% of the time.

All you do is hand out 2 prospecting tools a day.  How simple is that?  It is very duplicatable and leads to multiplication.

So it’s not all about talent but about the tools. What better way to never feel the pain of rejection again.

You might think that making a connection with someone is as easy as pie.

Well it is unless you are totally devoid of any social skills.  If that’s the case, you can learn the skills but you most likely won’t be doing network marketing in the first place.

Your posture says it all.  If you are self-assured, have a smile on your face and look openly at people, you will attract others to you.

Ok, so not everyone looks like that.  I know people who always do.  I’m a little more reserved but nonetheless am open and inquisitive.  I just work at it a little more.

But you can learn to enhance these skills through role playing.

Asking questions of your prospect is always a good opener.

“Hi there, how are you?”  (always be ready with sales tools and samples so you can share with others your meet)

The person will likely say hello and ask you how you are too.

Say something like” I’m celebrating today”   WAIT for a response in the form of “what are you celebrating or something like it”.

Respond with “Ive just released 15 pounds and 25 inches of fat and I feel great.”  Wait for response which could be “how did you do that?’

” I did it through a nutritional body cleanse and the best part of it, I got to eat chocolate while doing it.”

Wait for a response.  “How’s that?”

“Tell you what, I have a sample right here.  I don’t have the time right now to chat but because I want to know what this chocolate did for you, I’d like to give you a call tomorrow.  What time would be best for you?” (make sure you offer choices of time) ( get the contact info at this time)

“Tell me, what is your downtime of the day?  Most people say it’s around 4pm.”

Wait for a response.

“This chocolate is no ordinary chocolate and if you take it around that time, it’ll boost your mood and energy.  Here’s a brochure so you can learn more about it.”

Of course, the above is a very simplified scenario, but it should give you an idea of how things work no matter what your product is.

Your goal is to create curiosity and being yourself is very important but most important is for you to have fun, use the tools and get the contact information.

Remember you don’t have a prospect until you have their contact information.

Ok, so now you’re at your appointment and are ready to introduce John to your opportunity.

Connect first, then say

“John, I have designed a personal financial plan for you. ( remember you said you were a professional business planner)

Would it be correct for me to say that other facilities like yours in this area are your competitors?

What if you could turn all the competition into a business partnership?  (YES)

• You sell products in your gym, is that correct?  (YES)
• Before I explain to you our products,  let me remind you from our last conversation what our collaboration could do for you:

1. Add value to your clients
2. Expand your current business
3. Increase your bottom line

• First I would like to share our business model with you; would that be Ok John?  If you like it, we continue;  if you don’t, we stop:
• You sell protein shakes here, and your only source of revenue on these shakes is a retail profit, isn’t that right?
• Imagine if you could introduce your protein shakes to other gyms or any other locations.
• We have a system that keeps track of all the protein shakes sold in your gym and in all the other locations to whom you have introduced the product. And John, you get paid every time someone purchases a product.
• What other businesses would you see selling these products?  Other gyms, personal trainers, spas or individuals?
• All these people become your business partners; our system tracks every sale.  And every time your business partners introduce these products to other businesses or individuals, YOU get paid.
• You can use this program to give your staff a raise without paying for it yourself, AND keep them motivated as well.
• With your competition, other businesses and your staff multiplying your effort by selling your product, what could this mean for your business?

See how easy any scenario can be adjusted to the prospects situation?  It’s with training like this that you get ahead and prosper.

Stay tuned for the conclusion tomorrow.

If you haven’t already listened to the 3 recordings that take you into a perfect business scenario so you can learn an easy “how to method” to prospect a business owner, then you are missing an important training example to catapult your business to success.

Just click on the upper right side box and go and listen.

Below is just a part of what you will be learning in these audios.

If you are introducing your business, any business, it’s all about connections and the first thing is to get the appointment.

1. Ask to talk to the person who is responsible, either owner or manager
2. Connect with John by complimenting him on his facility
3. Ask questions about the kind of services (the gym, spa, hair salon, etc) that are provided in his gym.
4. Listen to his answers.
5. Then introduce John to a possible collaboration between the two of you that will

• Adding value to his clients
• Expand his current business
• Increase his bottom line

If the answer is yes, and John will meet with you, then book an appointment – 20 to 30 minutes and make sure to tell him that you will need his undivided attention, always giving him a choice as to day and time.

Don´t tell John about your opportunity.  If he insists on knowing what you do:

Give him your Business card and say you are a “Professional Business Planner.”

Your first step is complete.  You now have an appointment scheduled where your plan will really go into action.

The difference between you and someone else doing this business is all in the training.  You don’t want to look and sound unprofessional so get with it and learn from the best.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Facing new people as a network marketer can be sometimes daunting, especially when you’re prospecting.

You might be wondering what to say to spark in your prospect that desire to want to hear more from you.  But first of all, you need to make the appointment before you can pitch your story.

When meeting a business owner, that appointment can be a little harder to get and there are certainly some words you need to avoid or you will turn your contact off completely.

So this post will deal with a few words that we normally use when presenting our opportunity that basically should be replaced by other words that won’t evoke the same emotional response from your prospect.

During these unsure financial times, the very word “Business” is not a good word to use in an approach.

Why?

Well, the business owner already owns a business that may be struggling.  They may have current employee problems to solve and also my have a huge overhead to deal with while still trying to pay the bills.  The very last thing they want to hear about is anything to do with another “business”.

We promote teamwork and have support to back it up.

So, instead of using “business”, think of replacing it with “additional income“.  Additional income does not bring up a negative emotional response, in fact it brings hope of more money flowing in the future.

Another word that is often used and brings on negative emotion is “membership”.  Becoming a member of what?  Choose a word most people can relate to such as “opening an account“.  We open accounts at the bank or at a store.  It’s a normal procedure of everyday life and more acceptable.

One very scary word to many is “autoship”.  First of all, it takes a lot of explaining and people see their dollars flying away automacally without having any control over the outcome.

Now doesn’t “convenience program” make it sound more inviting?

Here are some pointers you might use when trying to get an appointment with a business owner.  Remember, at this point, you’re just after the appointment, nothing else.

1. Connect with the person who is responsible for the business, not an employee
2. Compliment them on their store, or products or whatever
3. Ask questions that relate to the store’s purpose but don’t get nosy

Then say something like this:

“I believe we have a great opportunity here for us to collaborate together and increase the value to your current clients as well as increase your bottom line.  Would you be open to hearing how you can do just that?”

Book your appointment and remember to make sure to tell them that you will need a half hour of their time, uninterrupted.

If they ask you what it’s all about, here’s a good reply: “I’m a professional business planner looking to help you increase your value to your clients.”

So, VOILA, there you have it, a quick how to do, to get an interview with a business owner you never met before.

It’s with excellent training and easy tips like these that you will grow your income because your team will learn terms that invite rather than scare a prospect away.

I often hear from my very successful upline leader that structure creates freedom.

I’m really beginning to believe it as I’m finding that the more I follow a plan for my network marketing business, it saves me time and makes me more productive.

One really good way to implement some structure is through your list.

Divide your list into 3 parts.

1. your top 10 names list.  Some leaders will tell you to write down every person you know until you have 100 and work with that constantly.  I think that would drive me nuts.  I work a lot better with 10 names at a time and as one prospect gets moved off that list, it gets replaced by another name to always have only 10 names to work with.
2. once a name is moved it will probably go to your Follow-up list. This list is for those who have become product users and for those who have requested more information about your product or business.  These are works in progress.  A good tip is to color code your product users versus the others.  At a glance you are able to tell who is on the product and who your leads are that need more info.
3. the ones that don’t bite on any of the info you have shared with them go onto your DRIP list. These not interested leads can still be contacted on a monthly basis by supplying them with certain information.  This info can be about the product, a video or an audio that will educate.  Unless this lead tells you not to bother them anymore, they should be kept into your pipeline.  Who knows, it often happens that some drip list leads become product users after a while or even business builders.  Situations change all the time. No stone is left unturned.

Each week, you work your list and conatct people on a rotational basis.  This way you will never run out of people to talk to.

Prospecting becomes very structured and you will never forget a prospect.

I know that there are many other ways of handling prospects and this is only one of them.  If this system works for you, then great.

It sure works fine for me.

When training new, inexperienced people for prospecting, there are a few things you need to consider.

First of all, people have different opinions.

How does this relate to prospecting?

Well, the first thing we are told is to share with friends and family.  Some people may find it easier to do that if they come from a supportive family and some won’t because they fear rejection, especially from someone they love.

So how can this be avoided?  By increasing ABILITY.

Your circle of influence starts with your family and can be represented as the middle bullseye on your influence of influence board.  These are the people you are closest to.

If you widen the circle a little you find relatives, then you get to friends, colleagues, people you meet regularly, people you meet once in a while, people you haven’t met in a long time, friends of friends and then strangers.

Get the picture?  Our circle of influence may be wide but at the edges, those we know get to be less and less until you are in the cold call area.

I hate cold calls and I refuse to make any.  So how can you train your new recruit to stay within the first few rungs of their circle of influence?

Teach them a script. You have to know what to say so that you don’t turn your family and friends against you.  It also insulates you from rejection.  It’s that simple

Here’s an idea of what I mean:

“I have just started this new business and I’m very serious about it and my business coach is giving me a challenge to connect with 10 family members who are open minded and you happen to be on my list.  I was wondering if you would help me?

(When they say “yes”)

“Great.  All I need you to do is watch this video and after you can give me your opinion.”

As your newbie practises with their closest family members, their level of ability will increase.  As ability increases, this new prospector will feel more confident and will widen the circle a little.

It’s a win win situation.  Your new associate gains confidence through practise and with your support and excellent training will soon find that prostecting is really simple and in the end quite rewarding.

I just wanted to talk briefly today about using promotional post cards as an excellent tool for prospecting.

Postcards are efficient, very easy to create and can be a very powerful marketing tool.

Now you can snail mail post cards but you can also email postcards which are much more economical and just as effective. Why?

Because postcards are sent after you’ve created a bond between you and your prospect.

The person receiving it is expecting it and wants to hear what you have to say.

They’re useful for customer up sells and cross sells, direct purchase, lead generation and brand awareness. It’s truly amazing how an effectively written postcard e-mail will do the trick.

A promotional postcard e-mail sometimes promotes an event, but not always.

Here’s a quick example:

If I helped you get started in an online business from home, and in a few short years you were earning enough money to retire and still make a good income and live the lifestyle you always wanted to live, would you send me a Thank You note?

Well, that’s what I want to do. Please take my tour at the following web site.

You could also try the promotional teaser – an e-mail that is exactly what it says it is – it teases you, leaving you wanting to know MORE.

Again, here’s a couple of quick example so you get the idea:

Subject: Lions and Pigs

Be there when we need you!

Now you could really make things more interesting by sending an audio postcard. There are membership sites which already contain everything you need to do this for a nominal monthly fee.

I used one when I first did my cleansing program and sent it to all the people on my warm contact list. The response was clearly positive. Click here if you want to listen to my first recording.

It has become a tool I use a lot now even just to send a hello to someone I love.

With the advent of the internet, network marketing has changed so much that one can hardly follow the old ways anymore. Sure you can do it the old way and succeed but it is so much harder than it needs to be.

According to research done by tax preparation services, only 1 to 2% marketers earn substantial incomes. That means that 98% never reach a positive cash flow in their business.

So, being a newbie can be a challenge and there are many don’ts you should be aware of before launching yourself into network marketing.

The first don’t is about sharing your product with everyone right away. Ignorance on fire can be ok, but you really must be provided with training of some kind before you even open your mouth. If not, then you will be wasting your time and that of others and you will quickly get discouraged.

At first, most of us suffer from verbal diarrhea and overwhelm the prospect with too much information. So much so that the next time they see you, they want to run away.

Good training teaches you to shut up at just the right time.

Another newbie faux pas is to think that this business is for everyone. If you’re taught that anyone can do this business, then no wonder you’ll be quitting soon. It should be for everyone but not just anyone has the commitment and will to do this type of business.

If you’re taught to hype and exaggerate claims about your product, you are being unethical.

This is a no no. If you have positive experience, then by all means share your story, if not, then why are you promoting this product in the first place?

If you’re taught to place more emphasis on motivation and belief than learning the fundamentals of sales and marketing, your success may be questionable. A great team will have all the tools needed to educate you.

If you’re taught that your company’s product is the greatest with the best comp plan in the business, then reconsider your position, as there are most likely better plans out there. You just haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re taught that everyone is your prospect, you may be making more enemies than friends.

People don’t want to have anything forced on them. Yes it is important to get customers and some of those will become business partners but it has to be a conscious choice.

In the mean time, keep them informed about the product or special occasions that might peak their interest in joining you later on.

Most often it’s a lack of information that holds a person back from joining you. That’s why follow-ups are gold in this industry and that the drips you let drop on those that said no in the first place, may create a pond ready for swimming in one day.

The key though is to implement an effective marketing system, which will allow you to spend twice as much time in front of interested people and literally double your results immediately.

When you have that kind of marketing machine working for you, you’ll see more cash in your pocket, be less stressed and enjoy real results motivation. You also won’t have to work nearly as hard to get results…and your distributors will be more than grateful at having chosen you to do business with.

Everyone’s a prospect! You may have come across that statement from a fellow networker or even your upline trainer.

To believe such a statement puts into practice the “3 foot rule” and the “when in doubt blurt it out” technique.

In these days of network marketing, you will be laughed at and rejected often.

Who likes to be rejected?  Not me!

So you may be new to the industry but it does not mean that you have to talk to everyone that comes within arms length. There is nothing more embarrassing than to go to a network marketing convention and see hundreds of associates approaching anything that walks and talks.

It makes me want to hide! It’s also these kinds of antics that have damaged the industry’s reputation almost beyond repair and what holds back a lot of people to even consider network marketing as a viable second income that could lead them to the freedom they really want in a shorter time than a 9 to 5 job ever will.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was once a newbie and I also didn’t know any better or I should say I was not taught any better.

I can remember a convention I attended in Florida about 14 years ago. Boy, when we hit Tampa, Tampa new we were there. Thank God I have since learned how to really do network marketing in an efficient and less intrusive way.

The plain old truth of the matter is that not everyone is your prospect!

Not everyone is looking to run their own business. There will always be some, and that really is the majority of people, who just want to have a no hassle, don’t bother me life. And that’s great? Don’t you need customers?

And there will always be some that despise the industry and see it as a scam. There is nothing you can do about that and as Jim Rohn says “Don’t even go there”.

Why waste your energy when there are others just waiting to hear about an opportunity that might change their lives?

Remember that your time is valuable and that people have to earn their time with you by showing an interest in what you’re offering and by asking questions.

It doesn’t matter if you think the person is the perfect prospect. Until they go out of their way to get more information, they really are just another bystander.

It’s not your job to convert anyone. Your job is to get the maximum returns possible for your time and efforts. How? By talking to people who is already on the same page as you or soon will be.

Sure you can cold call and try to prospect other networkers and you might get lucky after many rejections. I hate cold calling. It just makes me squirm inside.

There are much better ways to market and invest in a respectable marketing system that will find targeted prospects that want to hear what you have to say.

Who finds who first is what’s important. It positions you as the expert and you no longer have to feel as the hunter looking for prey.