It's absolutely critical for all of us to provide quality training for our downline. Everyone says that, and I for one found it out the hard way during my early days in network marketing. So let me map out 5 important reasons why we need to do this.
1. Better results
Perhaps it's a selfish reason, but the simple reality is that we will get much better results from our team if we make sure they are all properly trained. If we simply sign people up, wish them well and leave them to their own devices, what are their chances of being successful? Pretty low. And, since our success is very much dependent on their success, we need to make sure that our people are as well trained as they can possibly be.
2. Consistency
We all have our own ideas about how to go about network marketing. So if we leave it to each individual team member to do their own thing, or even to train their own downline team, we're very probably going to get some very strange results coming through. And the larger our downline, the bigger the problem is likely to get. A consistent set of training for the whole team is therefore very desirable.
3. A Happier Downline
If people are well trained, they instinctively feel better, are happier, and enjoy their network marketing more. Again, if they perform better as a result, we all stand to benefit. Quality training therefore is extremely important.
4. Eliminate Folk Lore
By providing quality training we are creating a system for people to follow. Anyone who, like me, has been involved in implementing systems, knows how quickly 'folk lore' can come into being - that is, false advice from self-proclaimed experts as to how best to follow (or work around) the system. Folk lore can ruin a good system very quickly. on-going quality training is really the only way to eliminate it.
5. Helps Maintain Good Communication
Effective communication with our downline is critical if we want to be successful network marketers. No matter how many levels we have in our downline, we need to find ways to keep in touch with everyone and keep them fully motivated. Training won't meet this need on its own, but it is one very important way of maintain effective communication!
OK, hopefully I've convinced you that quality training is a critical element of our network marketing business - in fact, it's probably our most important business responsibility once we have a decent sized downline to work with and build on. But how do we go about doing this quality training?
For me it's not a one-off need but an on-going requirement. There are no doubt many approaches which can be successful. I'd be delighted to tell you about my own approach, but it's a big enough subject to need more time and space than is available to me now. So I promise to tell you all about the way I go about my training in a later blog.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
HOW TO WIN MORE AND BETTER CUSTOMERS: DO IT LIKE BERNIE
A few years ago there was a comedy movie called "Weekend With Bernie". Bernie has died, but his friends, for reasons of their own, have dressed him up to look as if he's alive. In one scene a very dead Bernie 'negotiates' with a car salesman. Bernie beats the saleman down by thousands of dollars, simply by saying nothing while the salesman keeps on talking. At the end, the salesman congratulates Bernie on being one of the toughest men he's ever had to negotiate with!
It's a comedy, of course, but there's a lot of truth in that scene. Good sales people know that there are times when they need to keep their mouths firmly closed. This can sometimes be an excellent tactic to use in negotiating prices, as per Bernie's experience. But there is another time too when listening is better than talking: when we are getting to know a prospect and building their trust.
Skilled sales people know that it's critical to get to understand their prospect and what makes them tick before trying to sell anything. By doing so they more readily win the trust of their prospect; but even more importantly, they know what is important to the prospect and what part of their sales offering is going to be of most value to them. As a result, 'selling' turns into 'helping', and the operation becomes a win-win for both parties.
Most of us in network marketing are not really skilled sales people, and we have in our minds the idea that selling means 'closing', which in turn means getting people to buy something they don't really want. Consequently we tend to do it all wrong, and often feel pretty uncomfortable in the process.
We tend to gush forth with masses of information about our product range, our company, our business opportunity or our compensation plan, without the slightest idea of whether all or any of this information is really of interest to the prospect If we do this, we are taking pot luck on the outcome. and nine times out of ten we'll get it wrong. Little wonder that we don't convert too many of our prospects into customers...
The professional way is to take as long as necessary to get to know the prospect, their background, their interests and their needs. Just about everyone enjoys talking about themselves, so by listening rather than talking we're actually likely to make genuine friends out of our prospects.
Once we understand the needs of our prospect, it becomes very easy to decide how best our offerings can address those needs and present accordingly. If we put ourselves in the shoes of our prospect, we can readily understand that the prospect now has two excellent reasons to buy from us. Firstly, we are offering something he or she needs. Secondly, they're buying from someone they trust as a friend. Suddenly the probability of conversion becomes VERY much greater and things are much more pleasant for everyone.
None of us wants to be like Bernie - dead, that is. However if we could all listen to our prospects like Bernie, and then THINK before talking, we'd be much more likely to be successful network marketers.
It's a comedy, of course, but there's a lot of truth in that scene. Good sales people know that there are times when they need to keep their mouths firmly closed. This can sometimes be an excellent tactic to use in negotiating prices, as per Bernie's experience. But there is another time too when listening is better than talking: when we are getting to know a prospect and building their trust.
Skilled sales people know that it's critical to get to understand their prospect and what makes them tick before trying to sell anything. By doing so they more readily win the trust of their prospect; but even more importantly, they know what is important to the prospect and what part of their sales offering is going to be of most value to them. As a result, 'selling' turns into 'helping', and the operation becomes a win-win for both parties.
Most of us in network marketing are not really skilled sales people, and we have in our minds the idea that selling means 'closing', which in turn means getting people to buy something they don't really want. Consequently we tend to do it all wrong, and often feel pretty uncomfortable in the process.
We tend to gush forth with masses of information about our product range, our company, our business opportunity or our compensation plan, without the slightest idea of whether all or any of this information is really of interest to the prospect If we do this, we are taking pot luck on the outcome. and nine times out of ten we'll get it wrong. Little wonder that we don't convert too many of our prospects into customers...
The professional way is to take as long as necessary to get to know the prospect, their background, their interests and their needs. Just about everyone enjoys talking about themselves, so by listening rather than talking we're actually likely to make genuine friends out of our prospects.
Once we understand the needs of our prospect, it becomes very easy to decide how best our offerings can address those needs and present accordingly. If we put ourselves in the shoes of our prospect, we can readily understand that the prospect now has two excellent reasons to buy from us. Firstly, we are offering something he or she needs. Secondly, they're buying from someone they trust as a friend. Suddenly the probability of conversion becomes VERY much greater and things are much more pleasant for everyone.
None of us wants to be like Bernie - dead, that is. However if we could all listen to our prospects like Bernie, and then THINK before talking, we'd be much more likely to be successful network marketers.
Friday, February 5, 2010
SIX REASONS WHY WE SHOULD ESTABLISH A NETWORK MARKETING BUSINESS
My recent blogs have centered on questions to ask before deciding whether to set up a network marketing business, and because of this I might have given the impression that I was trying to discourage people from setting up this type of business. Far from it: rather I wanted to point out some of the key things that need to be done if a new business is to have a reasonable chance of success.
In truth I'm very excited about network marketing and the opportunities it offers. I've listed below six excellent reasons for starting up a network marketing business.
1. It offers everyone the opportunity to run their own business. So many of us have the dream of running our own business, and network marketing provides a great vehicle to allow us to do so. As my previous blogs have stressed, a network marketing business is much like any other business, and needs to be run carefully, just like any other business. But if successful your network marketing business can grow to the point where you can leave your job and make your business your career - that's a great thing to aim for!
2. Because of the way networking marketing operates, your business usually comes complete with a whole set of front- and back-office systems already in place for you to use. In his famous book, 'The E-Myth Revisited', Michael Gerber correctly pointed out that every successful business which works with other people needs to have a set of documented systems and procedures in place for those people to follow. Most of us lack the knowledge, experience or time to do this. Gerber, and Robert Kiyosaki, both point out that it is one of the great strengths of network marketing that the supplier company typically provides these systems for us ready to use. This is a very big plus.
3. Network marketing has the potential to be extremely profitable. Many millionaires have been created through network marketing, and there are many more yet to emerge. Many thousands more have made an excellent living out of network marketing. If you start your business right, as set out in my previous blogs, there is really no reason why you can't make a great deal of money.
4. It's fun. Running a successful business nearly always is fun, and network marketing is more fun than most. We get to meet and work with some really fine people, and in fact we ourselves get to choose who those people will be. Few other businesses offer this opportunity for enjoyment.
5. It's exciting and deeply satisfying. Provided you're successful, you'll find network marketing particularly exciting. It combines sales and marketing with a number of other skills (such as teaching others). Together they allow us to develop both our expertise and our personalities. With network marketing you're very unlikely to get stuck 'in a rut'.
6. The best is yet to come. Network marketing is continually developing, not only in terms of the product range which is available to market, but also in term of its use of technology. There is no doubt that the development of Web 2.0, for instance, will deliver enormous future opportunities to expand the horizons of network marketing. I have first-hand knowledge of this, because I am aware of one such massive and unique new opportunity which will almost certainly hit the market in the next two or three weeks. I promise to tweet and blog about it as soon as it comes through, so that my readers will have the first opportunity to take advantage of it. Please keep following me over the nest 2 to 3 weeks.
Yes, there are at least 6 good reasons to set up a network marketing business. and I'm sure there are many. many more. In fact we all probably have our own additional and very good personal reasons for doing so.
Make no mistake about it, network marketing is here to stay, and will get bigger and bigger over time. And all of us, no matter what our previous backgrounds, have the opportunity to participate in this enormous growth.
In truth I'm very excited about network marketing and the opportunities it offers. I've listed below six excellent reasons for starting up a network marketing business.
1. It offers everyone the opportunity to run their own business. So many of us have the dream of running our own business, and network marketing provides a great vehicle to allow us to do so. As my previous blogs have stressed, a network marketing business is much like any other business, and needs to be run carefully, just like any other business. But if successful your network marketing business can grow to the point where you can leave your job and make your business your career - that's a great thing to aim for!
2. Because of the way networking marketing operates, your business usually comes complete with a whole set of front- and back-office systems already in place for you to use. In his famous book, 'The E-Myth Revisited', Michael Gerber correctly pointed out that every successful business which works with other people needs to have a set of documented systems and procedures in place for those people to follow. Most of us lack the knowledge, experience or time to do this. Gerber, and Robert Kiyosaki, both point out that it is one of the great strengths of network marketing that the supplier company typically provides these systems for us ready to use. This is a very big plus.
3. Network marketing has the potential to be extremely profitable. Many millionaires have been created through network marketing, and there are many more yet to emerge. Many thousands more have made an excellent living out of network marketing. If you start your business right, as set out in my previous blogs, there is really no reason why you can't make a great deal of money.
4. It's fun. Running a successful business nearly always is fun, and network marketing is more fun than most. We get to meet and work with some really fine people, and in fact we ourselves get to choose who those people will be. Few other businesses offer this opportunity for enjoyment.
5. It's exciting and deeply satisfying. Provided you're successful, you'll find network marketing particularly exciting. It combines sales and marketing with a number of other skills (such as teaching others). Together they allow us to develop both our expertise and our personalities. With network marketing you're very unlikely to get stuck 'in a rut'.
6. The best is yet to come. Network marketing is continually developing, not only in terms of the product range which is available to market, but also in term of its use of technology. There is no doubt that the development of Web 2.0, for instance, will deliver enormous future opportunities to expand the horizons of network marketing. I have first-hand knowledge of this, because I am aware of one such massive and unique new opportunity which will almost certainly hit the market in the next two or three weeks. I promise to tweet and blog about it as soon as it comes through, so that my readers will have the first opportunity to take advantage of it. Please keep following me over the nest 2 to 3 weeks.
Yes, there are at least 6 good reasons to set up a network marketing business. and I'm sure there are many. many more. In fact we all probably have our own additional and very good personal reasons for doing so.
Make no mistake about it, network marketing is here to stay, and will get bigger and bigger over time. And all of us, no matter what our previous backgrounds, have the opportunity to participate in this enormous growth.
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