The No. 1 Network Marketing Skill Which My Father Taught Me

My father was a top level sales person. He represented a sizeable company in the UK, and his job was to win orders on their behalf from some of the UK's top organisations. Dad was recognised for his ability to get the really big orders, orders which others didn't seem to be able to win.

I was reflecting the other day on what it was which made Dad so successful, because it seemed to me that the key to his success was also likely to be the key to our success as Network Marketers. Our work, after all, is very much the same.

Dad had a very good, outgoing personality. He seemed instinctively to be able to find out what made the person he was talking to 'tick'. And since we all like to talk about ourselves, people enjoyed talking to him. In effect, although he was a good talker, he was also a great listener. And having listened to people's desires, hopes, needs and concerns, he was really adept at showing them how his products would meet those desires, hopes, needs or concerns. All great skills for a Network Marketer.

These are important qualities. But many good sales people have these skills. There was one extra skill which my father had which I believe set him apart as a super sales person. He simply never, ever gave up on a prospect. Persistence.

I've seen him work hard for 12 months to win a million dollar contract, only to find that, despite all his hard work, the contract was given to another company. And he knew that it would perhaps be another 2 years before that contract would come round again. Most people would walk away in disappointment at that point, and try selling to someone else instead. Not Dad. He would keep on faithfully visiting that company and continue to build up his relationship with them.

And guess what? Nine times out of ten he'd win the contract next time round! Persistence. It made all the difference.

I believe the very same skills are needed to be successful in any kind of marketing. And persistence is probably the most critical skill of all. Just because someone says 'no' today doesn't mean that they'll say 'no' tomorrow. If we stay close to them and don't give up, it's more than likely that they may well say 'yes' one day.

And there's another point which fits together with this. It's a well known fact that people seldom accept a new product or idea the first time they hear about it. In fact, I've heard it said that we need to hear about something at least seven times before we feel comfortable with it. That's one of the key reasons why companies advertise their products regularly. So if we're expecting people to accept our invitation to buy our product or join our organisation, we shouldn't be disappointed if they say 'no' the first time we ask them. Again, persistence is needed.

Yes, my Dad had great skills and taught me a great lesson. If only he'd got into Network Marketing himself - he'd have been worth a fortune!

SUCCESS IN NETWORK MARKETING: HARD WORK COMES BEFORE THE REWARDS!

A few days ago I was talking to a young lady called Gwen, who had recently signed up with one of the international cosmetics companies which operate through network marketing. She was very excited.

Gwen told me about her new web site, about her likely future income, and about the car she was going to have very soon and the exotic holiday she and her husband were planning. All courtesy of this cosmetics company.

What Gwen didn't mention was how many people she expected to have in her team, or how she planned to build her team to a level which would give her the income level she was seeking. She didn't talk about all the hard work she expected to have to put in to build up her business, nor the time she'd need to spend away from her family.

I don't want to strike an overly negative note here, but it does concern me that companies, while naturally wanting to encourage their distributors, oversell the potential rewards while underselling completely the work required to earn those rewards. Many network marketing companies offer an excellent opportunity, but they do no one a great service if they over-emphasise the rewards and under-emphasise the effort involved in earning them.

In my last blog I mentioned two specific qualities which, it had been argued, were needed to be a successful network marketer. They were optimism and persistence. To those I should probably add sound business acumen, because to be successful, every network marketer must also be able to run a successful business.

Unfortunately, in their haste to recruit distributors, the companies always try to whip up the optimism but seldom emphasise the need for persistence or sound business sense. And optimism serves little purpose without the determination to take it beyond the first few days!

Sadly, because of the wrong emphasis, most network marketers fall by the wayside before they experience any real success.

I sincerely hope that Gwen does really well. But if she does, I fancy it will be in spite of, rather than because of, the company to which she has hitched her star.