Your Network Marketing Business – Are You Pushing So Hard That You Fail?

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of sponsoring one of the hardest working network marketing business builders you’ll ever find. This guy was pumped up, enthusiastic, and really focused on being successful. He fit the mold of someone you’d really love to have in your downline. For sake of illustration, let’s call him Joe.

Joe worked hard for two years, and by all accounts he was doing the right things. He prospected, followed up regularly, and demonstrated a tireless work ethic toward his business.

Then, the verdict came in. Joe failed to get anything going and made little money, despite his hard work and strong effort. There were two things about him that stood out.

For those two years he participated in co-op advertising, built web sites, drove traffic, and overall brought in as many or more prospects online than anyone else.

For those two years, despite finding a large number of prospects for his network marketing business, very few of them signed up with him.

These developments captured the attention of his upline leaders, and we constantly scratched our heads trying to figure this out. By discussing the business with him, we knew he was doing at least some of the right things. The number of prospects he brought in was a testimonial to that.

All of Joe’s prospects went through the same online information and followup system that everyone else’s prospects did. Somehow, the difference had to be in something Joe was doing.

What was going on?

After two years, Joe became discouraged and decided to move on to something else. Once he let us know of his decision, we took the opportunity to contact some of his prospects directly.

Our enthusiastic, very motivated network marketing business builder was really a nice guy, and most people seemed to like him. However, listening carefully to the prospects Joe had worked with revealed some things that told a lot of the story.

• he was promising great wealth, fast riches and exaggerating so much that he almost instantly lost credibility with prospects who were seeking a legitimate opportunity

• he was so intensely focused on “closing” and sponsoring his prospects that he actually came across as desperate – his prospects picked this up right away and were turned off

Joe, in years prior to starting his network marketing business, had been pretty successful in direct selling. He had been trained in the “one call close” techniques that traditionally define a salesperson’s approach to selling products like vacuum cleaners and cell phone service. You knew if you didn’t get the sale on the first call, you’d likely never get it. So, the pressure to get the sale each time was immense. Joe was literally approaching his prospects with this “one call close” mentality.

You cannot approach a network marketing business like this. Rather than applying pressure and trying to “sponsor them now”, you have to establish a rapport and build some degree of relationship with your prospects to be successful.

Unfortunately, Joe didn’t understand this and tried to apply his previous training in sales directly to his network marketing business. His work ethic was terrific and his drive to succeed was out of this world. However, all of that energy and effort was channeled into an approach that caused many of his prospects to slam the door rather than consider working with him.

What can we learn from Joe?

Let’s approach our prospects as individuals with unique goals and dreams. Starting a network marketing business is a serious decision. This can be the vehicle to achieve those dreams and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Never push or try to apply traditional sales closing techniques – it just doesn’t work out well for anyone involved. Be a leader, and a mentor.