Old School MLM Recruiting Tactics
Why They Fail In MLM Today
Having a successful MLM recruiting strategy is the dream of many network marketing distributors. Unfortunately, for most distributors, the only strategy available is the one provided by their companies.
These strategies, often called old school tactics, put their focus on numbers. Almost everyone was made to believe that by signing up many new distributors, they will build huge thriving network marketing businesses.
Little did they realize that...
...it's not how many people you have in your downline that matters, it is how many people you have in your downline who know how to market or build their businesses.
So how did these MLM recruiting tactics of old work?
First you were required to make a list of all the people you know. I mean everyone...mama, papa, granny, sibling, cousin, aunt, uncle, former teacher, your local councilor, even the president of your country if you had a way to reach him.
Next, you were expected to contact each person on the list, starting with your warm list, i.e. people closest to you - your family and friends.
As you meet and talk about your products or opportunity, you also need to gather more names to add to your list, called referrals.
In spite of this, 97% of people joining network marketing never made any real money in their businesses for decades. And there are reasons why this strategy is not effective.
Here are three reasons why the old school recruiting tactics fail to deliver.
- The MLM recruiting strategy targeted everyone.
The thinking was that everyone is your prospect. Because of this, many distributors believed that talking to everyone within hearing distance was an effective mlm recruiting strategy.
But is this true? If everyone was your prospect, wouldn't ridiculous mlm recruiting techniques like "the 3 foot rule" be effective? Surely they would, because everyone would be looking for a network marketing opportunity to join.
But, the truth is ...
Not Everyone Is Your Prospect
A prospect is someone who is already looking. That person would have taken the initiative to find out more.
You see, no one is your prospect until they have shown an interest in what you offer. Not only that. They also need to indicate this interest by wanting to know more.
Until this happens, no one is your prospect, no matter how qualified you may think they are.
To be effective, your network marketing lead generation techniques should have people contacting you first.
The rule in the sales world has always been that you have to expect a lot of nos before you get to a yes. Tom Hopkins, in his How To Master Art Of Selling book says "the key to making more money is to see more people."
Numbers do play a role in network marketing. In fact you need as many active distributors as you can possibly sign up.
The problem is not with the numbers. The problem is perception - the perception that network marketing is a numbers game. This perception has led to a lot of network marketers trying to speak to everyone they meet about their offer just to make up the numbers.
This is not an effective mlm recruiting technique because...
- People are not likely to take you seriously if you chase them, and
- You might appear desperate to those you talk to.
So it would pay to have and implement a lead generation strategy that will have people showing their interest by taking the initiative to contact you.
If you have been in network marketing for some time, you probably tried this strategy before.
Distributors who lead with company products hope that their customers will love the products so much that they will want to get the products at a discount. Of course if this does happen, you will have people who buy products direct from the company and who do so on a regular basis.
But in the end what you will have is committed retail customers who probably want nothing to do with business building.
Can you build a thriving network marketing business on retail customers alone? Not by a long shot. What you need are business builders.
The preferred method was to lead with the opportunity. Distributors are encouraged to always show the plan. Every appointment you make should have showing the marketing plan as its main goal.
Either way the original problem still exists.
The question is 'Who approached who first?' You, of course. And that's what stands between success at building your network marketing business and failure.
You see in the end...
The difference between an effective mlm recruiting strategy and an ineffective one lies in the approach - who approaches who first makes the difference.
The previous sentence is so important that it's worth repeating.
The difference between an effective mlm recruiting strategy and an ineffective one lies in the approach - who approaches who first makes the difference.
There you have it. Approaching mlm prospects first is the main reason old school recruiting tactics fail in network marketing today.
It is worth noting that...
MLM prospects don't want your products
MLM prospects don't want your opportunity
MLM prospects want solutions to their problems
People want solutions to their existing problems all the time. So your network marketing lead generation strategy will only be effective if it is aimed at solving your prospect's problems first.
One of the best closely kept network marketing secrets is that teaching sells.
So the first thing you can do for your prospects is to teach them. If you are selling health products, you may teach about how to cure or prevent specific health problems. If you sell water purifiers you may teach about the importance of drinking purified water.
And should you decide that network marketers are your target market, you may teach about how to sell network marketing. You may offer free mlm training lessons, etc.
The point is, to be effective, an mlm marketing system should first start by providing value to prospects.
Be a solution and a leader. Solve their problems. That way you will attract more mlm prospects to yourself. You will have an advantage over other network marketers because people will start asking about your products and opportunity.
And that's why old school network marketing recruiting techniques fail and new ones succeed.
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