[nabentre] some thoughts on network marketing

Sat Jul 4 02:53:06 UTC 2009

I agree, Dave. Our company encourages us to think of prospecting and
recruiting as separate processes. We're encouraged to check for interest and
make sure the person to whom we're talking gives us permission before
launching into a presentation. We don't want all our friends to run the
other way when they see us coming because we've all but browbeat them into
joining us. I'm sure it still happens with new people who are so excited
about the company or its products that they go into presentation mode the
minute they say hello. I've done that myself, I'm sorry to say, out of sheer
enthusiasm. The more seasoned and reasonable approach is to start a
conversation with a new person, learn enough about him or her to determine
if there is even a remote interest, and then ask "I'm involved with
something that might address the problem you mentioned, with your health,
your wealth, or whatever the person actually mentioned. Would you be
interested in hearing more?" That's the prospecting process. All you're
doing is checking for interest. Once you've determined there is interest,
then it's time to start recruiting. Even when someone has expressed an
interest, the wise network marketer will continue to check with the person
throughout the information process. "Am I giving you the kind of information
you need to make a decision? Would you like to learn more about ...?"  
It's not in the best interest of the network marketer to waste his or her
time trying to convince someone when the world is full of people who would
be interested without needing  convincing. Badgering people isn't
respectful. Neither is being coy about what you're really doing because you
believe people won't listen if they know what they're being asked to listen
to.

I think the industry has become more sophisticated in the past thirty years.
Of course, human beings are involved, so there is bound to be a huge
variance between people in the level of respect, courtesy, and skill. But
the industry, at least the Nikken part of the industry, hammers home the
concept of permission marketing, and respect for those we want to recruit in
all training of new dconsultants.
I'm sorry you had such an unpleasant experience several years ago. A network
marketer with bad taste can leave potential customers and distributors with
a bad taste that remains for a lifetime. My only request of people who have
felt badgered by one or two network marketers is the same request I make of
sighted people who have felt offended by one or two rude blind people.
Please remember that it is a big world with a lot of unique individuals in
it. Not all network marketers, or all blind people, are the same. Please
don't shy away from all of us because of a bad experience with a few of us.

Mary Ellen

-----Original Message-----
From: nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabentre-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: July 3, 2009 7:18 PM
To: NFBnet NAB Entrepreneurs Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nabentre] some thoughts on network marketing

Maryellen, the other problem is that many of us have been coerced, by 
friends or acquaintances into listening to a presentation about 
buying this or that, that we weren't able to say no to.
That is listening, not necessarily the buying, although that can 
happen too.  My Father did Amway for a while, and I had to sit 
through numerous presentations, and buy toothpaste and shampoo 
etc.  There are some good products, and some good salespersons etc., 
but some of the tactics used by some leave a bad taste.

Dave

At 12:04 AM 7/3/2009, you wrote:
>I'm with you, Loren. I also believe very strongly in network marketing. 
>I think it's public relations difficulties come from those who expect 
>it to be a quick bonanza. There are certainly those who make a lot of 
>money very quickly in MLM, but it is net *work* marketing, not net 
>*wish* marketing. Imagine you started a shop at your local mall. On any 
>given day, a thousand shoppers might come into the mall; ninety per 
>cent of them will walk right past your shop without stopping. They are 
>simply not in the market for what your store has to offer. Of the ten 
>per cent who do walk in, more than half of them will look around for a 
>few minutes and walk out again without buying anything. The other half 
>will spend more time, but probably half of them will make a token 
>purchase and the other half will buy something substantial. This means 
>that two and a half per cent of your potential customers will make a 
>significant purchase, two and a half per cent will buy something. 
>Ninety-five per cent won't do a thing, at least not today. That's an 
>acceptable level of traffic for a traditional business.
>
>Now imagine that you have a network marketing business. You let one 
>thousand people know that it exists. Ninety per cent turn you down 
>flat; they don't even want to hear what you have to say. Of the 
>remaining ten per cent, you spend time with them and half of them still 
>don't want anything. Of the final five per cent, you get two and a half 
>per cent who make token purchases and two and a half per cent who buy 
>into the vision of your company and opportunity. What do most people 
>say about that? "I talked to one thousand people and only got 
>twenty-five customers and twenty-five distributors. This MLM is 
>garbage; I'm going to quit." (Most network marketing companies will 
>tell you that the odds are usually that one third of the people who 
>sincerely take a look at a company will do something, either become a 
>customer or distributor.
>
>I think the difference is that, when we approach people to let them 
>know about our MLM business, we're putting ourselves out there in a way 
>that we don't if we have a traditional business. It's easy to feel that 
>we're being personally rejected when the truth is that people we talk 
>to just may not be on the same wavelength today. That doesn't mean that 
>they won't be five months, five years, or ten years from now. 
>Successful network marketers get their egos out of the way and 
>concentrate on finding people who want what they want. They don't try 
>convincing people; they just look for the right ones. Network marketing 
>actually has a better return rate than traditional business; it just 
>seems less because the "no" of someone you talk to in person or on the 
>phone is much more memorable than the "no" of the person who just walks 
>by your mall store without stopping.
>
>As for the complaint that the people "at the top" get the money and the 
>people "at the bottom" do all the work, there is a lot that could be 
>said. I won't begin to say all of it, since everybody on this list has 
>better things to do than read a small book. In reputable companies, 
>money changes hands for products. You buy something and pay for it. 
>(You may need to pay a fee for registering with the company, but that 
>is never a commission for the person doing the recruiting. In Nikken, 
>the company with which my husband and I work, commissions are paid 
>based on the sales volume of the person doing the selling. The person 
>who does the work of training new people gets paid for it in the form 
>of bonuses based on the recruit's volume, but never to the detriment of 
>the recruit. The people "at the top" earn a lot because they've helped 
>train a lot of people. If you're good at prospecting (and I don't mean 
>nagging everyone you know) recruiting, and training people, and if you 
>do it consistently for long enough to develop a staff, you'll make 
>money. If you don't do the work, you won't. It doesn't really matter 
>whether you get in early or late; our company's products have less than 
>one per cent market penetration, so it's still early after twenty years 
>of doing business in the United States. I suppose that even a company 
>which is known to most people still has opportunity for an ambitious 
>representative.
>
>This isn't intended as a commercial for our company; obviously I think 
>it's reputable and has phenominal products or I wouldn't associate 
>myself with it. It is intended as a brief explanation of the principles 
>of reputable network marketing. If anyone on the list would be 
>interested in understanding the concept behind network marketing more 
>thoroughly, I would be happy to find links to resources on the topic.
>
>
>
>Mary Ellen Gabias
>
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