MLM Bolts and Nuts vs. MLM Lies
In this series of articles I will show you the difference between MLM reality and the usual Hype Campaigns directed by unprofessional Networkers to a widely untargeted audience. In fact, I will describe what happened to me and you could well find that you have gone through similar situations. The most important will be to draw the right conclusions and to adopt a professional and business like view about your Networking Business.
MLM Lie 2: Anyone is a prospect
One of the traditionally used prospecting tactics consists in considering anyone a prospect. When I started MLM and Networking, I did as told and who ever I met, became a target, someone to whom I wanted to stick my business pitch. I soon noticed that the method did not work and that instead of relating to people in a relaxed way, I was always looking for this opportunity in the conversation to get rid of my jingle. Frankly, it was no fun, nor for me nor for my vis-a-vis.
Try to do it with your friends and family and you will soon get frustrated as you will be moved to the list of “annoying conversation partners”. On top of it: it does not work and you cause more damage than good: your relations will suffer and your business won’t grow any better or faster.
Frustrated by my results I was looking somewhat closer at the problem and it came to my mind that if you target anyone and every body as a prospect for a Business where roughly 95% of the people fail, then you cause 95% of collateral damage to feed the 5%.
The conclusion was simple: only 5% of people qualify for what I was selling (the networking opportunity) and therefore I would ennoy 95% with my sales pitch.
Or: 95% of my prospecting effort was a waste of time and money.
Worse: Imagine if you associate to a business 95% of people who do not qualify and who do not succeed and you tell them to go out and market the program to just anyone, you end up in a situation where the blind leads the lame and “this is when you tell a bunch of people who don’t have a clue about sales and marketing and have them tell a bunch of other people who don’t have a clue about sales or marketing, to go make a bunch of money doing it”. (Try to figure that one out :-).)
Back to basics! Thinking back about sales and marketing strategies, I just had to throw over board the miraculous MLM hype. In the real world, not everyone is a prospect and not everybody can Network Successfully. (See MLM Marketing: 7 Misconceptions 1).
Check it out: Coca Cola is marketing it’s products to just about everybody, however they are looking for sales people in a targeted way, by placing ads where potential sales people are hanging out: for example in news papers. Imagine if Coca Cola went out to to look for sales representatives in Football stadiums, on Magazine back-covers or on pop concerts?It would cost a heck of a lot of money for few people concerned compared to those reached.
The same applies in MLM and Networking, even if some MLM companies want to make out of every customer a networker, in some cases attracting the customer into the network with the argument of a discount. It’s not because you have signed a distributor’s agreement that you will become a successful sales person, but at least you can profit from a discount on your personal consumption. Just another way of building loyalty of people who actually do not qualify for what they have signed up for, for as long as they continue consuming the products.
Sure, hype sells, but what is your goal as a networker? Isn’t it to build business with people who build business and to make money from your business building and the business building of business builders who build their business with you? (Another one to figure out :-).)
If that is true then you have the answer to the problem: only a small number of people qualify for what we do and in order to increase efficiency (means return on every marketing Dollar spent) we must target our prospecting activity to a smaller, much smaller sample, whereby we eliminate the bulk of the 95% of people who are not concerned by our prospecting activity.
Therefore, rule 2 is: target your Marketing and Prospecting.
How to do that exactly, you can learn and apply during the Ycademy Online Seminar and Workshops which take place on October 25/26, 2008, where we will show and apply the relevant techniques and strategies to the example of the DubLi Business and Networking Opportunity, whereas the same principles apply to any other Networking Opportunity.
Check out the agenda by clicking on the picture:
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