MLM Success

Modern day MLMs developed after WWII. In fact, the granddaddy of all MLMs is Amway/Quixtar. Their philosophy was simple: word-of-mouth sells. If a distributor uses the company product or service, and is satisfied, he/she will be able to convince friends and family members to use those products, too.

Listen to what Brian Tracy has to say about the importance of relationships in sales. Doesn't this reflect the heart of the MLM Success model?

We’re 60 years past the MLM business innovation, but the statistics still hold true today: word-of-mouth testimonials are the cheapest form of company advertising and still the most successful.

There are a handful of successful multilevel marketers--beyond the millionaires in your current upline--who have built a vast organization. When a new MLM starts, these people are invited to join. They bring their downline with them. These people speak at company rallies and help develop marketing tools. They bring credibility to the new enterprise because of name recognition.

They also receive special bonuses from the company. Once they have plucked the “ground floor” profits and have given their testimonial to the success and growth of the company, they scoot off to some other project—with their core group.

In part, that’s what you want to do in this business: build a core group based on the skills you don’t have or the necessary chores in MLM you don’t want to perform. Not only are successful multilevel marketers concerned with building a team, but they are also concerned with building a customer base.

I offer one last Brian Tracy video. Remember, in his series he's talking about salesmanship, which has huge implications for network marketers--because sales at the heart of any business. And whether you have experienced yet or not, multilevel marketing has a built-in structure for long-term success!

3 Key Skills for Successful Network Marketing

Products don't sell themselves.

Ray Silverstein a columnist for Entrepreneur writes, “Those of us in sales are often consumed with one thing: the close. We've been trained to accomplish this by pushing those all-important features and benefits. From the moment we begin the sales process, our vision is focused on the end.

“What if we've got it backwards? In my observation--and research bears this out--the outcome of the sale is determined within the first 30 seconds of a presentation. It's during this key period that decision-makers often reach for the "turn off" switch.”

Huh? Silverstein goes on to explain buying is not a rational process. If you’ve done any reading about salesmanship you will know that sales are influenced by emotion; primarily two emotions. Hope and fear.

Your customer hopes that your product, your opportunity will provide something that he greatly desires and cannot get anywhere else.

Or your customer believes that while he’s not 100% sure about your pitch, he fears losing out on it.

In their book, You're Working Too Hard to Make the Sale!, researchers William Brooks and Thomas Travisano concluded that customers want to buy from people they believe understand them. Features and benefits barely enter into the decision.

More than that, they have to like you. Are you likeable?

I’ve had customers actually help me with my sales pitch because they liked me. And I’m not talking about friends. I’m talking about total strangers with whom I built immediate rapport.

“Most salespeople encourage buyers to talk about their needs,” Ray Silverstein says, “but an insightful salesperson will also interpret buyers' subliminal wants.”

MLM companies today focus on customer greed. They drive home the possibility of unlimited wealth by simply joining their opportunity.

Many also give the false impression that being a business owner frees up personal time. While it is true that you can arrange your hours around the needs of your family, no one got to the 6-figure income bracket by working their business two hours a day.

True entrepreneurs like you want to be the boss. You don’t join an inflexible system. You want to build at your own pace. You want to ensure your business’s profitability and longevity; and you want residual income after you retire.

The person who does not share these desires wants to know what they’ll be making a month from now and the ceiling of their possible earnings. This is not a person you want—unless he fits a particular short-term need for your business.

For example, you might need to bring several new distributors into your downline, so you bring someone into your organization who has those contacts; who can make the sale.

You know three quarters of those recruits will quit. They will have seen your opportunity through the eyes of your super salesperson, but you also know that your leadership skills will help you retain the other 25%.

“By immediately demonstrating to buyers that you understand their wants, you'll increase their comfort level with you, which is the first step to gaining their trust. Once a base level of trust is established, the buyer's inclined to keep an open mind, instead of closing the door,” Silverstein concludes.

This goes against most MLM training. We’re told to ask the prospective customer’s need so we can demonstrate how our product or opportunity will solve it.

But as we have seen, needs spring from that rational part of our brains. Wants spring from emotion. And emotion is what drives sales.

Marketing:

MLM is one-third sales. You sell your opportunity. You sell your company’s product or services.

But who is your market? Where is your market? Where do you advertise?

Seventy-five percent of Americans are online. It is a good place to start.

Who is your customer? There are free online tools to determine that. Go to Yahoo tools. Type in several keywords that describe your product. Yahoo will breakdown your target audience by sex, age and income. That will give you a hint about where to start looking for your target audience.

Trying to attract a disinterested audience is like setting a wad of cash on fire. It wastes time, money and worse, it destroys self-confidence.

Mentoring:

This is the other third of the MLM successful profile.

MLMs are based on a much earlier business model, the guild. The guild was an apprentice system based on crafts and craft products. The master craftsman worked with the journeyman. The journeyman learned the final secrets of the craft, honed his skills and taught the apprentice.

Think of the mentor as the master craftsman, the person who from experience can guide others to reproducing their results.A mentor is also an information resource—the “go to” person for answers about company policies in today's world, for example.

The mentor provides customer service. Follow-up with customers is an essential part of the MLM success model. If your company only sells one or two products, it is vital that customer knows how to use them to their advantage, otherwise, they won’t continue to be customers.

Finally I believe the mentor is a friend. That person listens to your frustrations or uncertainties and offers gentle suggestions to help you through them.

Before continuing with the To-Do list that leads to successful network marketing, you should take time to read this book. It inspired me to become an associate in Pre-Paid Legal®. That's right! Because I am housebound, I cannot promote my business through traditional MLM off-line methods! This book gave me hope that network marketing could succeed online.

New ebook reveals why the majority of mlmers fail in their business... Click Here!

WikiHow published a list of 50 action steps to building a lasting MLM business. Here are 24 I employ in my business.

• Use your products regularly.

• Make a total commitment to your program for at least one year.

• Sell yourself first, then the products and the marketing plan.

• Spend 90% of your business time with distributors, customers and prospects.

• Present your products and marketing plan personally to at least one person daily.

• Make "understanding people" more important than product knowledge.

• Praise your distributor's accomplishments.

• Lead by example. Never stop recruiting, training and retailing.

• Keep in touch - communicate by newsletter, meetings, weekly calls, postcards, voice mail - pass on pertinent information immediately.

• Listen 80% of the time, talk 20%.

• Concentrate on what you can do for your distributors and customers, not on your own profits.

• Ask for referrals from your best customers.

• Believe in your products so much that you know every person you talk to is going to buy from you.

• Tell your customers how much you appreciate their business.

• Organize your files so you can locate any piece of information in 30 seconds.

• Set daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals - and do whatever is necessary to achieve them.

• Listen to cassette tapes on multi-level tips from top earners.

• Subscribe to multi-level magazines. Read self-help books.

• Tell others what they are interested in knowing, not what you think they should hear.

• Spend money on things that will make you more money.

• Schedule important tasks at the time of day when you are your best.

• Delegate - do those things only you can do.

• Plow your profits back into building your business.

• Do it now!