Sorting vs. Selling
When you got started in your business, I bet the first thing you were told to do was to create a warm list of 50, 100, or maybe even 200 people. I totally believe in that, but not for the reasons you may think.
The truth is 95% of the people you talk to are never going to want to join your business, and that includes your warm market. I think it is important to develop that list to give yourself a place to start and then you can work out from there. It is not your job to try to get everyone on that list to join your company. It’s not even your job to get them all to buy from you. It is your job to call them, send them an e-mail, mail them a postcard or contact them some other way to let them know you started your own business and ask them if they’d like to receive a brochure or information. And let them know that you can help them start their own business if and when they are ready; and if they know anyone who might be interested to please let you know. There’s no reason to put any strain on your relationship. If they love your products, they will probably buy from you because you’re their friend. If they don’t, you didn’t put any pressure on them to purchase something they won’t use and they will appreciate you for that. Eventually some of your warm market will come back and ask about your business after they see you achieve success. That’s all there is to it!
Then you go back to sorting. What are you looking for? Well, you want someone who wants to start their own business or has a need to earn extra money, has the desire to do something about it, and are ready to get started now. When you find that person, they deserve to hear about your opportunity. You have a solution to offer and should be honored to be able to help them meet their needs.
And, when you show enough people how they can have their own home business, your business will really start to flourish! Some people you talk to will join immediately and others will refuse just as fast. Some will wait and think about it, and eventually decide your opportunity is not for them, while others will want more information before they join you. Some have preconceived ideas about your company, Networking Marketing in general, or even their own ability to earn money. As impersonal as it sounds, you just need to sort through the masses because doing that and improving your skills is what works.
So your next step is to build a funnel where your prospects will come to you. This allows your prospects to sort themselves. The top of the funnel is where you are casting a huge net to get the attention of as many potential recruits and customers as possible. I use every means possible to attract people to me. I mentioned in a previous post that I distribute 1200 brochures every campaign. About 400 of those are for my current customers. The balance is used to prospect. Every brochure has a recruiting flyer inside and a recruiting label on the front. Richard and I give the brochures out as we go about our day. We try to get as many names and phone numbers as possible, because the follow-up will help our sales; and if we’re talking to someone, we always ask if they would be interested in finding out more about how they can earn extra income with our company. But we also allow the recruiting flyer to do the work for us. We place brochures in racks in grocery stores (that we rent); we distribute brochures door-to-door, in nail salons, hair salons, businesses – everywhere we can find a place where lots of people are around. We also place help-wanted ads in the local newspaper, and a large part of my networking is done online.
The greatest advantage of marketing online is that once your system is setup, you can sort through multitudes of people without a lot of effort on your part. But I do believe that, especially when you first get started, you need to work your business both offline and online.
Be sure to talk to everyone you meet. If you’re having lunch in a restaurant you can give your business card to the waitress and say something like, “You’re really taking good care of us. I would love to have you on my team! Would you be interested in learning more about having your own home business and earning some extra money?” If they say no, that’s OK – you asked. Asking is the most important part. Now you can ask them to pass on your card to someone else who might be interested, and you say next!
Those who are interested will step into the funnel and contact us. These people are usually already interested in starting a business and ready to get started soon. They may have already checked out your website and spent the time learning about your opportunity and/or products, or may have questions for you. These are the people we want to talk to. There is usually no need to convince them. Isn’t that a much nicer position to be in?
Remember, the more people YOU recruit and teach how do your business, AND to recruit others to do the same, the faster your business will grow!
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