Hi:
It was great to read this message from Tom Schreiter, another slow starter in network marketing. I thought you might appreciate his input on what it takes to create a successful MLM business.
At my “live” workshops, I ask the attendees, “How many of you started your network marketing business a little bit slow?”
Nearly everyone’s hand goes in the air.
And then I tell them how I got started.
In 1972, I got started in network marketing.
After one year and ten months, I had no distributors and no retail customers.
A leader came to me and said, “Hey Big Al, you’re doing really, really bad.”
Great. I needed that encouragement.
The leader continued, “Big Al, if you want to improve your business, here are five things that you can do.”
I quickly grabbed a pencil and took notes as the leader told me:
“First, you got to improve your attitude.” (Ouch, that was getting pretty personal, but hey, maybe it could use a bit of improvement.
“Second, you have to build a strong belief in the business.” (Well, that made sense. If I believed stronger, more people would see my conviction.)
“Third, you need to set some goals.” (I am sure you have heard this dozens of times, but for me, it was a brand-new concept.)
“Fourth, you need to get motivated, because people are attracted to motivated people.” (Sounded like a great strategy to me.)
“And fifth, be positive. Anyone can be negative, but leaders are positive.” (Yes! I would strive to block out all of the negatives and be the positive leader that people wanted.)
Well, here is what happened.
I improved my attitude, built a strong belief in my business, set some goals, got motivated, became more positive …
And it didn’t work!
I did all five things, and my business was still at zero.
I found out that all of these things are great hobbies, but when you are face-to-face, talking with prospects, they don’t work.
Now I know what you are thinking. Not only are you skeptical, but you are also thinking, “Wait a minute! I read a motivational book every morning, I play CDs in my car on how to be more positive, I do running high fives with my downline, I jump off a chair every morning — waving my bonus check — while singing the company song … and you’re telling me these things don’t work?”
Yes.
When you are face-to-face, talking with prospects, these things don’t work.
Skeptical?
Even though they had these five great assets, they still weren’t successful. And then I tell them what made the difference for me.
In my case, I was missing a little thing called skills.
Skills are knowing exactly what to say, and exactly what to do when talking to a prospect.
And if you don’t have skills, it’s going to be a hard, hard career.
So are you still skeptical that skills make a difference?
Let’s look at learning how to fly an airplane.
Now, as a pilot, I am going to teach you how to fly an airplane. Excited?
I take you down to the airport and we find a small single-engine airplane. I strap you in, close the door, wave good-bye … and just before you take off down the runway, I throw in a CD on goal-setting.
What’s going to happen at the end of the runway?
Crash and burn.
So I run down to the end of the runway, pull you out of the wreckage and say, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”
I drag you to the front of the runway, find another plane (this time we rent it), and strap you in the pilot’s seat. I close the door, wave good-bye and just as you are rolling down the runway, I yell out, “Get motivated!”
What’s going to happen at the end of the runway?
Crash and burn.
Again I run down to the end of the runway, pick you up from the wreckage, brush off the little singed bits, and I say, “You need to focus. You need persistence.”
Then I drag you back to the front of the runway, put you into another airplane, strap you into the pilot’s seat, close the door, wave good-bye, and just as you are rolling down the runway, I yell out, “Get a better attitude!”
What’s going to happen at the end of the runway?
Crash and burn.
At this point you say to yourself, “I see a trend. And the only way for me to stop the pain — is to quit!”
And you quit.
It didn’t matter how positive you were, or how much you believed in flying. If you don’t have the skills, you will crash and burn.
And this happens to new distributors in network marketing all of the time.
When they first get started, they have a great attitude, a strong belief in their business, goals, motivation, and they are extremely positive, but they don’t have any skills. So what happens?
They talk to a few friends who tell them that they are crazy. When they talk to relatives, it gets uglier. And when they talk to strangers, because they didn’t know exactly what to say and exactly what to do, they get rejected, humiliated, and your new distributors think that the only way to stop the pain – is to quit!
Sound familiar?
Skills make a difference. And skills are what hold back new distributors from contacting people and exposing their business.
Are you ready to learn the skills to create a successful network marketing business? Check out the webinar MLM Ready Set Go, where Tom “Big Al” Schreiter teaches the 25 skills needed to create MLM success. When you register indicate that Andrea Scott invited you to the webinar.
If you’re ready to be coached as you master these skills, download Big MLM Truths.
Blessings,
Andrea Scott
“Mentoring for your success”
Big MLM Truths
Posted: May 23rd, 2012 under MLM Skills.
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