MLMU (Part 2) ==> Marketing TIPS (24-46)
TIP 24 - "YOU SAID SOMETHING THAT GOT ME THINKING..."
Okay, so you're chicken to pick up that "heavy" telephone and make prospecting
calls. Here's a way to make that phone a little lighter: Make "non-prospecting"
calls to your list, and simply have a 'casual conversation' - without mentioning
your products, services and/or business. Create a discussion by asking about
them. Use the F.O.R.M. (family, organizations, recreation and money) as a
guide for asking your questions. In other words, make this a simple, friendly
call by focusing the topics around them.
A couple of days later, call the same people back and start off by saying,
"You said something the other day that got me thinking. You said that (repeat
something they said in the way of problems they were having or pleasurable
things they wanted), isn't that right? ('yes') Well, I'm involved in something
that has been beneficial to me and may be the answer to some of your needs
too. Do you have a minute for me to tell you about it?"
This will set the stage for you to get an appointment to give your presentation without sounding pushy or aggressive.
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TIP 25 - "HOW TO GET YOUR PROSPECTS TO 'SELL THEMSELVES'..."
The next time your prospect makes a positive comment about your business,
your products and/or services, don't let the opportunity pass by for the
prospect to sell himself/herself.
Suppose, for example, your prospect tells you that he/she heard your company
might have a good home business program - and a good business is what is
of interest to him/her.
Follow your prospect's comment with a Solution / Elaboration question such as:
"Why is that important to you?" OR "How would this benefit you and your family?"
The more you get your prospects talking about the wonderful things you have
to offer, the more likely your presentation will be a success.
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TIP 26 - "MAY I ASK YOU A QUICK QUESTION...?"
One of the most common mistakes network marketers make when calling a prospect
is to leap into their presentation without 'first getting the prospect's
attention'. Understand that your prospects are NOT sitting by the phone,
with a clear head, waiting for you to call and give them your pitch! You
have to get the prospect to clear his/her head and focus on what you're about
to say.
Simply introduce yourself and ask, "May I ask you a quick question?"
Prospects always say yes. Whatever they were thinking about before has vanished and you now have their undivided attention.
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TIP 27 - "YOU CANNOT BE 'ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE'..."
When I ask network marketers who they market to - and they tell me that EVERYONE
is their market - I know they are 'amateurs' in this business. Network marketers
are not like McDonalds or General Motors, where they have millions of dollars
to advertise to reach the masses.
Today, even with the Internet, we're in the age of 'specialization'. If you
haven't already done so, you need to find your NICHE and 'focus' on that
market. When you focus on just one market at a time, you'll see opportunities
you would not otherwise see. If you don't know what your niche is, here is
how you find out:
Ask yourself who are the people you would enjoy working with. Perhaps you
know something about teaching, nursing, real estate, cooking or whatever?
Think about your hobbies or past employment and decide if that is a market
large enough to specialize in. If so, you are already somewhat of an expert
in that field and you have a distinct advantage over other network marketers
trying to be all things to all people.
Make sense?
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TIP 28 - "PROSPECT TO 'DISQUALIFY'..."
When was the last time you deliberately DISQUALIFIED a prospect that 'wanted'
to join your business? Crazy you say? If you've never done that, you'll be
amazed at what it will do for your 'attitude'. Instead of wishing someone
will be attracted to your business, look for as many ways as you can to disqualify
them.
Here are a few reasons to disqualify:
1. They hesitate
2. They are not highly motivated
3. They are not self starters
4. They are not organized
5. They are not already successful
6. They will not follow your system
7. They are not business oriented
8. They don't use your company's products and services
9. You don't like the feeling you get when you're around them
10. They don't have any money
Try a 'disqualifying attitude' for just one week and your entire perspective
of what it takes to be successful in this business will be a delightful change.
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TIP 29 - "MOTIVATING CRYBABIES WITH 'TOUGH LOVE'..."
When one of your distributors continually informs you of devastating results
(such as a no-show appointment, rejection, cancelled deals, etc.), you may
have a tendency to want to sympathize with him/her. That would be a big mistake.
To put your arms around your distributor and gently console him will only
confirm his beliefs that something is wrong with 'the business' - instead
of 'him/her'.
A much better strategy would be to demonstrate your dissatisfaction with
him and have him personally take the responsibility. Tell him that because
he is not following your company's / upline's 'proven' procedures and training
systems, it's NO WONDER he's having bad results. Insist that you want him
to go back into your company's training program, and this time, learn the
right way to do the business. Let him know that you're disappointed in him
but you're going to give him another chance.
This type of 'strong leadership' will solidify and motivate a negative distributor
(to his/her benefit as well as yours) instead of burning him/her out of the
business with pity.
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TIP 30 - "WHAT IS YOUR 'UAF'?..."
What is the 'one unique thing' about you or your business that separates
you from other network marketers? What is your "Unique Attraction Feature"
(UAF)?
If you don't know, chances are you look and sound just like every other network marketer.
Decide now what it is about YOU and YOUR business that is unique. Next, begin
to incorporate that message in all of your marketing. Add it to your voice
mail - brochures, prospecting calls - Gateway Website - and all of your advertising.
A UAF is not a slogan. It is not about how honest you are; how much you care;
or about the great service you provide. Those things are normally expected
and therefore are not unique.
A UAF is a 'marketing message' that conveys that you're different.
It attracts people to YOU and often times it generates curiosity.
Do you offer guarantees? Are you available 24 hours a day? Can you teach
someone how to market on the Internet? Do you have a system for recruiting
internationally?
THESE are UAFs. Now, come up with your own.
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TIP 31 - "THE LAW OF 'MOMENTUM'..."
The law of momentum says that - whenever you begin a new venture, it takes TEN units of EFFORT to achieve ONE unit of RESULTS.
But after you gain momentum, it takes only ONE unit of EFFORT to achieve
TEN units of RESULTS. It's like that Commercial Airliner - it burns up to
80% of its fuel just to get airborn - but once it's at cruising altitude
- it's a totally different story. It's no wonder that so many people drop
out of network marketing in the beginning. When they first sit down to make
prospecting calls, it can be disheartening- the first few calls are difficult
- and the results are disappointing.
The good news, however, is that if they STAY WITH IT - momentum is created.
And when that happens, making prospecting calls becomes ten times easier
and each effort is multiplied tenfold.
Now, that's leverage!
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TIP 32 - "USE WORD-PICTURES AND THE SENSES TO ATTRACT BUYERS..."
People don't buy products and services, they buy the END RESULT. If you can
help your prospects 'see' themselves enjoying the BENEFITS of what you sell,
your presentation will be more compelling. The way you do that is to create
WORD PICTURES in the minds of your prospects. If you can, bring their senses
(smelling, touching, hearing) into your presentation.
For example, let's say that you sell a cleaning product. Instead of saying
that your product is great, help them visualize the end result with something
like this:
"Folks, one application of this product will completely wipe away grease,
dirt, pet and other stains without the strong ammonia smell associated with
cleaning materials. Your carpet, walls, counter tops and clothes will look
as good as new, be free of unhealthy bacteria and your friends will comment
on how fresh and clean your home smells."
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TIP 33 - "A CALL A DAY KEEPS THE 'CREDITORS' AWAY..."
The single most difficult (and most important) activity in network marketing
is making those pesky prospecting calls. Here is a simple foolproof system
for getting into the comfortable momentum of making calls: Make your very
FIRST business activity of each day a PROSPECTING - RELATIONSHIP - or FOLLOW-UP
call.
Don't look at your mail, organize notes and talk with friends--or anything
else - until you've made that single prospecting call. (It doesn't matter
whether the prospect answers the phone or not!)
When you feel comfortable making a SINGLE call for a few days, increase the
activity to calling until you actually SPEAK to a prospect. When that feels
okay, increase it to speaking to THREE prospects a day. Speaking to three
prospects a day - 5 DAYS / WEEK in network marketing - will eventually make
you rich.
This is a guaranteed system for prospecting without stress.
The key, however, is that you must make at least one call a day BEFORE you
get involved in other business activities. Think about that tomorrow morning
as soon as you get up.
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TIP 34 - "HOW TO CREATE THE 'PERFECT PRESENTATION'..."
Creating the right presentation for your business is an ongoing process.
Whether you want to improve your one-on-one, small group, business briefing,
product or follow-up presentations, here is a two-step formula that will
guarantee the perfect presentation for you:
1- Incorporate one new thing every time you give a presentation
2- Keep the things that work - kick out the things that don't work - and continue to try things that look like they might work
Try a new question - raise or lower your voice - make an unusual request
- close earlier or later. I think you get the idea. You'll get a feel for
what works and what doesn't.
This is the process the most successful people on earth use to build major
corporations, organizations and even their own lives. What are you going
to try differently today?
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TIP 35 - "THE POWER OF 'FOCUS'..."
One hundred years ago, Thomas Alva Edison said that the first requisite of
success was the ability to concentrate on a single problem. - "If you get
up at seven and go to bed at eleven, you have put in sixteen good hours,
and it is certain with most men that they have been doing something all of
the time," Edison said. "The only trouble is, they do it about a great many
things and I do it about one."
Decide now what are your 'highest income producing activities' - and set
aside blocks of time to give that activity a "concentration of power." Take
the single most important project you need to do (like prospecting) - and
go to work on it - and stay with it until you have accomplished what you
have set out to do.
Thomas Edison owned over 1,000 patents and is regarded as one of the most
influential people during this millennium. Let's take a lesson from this
man and not allow the hundreds of daily distractions keep us from accomplishing
our goals...one at a time.
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TIP 36 - "THROW IT ON THE FLOOR!..."
Having trouble starting or completing an important project? No problem. Simply throw a reminder of the project on the floor.
Let's say that you've decided to write a weekly e-mail marketing TIP to help
develop e-Commerce relationships. Take a legal pad (or the latest computer
printout of the article) and place it on the floor where you have to constantly
step over it. You will not rest until you finish that project.
(BTW, I had to throw 'this' Hilton's Helper on the floor to make sure I did it on time :>)
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TIP 37 - "NEGATIVE WORDS TO AVOID..."
Prospecting, presenting and relationship building in network marketing is
a language business. Certain words and phrases can create positive or negative
images in the minds of your prospects.
Overused, overrated and hyped-up language will actually cause your prospects
to give you one OBJECTION after another. An example of that is when network
marketers say... "the products (or the business) have (has) changed my life!"
What does it say about your leadership ability when an 'outside source' had
to come in to change your life? Did you have a miserable life to begin with?
People have heard that so much, it triggers negative images about what you're
going to say next.
Instead, why not say something like: "the products (or business) have been
very meaningful to me... or... "made a major difference in my life"... or...
"solved some problems for me." I think you get the idea.
Is the language you're using going to continue to cause your prospects to bombard you with objections?
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TIP 38 - "HOW TO GET 'UP' WHEN YOU'RE 'DOWN'..."
Recently I and eleven other mlm trainers were asked - What was the best formula
we used for getting ourselves UP when we're feeling DOWN?
Here are some of my favorite responses:
1- Find somebody worse off than you - and help THEM feel better
2- Count your blessings instead of focusing on problems
3- Look for ways to convert your problems into benefits
4- Search for any HUMOR in your situation
5- Take the attitude that everything that happens - and every person you
come into contact with - is there for the benefit of your enjoyment.
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TIP 39 - "KEEP A TOE IN THE WATER..."
Sometimes, sticking with an important project all the way through to its
completion can be quite difficult. It's very easy to decide on an important
activity (like prospecting or relationship building) - only to have a tough
time getting started or staying with it. One way to overcome that problem
(okay...challenge) is to make sure you take a simple action with it every
day. It could be a single call - sending a note or e mail - or inviting a
prospect or customer to a conference call or a lunch. Just take 'baby steps'
at first.
The important thing is... if you want to be a great swimmer, you need to
keep at least 'a toe in the water' every day. And if you want to be a great
network marketer, you need to do simple, pro-active things that keep you
connected to high income producing activities... each and every day.
Now, take a shoe off and find some water.
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TIP 40 - "HOW TO ATTRACT PROSPECTS WITH 'COMPLIMENTS'..."
One of the coolest ways to attract friendly prospects to you is to pay them
'sincere' compliments. Compliments, often times, will create a comfortable
dialogue exchange between them and you. The more they talk to you the more
you can size them up. But, the compliments must be absolutely sincere or
this behavior could backfire.
Here is a three-step formula for paying compliments that sound genuine and sincere:
1- Pay the compliment
2- Say what you like about it
3- Ask a question about it
More often than not, a conversation will develop that will give you an opportunity
to find out if they are the kind of prospects you are looking for.
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TIP 41 - "REWARD AN ACTIVITY YOU WANT REPEATED..."
REFERRALS will always be the easiest sales / requests you will ever make.
Asking for them should become an automatic part of your prospecting activities.
When someone gives you a referral, you can increase the chances he/she will
give you more referrals - by showing your APPRECIATION. This could be a small
gift, a thank you note, or even a simple phone call.
At the very least, you will want to CALL your referral source and update
him/her as to the progress or status of the referrals (even if the referrals
were not good prospects).
Also, by staying in touch, you will deepen the relationships with these key people who make your job much easier.
Now, start thinking of ways to 'reward' the nice folks ho send you referrals.
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TIP 42 - "ECHO" WITH YOUR PROSPECTS..."
The more you can get your prospects to elaborate about WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO
THEM - the more opportunities you will have to meet their needs. To do that,
you need ways to get them to 'open up' to you.
One of the neatest ways to get a prospect talking more is to repeat or "echo" the last few words he/she says.
For example, lets say that your prospect tells you: "The reason I’m looking
for a part-time job is because of my retirement situation." You now echo
with: "retirement situation?"
By 'echoing' the last few words as a question back to your prospect, chances
are he/she will volunteer more information such as: "Yes, I’m concerned that
when I retire, I will not have the funds to provide for my family in the
same lifestyle we’re accustomed to today."
Then you 'echo' again with: "accustomed to today?"
And so on...
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TIP 43 - "EAT 'FROGS' FOR BREAKFAST..."
Let’s say that you sit down in the morning to start work, and you discover
that you have three things that must get done that day. ONE, you must return
a phone call to a prospect who has finally decided to join your business;
TWO, you need to place an order for a customer who needs some products; and
THREE, you have a voice mail message with an upset customer who wants to
register a complaint.
Who should you call first?
Do you really want to go all day worrying about that unhappy customer? Can
you see how NOT getting that "frog" out of the way initially will mess with
your mind all day? Smart business people like to get the frogs out of the
way early - so they can spend the rest of the day smoothly taking care of
business.
The next time you have 'frogs' on your plate, EAT THEM FIRST - and you will
have a better digestive system the rest of the day. Ribbit...Ribbit...Ribbit!
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TIP 44 - "DO YOU SEE 'HOW' YOU WILL BENEFIT BY...?"
Instead of selling the benefits of your products and network marketing business
to prospects, why not compel them to do the selling FOR you. You can easily
accomplish this by converting your benefits into BENEFIT QUESTIONS.
Here’s the way you do that: Instead of saying, "This product will give you more energy."
Try this: "Do you see how you will benefit by - having more energy with this product?"
Instead of saying, "I will do the first few enrollment presentations for you while you watch."
Try this: "Do you see how you will benefit by - watching me do the first few enrollment presentations for you?"
Get the idea?
You can also convert benefits into questions with this language:
"Would it be important for you to be able to...?"
"Do you see the advantages of...?"
"Would it be of value for you to be able to...?"
Begin now to convert all of your features and benefits into 'questions' - and you will never have to sell again.
Your prospects will do that FOR you.
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TIP 45 - "HOW TO BE A 'HAPPY' PROSPECTOR..."
Recently, a worldwide study discovered (and revealed) what the real secret is to HAPPINESS for every person on earth.
What’s the secret? Simply being involved in a complex activity and having
the skills to master that activity. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing
tennis, giving a speech, or making prospecting calls, the trick is to be
SO WELL PREPARED that you’re not blown away by the complexity of the activity.
Do you have the necessary SKILLS for asking key questions - answering questions
- and responding to objections when making prospecting calls? If not, prospecting
can become a nightmare. However, if you know what you’re going to say in
each prospecting situation, the activity not only becomes very profitable
for you - it becomes a lot of fun.
Now, that’s real happiness.
To learn more about this subject, read the book, "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
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TIP 46 - "PERMISSION SELLING"™...
May I explain something to you?
You can make prospecting and presenting more attractive if you indirectly
ASK PERMISSION to go to the next step of your presentation. I call this "Permission
Selling"™. Here’s how you do this:
Instead of saying, "I want to show my program to you." Say, "May I suggest you look at my program?"
Instead of saying, "I want to tell you about my company." Try saying, "With
your permission, I will tell you about the company."
Instead of saying, "I’d like to show you my products." Replace it with, "If it’s okay with you, I’ll show you the products."
Instead of saying, "You’re going to love this." Say, "If you are sufficiently impressed, we can go to the next step."
Instead of saying, "I’m going to explain the contract to you." Try saying,
"With your approval, I will go over the paperwork with you."
More "Permission Selling" Language:
"If it’s okay with you..."
"If that is acceptable..."
"Provided this meets with your approval..."
"If it’s alright with you..."
Get the idea?
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End of PART II (24-46 of 68 Tips)...more to follow:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3