Are You Making Indecent Proposals?
A few years ago, my good friend Danny (made up name) decided to conduct an experiment one Saturday morning. He got up, shaved, got dressed in his best looking suit, picked up a beautiful red rose, and hit the mall at its busiest time – bustling with shoppers…
He had a mission – he wanted to see if he can get a woman to marry him.
Yes, you read that correctly, he wanted to see if you can get a woman to marry him.
And I am talking about women he's never met in his life — random women that are shopping at the mall.
In about an hour's worth of time he talked to 53 different women – varying in age.
James put on his best smile and approached each one of them with a rose in hand. He simply looked at them in the eyes and busted out the words…
“Will you marry me?”
Guess how many said, “Yes”….
None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nyet!
Woah! Shocker, right!?
Why Your Prospects Say “No”
Okay, I have to say my buddy Danny is not a bad looking guy, he has straight white teeth, is well-groomed, and is well dressed (I mean, you really can't top a Burani suit can you?)
But I have to admit, I wasn't shocked in the least bit by the results.
Out of the 53 women he asked to marry him, he got a big FAT ZERO for positive responses.
Yes, I believe if there was a record for this, my buddy just set it – how many times can you get rejected in an hour.
You must be sitting there scratching your head and laughing your face off thinking to yourself:
“OF COURSE he got rejected! He didn't even bother getting to know these women and he's already trying to get them to buy into a marriage with him??? Is he nuts?”
And, I agree with you.
But chew on this, millions of network marketers act JUST like Danny did when it comes to getting prospects to join your business or buy your products.
The Indecent Proposal
Are YOU guilty of this? It is my guess, that if are reading this newsletter, the answer is probably ‘yes'.
- Do you ask your PROSPECTS to join your business, after just 1 meeting?
- Do you obsessively “follow up” with PROSPECTS after they've already told you ‘no' or stop answering your calls?
- Do you ask your prospects to “marry” you without estabishing a relationship?
- Would YOU give your credit card info to some stranger you don't know?
- Would YOU go into a business relationship with someone you just met? How about a marriage?
Probably not. Right?
Then why do many network marketers do the same to their prospects?
Don't get me wrong, SOME people might join your business, but these folks are VERY VERY few. But those are the same folks who are likely to jump from deal to deal, without much thought – having absolutely no loyalty to anyone.
Using my friend James' example and look at the other side of the coin — what if one of those women had said, “yes” to him? Do you think James could have counted on this woman he doesn't know to have a great partnership with?
Your business must NOT depend on fly-by prospects. If it does, it will either burn to the ground one day, or you will be working till the day you die trying desperately to replace all the people who quit each day.
Similar to marriage, you want your distributors to be someone you can count on as well. It's a mutually beneficial relationship.
Who Are We Looking For?
What you are looking for are loyal and educated distributors; you want reps who have a bond and connection with you so they aren't compelled to jump ship.
THOSE are the ones you will be seeking. Sure it'll take some effort but believe me, it'll be worth it and you can automate most of it, initially.
How do you get loyal customers and distributors?
Through the building and maintenance of a relationship based on value, trust and education.
People usually only buy from those whom they trust, especially online. And in order to accomplish this you need to demonstrate that you have THEIR best interest in mind – that you are watching out for them.
The last thing you want to convey to them is that you are after their money.
You should rather focus on establishing trust by demonstrating that you understand the problems they are dealing with, know how to help them and position your products or opportunity as part of the solution.
The other part of the solution is actually YOU!
As a trusted advisor, it is your guidance and help which is going to help them effectively use the product/opportunity you have available and help achieve the results they want.
Optimize the Value to Your Customers — Not Conversions
Some internet marketers talk a lot about metrics and optimizing sales conversions to get the most bang for your buck.
And although you should track your marketing (more on this later), what you should really be optimizing is the content and value you are providing to your market and list.
You'll already know they will be interested in what you have to offer because that's why they gave you their name and contact info on your capture page.
On top of that, you want to use this opportunity to establish yourself as an “expert” or as I said previously, a trusted advisor. This means demonstrating you know more than your prospective client.
After all, why would the client purchase anything from you if you seem to know no more than the client? What value can the client possibly expect from you?
With that in mind, the tool you will use to send your prospects free information and start adding value to them – on autopilot – while establishing yourself as the expert are emails.
An email accomplishes two tasks:
1. Provide free valuable information to the reader,
and
2. Tastefully plugs whatever product/opportunity you personally endorse to help your prospect get the result they want.
The first education and advise, relative to their problem or desire. The second offers a paid solution you can provide and help them use effectively.
Email newsletters are to your business what “dating” is to Danny (in his quest to find his wife…)
You must first demonstrate value before your prospect would be willing to commit to you.
Shift your focus away from what you want (a billion dollars) and get deeply, intensely curious about what the world wants and needs. Ask yourself what you have the potential to offer that is so unique and compelling and helpful that no computer could replace you, no one could outsource you, no one could steal your product and make it better and then club you into oblivion (not literally). Then develop that potential. Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life.
You must be logged in to post a comment.