Require vs. Recruit, Part II

In my last post I talked about require vs. recruit and how important it is to recognize whether or not the person you are talking to has the drive, ambition, work ethic, interpersonal skills, etc., necessary to be an asset to your business. But how does the average network marketer go about dong this? Most of us are not professional business people and have little or no interviewing experience. Well, you may not be a professional, but you DO recognize when someone is truly interested in what you have to say. If they are hungry for the information and they're serious about wanting to change their life, you'll know it.

LISTEN to them, pay as much attention to how they talk to you as to what they say. Do they sound excited or do they speak in such a way as to make you prefer watching paint dry? Do they ask good questions or are they just full of excuses and negativity. I despise being around negative people. They just draw you into their own miserable way of looking at the world and then they suck the life out of you! Avoid negative people at all cost!

Next, are you able to "connect" with them, establish a rapport? This is very important if you're going to be working with them as a team. Are they successful at what they do for a living? That speaks volumes to me! I want those people. Now, some people due to circumstances beyond their control may be out of work, company layoffs, downsizing, etc. It doesn't mean they're not successful. They've just had a run of bad luck. You can tell if you are talking to someone like that vs. someone who is just lazy, has no drive or work ethic. But again, you HAVE to LISTEN.

After you've gone through the interview process and weeded out the people that just don't "feel" right and you think you just might have a good candidate for your business, you need to find out just how committed they are, how serious they are about changing their life. And you need to know if they will be teachable. There are a couple of very easy steps you can require of them, to determine this.

Step one, ask them to visit your team website and attach a time frame to it, preferably the same day. Then, set a follow up time with them either later that day or at the very latest, within 24 hours. When you call to follow up, they should have done this. If they have not, barring some kind of emergency, and I do mean emergency, not just because they were too busy (remember, no excuses) you should begin to question whether or not you want them on your team. It's not that difficult a task to accomplish, to take 15 minutes out of their life and visit your website. If they are truly interested, they will.

Step two, ask them to get on your team's next opportunity call and then set another follow up for immediately after the call. Our team has a call every weeknight and three times on Saturday. There's NO excuse for someone not being able to do this. If they do, you are well on the way to knowing how determined they are. If not, again barring any emergency, thank them for their time and let them go. Trust me, if they cannot do these two simple steps, they are not very motivated or committed to changing their life and you don't want them on your team. This may sound a bit harsh but the success of your business and your fellow team mates depends on it! So once again I say, don't just recruit, REQUIRE!

Do You Recruit Or Require?

Ever wonder why so many people in your downline just don't seem to work the business like they should? They don't recruit, don't advertise, don't sell, don't show up for conference calls and training sessions. But they EXPECT to be successful and when they aren't, they blame you or the company or the product, anything but the one person who is actually responsible for their lack of success, THEMSELVES! It's a common problem in network marketing and one of the reasons we get such a bad rap. But perhaps to some degree that criticism is deserved. Perhaps some of the blame should fall on us, for recruiting those people in the first place. That's a rather bold statement, but let me explain.

In a traditional business, where someone applies, produces a resume and character references, then goes through an interview process, many of those people would be weeded out before they are ever offered a job in the first place. So why should it be any different in network marketing? Too many network marketers go for numbers, not quality. Yes, it's a numbers game, but do you really want that person in your business that you had to call eight or ten times just to get them to agree to look at your website and then you had to call them as many times to close and get them in? If you have to beg, chase or practically bribe your prospect to get in, what do you think you're going to have to do to get them to actually DO anything, once they are?

On the other hand, if you approached the recruiting process as more of an interview, attempting to determine if your prospect is right for you and your business, rather than you and your business being right for them, I dare say you would be more selective as to whom you invite to join you. Ascertaining your prospect's strengths and weaknesses, their drive and ambition, their work ethic, is no less important to the success of your network marketing business than it is for a traditional business. In fact, I propose that it is even MORE critical because in network marketing, distributors have to be independently motivated. They don't have a supervisor looking over their shoulder and monitoring their progress.

In traditional business, applicants know what is expected of them up front and the employer knows from the interview process, that they are getting the right person for the position. Why? Because they don't simply recruit, THEY REQUIRE! They require that the person they hire will have the abilities and qualities necessary to be an asset to their business. You need to have the same mindset in network marketing. Don't just recruit, REQUIRE! Sure, the occasional bad apple will slip through, but as you get better at reading people, those occurrences will be fewer and further between.

Determine ahead of time that you prefer quality, not quantity and guess what will happen. Your downline will learn from you and develop the same mindset. As you bring in only those kind of people and they bring in only those kind of people, the foundation of your business will be strong and secure. It will grow and prosper, slowly at first, but eventually it will hit critical mass and explode! It's delayed gratification, sure. But once you get the ball rolling you won't be able to stop it! Nothing will stop it! So don't just recruit, REQUIRE!

How High Is Your Mountain?

Today, I would like to start out with a quote from a new found friend, Jeff Holmers. Jeff is the person responsible for me rediscovering my faith in people and in working as one team toward one common goal. That's another story for another day. Suffice it to say that I would not be a part of the Presidential Group in TVI if it weren't for Jeff. So back to my story. I saw this quote while scrolling through the past few days of team conversation in Skype.

To most, it may sound a bit corny, and well I guess it is. But so many of the sayings that influence our lives, "God Bless America," "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," "It's better to give than to receive," "The customer is always right," sound corny but ring true! My personal favorite is, "Everything I need to know in life, I learned in Kindergarten." If you think about it, that's a very profound statement. Simple yes, but profound. But then most true wisdom is simple, yet profound. Just spend some time in the book of Proverbs and you'll see what I mean. So, back to my story. Sorry if I get a bit verbose, it's a bad habit of mine. I get it honest, I'm the son of an English Teacher.

Here's the quote.

"MOUNTAINS ARE CLIMBED ONE STEP AT A TIME. Everyone who got where they are had to begin where they were. Your opportunity for success is right in front of you. To attain success or to reach your goal, don't worry about having all the answers in advance. You just need to have a clear idea of your goal and move toward it. So what are you waiting for? Go for it!"

The wisdom in this quote is indeed profound. There are at least two very sound principles at work, here. I'm sure some of you will see more, but these two jumped off the page at me.

First, everyone, no matter who they are, no matter how smart, how gifted, how wealthy, how successful, had to start at the beginning. There is NO other starting point. They had to learn, study, practice, and most importantly, fail. Did I say fail? Yes, I did. Thomas Edison said it this way when a lab assistant exclaimed in total exasperation after their attempt at creating the light bulb failed for the umpteenth time. Yes, I did say "umpteenth." That's a real number, you know. Anyway, Edison responded with "no, we haven't failed at all, we have just found one more way that won't work!" What he meant of course was that they were that much closer to finding the one that would.

The second point that struck a chord with me is this. You don't have to have it all worked out beforehand. You don't have to have all the answers. But you DO have to have vision. There's an interesting quote in The Bible, not sure of the exact chapter and verse, but it goes like this. "without a vision, the people perish." Without a vision, a goal, a strong, all consuming "Why," you will not succeed. You will just go around stumbling in the dark, become lost, discouraged, and eventually you will give up. It's inevitable. This is true in business, in relationships, in your walk with God, in life.

So if you have not taken the time to do it yet, stop everything, get alone with yourself and do some intense, soul-searching. Find your vision. Find your "WHY." Write it down, tape it to your refrigerator door or your bedroom mirror (that's where mine is taped up) and every morning when you get up and every night when you lie down, read and say it aloud. Second, stop procrastinating, and as Jeff so succinctly put it, stop waiting and Go For It! It doesn't matter how high the mountain, or how lofty the goal. With these two principles in action, you WILL achieve it. Will you stumble along the way? Sure, but that doesn't matter. Keep going and you WILL realize your dream. It's inevitable.

MLM Success and The Power of Two

MLM Success is contingent upon many factors, not the least of which is the ability to build a large and successful downline. Most MLM practitioners are unable to recruit enough people to sustain their business long enough for it to succeed. The industry average is something like 2.7, meaning that the average person can recruit 2.7 people. Sure, there are gifted men and women who seem to be able to recruit at will but they are the exception, not the rule. So, if a large and thriving downline is critical to Network Marketing success and the average network marketer can only bring in 2.7 people, how can anyone succeed in this industry? The answer lies in a very simple concept, "The Power of Two."

Simply put, recruit two people and help each of those recruit two people. Then teach the first two to help their people recruit two and so forth. This strategy sets the average MLM distributor up for success instead of failure. There are some very good reasons for this. First, you have simplified the whole recruiting process. All they have to do is recruit two. Second, it creates the momentum necessary to achieve sustained growth. And as the team grows, your support system grows along with it because now everyone is helping everyone below them to get their two. Building with The Power of Two enables your team to work together to grow a solid downline that will make the business profitable for everyone.

The numbers are truly staggering! They may seem small at first but watch what happens as The Power of Two takes over and the business begins to grow. If you start with one person recruiting two people in their first month and each person thereafter recruits just two in their first month and if everyone on the team follows through with the plan, in four months there will be 63 people on the team. In Six months it will grow to 127, in eight months it will be 511 and in one year, with everyone only expected to recruit two and help their two recruit two, your organization would grow to 8,191 distributors. Now, in any MLM compensation plan I know of, that translates to success and a boat load of cash! And it was accomplished in just one year.

Of course it's a given that no system is perfect and there will always be folks who drop out or who refuse to do their part, that's MLM. It doesn't matter. You simply bypass those weak spots by recruiting another distributor and help them get their two. Problem solved. MLM Success is not always easy but it is incredibly simple. Achieve success by helping others succeed. Help others succeed by building with The Power of Two.

Developing A Business Mentality is Key to MLM Success

So you found the MLM business you want to get into, great products you can believe in, a lucrative compensation plan, impressive training and marketing tools. You have a real connection with the person who will be sponsoring and mentoring you. The company is just beginning to hit the explosive growth surge that will make it's distributors a fortune over the next several years. All the ingredients for success seem to be in place. It truly is a "right place, right time" opportunity. But none of this matters if you don't have the right mindset, if you don't enter into it with a business mentality. Without that key ingredient, you are destined for failure.

Too many people get into MLM thinking it will be all sunshine and roses. They're told that the product and business opportunity will "sell themselves." All they have to do is show it to people and they will be beating down the door, to get in. The truth is, good products will sell themselves but not everyone is going to buy. And when it comes to sponsoring new members, things can become even tougher. If you don't have a business mentality, prepared to deal with hearing the word "no" more often than you will hear the word "yes," you will quickly become discouraged and quit. Rejection is part of the game so you need to be prepared for it.

Another problem is what I call the "Hobby Mentality." Hobbies cost money, businesses make money. But all to often, people get into an MLM and don't take it seriously. If it takes off right away and makes money, great. If not, it's on to something else. MLM success takes work. It requires training, planning and preparation, goal setting and taking deliberate action. It requires time spent talking to people, getting your product and opportunity out there so others can see them. Success not going to just happen, it's the by-product of hard work and determination. You have to DO something if you want something to happen, even with today's online automated tools and systems. They won't work FOR you unless you work WITH them. And success takes time to achieve. It won't happen overnight.

In summary, if you desire MLM success, long term residual income, financial freedom and security, find a good MLM with a profitable compensation plan and products you can believe in. Then if you don't have one already, you must develop a business mentality. Educate yourself, set measurable goals, expect and be prepared to handle the ups and downs associated with any business endeavor and grow a thick skin so you can handle the word "No." Be prepared for the long haul. Business is a marathon, not a sprint. Do this and you will achieve MLM success.