The MLM Dilemma

The MLM Dilemma

Copyright 2005 Steve Lowell



Does this sound familiar...?



You have taken ALL of the company training, listened to the

tapes, recorded phone calls and live conference calls, read

all the company materials and tried the products. You

bought some inventory, made business cards, set up the web

site that the company provided for you.



You have purchased leads, set up an e-mail campaign and

told everyone you know about your awesome company, the

cutting edge products and the lucrative compensation

plan...you were exited, motivated, dedicated, enthusiastic,

positive and committed and yet...your results are dismal.



If all of that sound familiar, I have news for you...you

are one of the roughly 95% of people in MLM that have been

completely wasting your time, money and infinitely more

important...your life! Keep reading...there IS hope!!



I know that there are people in your company who are doing

well...making tons of money...but here's the question...can

you REALLY duplicate what they are doing??



What is it that the people who are on top have that you

don't have? Well, there's bad news...and there's good news!



The bad news is that if you were to take a close look at

the top performers in your company, you might notice a few

things such as:



1. They have above average communication skills. They can

walk into a room or stand in front of an audience and

command attention. They just have that skill. Most people

can't do that! In fact, the number one fear in North

America is public speaking!



2. Maybe they are able to work 22.5 hours per day without

sleeping. Some people just have the metabolism that allows

them to do far more in a day than others. Most people

can't do that either!



3. Maybe they had money to begin with and were able to

purchase a position in the company which allowed them to

maximize their income potential...most people can't do that

either!



4. Maybe they are great salespeople. Maybe they don't mind

getting 100 rejections in order to recruit one person, but

most people can't do that either!



The point is that there are any number of things that allow

some people to just outperform others and usually it's

because they really do have some quality, characteristic or

skill that others just don't have. This allows them to

build enormous organizations only a VERY small percentage

of those people actually earn them the big money, and it's

normally people who happen to have the same outstanding

skills.



After I studied this over many months of failing miserably

in MLM...I asked myself this question; "Where the heck does

that leave an average guy like me??" That brings us to the

good news!



The good news is that there are people just like me;

average people with average skills making a substantial

living with Network Marketing, and so can you.



You don't need the "gift of gab" or tons of money to buy

your position and you don't need to work 22.5 hours per day

or to withstand an onslaught of rejection. So what does

the average person need to make a fortune in Network

Marketing?



You need only two things:



1. A System that can be duplicated by anyone

2. Education as to how to properly deploy that system



The system can be either automated or not as long as the

process takes the prospect through specific steps and

brings them to a point where they can decide weather or not

they are interested in seeing more.



A good automated system will walk the prospect through the

following steps:



1. Attention: I have found that the best way to catch

attention is to reduce the flashiness of the presentation.

The best attention grabbing tool is a very well written

introduction abut YOU, the marketer.



2. Interest: Maintain the prospects interest by providing

something with which they can relate. Claims of riches

tend to alienate most qualified prospects who are not

interested in the hype…they are interested in content.

Your system needs to provide strong content which allows

the prospect feel that they know you a little.



3. Education: The prospect should learned something new.

Some actual valuable information that makes them understand

that you have a legitimate business opportunity. Education

regarding Network Marketing would be best because it can

help you pre-qualify your prospect and eliminate that

"pyramid" objection.



4. Desire: By the end of the presentation, your prospect

should want more information from you. If your system

gives away to much information, the prospect will have no

reason to speak with you again.



This is where most people drop the ball, especially when

using automated systems. Most people think that their

on-line system is going to do the recruiting for them.



I have seen many times when a marketer considers the flash

presentation on their company website to be their entire

automated prospecting system. The problem with this is

that the company website gives away the entire story and

rarely leaves the prospect in a state of desire. The

prospect can make a final decision without ever having to

get to know the marketer. This puts the company, product,

or compensation plan in the forefront of the prospect's

mind, instead of the exciting potential of the Network

Marketing business itself.



A strong automated prospecting system is just that…a

prospecting system, not a recruiting system. We can not

exclude personal relationship building from the Network

Marketing equation. Which brings us to the second

requirement for success in Network Marketing…training.



Training is perhaps the most neglected part of our

business. Rule number one is that you should never ever

lead with your company, your product or your compensation

plan...the reason is very simple...NO ONE CARES!!! Here's

why...



When you lead with your business, your products, your

opportunity or your comp plan, you are talking about what

is important to YOU, not to the prospect. They might

listen to you out of courtesy or respect for you, and you

might sign up a few people along the way, but your chances

of building a solid business in the manner are slim because

this approach is not "duplicateable" by most people.



In order for the prospecting process to be effective, you

really must build a relationship with your prospect before

you introduce your company. This can be done using a

combination of your automated system and personal follow-up.



Network Marketing success requires that you deploy a

balance of properly designed automation, and training on

how to develop a personal relationship with the prospect.



If the automated system is properly designed, and the

training is effective in teaching the basics, then the

average person can do exceptionally well in Network

Marketing.







About the Author:



Steve Lowell is president of SJ Lowell Inc. in Ottawa,

Ontario Canada; a business consulting firm and founder of

The MLM Executive Round Table at www.MLMRoundTable.com.

Contact by email at steve@stevelowell.com or go to

www.SteveLowell.com