I recently jumped into the world of BlogTalkRadio!

My first radio show was a lot of fun and I talked to my friend and fellow mentor, Judit Regev, from Israel.

“Discover the Secret of Turning Bad Prospects Into Good” is a show talking about personality colors.  Knowing a prospect’s color is important in knowing how to talk to a person and how to present information to them.

Listen to the show here to learn an overview of the colors. 

To find out more, download the ebook, Success In 10 Steps, to gain access to our full training program.

Once you read the ebook and listen to 2 core principles audios, I will give you access to the entire Colors To Success training audio.

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

One of the greatest challenges Network Marketers face is How To Talk to Prospects.

Everyone knows how to talk to people, we do it every day.

But when it comes to talking to potential customers or business partners we suddenly lose the ability to relate to them on a personal basis.

Most people tend to enter this salesman mode and start regurgitating the script we were taught to use by our upline sponsors.

As we see the people we are talking to going stone cold with glazed over eyes, we soon realize there has to be a better way.

Exactly what to say is covered in another post.

But here, I want to draw attention to how our body language talks to prospects.

What our hands, feet, posture, and eyes are saying to a prospect can make or break the relationship.

In an article on RealSimple.com, What is Your Body Language Saying?, they list several examples of positive and negative body language.  Below are some examples of what to do right.

Smile with your whole face. 

Make sure you are always presenting a warm, genuine smile from your heart.  Honest smiles use all of your facial muscles…even those “crow’s feet”!

Stay calm.

When you’re nervous you may blink more, close or rub your eyes, lower your gaze, shift your weight, massage your forehead, pick your nails, and bite or lick your lips. 

Subconsciously your prospect will pick up on your discomfort.

Be honest. 

When a person tells a lie, which includes embellishing a company’s pay plan or withholding negative clauses in the contract, their habits will give it away. 

Tell-tale habits when someone is lying are scratching the nose, concealing one’s hands, and looking at the other person longer than usual.

Be interested. 

Nodding your head, leaning forward, tilting your head towards the other person, raising your eyebrows, and keeping your arms and legs unfolded are all ways to show your prospect that you are interested in what he/she has to say.

Ways in which we impart confidence and authority, include standing with your legs apart and spreading your things out around you rather than keeping things right in front of you or in stacks.

Keeping your hands open and using hand and arm gestures gives the impression that you are warm and agreeable.

Body language is important because it speaks to the other person on a subconscious level.  It is how we communicate emotionally.

Body language affects the gut reaction the other person gets about you.

Make sure you practice talking to someone while standing in front of a mirror.  You can talk to your kids, your dog, or your teddy bear.  Just be comfortable in your own skin.

While talking to a potential prospect, always make a quick mental note of how your body feels and what you are doing with yourself.

Remember to relax, be open and genuinely warm.  This is the most important key to building confidence in your relationship with your prospect.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

I am being lazy with this post…but it is still a very valuable article because it comes from no one other than…

Tom “Big Al” Schrieter!

Tom creates amazingly funny and simple trainings for all network marketers, no matter what stage of business building we are in.

You can sign up for Tom’s free newsletter at www.FortuneNow.com.

This training is one of Tom’s favorite topics How to Talk to Prospects.

I’m sitting across the prospects’ kitchen table. They are afraid to make a decision. They’re thinking:

“We don’t want to make a mistake.”

“What if we make the wrong decision?”

“Let’s think it over and delay any decision until we have to.”

“What if we fail?”

“Maybe we should just take our time thinking about this.”
And they’re thinking . . . and thinking . . . and thinking. Oh, if they would only make a decision, any decision, it would be wonderful. I could go home. They could get on with their lives.

But no. That would be too easy. The prospects insist on torturing themselves with indecision. They don’t realize that “not making a decision” is really making a decision to keep things just as they are.

 

For example, the train is pulling into the station. You don’t know if you should board the train or not. So you think, think, think . . . and soon, the train has already left the station. Your indecision actually made a decision:

You’re not going to be on that train.

You and I know this. Our prospects don’t.

Our prospects don’t realize that when they delay making a decision about our business, they are effectively making a decision to keep their lives the same.

And keeping their lives the same is okay. It’s just that they should be consciously making that decision.

 

 

So here are a few questions that you can ask your prospects. They’re innocent, non-aggressive questions. These questions will help your prospects make a conscious decision on what is best for their lives.

1. What will happen if you don’t join our business?

Of course the answer is:

“Nothing.”

But you don’t answer that question. Let the prospects mentally answer that question for themselves. They’ll probably be thinking this:

“Life will be the same. Tomorrow will look just like today. We’re going to wake up early, commute to work, come back late, grab a quick meal, watch a few minutes of television and go to sleep. Yep, we’re going to get this routine over and over again – until we’re too old to work.”

Not a very pretty picture, is it? Now if the prospects choose to leave everything the same, if they choose to avoid your opportunity . . . that’s okay. They are making a decision. And that’s all we ask.
Try some of these to see if one fits your style.

2. If you don’t start your own business now, do you see yourself always working for someone else?

3. What do you think will happen next year if you decide not to make any changes this year?

4. Do you think your job routine (five days a week, two weeks of vacation every year) will ever change?

5. I see that you’re kind of stressing out about risking a change in your daily life. Why not just relax and enjoy your life as it is?

6. You don’t have to make a decision to start your own business tonight. Instead, you could simply make a decision to not start your own business and keep your present job routines.

7. You know, you might be thinking, “My daily routine isn’t so bad. Maybe I’ll keep living this way.” And that’s also a good decision. Do you think that might be best for you?

 

 

All of these questions remind our prospects that the pain of their problems won’t go away by postponing a decision.

So make it easy for your prospects.

Remind them to make a conscious decision about their futures.

And remember, this technique is rejection-free.

We’re not attached to the outcome.

We’re not responsible for the decisions they make in their lives.

We’re only obligated to give our prospects the choices.

The rest is up to them.

Isn’t Tom fantastic?!?

Another great benefit of getting Tom’s Newsletter, is knowing where he will be in the country so you can catch him at one of his seminars.

Meeting Tom in person and learning from him face to face is an experience you cannot do without!

See you there!

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

We are taught many different ways to talk to prospects in the hopes of bringing people into our business opportunity.

Many times we are told to be enthusiastic.

I remember being told once that if I wasn’t having success, I wasn’t enthusiastic enough or I didn’t have a strong enough belief.

A lot of people are taught the method of Firehosing.

Firehosing is when you spray your prospect with an enormous amount of facts and enthusiasm for your opportunity.

This approach is so forceful, that you drive more people away than you attract. 

Even though you see this happening, you have probably been told that the ones fleeing the scene just weren’t interested and you need to keep finding more people.

There is limited truth in that.  Of course, not everyone you speak to will be a prospect for your opportunity.

But you should be having some success in what you are doing.  If you feel like you are turning people off, you probably are.

When Lee Iacocca became President of Chrysler, he asked an important question:

“What does the customer want?” 

This principle is easily applied to Network Marketing.

When we approach a lead about our opportunity, it is important to find out what they want!

The big mistake is being so arrogant in thinking that your lead wants or needs what you have.

No one likes to have things pushed down their throats.

Not politics.
Not religion.
Not parenting techniques.
And certainly not business decisions.

How do you know what your prospect wants or needs?

In Harry Browne’s The Secret of Selling Anything, he tells you.

Ask!

Learn the skill of asking the right questions and then listen to what your prospect has to say.

Once you know what your prospect wants you will be able to tailor your presentation and services accordingly.

Be careful not to give too much information all at once.  You will be confusing your prospect and you will create doubt in his mind.

Answer the first question or need.

Then, ask again, Is there anything else you want to know?

Creating a two way dialogue is more natural and feels more relaxed for your prospect.  People often take months to make a decision to join an opportunity.

Be patient, communicate, and turn off the hose.

Believe in Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com

There is always a lot of hype about the big money that can be made in MLM.

Presentations showcase income potentials by creating examples of checks that “could” be earned.  They usually have very high $ amounts that get the prospect starry-eyed.

Some examples take a sampling of a downline’s highest monthly earnings and combine them into one hypothetical month. 

Another example is to show a possible 4 or 5 level downline with 2 or 3 superstar builders.

Then the potential commission that could be earned by You, the potential upline sponsor, is shown.

The problem with these kinds of examples is that they do not accurately represent reality for the average person who joins an MLM.

Very few distributors ever create a lucrative downline with a handful of superstar builders, or distributors who make top commissions every month.

Additionally, no one ever mentions to the new prospect that to make a consistent 5 figure income takes several years of dedicated work.

A more accurate example of earning potential is to answer the 10K question. 

How many people (distributors and retail customers) does a distributor need in his/her downline to make $10,000 a month in residual income?

Residual income does not count one time bonuses or superstar 1% payouts.  
Residual income is only the commissions paid on group volume from product sales.

The 10K question also gets prospects starry-eyed since so few people can actually envision making that kind of monthly recurring income.

The demonstration that needs to be made to answer a more realistic question is to show how to make new distributors financially successful in the first 2 –3 months.

Most new distributors walk away from their MLM business because there is no financial reward.

A pay plan has to be structured so a new person working part time can start making a few hundred dollars a month within the first couple of months.

My fellow mentors, Bob and Anna Bassett        , have called this the Half-K Question.

Their example asks how much money will a distributor make if he/she generates $500 a month in sales.

This could mean having one distributor in the downline and a handful of retail customers.

Find the commission the company pays for volume.  It could be 5%, 10%, or up to 40%. 

Commissions are figured counting volume points, but the percentage is paid on the dollar amount of sales.

If the commission is 5%, then multiply 500 by .05 to get your commission $ amount of $25.

A commission of 10% on $500 is $50.

A commission of 20% on $500 is $100.

This isn’t going to buy anybody a yacht just yet.  But it does give a prospect a realistic idea of how hard he/she has to work to make a hundred bucks.

The first $100 is just the first step to achieving the $10,000 a month income.  The next $100 is the next step and so on.

Know your compensation pay plan so you can figure out the Half-K Question.

Know how you will make your first $100 and know how easy or hard it will be for the people you sponsor into the business to make their first $100.

If you need help figuring it out, just ask!

Believe In Your Success, I Do!
Karen
mentor.karen.j.miller@gmail.com