A Networkers Greatest Asset

O.K. No cheating :-)

If its any consolation I got it wrong myself ... I was VERY surprised at Tom's results ...

First, by a mile

* Who gave the presentation

The person they were invited to join. What is that persons reputation ? Years ago it spread by "word of mouth" - it still does but with the Internet, it travels at the speed of light ....

Second

* Up line support

Yep, sorry YOU again. Will you be able to help them ? Do you have a reputation for being  prepared to help people.

Golden rule of networking
People buy people first - People join people - not a company ...

Third

* Training provided

Not everyone is confident they can succeed. So if they need to know that there is full training provided. So, it comes back to you again, do have a reputation for providing good training and support for your people - preferably without emptying their bank accounts ....

Reputation, Reputation, Reputation

You don't just want people buying your company's products, you want them to buy from you !!
You don't just want them to join your opportunity, you want them to join with you !!

For the record the rest - in order ..

* Marketing plan and potential earnings
* Product line
* Being first in your area
* Company literature shown
* Company image
* Company management experience
* Sales kit provided

Remember forget the facts, forget how you see yourself it is how others see you. 

Now, I assume that you would like your frontline leaders to work together ?

When I was a kid and argued with my parents they would tell me "Don't do as I do, do as I say" - didn't work then, and it doesn't work in Network Marketing. Your team will copy what you do, not what you say.

Your team will observe your relationship with the other "crossline" leaders, and follow your lead. So, again your reputation comes into play - are you someone who has a reputation for honesty and integrity, someone those "crossline leaders" can trust ? - or are you someone who has a reputation for using the opportunity to gather contacts, move on, and pitch them with your latest opportunity ? Again, remember, facts don't count, what you think doesn't count, it's what those "crosslines" believe that will influence their decision.

Reputation is vital. Image is important. Branding is important. Online and Offline.
So important that it is worth a whole article on creating and protecting your brand. Your reputation.
 
Celebrities are paid a fortune for endorsing products , and that income depends on their maintaining their image their brand. Look how quickly, like for example Tiger Woods, they lose their lucrative contracts when their image and reputation are tarnished.

One last thing.

Stephen Covey observed the shift over the past 60 years from working on developing inner character, to creating an outer personality , an image. We have our "core identity", who we really are, and create a number of "shell personalities" which we show to the world , depending on circumstances.

Covey wrote ..

"If  I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other - while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity - then in the long run I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do - even so-called good human relations techniques - will be perceived as manipulative. It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success"

So, it seems to me, the choice rests with each one of us ...

Short term gain , at the cost of our reputation,  or permanent success with a great reputation??

What is a Network Marketer's greatest asset ?

Confidence, honesty, patience, integrity are great qualities for a Network Marketer. Time-management and Leadership are great skills to have. And it's essential to have the trust and respect, not just of your team, but of others in your company, and the industry - and, of course, your prospects.

All these add up to one thing ... your REPUTATION - which I firmly believe is a Network Marketer's greatest asset.

The Druids shared all their wisdoms as triads - three line sayings -

This is a man...

What he is ..
How he sees himself
How others see him ..

Your reputation is how others see you. It doesn't matter who you really are, or how you see yourself. The same is true for an individual or an organization. Which is why, especially in these days of mass communication, so much emphasis is placed on creating a good image, on brand awareness, on reputation, on having a good name. A great example is the recent "horsemeat" scandal, watching how the Marketing and PR departments of the big supermarkets swung into action to protect their brand.

They know that it can take months, sometimes even years to build a reputation, but that it can be destroyed in seconds. And the irony is that once destroyed, it may never be possible to rebuild. And they also know that their reputation does not depend on facts, but on the perception of their shareholders, customers and staff. In other words, it's all in the mind :-)

So, how does this apply to Network Marketing. Part of our role is to build and protect the image, the brand, the reputation of the company we are partnered with, and it's products. But it's also vital that we build and protect our own reputation. We are each building our own business. But we depend on the trust and respect , not just of our own team, not just of the other leaders in our company, but of other leaders in the industry.

Nine years ago I read a book by a guy called Michael Dlouhy called "Success In Ten Steps". One of a number of books that changed my perspective on Network Marketing.

Michael quoted an exercise used by Tom "Big Al" Schreiter, which I'll share here ....

Rate these items yourself, from 1 - 10 , 1 being most important, 10 being least important. Take a few minutes to think about them, and most importantly think like a PROSPECT.

What would a prospect consider most important in deciding on which opportunity to join. ?

* Company literature shown
* Marketing plan and potential earnings
* Training provided
* Who gave the presentation
* Product line
* Company management experience
* Up line support
* Company image
* Sales kit provided
* Being first in your area

Take a few minutes to think about them, and most importantly think like a PROSPECT.

If you've already read the book, and done the exercise, you're already ahead of the game.

If you haven't I believe you may be surprised by the results of the survey, and understand my answer to the question "As a Network Marketer what would you say is your greatest personal asset ... "

You can read the answers to the survey in the next article "A Networker's Greatest Asset"

The Curse Of The Attrition Marketing Vampire

Reviewing many network marketing opportunities over the past twenty years, has led me to a startling conclusion. Many of today’s apparently successful Network Marketing businesses are not built on success they are built on controlled failure. They not only accept failure as a possibility – failure is actually built into their plans. They call it playing the NUMBERS GAME.

When I think of the numbers game approach, I can’t help thinking about the trench warfare in the First World War. The Generals sitting in their tents, sipping port, and discussing clever strategies, whilst the enlisted men went “over the top”, hurling themselves at the enemy guns to gain a few hundred yards of ground. Their cunning plan ? Throw enough troops at the enemy trenches, and eventually some will get through.

Just like trench warfare, the numbers game has one major drawback – the casualties.

One key difference between trench warfare and the numbers game, is that whilst in trench warfare the casualties – for obvious reasons – remained largely silent, in the numbers game the casualties become increasing vocal.

They don’t blame themselves, they blame the product.

They don’t blame themselves, they blame the plan

They don’t blame themselves they blame the company.

They blame their upline. They blame their downline.

And most of all, they don’t blame themselves, they blame you !

Network Marketing is a people business, and to build a solid business you need to build genuine, solid personal relationships. Playing the numbers game with families, friends, work colleagues, in fact everyone on your “everyone I know” list, won’t help you build more personal relationships, but it could certainly help destroy quite a few.

And why make it difficult for ourselves ?

This business relies on the recommendations of satisfied loyal customers to endorse and buy its products, and just as an unhappy, dissatisfied customer is a bad advertisement for our product, so an unhappy, disgruntled ex-distributor is a bad advertisement for our opportunity.

Perhaps we might consider another way ?

I’m not saying that mine is the right way. I’m not saying mine is the only way. I’m not saying mine is a better way. I’m just saying mine is a different way.

It is a way that will not only allow me to achieve my goals, but will enable me to sleep soundly in my bed, and when I look in the mirror, not hate the person looking back.

It is a way developed over the past twenty years building, training and managing effective project teams for large and small businesses in many industries. It is a way developed out of necessity as the demands of our investors changed.

For years the Sales department was king, the investors were only interested in the sales figures, and so they played the numbers game. 


RECRUIT - RECRUIT – RECRUIT

SELL – SELL - SELL

Attrition Marketers are easy to recognise because just like vampires their mantra is

FRESH BLOOD IS LIFE BLOOD

But in recent years the investors have become more cost conscious. Now they are more interested in the real cost of obtaining a customer, and the cost of recruiting and training staff.

Now we have a new mantra :-RETAIN – RETAIN - RETAIN

The numbers game is a well trodden path. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson :-

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Most people join a business like ours because they want to change their lives, but are they clear as to what that means ? Winston Churchill once wrote :-

“You make a living from what you get, but you make a life by what you give”

Building your FM business will take some EFFORT, but it needn’t be a struggle – not if you have a brilliant team out there to help you.

So how do you build a brilliant team ? How can you give your team the “E” Factor ?

Look out for my next post ......

"Forget the X Factor, give your team the "E" Factor ...