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From the Desk of the Editor It's hard to believe that October is now upon us and that the holiday season is just around the corner. Hopefully, your business is back in full swing after the summer lull and you are taking advantage of the fall season which is one of the best times for recruiting and selling. I recently came across the poem below and decided to include it in this month's issue because it expresses so well the power of networking. It inspires me to keep my business vision in mind; I hope that you find it equally inspiring. Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman
Decide to Network
Decide to Network
Sell, Sell, Sell....
By Karen Justice The successful business-builders of Network Marketing often are not business types with strong sales backgrounds. In fact, encouraging them to develop classic sales skills can be a detriment, rather than a help. Karen Justice's approach is to encourage your people to do what comes naturally. Share their experiences enthusiastically --- period. The Concept of Sharing vs Selling When my husband and I started out building our networking business, we had no experience in Network Marketing. We didn't know what you weren't supposed to do. We began sharing the success we'd had using the products, and our enthusiasm was so contagious that people started signing up. Because we truly wanted them to have the same great experiences we were having, we were following up like crazy. When they started winning -- when they began getting great results for themselves -- we encouraged them to tell other people, and soon they were signing away and our organization was bubbling. What we'd just done naturally -- following up with our consumers and business-builders -- has become the cornerstone of our business. We don't consider that we've ever sold anyone our products. We SHARE them. We SHARE them -- and let the products do the selling. Part of this sharing is caring -- which for us means taking responsibility that the person you're sharing with experiences the kind of successes you've been promoting. You follow-up with them making sure they get what you promised. One analogy that we use to explain the importance of follow-ups is that of a carpet layer who fails to secure all the carpet he just finished laying down before proceeding. Follow-up calls are the tacks that keep the carpet in place. The relationships developed through this follow-up process are what create the basis for a cohesive Network Marketing group. Now, I know that all this “SHARING AND CARING” can start to sound a little touchy-feely. And what’s all that got to do with building a large organization and making those “big checks” anyway? Lots! We’ve found that just by sharing the products, following up and then urging others to share the products, too, you can build your business with more stability -- and in many cases, faster -- than if you go the Supersalesperson route. Once you coach your consumers to success, they can easily be motivated to share the products with others. A person who sincerely believes in their product is operating from a position of integrity and is thus more convincing to others. When several people have been drawn into their group, they quite naturally become interested in the possibilities of the business. One interesting thing that we’ve noticed is that at this point, where they’re taking more seriously the idea of building a business, many people start to “sell” the product; signing up new distributors becomes harder -- and they start taking losses. My husband, James, experienced this himself. He learned so much fascinating information from reading all the company’s literature, that he started telling people about the intricacies of the products, rather than just telling them his own successes. His sign-up rate dropped -- until he spotted what was going on, and then went back to the simplicity of just telling prospects his personal success story. A good salesperson is not offensive. A poor one is very offensive. Salesmanship is a professional skill, and it takes lots of art and training to become good at it. Basic sales training often still leaves a poor salesperson. It takes lots of sales training to make a professional. But in the process, the trainee takes losses and sometimes gives up. They experience a loss of success -- and with that, a loss of personal dignity -- and decide Network Marketing isn’t for them. When I call a business builder in my downline who tells me they don’t seem to be able to interest people any more, I immediately check to see if they’ve started “selling” the products. I tell them to quit selling and go back to sharing their successes -- just like they did in the beginning. I tell them, “don’t even try to sign people up -- just tell them your personal wins, share your own success.” It’s remarkable what happens when they call me back (usually within a day), laughing and all excited again, telling me about their hot new business builder who demanded they sign him up right then and there! They're back in the game again! By keeping it light, it allows them to safely communicate to people about the products without the fear of further loss of dignity. In this way, they develop the natural communication skills on which salesmanship is originally based. They see what people respond to and naturally repeat what was successful for them. This method works only if it comes from a strong belief in your product and not just a monetary motivation. The Justice Business Building Model There are various models for business building. We’ve all seen the Networking hotdogs who shoot off like rockets, signing up everyone in sight by personal magnetism and force of their personality. They tend to build in a straight line, like an arrow. They don’t build deep, because no one in their downline can duplicate them. After a while it becomes a rat race to keep their monthly volume up. And as soon as their prospect list runs dry, their check drops like a rock. The business building model we use -- based on follow-up -- is more like a hot air balloon. It takes shape from the majority of the people in the group excitedly sharing the product and business opportunity. Your group expands in all directions at once, and at some point it just takes off and never comes down. One of the most positive things about this type of expansion is stability. Your group is solidly there, booming on all levels. You generate lots of good word of mouth about your group and the company’s products, and a contagious enthusiasm runs rampant throughout the organization. Creating this type of group has taught me what Network Marketing means. It’s a network of people who function together -- a team. At its best, it’s like an extended family, sharing and helping each other. Experience has taught us the necessity of isolating and working most extensively with our hottest business-builders, but here’s something else we learned along the way. Most of our big business-builders have been signed up by people who weren’t business-builders themselves! We would not have had the benefit of these remarkable people in our downline if we hadn’t been encouraging everyone with lots of follow-up and support. While you can’t often convince a person to “sell,” you can nearly always have them share. As long as they don’t have to be a salesperson to do this business, they will talk to other people. Each one of these people has a circle of approximately 50 people he or she can influence. By pushing them to “sell,” you add in a complication that is a significant deterrent -- and what happens is that they lose access to their entire circle of people. If you look at the multiple of how many people this actually involves, you see the potential losses this approach can create. Certain people will, through force of personality, enthusiasm, desire and/or salesmanship skills, become outstanding and rise to the forefront in your organization. These people, because of the fact that they are developing large businesses, may decide to develop further salesmanship skills. That’s great -- as long as these skills are not then put forward as an initial requirement for the average person. And remember that for us, almost all of our exceptional business-builders were signed up by non-sales type, “average” people. A lot of stellar business-builders don’t seem like other business-builders at first. Granny isn’t going to run out and take a salesmanship course -- but she can enthusiastically sign up all of her children, her next door neighbor, and her life insurance salesman. Teach people to hear what the people they are talking to have to say. People who feel they are being listened to are -- in turn -- willing to listen. Because new people feel they have to “sell” something, they tend to do it poorly and talk AT people. They feel uncomfortably out of their element and scared they might not be able to handle some kind of objection, so they monologue their “victim” into a solid-stupor. Your potential business-builder quickly becomes a social pariah and gives up in despair. And Network Marketing gets a bad name. Not everybody is ready to listen to what you have to say. Some people are suspicious by nature. Overselling this type of individual is painful, because the more convincing the novice salesman tries to be, the more suspicious his prospect becomes. This type of encounter is often devastating to a new business-builder because it results in such a loss of their personal dignity. Conversely, if you are simply sharing your story with normal conversational skills and the person shows absolutely no interest or looks at you as if you have just crawled out from under a rock, you’ll simply change the subject and let it go. You don’t have to convince everyone to use your product or join your group. There are people I certainly wouldn’t want in mine! But many times this same prospect shows up later, saying something like, “Ha, ha, ha, are you still using that stuff?” We say, “Yes,” without showing any interest in convincing them of anything. Days later, this same prospect is back again. “Does that stuff really work?” “Yes,” we say. “Well, okay,” they say, “tell me some more about it.” Our group has signed up many people this way. You see, these are natural responses to situations -- not forced or artificial techniques. They’re just comfortable connections people make between people. Find out everything you can about your product. Why is it so wonderful? (And if it isn’t wonderful -- then why are you sharing it to the first place?!) Show it. Let the product talk to them. Enlighten people on its strengths, but let it sell itself. People know if they want it or not. Let them be the judge. Yes, you’ll get people who want to do the business immediately and have salesmanship and leadership skills -- but you’ll miss out on an awful lot of people if the average person doesn’t feel they can do the business with just the skills they already possess. Build a team. Help your downline. Set a caring example. Remember, people will often do things to help others that they wouldn’t bother doing for themselves. That’s why a strong belief in the product breeds the desire to share it. People like to help others. When we made our run for Double Diamond, our group rallied behind us. They made it happen and we’re dedicated to making it happen for them, too. We are thanked a lot for our support -- but we get an awful lot of support in return, too! This is a wonderful business, and I think you should have fun with it. Get involved with a good company. Have enthusiasm for your product. Then, just share your story. Karen Justice is a Double Diamond distributor with Cell Tech. She is also a founding partner, designer and creative director for Tigre Lis Enterprises, a national company manufacturing upscale designer jewelry and clothing separates. She works her Cell Tech business along with her husband, James, who is also a screenwriter. The Justice System is one of the very popular trainings available through Cell Tech’s Relay 2000 touring seminar program.
How to Determine the Marginal Net Worth Here’s a “secret formula” for determining the “marginal net worth” or “lifetime value” of a customer. This is a powerful, major concept that not 1 in 100 business owners knows. I didn’t until about two years ago when I studied the works of the master marketer, Jay Abraham. I’ll put this in my own words and keep it brief. The “Lifetime Value” or “marginal net worth” of a single customer is an actual number specific to your business. It’s VITAL to your success for two important reasons: 1. You have to KNOW where you are before you can determine precisely WHERE you’re going. You need a baseline number so you can effectively track results. 2. Until you KNOW EXACTLY what each new customer is worth to your business, you have no way of knowing HOW MUCH money you can spend in marketing to get that customer. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Take the time to calculate this! Master this simple but incredible concept, and you’ll have one of the least well-known tools in your marketing arsenal - and you’ll soon be chin-deep in cold, hard cash. Step 1: First, determine certain figures for your own business. If you’re new - make a projection. Q. What is your ‘average sale?’ (Add total dollar sales for a year, and divide that by the total number of sales transactions you completed, or expect to complete). Q. How many times a year does an ‘average’ customer buy from you? (Take your total # of sales transactions for a year, & divide it by the total # of customers). Q. For how many years does an average customer buy from you? (Remember, 20% of the population moves every year, so this is typically less than 5 yrs, depending upon the nature of your business.) Q. How many people does your average customer tell about you? (A major factor). The most common average is between 3-12, but guess. Q. What percentage of these people actually become your customers? (Usually between 20 to 70%). STEP 2: Here’s the thing - the secret formula... WHAT EACH CUSTOMER IS WORTH TO YOU IN COLD HARD CASH! Fill in the blanks below (using the numbers you calculated in Step 1, to find out precisely what each customer is actually worth to you right now. A. Average Sale = __________ B. Number of Sales per year per customer =__________ C. Number of Years customer buys from you =_________ D. Number of Referrals from customer = __________ E. % of Referrals who become customers =__________ F. Gross Sales per year per customer (A x B) =__________ G. Gross Sales over life of customer (F x C) =_________ H. Referrals who become customers (D x E) =__________ I. Gross Sales from referrals (G x H) =__________ J.TOTAL VALUE of Satisfied Customer (G + I ) =__________________ Isn’t this dynamic and powerful information when you run the numbers? Trust me - it’s worth your time to sit down and figure this one out! I won’t do this for you, since each business will be different. Plus, you get more benefit when you personally master the concept and do the math yourself. Try it - you’ll be astounded at the total “dollar” value of just ONE satisfied customer. I had vaguely ‘known’ it was high, but the numbers don’t lie. Bottom line: From now on, when you feel even remotely discouraged or when a customer starts getting on your nerves (hey, it happens), just think about the value of ONE satisfied customer - and smile. Cheri Sigmon is a full-time Internet & Network Marketer, living in the historic small town of York, SC USA. Cheri enjoys USANA, the Gourmet Coffee Club (tm), & World Wide Web marketing. She welcomes questions/comments about using the Internet & online services to optimize your business. You may reach her by mail: 8 Park Drive, York, SC 29745. Email: cheri@jit.com, Tel: 803.628.0015.
Dr. Nunley's Biz-Tips 20 Page Booklet Long sales letters are one of the most effective forms of direct advertising. The truly interested prospect wants as much information as she can get before buying. Before you mail off your next five-page sales letter, think about replacing it with a sharp 20-page booklet. Both take only five sheets of paper, cost the same to print, and can be mailed with a single stamp. Take five sheets of paper, fold them over like a book, and you've got the template for your 20-page booklet. Many word processing programs will allow you to set the words and "Click Book" is designed especially for booklet making. Use a thicker, colored paper for a nice looking cover. Staple the edge for a binding. People get sales letters all the time and think nothing of tossing them in the trash. A booklet looks more valuable and expensive. This is especially true if you pack it with information the prospect will want to keep for future reference. Be sure to include one or more pages with order forms that customers can tear out and send. Kevin supplies marketing advice and copywriting fast and at low cost. Ask for his free report. DrNunley@aol.com or (801)253-4536. See all his marketing articles at http:// www.DrNunley.com
Advice from A-Z
Coping with an Angry Spouse When a spouse turns unsupportive, that's often the breaking point for a lot of business owners already cracking under too much pressure. Some entrepreneurs just get mad - (I'll show him or her"!) but a lot of entrepreneurs give up when their spouse becomes so angry about financial difficulties, or the time the business is taking away from the marriage and family, that tempers flare and too many harsh words are exchanged. Perhaps nothing pains married folks more than being yelled at or ridiculed by their spouses. They feel misunderstood, underappreciated, disdained, and very lonely. It is especially difficult to bear if their self-esteem is fragile, and they are sleep-deprived and anxious about their business. When they most need their spouse to be a friend and cheerleader, he or she can feel like the enemy. I hear from dozens of self-employed professionals like Terri, a freelance writer who discovered one of the secrets to handling angry outbursts that start to break down an entrepreneurial couple's marriage. Terri's husband, Mark is not actively involved in the day-to-day running of her business, but he became her unsolicited board of directors when he was frustrated by her slow progress in the fledgling days of her business. Terri shares: "My husband used to work in a horrible job around toxic fumes all day. My business was his ticket out so each day he would ask "How much did you make?" It was horrible. I had just started freelancing and I was struggling for jobs. Mark's questions cut me to the very core, especially when he would get angry and say: "Well, maybe you're not cut out for this." "Finally, I got mad. Really mad. I was tired of hearing how Mark made thousands of dollars more than I did. After a lot of screaming and yelling, we came to terms with what was really going on. Mark admitted that he was scared; he saw himself in a terrible job until he died of cancer from all the chemicals he worked around. I was scared too - I had no support, and I had no idea how to make my business more successful. Since then, we started having weekly business meetings. These meetings keep Mark informed of my progress and help him feel better. It's also been good for me to get his perspective." Terri discovered one of the secrets for pulling your marriage out of crisis when cash flow is volatile and your spouse is starting to become downright nasty - couple or business meetings. Terri and Mark were able to acknowledge the fear lurking behind their anger when they calmed down and had a candid conversation. Only then did compassion for the other's pain replace judgment. When Terri understood her husband's positive motivation for wanting her business to succeed, she was able to embrace his involvement in her business in a more structured way. Mark became more of an actual business partner. Previous to that, Terri was relating to him more like a parent or supervisor to whom she reported, and Mark was treating her like an incompetent employee. Mark needed a structured method to give his input, and a way to feel as if he had some control over Terri's business success - since he had a sizeable emotional investment in whether or not she profited. Mark learned how to motivate Terri as an advisor and friend. They joined the same team instead of fighting each other, both motivated by a shared vision. Terri wanted Mark to be able to quit his job as much as Mark wanted to. Behind most of the angry outbursts expressed by entrepreneurial couples is fear. Rarely will it be declared as such. Eventually the crisis heats up and one or both individuals breaks down and reveals the vulnerability that is causing their well-meaning, but very ineffective, attempts to reduce their own fears by coercing their spouse to act differently. Anger often arises from a feeling of being out of control, which both the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial spouse will feel several times a week. As Terri and Mark discovered, scheduled business meetings can help bring some calm and objectivity into the process, and reduce the tendency for the couple to lash out about business throughout the week. If you are self-employed and coping with an angry spouse who is squashing your self-esteem and unnerving you with their accusations, step back and see the frightened child masquerading as a hostile adult. Tell your spouse that you would love their support and assistance, and you can't hear what they have to say when they speak to you in an unloving way. Ask your spouse what they are scared about. That question will catch them off guard - they are expecting you to defend yourself against their accusations. Break the cycle. If you are the spouse of a self-employed professional who is struggling to make the business work, and you are concerned about sluggish cash flow, remember that the best way to accelerate your spouse's progress is to help them build their self-confidence. You will rarely succeed in doing so by yelling at them. Your spouse is as scared as you are, but he or she can't show you. In defense to your accusations about their incompetence, they have to pretend to you that they have it all together. They don't. They need your help, but they will only ask for it when it is safe to do so. The entrepreneurial journey is fraught with tensions, especially when the business is fragile, and so is the entrepreneur's self-confidence. Be gentle with each other and remember: rarely is any entrepreneurial success worth the destruction of your marriage. Azriela Jaffe is the author of “Honey, I Want To Start My Own Business, A Planning Guide For Couples” and “Let’s Go Into Business Together, Eight Secrets for Positive Business Partnering” (Avon Books ‘98). She is the founder of “Anchored Dreams,” a coaching firm supporting individuals and couples in business, a professional speaker and editor of the “Entrepreneurial Couples Success Letter”. Call (717) 872-1890, write P.O. Box 209, Bausman, PA 17504, or email AzJaffe@aol.com or visit the Anchored Dreams web site at www.isquare.com/crlink.htm. For free online newsletter, email jaffe@lancnews.infi.net.
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