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From the Desk of the Editor In this month's issue of the MLM Woman Newsletter we are going to focus on effective communication techniques using telephone and e-mail. Learning how to communicate with skill and confidence can really make a difference in your business.
Yours in Success!
10 Keys To Better Phone Use By David Cansler With the use of Fax On Demand, Voice Mail, and the Internet in our day to day business activities, we sometimes forget that we have one of our most powerful tools sitting right in front of us... the telephone. This is our oldest, and can be our best form of interactive marketing, if we just take the time to learn how to use it properly. Through the telephone you can network, sell, close, research, advertise, and (more importantly) sell yourself. I know that as often as not, I'm sold as much by the feeling that the person I'm talking to gives me, much more than I would be if I just looked over something in print. That's not to say that I don't do my homework. It's just that we, as humans, like to feel that we're not just another number, that we're important and deserve that person's attention. Even for those brief few moments. Based on my experience on the phone, both as the caller and receiving calls, I've come up with 10 tips on how to strengthen your presence when using the phone. 1. Have a plan You should always know just what the objective of the call is going to be. If you want that person to make a call to an 800#, design your plan around this objective. If you want to qualify your person then have a plan that works in that direction. 2. Be prepared Don't waste your time or the persons on the other end of the line. Always have a pen or pencil and a notepad, so you can jot down any notes that you might need later. Don't think to yourself "Oh, I'll remember what we talk about". Have any information that you might need in front of you before the call starts. Think about the questions that you would have if you were the other person. This is where having a FAQ list prepared would help a lot. If this is a follow up call and the person you're talking to is going to fill out an application, doesn't it make sense to have an application in front of you so you can answer any question that they might have! 3. Practice Practice helps you pick out the awkward parts of your presentation. I know it sound and looks a little odd, a grown person talking out loud to themselves in front of a mirror, but it will give you a much more authoritative and coherent presence. 4. Call early or late Remember these people have busy lives too. If you're calling them at work never call during the rush hours, the hour before and after lunch and the hour before closing. If you're going to call them at home, call after they have had a little while to relax or right after supper time. 5. Stand up when you're on the phone Your energy level is much higher when you're standing. That comes across when you're talking. The best way to work on the phone is with a cordless headset. You can stand up and walk around to get your natural energy pumped up. Would you rather talk with someone who is excited about what they are doing or someone who is doing a job? 6. Be considerate of other people's time Always ask if you've called at a good time, and do they have a few minutes to talk. If you don't you may find yourself on hold for an extended period of time. It may be that they don't have time to talk to you now, so don't be afraid to ask them for a good time to call back. Set an appointment. 7. Get in the right frame of mind You should always smile when you're talking, the person on the other end of the line can hear it in your voice. Remember to be polite to everyone that you speak to. You never know when it will save the day, and remember no one ever got any further on the phone by being rude. 8. Act appropriately Always act professional, be confident, and in control. People want to work with a leader, not someone wishy-washy. This will always improve your chances of winning over the prospect. 9. Focus on the plan Never forget what the purpose of the call is. Building rapport is great, if that is part of the plan, but don't let the conversation digress into something altogether different. This can't help you with your business, and remember that is what the call is about. 10. Don't lose your cool You're going to meet some ignorant or rude people from time to time, I've heard the number quoted as high as 20%. I'm on the phone a lot and have only run into about 5%. I don't know if I'm just that charming or if some people are just pessimistic. The point is don't fall into the trap of lowering yourself to their level. We all have bad days, some of us cope better than others. You could be speaking to the nicest guy in the world, who just found out that all his stocks took a nosedive, and his wife ran away with his broker. Taking his dog and his golf clubs. If worse comes to worse, you have that little magic button on the phone, just say good-bye and push it. Don't hesitate to use the phone to build rapport at warp speed. Most of us have a feeling that we have a good handle on someone after we've spoke with them, have you ever got that feeling from looking over a web page or fax? I know I haven't. Remember the phone can be your best friend. David Cansler is a Consultant to the MLM Industry. He assists Network Marketers in getting Free MLM seeker leads to boost their downline recruiting efforts. For more information click and send: mailto:free-mlm-leads@aweber.com
The Importance of 3-Way Calls By Rod Nichols In my 19 years of network marketing, I've had the opportunity to work with and interview hundreds of the industries top money earners. They have all built their businesses at different paces and using different methods. However, the one thing I heard consistently was the importance of 3-way calls. I know from experience that many new and even older (in time with the company) distributors are not doing 3-way calls. In a recent meeting of approximately 50 distributors, I asked how many were doing weekly 3-way calls with upline or downline and only one person put up his hand. I also know from talking with other leaders that their downline is not doing enough 3-way calls. If the 3-way call is so important, why don't more distributors do them? I believe it is because they are afraid the prospect will feel "ganged up on" and will be offended. Since many of these calls are to friends and family members, this feeling overrides the potential for success. The distributor would rather have the call fail, than to do a 3-way call with the upline. Personally, I think that distributors are getting the wrong impression about 3-way calls, because we (upline) are not explaining the methodology and benefits properly. So, here goes. First, let's talk about the best way to make a 3-way call. Now, for my disclaimer. I am not saying that this is the absolute best and only way to make a 3-way call. If your upline has a standard way of doing calls, than that's the way to go. If not, give this a try: If you are making 3-way calls with your upline, the reason you have your upline on the phone is not to hammer on the prospect or as the heavy closer, but rather so between the two of you the prospect can get all of his/her questions answered. Also, so that your MLM can be presented in the best possible way, so that your prospect can make an educated decision. Here's how the call might go: The distributor calls upline and discusses the call prior to the appointed time. Distributor puts upline on hold by depressing the "flash" key or the "hook" button (where the handset hangs up). The distributor should get a couple quick tones and then a regular dial tone, at which point he/she can dial the prospect's number. When it starts ringing, press the flash key or hook button again to re-connect the upline. Here is the dialog when the prospect answers: Distributor: John, hi this is Rod. I'm calling to follow-up on that information that I (sent/dropped off to) you. I have on the phone with me one of my business partners (upline's name), who is here because I am relatively new and I thought you would have some great questions that I couldn't answer. John this is (upline). At this point the upline will take over the call and your job is to listen, take notes, and learn. Here is what the upline might say: Upline: Hi John. How are you this evening? Are we catching you at a good time? Great! We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. First I want you to know that I am strictly here to answer questions, fill in the gaps, and help provide the information you need to make a good decision. This is a very important decision and our job is to provide you with sufficient information to make an educated decision. The one favor I need to ask you is that you not say yes or no until you have received enough information to thoroughly research this business and make a good decision. Will you do that for us? Thanks! Now, did you get some time to review the information that Bob sent you? From here the upline is going to handle the call as he/she feels fit, but it will be a very comfortable call for all involved. Now, if you are doing the calls with your downline, you should follow the script for the upline, which will help make them more comfortable with the calls. We recommend that every new distributor do at least 30 3-way calls before they start talking with people on their own or doing 3-ways with their downline. After 30 calls the distributor will have heard all the main objections and questions, plus the answers. The best way to do these 30 calls is to have the upline do all of the call on the first 10. During the second 10, the distributor should do the first part of the call with the upline handling objections or answering questions. The new distributor should do all of the calls on the third 10 with the upline on for back-up. Following you will find examples of how the 2nd and 3rd sets of calls might go. 2nd Set of 3-Way Calls: Distributor: John, hi this is Rod. I'm calling to follow-up on that information that I (sent/dropped off to) you. I have on the phone with me one of my business partners (upline's name), who is here because I am relatively new and I thought you would have some great questions that I couldn't answer. John this is (upline). (upline and prospect say hi, then continue) John, did you receive the information we sent? (If yes, continue) That's great and did you get a chance to review it? (If no, set a time to call again) (If yes, continue) Excellent! What did you (see/hear) that you liked? What did you find most interesting? What questions can we answer? (upline will now help with answers) 3rd Set of 3-Way Calls: Use the same script as in the 2nd set, except that the distributor will answer questions and call in the upline only when he/she gets stuck. 3-way calls are not only effective for quick and efficient sponsoring, but it is also a great training tool. A new distributor will learn much more by listening in on some calls then by you telling them what to do. Now for the benefits of 3-way calls: Distributor - fewer negative calls, better closing ratios, build network quicker. Upline - opportunity to train, help new distributor get checks quicker, build own network. Prospect - opportunity to hear different perspectives on the business, get all questions answered, make a good decision. 3-way calls are a win-win-win opportunity and a critical part of every success story in network marketing! Rod Nichols has been involved with the network marketing industry since 1979, as a distributor, consultant, trainer, and author. He has built several large networks and currently a Gold Director with USANA. His book Successful Network Marketing for the 21st Century has become one of the most popular books in the industry. Would You Like to Dig In My Goldmine?, Rod's epic recruiting booklet is an industry best seller. Rod is on the Board of Directors for the Professional Association for Network Marketing (PANM) and sits on the Distributor Advisory Board for USANA. To contact Rod e-mail him at rhinorod@millenniumteam.com
Are You Using E-mail Effectively? By Wanda Loskot Yes, I am serious. I am asking you if you are sure that you use e-mail so that you get maximum benefits. I know that "everyone" knows how to send an e-mail letter but judging from 100-150 letters I receive daily, only a fraction of people take full advantage of this wonderful tool by communicating effectively. And by now you should know that communicating effectively can make or break your business. To begin, remember that as the internet business person you seldom get a chance to meet your correspondents face to face. Your e-mail creates an impression about you and your business. Make sure that you pay attention to small things that mean a lot, so that you score bonus points whenever possible! Use a signature file I assume that you would not write a business letter without some kind of stationary, right? Then use a signature file in your e-mail! It serves the same purpose. It identifies who you are, what you do and where you reside. If done right, it allows the recipient to visit your website with just one click of a mouse button. A signature file is the simplest and perhaps most effective internet marketing tool (it is also the most underutilized). Make sure that you create and use it all the time - even if you don't have a website, you can have an impressive internet presence! Forget about the HTML Unless you know that the other person is using the same mail program forget about special fonts and other formatting tricks (especially that colorful stationery!). Would you read a letter that looks like this: </FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE=6><U>JUST FOR</U><U><U><U> YOU</U> <U>SURE</U> <U>WAY </FONT><FONT COLOR="#0000ff" SIZE=5> </U>Christmas Greetings - and Happy New Year!!!</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3></B></P><P ALIGN=LEFT></P><P ALIGN=CENTER> This is how it might look on another e-mail program! At least many messages look like this on my own computer screen. If you want to make sure that your messages are read, send your email in plain text. Some things are good and don't need any improvement. Those formatted messages also load up much slower and quite often even crash slower computers (not the best first impression!). Keep your lines short It is difficult enough to read from a computer screen (especially if someone wears bi-focal eye glasses as I do). Don't make it even more difficult by filling the entire width of the screen with text. When you use maximum 60-70 characters per line, there is another benefit. Your message can be read as you intended it to be read otherwise your recipient might end up with lines broken in the most unexpected places - VERY difficult to read. Even if your mail software does a "word wrap", use the hard return key at the end of each line to avoid the problem. Also, sooner or later you will engage in e-mail "conversation", exchanging messages back and forth. Each time you get an answer, a quotation mark will be added at the beginning of the quoted line and the line width will grow. Usually it breaks the lines of the message which makes difficult to see who said what previously. With short lines and that extra space at the end, your e-mail messages will always look clean and inviting to read, even after several such exchanges. Trim the fat When you respond to someone's message, quote it by all means - it helps to remind the topic of conversation. But trim the fat. Erase the irrelevant text so it is not repeated. It takes just a moment of your time and makes you appear thoughtful and more professional. Quoting anything more than just few lines is way too much, unless there is a really good reason. These unnecessarily long messages are not only a waste of time; quite often they waste money too. Remember that many people around the globe pay for the internet connection and every minute of downloading time counts. And never EVER return the entire e-mail message preceding your own, unless it is very short. I receive the entire pages and pages of my own "Referrals Unlimited" newsletter with a few line message at the end. Ouch! Sending to the group Learn how to use your e-mail software. Make sure that if you send a message to a distribution list, recipients don't see everyone's else e-mail address. If for no other reason (and there are plenty) - than to protect their privacy. Most of the e-mail programs have two carbon copy fields "cc" and "bcc". Put the addresses in the "bcc" field (blind carbon copy) - NOT in the "cc" field. Before you hit the "forwarding" button Forward only important mail. Something your "know" the other party will appreciate. Just because what you got in the mail sounds very interesting to you, it doesn't mean that it is worth forwarding to everyone on your list. Most likely it is not. Most likely it's a hoax! When it comes to forwarding, be very discriminate with messages like "Danger!" and "Virus Alert" or "A Little Girl Is Dying". These are old internet chain letters created especially to waste peoples time and test our patience. If you send it around, chances are you will annoy majority of your recipients who received the same message already many times. They might not tell you about it from lack of time or to be polite - but don't assume that just because no one complains, these messages are really appreciated. Most likely the opposite is true. You might be bugging people instead of saving the world or building relationships! Be especially alert if the warning urges you to pass it on to your friends -- do not! This alone should raise your red flag that the warning is a hoax. (Another flag to watch for is when the warning states that it is a Federal Communication Commission (FCC) warning. According to the FCC, they have not and never will issue warnings on viruses. It is not part of their job (to read more about it go to http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html). Wanda Loskot, author of business systems that will help your business work so that YOU can rest or play - register today to win one month of FREE business coaching at http://loska.com - for a subscription of monthly newsletter "Referrals Unlimited" mailto:ru@oaknetpub.com with SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of message
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