Building
a Sales Organization
Learn the art of attracting a great sales team
MLM
Consultant Michael L. Sheffield Answers Questions for MLM Distributors
The Industry's Leading MLM Consultant
Question:
I just joined a network marketing company as a distributor. I'm a
good salesperson but not sure of the best way to build a sales team. What
is the best way to start building my sales organization?
Answer: Most network
marketing experts would still agree that to be successful, you don't need
to sponsor many distributors-just a few good ones. Finding five or six serious
distributors should be your initial goal when getting started. Your upline
sponsor should be willing to help you accomplish this.
Most of us aren't so naive as to think everyone we sponsor will be as committed
to the business as we are. Don't be surprised if you need to recruit as many
as 10 or 20 before you find your first winner. This is a business of "sorting."
Remember the old saying, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you
find a prince." Don't get discouraged. Your sponsoring skills will improve
as you gain experience. But initially, I recommend you concentrate on quality,
not quantity.
When most new distributors join their first network marketing company, they
become excited about the product and opportunity and want to tell everyone
right away, even before they've experienced the products or proven the business
model. While this is typical, remember that "selling" is premeditated
and "sharing" is spontaneous. You'll do better to find a special
need for your product and business program before you spill your guts to a
prospective sales team.
You should just assume the majority of the people you approach already have
decided they can't sell and certainly wouldn't even want to try. If you've
just sold them your product and immediately attempt to recruit them, before
you utter another word, they will just assume you want them to sell something
to their friends. Most likely, they already have preconceived notions about
network marketing. These preconceived notions can hurt your building effort
if you don't manage them in advance.
Even though the basis for long-term success in network marketing is the right
product at the right time, during the building phase, network marketing is
more of a people business than it is a product business. Distributors making
large monthly incomes in network marketing have learned the importance of
the sorting process: to find the right people to involve and understand why
to involve them. While I believe this is truly an art, it is a learned skill.
People aren't born knowing how to build a sales team.
You want everyone, but not just anyone in your program. Inexperienced network
marketers are usually taught to work with their "warm" market--their
friends, relatives and work colleagues. This is fine if you're receiving strong
initial sponsor support and your company's training programs are adequate
in this area. But if you have to go it alone, you better have thick skin,
since you risk profound feelings of rejection from the very people you know
and trust. Friends and relatives know you all too well, or so they think!
They know the ventures you may have already tried before and failed to achieve
or complete.
In the early phases of your business growth, you'll find many people who are
charter members of the "discouragement fraternity." They want to
keep you in their own comfort zone. It's not that they don't want you to be
successful. They just don't want you to be more successful than they are.
You need to seek out prospective associates who will judge the opportunity
first rather than judging you. As you can see, you need to be selective to
be effective.
So as a new participant to network marketing, what else can you do to enhance
your ability to build your organization? The easiest and most effective thing
for you is to let your enthusiasm show. Be energetic. When energy is undirected,
it's called excitement. When it is directed, it's called enthusiasm!
Each person exhibits energy in a different way, depending on his or her own
personality and style. Focus your energy where it will do the most good, and
keep it genuine. You can be enthusiastic about the potential of your program
long before it pays off financially.
Having the right attitude is another key. Protect that attitude by only associating
with positive thinkers and doers. You're looking for a few "energetic
people" with a twinkle in their eye and a bounce in their step. They
will attract energetic people who will duplicate the process, creating geometric
growth in your business.
And keep in mind that if you continue trying to sponsor "warm bodies,"
you will eventually become frustrated. Don't sponsor them just because you
found a pulse! You don't need to sponsor an army; just keep an eye out for
a few good salespeople.
Request information about starting or growing your MLM company.
Michael L. Sheffield is the CEO of Sheffield Resource Network, a full-service direct sales and multi level marketing (MLM) consulting firm. He is a Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Multi Level Marketing International Association and in 2001 he was inducted into the MLMIA Hall of Fame. As an MLM Consultant, he and the Sheffield team have assisted in hundreds of national and international MLM corporate start-ups as well as offered a full line of services for established direct sales companies. As the most noted expert on compensation plans, he has been a guest lecturer on the subject for the DSA, University of Illinois, University of Texas, Berkeley and Harvard Alumni Association. Long considered the industry's top MLM Consultant , Michael Sheffield has helped launch over 500 new companies and 200 new products marketed by direct selling companies around the globe. He can be contacted at 480-968-6199, Sheffield Resource Network, 2239 N. Hayden Road, Suite 103, Scottsdale, AZ. 85257, website address: www.sheffieldnet.com.
