“Whatever happened to that guy who was on the stage last month?”
“You know, the one who hit Gold in only 6 weeks and made $21,000?”
Let me tell you this story.
This was early in my networking career. I think about my 8th month.
I was new but acted with the confidence of the young.
Once again, it was a 4 hour drive to another regional training, and I
had taken about 8 people via two cars to attend, and there was lots
of snow.
I think we only had two prospects, the rest of us were distributors.
We got up pretty early, since these things start at 9AM, and if you
want a good seat, you have to be there well before.
We were pretty excited and full of coffee – and to be honest, really
happy to be there.
We took pride to attend every major meeting within driving distance.
And it paid off.
But back to my story.
We got in, found good seats up near the front, and I had all 8 of us
together. Did the intro thing with my prospects so they met all the
key ‘players’.
The training got off with a mini-BOM – Business Opportunity Meeting
and that lead to the testimonials.
Now as you know, regional trainings or events can lead to some
pretty good testimonials, better than the normal ones we hear at
the local meetings.
But all of a sudden, this guy is up there and sharing how he got to
the – I’ll call it the ‘GOLD’ level – you can fill in the name for your
company – usually 2nd or 3rd from the top, in his first month.
Let’s just say something that seemed impossible for those of us who
had been in for a while.
And this guy was here in this town, breaking records in his first month!
Earned 21k and the crowd is cheering like mad!
I can’t remember any more of the training, but I did remember the
trip home.
4 hours.
My prospects were in the other car for the drive, so we distributors
could speak freely.
All we could think about was that one person achieved in 4 weeks
what I had done in 8 months. And I worked bloody hard!
As we drove back, all we did was reconsider all of our moves, plans,
goals, lead generation methods etc. thinking perhaps that what we
were doing was ‘all wrong’ and that clearly someone else has the
‘secret formula’ that is just not being shared with us.
We were comparing our success with this guy, and coming up short!
My upline, who was pretty experienced, had not come, so we did
all the thinking on our own.
I wished I knew what I knew now.
“What were we doing wrong?”
You know, it’s very easy to fall into this trap.
Often it’s hard to control this feeling in your team – especially when
one of those wacky stories prances across the stage.
Some leaders love this – they use these stories to ‘motivate’ their
team – “If he can do it, so can you!”
Really?
Is that how you would motivate your child?
“Come on Timmy, you know that Robert down the street is getting
‘A’s – it’s the same school, the same books, the same teacher – the
only difference is you Timmy, (you’re a loser!)”
Now, I added the loser part because that is the unspoken end to
that ‘motivating sentence’.
But it’s really old school motivation.
Dinosaur motivation.
It’s not how to motivate your child, and it’s not how to motivate a
spouse either.
“Look at her honey, wow, if you ate a lot less you might look half
as good her. WOW, what a knock out!”
Right. That will work.
So why is it still used in networking?
Testimonials (now called social proof) are good to show that products
work and that people make money.
But they should not be used as whips or comparisons for everyone
to match.
First, everyone has to pay their price for success in MLM or networking.
Everyone.
Some people just paid that price in a prior MLM.
So it seems as if their story is magic, but you don’t realize that they
brought over a team, planned out their first month’s story, lined up
all their ducks in a row, and executed that plan with a lot of help
from their upline.
I’ve nothing against that – I would do the same if I was to join up
and start over – but I would NOT use my story as an ‘I did it so
you are nothing if you can’t either’ tool.
Often what happens is people go home and give up.
They see that if someone can go from zero to hero in a month, and
they are still at zero after 6 months, of course they will quit.
Perhaps they were a great retailer, someone who was always on
the calls, or at the meetings with a great retail story or product
testimonial, but now they are gone.
Gone because someone told them that they need to compare their
success with someone else’s.
Yet they were really moving product, earning a good retail income,
(from their point of view), and were happy meeting their own
expectations.
Now they feel as if they are losers – because a rare story is being
held up as what is considered good.
That is stinkin thinkin.
Sure we compete, but we compete with ourselves.
We should be competing with our own record.
Do more each day – more than we did the day before, not more
than the other guy.
What to know how that story ended, the guy with the amazing
first month?
Very quietly, eight months later, all the product was returned.
I never heard the real story behind it, but it was some kind of attempt
to game the system.
Not important.
But the key lesson I learned was to NOT compare myself to others
but to compare myself to my own record.
The second key lesson I learned – over time – was that these fast
start stories usually were from folks who had been in networking
before.
They worked hard in the past, and now were reaping it in a new
program.
That’s ok, but understand its not magic dust that they have – it’s
just that they did not give up on themselves – they just joined your
company, and that’s saying something good about where you are!
So motivate yourself and your team to beat their own records, to
better themselves based on themselves, and to do so will make
them better at what they do and keep them on track.
If you have not yet replied and told me what company you are in,
pls do, and tell me your home city.
If I can help please email me.
If my books can help you find new prospects, invest in them.
Learning pays off so well!
Best,
David
Now, if you are wondering where to find people to talk
to, try reading a few of my books, and you’ll find you
never need to buy another lead again.
MLM and Network Marketing professionals guide to Recruiting Wellness
and Holistic Practitioners for 2014
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
How to Prospect and Recruit using Postcards for your MLM or Network
Marketing Business The Low cost Prospecting and Recruiting Tool that
Out Performs Online Methods
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
How to Recruit Doctors into your MLM or Network Marketing team by
showing them a NO Warm Market System
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
MLM Autoresponder Messages and Network Marketing Email Messages:
Financial Woes Pack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
MLM Autoresponder Messages and Network Marketing Email Messages:
Wellness Nutritional Pack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
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