Product Vs Opportunity
So now you are up and running a little, you have spoken to some friends about your new business and hopefully a few of them have tried your products, maybe even bought something. What now? This is the point at which many people give up because they think they have exhausted all their opportunities, spoken to everyone they know and got what they are going to get. They are so unbelievably wrong! Don't give up, don't stop here. Follow this blog for a little longer (I am going to be doing posts every day for the next few days on the next steps, its too much for one post) and I promise you will get some ideas on where to go from here.
Before we get into the next steps, there is something you need to get your head around and that is whether to lead with the product or lead with the opportunity. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, let me explain:
Network Marketing is essentially two different things - selling products and recruiting people for your team or 'selling the opportunity'
Some people will be interested in your products and some wont, some will be looking for an opportunity to make more money and your opportunity will be perfect for them and some wont be interested at all. That doesn't mean that people who are not interested in one wont be interested in the other - sometimes customers also eventually go on to join your business after a while.
The trick is to find the people who are interested in each part, and pitch them the right one. You need to decide what is right for that person and figure out whether you should lead with the product or lead with the opportunity. It isn't always easy to figure out who needs what and there is definitely some trial and error here but you will eventually get a feel for it.
Look at what you do as solving problems - so I have the opportunity to solve two problems, I can help people have great hair and I can help people earn more money. Now of course there is more to it than that but the more simple you keep it for now the better. All I need to do is find people who want better hair and people who want or need more money, once I figure out who is who I then know if I should choose to lead with the product or the opportunity in my conversations with them.
Of course the most important bit of advice I can give you is to build relationships with people before you bring them either to the product or the opportunity. Partly because it is important for your relationship marketing, but also because you can then decide what problems they have that you can help solve. I have a few friends who I know need more money, but I also know that I cant just jump in and tell them they should join my team, they need to see what I am doing working for me before they will be interested - quite frankly at the moment they think what I am doing is a bit nuts! So what I do is look for new people to build relationships with - they will undoubtedly ask what I do, its just one of those questions people ask when getting to know someone. This is where I can say 'oh I sell amazing shampoo' or 'oh I help people make money from home' now people approach this in different ways and no one way is better than the other per say - it's about what works for you.
What works for me is a sort of combination of the two, I tell people that I have my own business where I sell amazing shampoo, I then tell them a little about the products then I say something like 'I also help other people do the same' now they often ask about the shampoo at this point and I go in that direction, but sometimes they will say 'oh I wonder if that is something I could do' then I know to lead with the opportunity.
Reading this post back I am not sure it even makes sense but I hope you get what I mean. You need to decide what is important to you. Now in most companies the compensation plan is designed so that you have to do a certain amount of both retail and team building, certainly any company I have been with is set up that way. So where are you in your business just now in relation to your next promotion? I am going to put it out there for you and say that I need to find three more VIP customers and two more team members to hit mine and I personally find it easier to recruit customers than I do to bring in team members. My focus, although split slightly at the moment, needs to be on getting better at recruiting team members.
Tomorrow we are going to talk about warm and cold market prospects for both product and opportunity and we will look at some ways to approach each of them. I will also give you a big update on what is happening with me, after all this blog is about my journey and how it may help you in your business.
Till tomorrow …..
Before we get into the next steps, there is something you need to get your head around and that is whether to lead with the product or lead with the opportunity. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, let me explain:
Network Marketing is essentially two different things - selling products and recruiting people for your team or 'selling the opportunity'
Some people will be interested in your products and some wont, some will be looking for an opportunity to make more money and your opportunity will be perfect for them and some wont be interested at all. That doesn't mean that people who are not interested in one wont be interested in the other - sometimes customers also eventually go on to join your business after a while.
The trick is to find the people who are interested in each part, and pitch them the right one. You need to decide what is right for that person and figure out whether you should lead with the product or lead with the opportunity. It isn't always easy to figure out who needs what and there is definitely some trial and error here but you will eventually get a feel for it.
Look at what you do as solving problems - so I have the opportunity to solve two problems, I can help people have great hair and I can help people earn more money. Now of course there is more to it than that but the more simple you keep it for now the better. All I need to do is find people who want better hair and people who want or need more money, once I figure out who is who I then know if I should choose to lead with the product or the opportunity in my conversations with them.
Of course the most important bit of advice I can give you is to build relationships with people before you bring them either to the product or the opportunity. Partly because it is important for your relationship marketing, but also because you can then decide what problems they have that you can help solve. I have a few friends who I know need more money, but I also know that I cant just jump in and tell them they should join my team, they need to see what I am doing working for me before they will be interested - quite frankly at the moment they think what I am doing is a bit nuts! So what I do is look for new people to build relationships with - they will undoubtedly ask what I do, its just one of those questions people ask when getting to know someone. This is where I can say 'oh I sell amazing shampoo' or 'oh I help people make money from home' now people approach this in different ways and no one way is better than the other per say - it's about what works for you.
What works for me is a sort of combination of the two, I tell people that I have my own business where I sell amazing shampoo, I then tell them a little about the products then I say something like 'I also help other people do the same' now they often ask about the shampoo at this point and I go in that direction, but sometimes they will say 'oh I wonder if that is something I could do' then I know to lead with the opportunity.
Reading this post back I am not sure it even makes sense but I hope you get what I mean. You need to decide what is important to you. Now in most companies the compensation plan is designed so that you have to do a certain amount of both retail and team building, certainly any company I have been with is set up that way. So where are you in your business just now in relation to your next promotion? I am going to put it out there for you and say that I need to find three more VIP customers and two more team members to hit mine and I personally find it easier to recruit customers than I do to bring in team members. My focus, although split slightly at the moment, needs to be on getting better at recruiting team members.
Tomorrow we are going to talk about warm and cold market prospects for both product and opportunity and we will look at some ways to approach each of them. I will also give you a big update on what is happening with me, after all this blog is about my journey and how it may help you in your business.
Till tomorrow …..
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