THE 7 GREAT LIES OF NETWORK MARKETING - LIE NUMBER TWO

In my last post of the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing we stopped at Lie No. 1 - Everyone is your prospect!

 

On this post we shall continue with Lie number two (2):

Lie No. 2 – This really isn’t sales. We just share products with people.
“It’s not selling. It’s sharing!”
Doesn’t that just give you warm fuzzies inside? This untruth also has a distant cousin which often takes the form of gibberish like this:
“Your family and friends should buy from you just because you’re you. I mean, why would they give their business to some large corporation when they could give it to a close friend or relative. It’s called keeping your money in close circles. People a hundred years ago used to do it.”

 

More about this. First, let’s talk about the severe ramifications this whole idea of “sharing” has for people who are just getting started.

 

Here are two major side effects of this lie:
Side Effect No. 1. There’s a huge deficiency of proper sales training because if it’s not sales, then there’s no need for sales skills. As a result, people are thrown to the wolves totally unprepared to retail their products and their opportunity.

 

Side Effect No. 2. People are set up for failure because they’re given false expectations about how easy this is going to be. Labeling this whole business as “sharing” makes it sound like child’s play. New distributors are given the impression they’re doing one thing, when in fact it’s something else entirely. They think this is going to be a cakewalk and when they find out it’s not they aren’t too likely to stick around.

 

When people are fed the idea that it’s simply a matter of sharing, they’re in for a very harsh reality check. They go out and eagerly “share” their incredible product with all their family members, only to be sorely disappointed when they’re shot down. Then they’re baffled as to why it didn’t work for them.

 

One of the main reasons people tell this lie is because they don’t want to scare new prospects away. They want people to get this nice, cozy feeling that all we’re doing is telling the rest of the world about our wonderful product and people will be so swept away by our enthusiasm that they’ll automatically buy.

 

After all, it’s common knowledge that most people hate sales. So uplines and sponsors will beat around the bush and basically sugar-coat this inconvenient and uncomfortable fact:
If You Are In Network Marketing, You Are In Sales.

 

Understand this: Anytime you’re asking another person to give you money in exchange for something, you’re talking about sales. Selling is not sharing and sharing is not selling.

 

We’ve all heard it before. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising there is, right? Right. What do you do when you see an incredible movie at the theatre? You tell your friends how awesome it was…how gripping the plot was…how engaging the actors were…blah, blah, blah, all that good stuff…and that they absolutely have to go see it. Same with eating out at a great restaurant or picking up your favorite artist’s new CD. People will be very likely to go spend money on these things after hearing a glowing report from you, their trusted friend. Here’s where the stick gets thrown into the spokes.

 

Your personal recommendation for all that stuff is so powerful because you have nothing to gain by “selling” them to your friends. As soon as you throw a financial interest into the mix, everything changes. Both for you and for them.

 

For starters, you’re not as comfortable. You don’t feel as natural as you did with something you don’t make money off of. Now you’re forcing it and as a result, it just doesn’t “flow” the same. It’s also different for them because they know you’re making money from the deal. It’s no longer an unbiased, “third party” opinion. People can smell an “incentivized” referral from a mile away. The whole dynamics of it has changed.

 

So the fact is, in network marketing you have now crossed over from the world of personal recommendation to the realm of direct sales. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re the same, because they’re not. Once you get this you’ll understand that you do indeed need to learn effective sales skills. It isn’t enough to just “recommend” your products to people you know.
Just Because Someone Is Your Friend Does Not Constitute A Good Enough Reason For Them To Buy From You.

 

It’s their hard earned money we’re talking about here. And now you need to give them real, solid and compelling reasons to buy your product instead of all the similar ones out there.

 

So therefore, just the same, all your family and friends should buy your products instead of going somewhere else. Well isn’t that nice.

What if your brother lives 40 minutes away from your McDonald’s and he’s got a Burger King that’s 3 minutes away. Is he still expected to drive all the way over to your business every time he wants a burger and fries? Or what if he doesn’t even like McDonald’s? What if he doesn’t like fast food at all? What if your brother doesn’t even like you? See where I’m getting with this?

 

Just because someone is your friend/relative does not mean they will or should spend their money with you. Yes, your warm market is an excellent way to go for retail customers…but…just as you would need to give a stranger strong enough reasons to buy your product, you need to do the same with your friends and family. You can’t expect them to buy from you.

 

You know, there are families who will give each other their business no matter what. No matter how inconvenient it may be, regardless of whether they even like the product or not, they support each other in all their endeavors. If your family is like that, great. But mine sure isn’t. And the reality is, a lot of people’s families aren’t like that.

 

So what it comes down to is this: Learning effective sales techniques is mandatory for success. You have to understand the sales process and what really motivates people.

 

For starters, know that…
When It Comes To Selling (And Therefore Network Marketing), Far Too Much Attention Is Paid To The Product And Far Too Little Attention Is Paid To The Person Doing The Buying!

 

Because there is one thing and one thing only that’s on your prospect’s mind…“What’s in it for me?” And the successful salesperson is not the one who knows their product inside and out and can talk the other person’s ear off…it’s the one who can best make the connection between their prospect’s true desires and how their product/service will fulfill those desires.

 

Simply getting excited and telling someone about your product is not enough to consistently bring in sales.

 

Continue enjoying your reading from our next post of the Number Three Lie from the 7 Great Lie Of Network Marketing.