Network Marketing Communication

Many years ago my husband and I went out for dinner.  At a table nearby sat an older couple.  Being an avid people watcher, I noticed something disturbing about them.

THEY WEREN’T SAYING ANYTHING TO EACH OTHER.  Nothing.  Not a word.

I’m a talker.  My husband is too.  So I have a hard time imagining sitting through an entire dinner without saying a word, even if we’re in the middle of an argument.

Now, contrast them with a couple who are totally engaged in conversation.

What do you notice about them? 

• They make eye contact
• They respond facially to what the other is saying
• When one smiles, the other may smile too

Now, the next time you’re with a prospect, do mini checks along the way regarding how you are communicating. 

Are you responding facially to what they’re saying?

Are you looking into their eyes as they speak, and as you speak to them, are you looking into their eyes or looking away?

Do your face and your body indicate that you’re truly interested in what they’re saying?

Following a conversation, you ultimately want your prospect to feel, “Wow! We REALLY connected.”

Think about it.

A network marketing book I’d highly recommend to help you with your communication style is 17 Secrets of the Master Prospectors by John Kalench.

Touching lives,

Kathi Peters

 

 

I recently met a woman who, through multiple conversations and some information passed, became a solid prospect.  At a certain point I felt I had given her information sufficient to make a decision.

I picked up the phone with closing on my mind. 

Then I hung up.

Then I picked up the phone and dialed her number.

Then I hung up.  Again.

Then I did what I often do when I’m stuck.  I call my friend Mari.  I told her how I was stuck and how I wasn’t sure what to say when I called my prospect. 

Ahh, Mari.  She always seems to know what to say. 

She gave me a wonderful answer.  Here it is.

Say, “What would you like to do next?”  How simple, but how profound!

When you think about it, it certainly puts the ball back in the prospect’s court.  Which is a good thing, because I think many network marketers say way too much.  (I call it doing the verbal vomit).

Now, the important thing to remember is, after you ask the question, stop talking!

What could my prospect say? 

• I need more information.
• I don’t want to do anything.
• I have some questions.
• I’m ready to sign up.

If your prospect says she has some questions, answer her questions.  Then ask if she has any more.  And any more.  Then, when you ask, “Do you have any more questions,” and she says no, then ask again,

“So now that I’ve answered all of your questions, What would you like to do next?”

Again, stop talking. 

Try this.  It works.

If you find this question works for you, let me know.

In touch,

Kathi Peters

Memorial Day.  A day to remember. 

Remember what? 

Those who have sacrificed for us, who have given their lives in service to our country, to each of us.  We owe them our gratitude.

My network marketing partner, Mari, has a son who is serving in the Armed Forces as I write this.  She’s given up a lot as she’s watched her son go off to war.  He’s a newlywed, just starting his life with his new bride.  And now he’s gone for 15 months.  He and his wife knew the sacrifice they’d have to make before they said “I do.” 

God Bless Nathan, wherever he is, and keep him safe.

In the network marketing arena we make sacrifices too, albeit none so great as those who sacrifice their lives protecting our country.

We sacrifice

…sleep

…time with our family members

…sometimes relationships. 

Some we knew of before we ever made the first call to a prospect (thank you, sponsors, for helping us not to be clueless).  Other sacrifices we stumble across on the network marketing journey.

Sacrifice is good. 

But I know I need balance.  God bless me and help me not to sacrifice my life in my quest for success in my network marketing opportunity.

Remembering and being grateful today…

Kathi Peters

I’m sure you fellow network marketers have experienced it.

You’re cruising the aisles when you see a friend you haven’t communicated with in a long time. 

Instantly a thousand thoughts crowd into your mind.

Man!  I wish I wasn’t in my sweats!

How do we even begin to catch up?

What are her kids’ names and what were they up to when we last saw each other?

Fresh meat! (I hope not!)

But as a mlm’er, the thought foremost in your mind…How can I bring up my networking marketing opportunity?

So the conversation begins.  You catch each other up on your families, etc.  Then one of two things usually happens.  Either you ask her what she’s up to and wait for the opportunity to steer the conversation around to your opportunity, or she poses the question first:

“So, what are you up to lately?”

What to say…

You want to bring up your opportunity but don’t want to appear like a headhunter.  So you don’t say anything.

Then you beat yourself up all the way to the car and maybe even tell yourself you’ll never make it as a network marketer.  Why didn’t you say SOMETHING?  That’s what I call grocery store paralysis.

Is it such a bad thing, though?  Not necessarily.  Here’s what I do when I have an attack of grocery store paralysis.  I make a note to myself to make a call to my friend the following day.

And I call her.  And here’s what I say…

“Hey, Beth, it was so great to see you yesterday.  How fun it was to catch up with you!  I’ve been thinking about you ever since.  You know, you asked me during the course of our conversation what I was up to, and I was remiss in not telling you about one of the most exciting things that I’ve been doing lately, something that might be of interest to you.  Would you be open to hearing about it?”

Now, what is she going to say?  Most likely, “Yes.”

So, all is not lost.  People love to know that you’ve been thinking about them and when you reach out in friendship, it goes a long way.

Grocery store paralysis can actually save the day.

Happy networking,

Kathi Peters

 

The other day my 18-year-old son and I were discussing his work conditions.  I know he works hard, so I asked him what he found most tiring about his job.

His answer surprised me.

He said, “Talking to Michelle.”

I asked him to elaborate and he explained, “She never lets me finish my sentence, and when I tell her a story, she always has to one-up me by telling me her story.”  My daughter calls a friend of hers who does this “Thunder Stealer.”

“It’s exhausting to talk with someone like that,” he concluded.

He’s right.

Not only is it exhausting, but it’s also

rude…

insensitive…

selfish…

It’ll also doesn’t, as they say, “win friends and influence people.”

Some good communication rules to remember while prospecting people about your network marketing opportunity and/or products.

1. Allow your prospect to finish a thought.
2. Actually be thinking about what your prospect is saying, not about what you’ll say in response.
3. Pause before responding to show him that you really heard what he said.
4. When your prospect tells you a story, never one-up him by telling him a story that’s more dramatic.
5. Make some kind of remark about the story he’s told you, such as, “Wow, that’s interesting/amazing” or “I’m sorry to hear that happened to you.”

Resist the temptation, especially if someone has told you about a health challenge, to say — and I’ve heard this one — “Well, that’s nothing, I had that same disease and…”

Instead, ask, “How did that make you feel?”

Don’t be a Thunder Stealer.

You’ll be amazed at the positive changes in your communication style, and your prospects will feel validated as well.

In touch,

Kathi Peters

 

 

Communication

A broad subject.

Network marketing communication. Now, that narrows it a bit.

We often think of communication as primarily what we say.

But those of us who consider ourselves to be networkers know it’s way more than that.

It’s what we’re thinking (that comes across, too).

It’s how we’re moving.

It’s how we’re standing.

It’s our facial expression.

Networking is communication.

So is marketing. But when you put the two together ~ network marketing ~ you get a strange breed of animal.

One where communication seems to bend, if not break, some rules.

Speaking of rules, I’m not one to follow them.

When I left home for college, the most anyone gave me to last at the conservative school I was going to be attending in South Carolina was six weeks. Six weeks! I was a good girl, but loved to say, “The rules are made to be broken.”

So after one-too-many “office” jobs, network marketing seemed to me to be a good path to follow.

I don’t fit the typical job mold either.

Back to communication, namely network marketing communication (sounds like a good name for a blog…)

My passion is to communicate.

I’ve got wonderful experiences and tidbits to share. But I’ll admit that I’m far from knowing it all. So I’ve created this blog to connect with others about network marketing communication in some of the following areas:

• Verbal
• Non-verbal
• Listening
• Written (cards, emails, letters, etc.)
• First contact
• Follow up

And many more.

I value your input. Let’s learn from each other.

Kathi Peters