Network Marketing Communication

I’ve got a friend who hangs up on me all the time.

As you know, I’ve been working through The Greatest Secret in the World by Og Mandino.  I’m in the process of reading The Scroll Marked IV.  It seems that for all of the scrolls, some phrase seems to suddenly leap out at me even though I’ve read it numerous times.

The phrase that leaped out at me yesterday was this:

Also will I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.

Every Monday morning a successful leader in my network marketing company hosts a conference call.  Yesterday she did a mini-rant on call waiting.

Now, back to the friend who hangs up on me.  She doesn’t really hang up, but when she obeys her call waiting, it feels that way.  There’s no good time to call her, no time in which she doesn’t at least once put me on hold while she talks to whomever.

“Just a minute, I’ve got to take this call.”

And I sit and wait while she talks to someone else who for that moment seems more important than me.  She always comes back on the line with an apology.  “I’m sorry, I had to…”

And, being the nice person that I am, I reply, “That’s okay.” 

Also will I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.

I’ve determined that, in an effort to improve my manners and graces, I’ll not switch over to the new caller.  By doing so I’ll indicate to the person that I’m talking to that he or she is a priority.

By saying, “I’ll just let the call waiting get that,” I’m actually saying, “This conversation is important to me.  You’re important to me.’

And by communicating that, I’m communicating well. 

Candidly yours,

Kathi Peters

P.S.  If it’s important enough, they’ll leave a message.

I was in church last week when the pastor said something that really caught my attention.

As people listen during a conversation, they dismiss 80% of what’s being said as not applicable to them.

80%!

Now, imagine that you’re sitting in front of a prospect and you’re sharing your network marketing opportunity and/or your products.  You’re talking away, assuming that he is absorbing, pondering, processing all you’re telling him.

And the vast majority of what you’ve said hasn’t even gotten past the ear gate, let alone registered a “Wow! Now, that’s news I can use!”

Conversation should be give and take.  It’s got to go beyond that “verbal vomit” thing.  Conversation implies that the participants are both involved, yet so often we do an entire presentation, then ask, “Well, what do you think?”  (Not a really effective question, by the way.)

If that statistic is true, we might have left our prospect in the dust an hour earlier in the “conversation.”

So, what the remedy?  How do we get some of that 80% back?

Well, first understand that maybe 80% of what you’re conveying to your prospect may, indeed, not apply to him.

But what if it does apply to him, though, and he’s…

…not willing to admit it

…not tracking closely enough

…confused

…distracted, etc.

so much that he’s dismissing the 80%?

Here’s the answer.

Ask questions.  As they say, questions are the answer.

Ask him.  As a network marketer, you need to be tuned in to what’s going on in any conversation you have with a prospect. 

For example, the second you perceive he is confused, ask him if he understands what you just said.  “Mr. Prospect, what about what I just said to you made sense?”

Ask questions that elicit more than a yes or no response.

Then, depending on his answers, continue the conversation with the new information in mind.  He still may not join your opportunity, but at least it will help you not to be presenting to someone who may only be listening just to be polite.

Conversationally yours,

Kathi Peters

 

 

  At the beginning of each new year, I commit to read a certain number of motivational/business books.  A couple of months ago, I had finished one book and was scouring my bookshelf for the next book to read.  My eyes landed on a book that’s sat there for ages, but one I’d never read. 

Years ago my in-laws were involved in fund-raising activities for the college they had founded.  They had purchased this book, The Greatest Secret in the World, by Og Mandino, and had obviously read it, as evidenced by the notes scribbled thoughout.

Now, I had read The Greatest Salesman in the World, also by Og Mandino, but never this one.

It’s an old book, relatively speaking, first published in 1972.  But, as I’ve found so far, its wisdom is ageless. 

It’s an activity book, and the activity is for the reader to, three times a day during a 45-week commitment, read a scroll.  There are 10 scrolls total, and the reader reads each scroll 30 days (weekends not included).

Hang with me here.  I’m getting to the communication part.

In Scroll II, the phrase, “I will greet this day with love in my heart.” is sprinkled throughout.

One paragraph that follows this phrase says…

“And how will I confront each whom I meet?  In only one way.  In silence and to myself I will

address him and say I Love You.  Though spoken in silence these words will shine in my

eyes, unwrinkle my brow, bring a smile to my lips, and echo in my voice; and his heart will

will be opened.  And who is there who will say nay to my goods when his heart feels my

love?“

Now, I’ve tried saying I love You silently, and I can tell you that it does make a difference.  I know it makes a difference in me.  I feel more relaxed, more friendly.  It’s as if I’m able to come into the conversation seeking to make friends instead of convert a prospect.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Experiment with infusing some love into your communication and see what a difference it makes in your closing rate…and your relationships.

In touch,

Kathi Peters