So, let’s say you’re talking with a prospect about your products. The prospect seems interested. But…not all people are telling you the truth when they indicate an interest in your products.

So, how do you know if your prospect is genuinely interested in your products?

You can test their sincerity by asking questions.

What kind of questions?

Well, let’s say that your company’s products are nutritional supplements. Following are some questions that might help you determine if your prospect is interested — or only being polite.

• Do you already take nutritional supplements?
• Why do you think nutritional supplements are important?
• What else are you doing to maintain good health?
• If you found a line of nutritional supplements that you felt would …(choose one or more of the following according to what they told you is their need)

1. help you maintain your good health…
2. give you more energy…
3. provide for you what’s missing in your diet…

would you be willing to get started on them right away?

Asking these types of questions may help you determine whether it’s even worth continuing the conversation and may help you save time and energy for those who are genuinely interested.

And isn’t it much more fun and energizing when you share with someone who’s truly interested?

Conversationally yours,

Kathi Peters

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

Since that post I’ve talked to a number of people who have similar frustrations with call waiting. So, it’s not just me that people leave on hold.

Now, most people are not willing to give up their call waiting. You know, maybe the President of the United States will call…

But, following are a few ways that you can cut down on call waiting interruptions.

1) At the beginning of a phone call, commit to each other that you will not switch over to another caller unless it’s an emergency (You may have to discuss what constitutes an emergency.)

2) Set the example. Let’s say you have regular phone conversations with someone who consistently switches over to another caller. Now, let’s say that you’re in a conversation with that person and your call waiting beeps. Say something like this: “Oh, there’s goes my call waiting. You know, talking with you is a priority for me, so I’m going to let that call go to voicemail.”

3) If call waiting is really an issue with someone you talk with regularly, consider talking pointedly with them about how you feel when they constantly switch over to another caller.

Here’s a suggestion. Unless it’s an emergency, never succumb to your call waiting if you’re on the phone with a new prospect. Think about what switching over says to that prospect!

I hope these suggestions help.

If you feel as strongly as I do about the call waiting issue, I would love to hear about it, especially if you have a creative way of handling it.

Conversationally yours, Kathi Peters

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

Thank you to my loyal readers, and I’m sorry for any confusion.

Kathi Peters

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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.

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

  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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2009 Network Marketing Communication. All Rights Reserved.