NETWORK MARKETING SECRETS: Pace and Momentum

Network Marketing Secrets with Candy Webb

I’m often asked about the “timing of success”, and just what role momentum plays in success. Why is the pace of what we do important? Isn’t it true that this is an industry people can work at their own time, their own pace? Well true, but most people that enter our industry (and I believe this is unfortunate) do so with very limited goals in mind – almost a hobby mentality. If that is the objective, then yes, any pace will suffice. But for those individuals that see the true potential and have a desire to earn more income than they could possibly do in their “job”, we must be honest. It absolutely takes a brisk pace of development to achieve momentum and thus, achieve a big business and too many people just don’t push themselves to that pace. They don’t set numerical objectives and don’t monitor their progress.

Success requires that you COMPRESS, or COMPACT your activities into a tight period of time. This produces momentum and excitement, and as a leader this is vital. No one likes to follow a turtle except another turtle!

We’re going to explore “pace and momentum in all five of the phases of the most important function in networking – The Recruiting Process – which can be broken down into:

Number of Exposures – that means the number of new people (your numerical objective) talked to about your company in a week. I call this the MWC – Minimum Weekly Contacts.
Introduction (invitation)
The Follow Up Phase
The Sign Up Phase
The Getting Started Right Phase

Interesting, all of these steps can be done separately in different calls, get togethers or meetings but they can also all be done in one get together IF (and this is the all-important IF) If the pace works for the new person. It is an interesting dance, moving in rhythm between the distributor and the new person. You, as the distributor, SET the pace, but your contact has to MATCH the pace. I do truly see this as a dance and you must be in synch – you are the lead, hopefully guiding your new person smoothly through the process at a pace they are comfortable with.

When I think of exposures or MWC in the contest of pace or momentum, I am reminded of the old story – “which comes first, the chicken or the egg”. Which comes first, the list or the MWC? I would not advise writing the list and then just dividing it up into weeks – for instance, I have a list of 100, so I’ll call them all in 30 days. It might not be doable. Start by thinking clearly about the number of hours you are going to devote to your network marketing business, and then using the reasonable formula below to establish your MWC goal. You are looking for a pace that will challenge you and provide forward progress, but not one that will overpower you.

For instance, if you are full time with your networking business, assume you will be calling new contacts to introduce them to your products and your company at least four hours a day. The introductory call should be short and sweet, so assume you can do four an hour. That’s 16 calls per day or 96 per week! (Six day week). That’s a lot of calls and you can definitely move into some major momentum with this type of massive action. I would divide the rest of the day (remember you’re doing this full time) into two hours for follow up with people you have already contacted and another 2 hours for helping a new distributor get started right. A perfect division in networking.

Now, of course if you are part time at your business, you can still make great progress with two hours a day spent calling (with the same formula that’s eight calls per day or 48 calls per week). That’s moving forward well. Use your other hours spent proportionately between follow up and getting a new distributor started.

How does pace and momentum enter into the Introductory Phase? Well, here are a few tips to speed up and streamline that process. First, if you are new to the industry, absolutely write down what you intend to say about the Company and stick to it! You get on a roll when you are working at a pace of four calls an hour, and this becomes easier as you go. When your calls are too few and far between, you stammer, struggle for words and never get into a smooth rhythm (momentum). Practice really does make perfect! Another tip – You can increase your odds of connecting with your prospect on the first all and not having to play telephone tag by paying attention to the time of day. When are they most likely to be at that number you are call. Obviously, if you have a work number, call during the day, and by the way, right after 9:00 am before the day closes in and becomes too terribly hectic is a great time. Conversely, if you have a home number, around 7:30 pm might be perfect. Try to call after dinner but not too late. All of these things shorten your down time in the calling process and contribute to your momentum.

Another key is to keep the introductory call short unless your contact moves it forward – keep the pace appropriate. Don’t try to tell everything you know in one big blast if your contact is not ready for that pace. Here’s an example of a great way to get into an introductory call whether at work, or home:

“LISTEN JOHN, I KNOW YOU’RE AT THE OFFICE SO I ONLY WANT TO TAKE A COUPLE OF MINUTES OF YOUR TIME, OK?”

“LISTEN JOHN, I KNOW YOU’RE PROBABLY RELAXING AFTER A HARD DAY, SO I ONLY WANT TO TAKE A COUPLE OF MINUTES OF YOUR TIME, OK?”

The Ok is very important, it gives them an opening to interrupt if it’s not a good time, but it’s also very short, and allows you most of the time to move right into the next part of your call, which I call the “bridging statement”.

The bridging statement is one you will have pulled from your knowledge of this person, your conversations with them, and it needs to be relevant for their situation. It could be a statement that includes your reason for being a part of this company, if you feel your reason would be relevant to them. In fact, that is a great way to find commonality with their own situation. Typical bridging statements include:

One of the reasons I chose to get involved with Company was:

BUILDING FOR RETIREMENT

EDUCATE THE KIDS/GRANDKIDS

GET A SPOUSE OUT OF A SECOND JOB

DESIRE TO MOVE FROM RENTING TO BUYING A HOME

SECURITY AGAINST LAY OFFS, POTENTIAL JOB LOSS

BUILD AN INVESTMENT FUND (GOOD TIME TO BUY REAL ESTATE, BUT YOU NEED MONEY)

Any of the above would be great, and if it can also apply to their situation, then even better. If you can’t make a reasonable connection, be sure and say something like: “I’m very excited about the potential here and I couldn’t think of anyone I would rather share it with than you”. If you can tie it back to a particular conversation you had with this individual, even better. Remember, you are trying to “find a need and fill it”, so listening for clues in conversations is key to this – who mentioned they were stressing out over money, anxious about their retirement, kid’s college, on and on. In fact, the art of listening is such a vital ingredient to being successful in our industry. I always tell people in my training that no one will join you in this business just because you want them to, they will only join you if you have found a way to meet their needs or offer them value, and that’s how it should be!

Here is an example of how a call like this might go for me: “I WAS THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID THE OTHER DAY ABOUT NEEDING TO AUGMENT YOUR RETIREMENT PLANS, AND I WANTED TO SHARE SOMETHING I FOUND THAT IS GOING TO PERMIT ME TO DO EXACTLY THAT. IS A GREAT COMPANY WITH A SUPERB PRODUCT LINE, IN FACT I’LL SHARE MY OWN GREAT RESULTS LATER, AND A VERY IMPRESSIVE TRACK RECORD. THEY ARE THE FASTEST GROWING CO IN THE INDUSTRY AND HAVE DONE ALMOST TWO BILLION IN SALES IN 6 YEARS. (Now you will need to modify this statement, of course with your company’s track record). IT’S A REAL WINNER, AND I’D LIKE TO GET SOME INFORMATION IN FRONT OF YOU AND GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. “

If they ask questions, then absolutely answer whatever questions you need to but remember you said you would just take a couple of minutes, so honor that, but make sure they have heard your “why” and it is definitely my experience that financial reasons resonate more than product results. Unless they have the same health issues you do, they will more than likely identify with your financial reasons. This is increasingly so as the economy proves so untenable for so m any people. As you bring the call to a close, say something like:

“I KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE SOME EXCELLENT QUESTIONS, AND SO I NEED TO GET YOU SOME INFORMATION TO LOOK AT RIGHT AWAY.”

Confirm their email address and send them something ASAP; I use some powerful email video clips. Be sure and send your website, of course. It is much preferable to send it to them in writing than just give it to them because so many will write it down wrong. So, give it to them but them give it to them again in the email. If this person is within a 10 mile radius, say:

“SAY I’LL DROP A PACKAGE IN YOUR MAIL BOX, DROP A PACKAGE OFF WITH YOUR RECEPTIONIST TO GIVE YOU SOME MORE INFORMATION.

Above all, don’t mail them something, it’s just too slow.

One of the things I train all my new distributors to do is utilize me and other leaders in our organization in a 3-way call with new contacts. The best way to set this up is some time during the introductory call, quite casually say:

“BY THE WAY, ONE OF THE THINGS WE LIKE TO DO IS HAVE YOU MEET OTHER MEMBERS OF OUR SUPPORT TEAM, IN FACT I HAVE A PARTNER WHO IS PART OF THE MILLIONAIRES CLUB, HAS BEEN HUGELY FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL, REALLY HAS MADE A BUNDLE (WHATEVER) AND I’LL INTRODUCE YOU SOON.”

Drop it right there, don’t try to set up the call yet. Just get them the information you promised, the call will occur in the follow up phase.

Ok, on to follow up. If you have done introduction and information as I outlined above, no more than 48 hours as expired. That is perfect. And I teach that the very best follow up is going to be the 3-way call. It is absolute gold if you have the right coach/upline to do this with you. Of course, you have already told them that “one of the things you like to do is introduce them to a successful partner”, so as you call them with that partner on the line, no appointment is needed. They know you are going to do this and this is what you say when you get them on the line: “JOHN, AS I TOLD YOU, ONE OF THE THINGS WE LIKE TO DO IS INTRODUCE FOLKS TO THE SUPPORT TEAM AND I HAVE MY PARTNER ……N THE LINE WHO HAS MADE A BUNDLE WITH (Company). Let the upline do the talking from here, just be sure to have given your upline coach a briefing on who John is and why you think your company might be of interest to him.

This approach takes away the problem of getting people to agree to a 3-way call. It’s no longer optional, it just happens as a matter of course. Again, you are setting the pace and the expectation for this in the first call.

I’m often asked, “how quickly should I move for the close”. Of course, that depends completely upon the individual contact. Are they excited throughout the first call, asking great questions and encouraging you to tell them more. If so, it may be possible to broach the idea of joining you in this business right then. Certainly it will occur in the follow up process; I definitely try to move it forward to close when I am doing the 3-way call for my distributors. But just as we talked about the entire process being a dance and being in synch with your partner, at the close it is especially critical. It is very important to ask for their involvement and don’t assume that they will need the same information you did. People simply make decisions on different time lines and the situation in their life that is moving them forward quickly may not have existed for you. Certainly the economy today has a bearing on moving things quickly.

Aways be prepared to take the order, have a complete price list available on line for them so that they can choose the appropriate entry.

I believe that establishing momentum as you are getting the new person started is especially important. Here’s what I say:

“WE NEED TO DO A FEW THINGS TO GET YOU STARTED RIGHT. FIRST, I REALLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU START WITH ALL THREE PRODUCTS, (we have three main product lines) IT’S NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND AND USE THE WHOLE PRODUCT LINE I BELIEVE TO BE SUCCESSFUL – PEOPLE WILL ASK YOU YOUR RESULTS. NEXT, WE NEED TO START TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO INTRODUCE XANGO TO – YOU CAN SEE HOW IMPORTANT HAVING A WEBSITE WAS, SO I SUGGEST YOU GET A WEBSITE – FORTUNATELY THEY LOOK VERY PROFESSIONAL AND ONLY COST ABOUT $20/MONTH. (Get them a good replicating website).

IN ADDITION, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE ON A SUCCESS TRACK, WE NEED TO GET YOU ENROLLED IN THE XGOPRO TRAINING SYSTEM WHICH IS A PHENOMENAL PACKAGE OF WEBSITE TRAINING, CDS, AND LITERATURE. YOU GET A WONDERFUL INTRODUCTORY PACKAGE FOR $65, AND THEN WEEKLY YOU WILL RECEIVE ADDITIONAL TRAINING CDS AND OTHER MATERIALS ALL FOR $39/MONTH WELL WORTH THE MONEY AND THE GREAT THING IS THAT IT IS A SELF-PACED PROGRAM YOU CAN DO AT HOME ON YOUR OWN TIME. (Your training may be different of course).

I’M GOING TO HELP YOU, (THE UPLINE COACH) IS GOING TO HELP YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, SO LET’S GET TOGETHER AND GO OVER A FEW THINGS. FIRST, I (WE) WANT TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE COMPENSATION PLAN SO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE MONEY IS MADE. (THIS CAN BE DONE BY AN UPLINE WITH YOUR NEW PERSON GOING TO THE WEBSITE, AND THE UPLINE TALKING THEM THROUGH IT). LISTEN IN SO YOU CAN BEGIN TO DO THIS VERY IMPORTANT PART.

OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS, I WOULD L IKE YOU TO BEGIN TO BUILD YOUR LIST OF POTENTIAL PARTNERS OR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT HAVE A PRODUCT INTEREST (EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CUSTOMERS AND BUSINESS BUILDERS). THIS WILL GIVE YOU TIME TO GET YOUR WEBSITE, AND THEN YOU CAN START THE INTRODUCTORY CALLS, AND OF COURSE WE’LL BE AVAILABLE TO TALK TO THEM AS WELL.”

The importance of this type of approach is that is is ve4ry teachable, duplicatable and compresses the time period from introduction to getting them started dramatically. Think of it as 1, 2, 3.

1 – THE INTRODUCTORY CALL IN WHICH YOU SET THE STAGE FOR THE 3 WAY CALL

2 – YOU GET THEM SOME INFO – WEBSITE, DELIVER A PACKAGE, GO FOR INSTANTANEOUS VERSUS MAIL – EMAIL OTHER.

3 – FOLLOWUP WITH THE 3WAY WITHIN 48 HOURS AFTER THE INFORMATION HAS BEEN DELIVERED.

This compresses into a three or four day period. True, some people can’t make decisions that but remember alos, that some people can! Find the right pace. And if they need more time or more information, make every effort to be very specific about what remaining questions they have (again, to compress the time. Always ask the question:

“OF COURSE JOHN, I WANT TO GET YOU ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED, WHAT SPECIFICALLY CAN I PROVIDE FOR YOU….WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DO YOU NEED?”

If you can answer the question do so immediately and then ask again:

“JOHN, WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DO YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT OUR COMPANY?

Most good companies have a variety of tools and resources you can use to get additional information to people – webinars, conference calls, etc. allow you to take them to a meeting without them leaving their living room. For some people, this will be the way to go. Other people like to see the meeting, hear the roar of the crowd I guess and see that other sharp, entrepreneurial people are involved and prospering. So, remember to use all these modalities. What works for you may not be the kicker for them. I personally prefer the one on one at a coffee shop, and I train people to be ready to do that presentation at the drop of a hat. Don’t require them to meet you on your terms, quite frankly, flexibility spells success in this business. And always be clear that delaying the process is a mistake, build your momentum.

And when you set a high MWC and build your momentum, then you always have multiple possibilities in the pipeline. The problem for many in this industry is that they are working with the bare minimums – build momentum and build that pipeline! I tell people if they are working with the bare minimums, then that’s about what their check will be! Don’t limit their success by setting the pace too slow, show them the real potential of what you have to offer.

Best Regards for now, remember networking is fun and profitable. So, HAVE FUN AND MAKE MONEY!

Candy Webb, Your Network Marketing Coach

916 408-3637, http://www.jimandcandy.com, webb@quiknet.com

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