One way: If you’re the expert. Because people like to buy from experts.
You’re an expert when what you market reflects who you were before you started marketing it.
A. Joe’s played tennis for years, and now he’s a tennis coach. He also runs the Tennis Pro shop and sells tennis gear.
If tennis matters to you, would you rather buy your racquet from Joe or Wal-Mart?
B. Julie’s been a health nut for years who uses nutritional supplements and is always looking for ways to eat better. If health has begun to matter to you, would you rather buy supplements Julie recommends, or something off the shelf at GNC?
C. Tim’s been into saving the environment for years – he recycles, doesn’t use toxic stuff in his home home, and he’s active in the local Save the Earth group. If you were looking for non-toxic cleaners, would you consider Tim’s recommendations over those of a clerk at Wal-Mart?
When things matter, we prefer to buy from people who are really in the know and into the thing we’re considering – whether it’s phones, cameras, computers, tennis gear, nutritional supplements, earth-friendly cleaners, or whatever matters to us.
So if your product or service reflects who you were before you started marketing it, let people know that (if they don’t already).
Your personal story, and your knowledge and love of the thing you’re selling gives you instant credibility. Think?
Pop quiz: If you agree, what kinds of people will be your best prospects?
Absolutely right! Customers want to know you are the expert because everyone wants to work with the best.
If you are interested in something, people will seek you out to ask your opinion because they know you research and keep up with what is going on in the industry.
I have several areas of intrest people would ask me about whether on a personal or business level.
Brenda Bunney
http://MLMSuccessBunney.com
http://BrendaBunneyMLM.com
brendabunney@yahoo.com
I’m 100% on this one – the only reason I even CONSIDERED an MLM was because of the product.
I was already teaching small business owners and professionals how to market better, I knew that having an MLM aspect to what I do was going to attract flak. So it took me about 10 months and over 50 pages of emails back and forth to join.
In the end I realized I was going to be recommending the product highly anyway, and MLM is not unlike the affiliate commissions I pay people who promote my e-book.
And the guy who sought me out was a very experienced guy, and I am grateful for him persisting with me as I got to understand the “opportunity” he was offering me. A big thanks Rob.
Martin Russell
http://martin.networkmarketingcentral.com/
I pretty well agree with the above.You would also need to walk your talk , give great service,customer care, show respect listen to your people and there people and help as many many people as you can and you will achieve your credibility!
Pete.
Pop Quiz answer: Those who are interested in the same things.
I am a health nut, people know it. It shows even to strangers by what I buy at a store, what I feed myself and my kids. People will ask me questions about foods, diet, exercise, etc… to them I am an expert. ( little do they know I l am student myself)
It’s a persecption though. In that area I might know more than they do so they count me as an expert. As I market my product it just flows naturally out of my regular conversation. It is a part of me.
I love quizes,
Nancy Carlson
http://www.perfectmombusiness.com
This is what Network Marketing Companies should be built on. Not recruit everything that breaths. If 1000 people in a company, gathered 100 customers, there is 100,000 sales every month. Everybody and the company makes money. It makes everyone happy.
We have started a new company and this is what we are teaching.
Thanks Kim for everything you do for us.
Bill
I think this is very true given the day and age we live in. People are tired of hype, static and are living very hectic lives. I’m one of them!
Most of the new things I buy now are based on the recommendation of someone I trust or know to be knowledgeable in that area.
Z
http://www.advocare.com/0204550
I absolutely agree, Kim. Before I had a proper First Date Script, I was constantly frustrated at why the people I talked to didn’t “get it”, didn’t see what I saw in what I was trying to offer them.
Today, my First Date Script helps to automatically filter out those whose eyes might glaze over at what I have to say, and those who, like me, are dealing with chronic asthma and other respiratory-related health problems WHO WANT A SOLUTION are interested to hear my experiences with my products and ASK ME to tell them more.
What a switch!
No more trying to pound square pegs into round holes!
Today, my best prospects are busy moms who have, or who have children who have, breathing problems and get sick a lot. They are frustrated trying to find products that won’t make their breathing problems worse, or cost an arm and a leg to use. They don’t have time to run all over town checking health food stores, they haven’t been able to find what they are looking for at WalMart and have resigned themselves to cleaning with the windows and doors wide open (even in winter) and spending inordinate amounts of time reading labels. They want products that work, that are cost-effective and that don’t close up their (or their children’s) lungs when they use them.
When I find another mom who fits this description, and I tell her that I enjoy all that PLUS delivery to my front door (so gone is the running all over town crap), she usually does what I did: Join.
Ironically, that’s exactly how and why I became a customer of my company: the woman who introduced me had asthma, and she had a son with asthma. She knew what I was up against and told me how these products had made a difference for her and her family.
The key to this is “If you were looking for…”. I belong to a lot of organizations that deal with the outdoors and the environment. However, I don’t have many customers in these groups, in fact, only one. This is because 1)people don’t ask me what I do and/or 2)because they don’t seem to be looking for the kinds of products I sell. I don’t bring it up unless it is natural in conversation. I’ve only been in the business for a year, so I think it takes time.
On the other hand, if you are buying socks or blank video tapes, consider Walmart. LOL
I think the moral of this story is to associate yourself with products that WILL matter to many people. There are many MLM products that add zero value to your life.
Yes, being the expert before you are asked or before you ask. Comes to mind that people ask me to “come fix their internet connection problem”. I look back and find that I do, in conversation, talk about problems I’ve fixed for me and my husband. Its not my business, and I lend them a hand as a friend, but the idea is surely the cross over as I see it. They think I am the expert and they ask me. If it was my business, I’d be set to go. I think I must have a look of passion when I talk about it. Hmmmm have to think that one over in relation to the business that I do. Passion and excitement are going to have to get revved up a notch. Ah, revelation. I hold back a bit because I don’t want to be seen as the seller person. Be natural then is the key I’m seeing to unlocking the door. Thanks, K2 for all this learning.
This is so, so true…
You have to have the right fit. I have a lot of interests but now my company affiliation is exactly in tune with what my expertise is. I am a professional illustrator / creative writer with a marketing background, and one of my specialties is greeting cards… so needless to say Send Out Cards fit like a glove.
I enjoy the fact that I have the knowledge and tools to help others with their businesses, and also to teach people in my team, who don’t have my expertise. It is just a part of who I am.
Would I do this is I didn’t make any money at it? Yes, I would! I love it madly…I have given free advice all my life and I will continue to. I believe that what you give out, you get back…pay if forward.
Would I love it if someone joined my company, absolutely. Let’s be honest that’s why we are in doing this. But it’s not always about the money. I love to share what I know about, it is just second nature to me, I don’t even have to think about it.
I keep repeating this, but the best advice I got was from you Kim, you told me. “Find your passion—Find a company that matches it—And the money will follow”
We all are an expert in something… share it.
I ask for advice from people I consider experts and whom I trust. I know I’m getting good advice. Plus, this helps build our relationship because it shows the person that I trust and value him. People need to feel valued. I know I do. I just love it when people ask for advice, opinion or help solving a problem. And if I happen to earn some money in the process, that’s just an added little bonus.
Pop quiz answer for me would be pet lovers wanting to get rid of the fur kids bad breath and interested in heath products for them.
I never claim to be an animal expert but I know what my products have done for my pets so I guess I’m an expert in telling that story. I also pretty much stick with my pet line because I can answer any question that comes up, hey maybe that does me an expert, maybe, or maybe I’m just letting the pet stuff be a true reflect of me now and before I found them.
I’m still interested in different skin care products so I’m looking for people who use their product, can tell me what they have used and why and the results. If it sounds like something I might like to try and the rep has really shown benefits I could gain, I’m willing to try it. After years of using and wasting skin care products I have to feel pretty confident the marketer is an expert. So in other words I agree completely, you have to know your stuff.
Kim you are our Networking expert, what you do reflects who you are, and you love it madly.
Have a grand day
Robin
I would much rather buy a product from someone that has a passion and comes from the heart. From the heart is a “biggy” for me. They can get into the “nitty-gritty” of what that product can do for me – And, I would believe them more.
Have a great spring day,
Carole 🙂
Popquiz answer for me would be “people who truly care about environmental issues, and want to know how to keep themselves and their families safe in our ‘electrically charged’ world.”
I don’t consider myself an expert on ‘all things environmental,’ but my friends and family know I’m passionate about the environment because of how I live my life. I’ve been involved in protests against companies that threaten our remaining wilderness areas and the creatures that inhabit them, and for several years my husband and I gave up urban conveniences to live in a cabin that’s ‘off the grid,’ grew much of our own food organically…we ‘walked our talk.’
So I’m with Martin on this one – the only reason I even considered MLM was because of the product.
I’d recently been involved in a protest against plans to replace overhead high voltage transmission lines with new ones that are many times more powerful than the existing lines, in a rural area that includes homes, organic farms, schools and churches. Understandably, the friend who became my sponsor thought her timing was perfect when she introduced me to a product that addresses just this issue, but it wasn’t until I spent three months trying to prove her wrong, that I convinced myself that what she had was actually a viable solution.
What they say is true: there’s no-one so ardent as a convert, but I know better than to expect everyone to share my passion. I recognize that my customers and potential prospects will be people like me, and it’ll be because of what just naturally comes up in conversation.
Beverly@NMC
Thanks for that Carole because as far as the product I market goes, I simply can’t profess to being an ‘expert’ on breast cancer and most certainly am not an expert on how one should do a self breast examination. 🙂
I guess I simply have to rely on my passion for ‘making a difference’ and come from the heart, while at the same time understanding that people I have never met may not get this. I do know that the home oxygen patients or folks with obstructive sleep apnea that I see on a daily basis see my passion for making a difference, whether it is with them or with others. I guess getting others to see this is the challenge.
In any event, I always try to avoid the word ‘expert’ when talking with patients or folks in that the phonetic components of the word itself are that which I hope ‘not’ to be, ie. ‘x’ = “an unkown quantity”, and ‘spert’ = “a drip under pressure”. 🙂
Expertise?
In answer to the pop quiz: Yes, I agree and my best customers are and will be those who want to reach their “older ages” with intact minds and bodies that allow them to keep on keeping on…. and without taking meds.
I’ve been a Developmental Psychologist for a very long time and one who has always advocated for good nutrition fro all ages as it allows for optimum development….
I have often said that I was considered a nut for suggesting way back in the 60’s that we needed vitamins and supplements and also that we had to stop adding “junk” to the food system; especially in what we were feeding children.
Unfortunately, those like me were not listened to and we were correct. The obesity rates and other diseases and health issues are a result of all that has gone on since then in terms of what is called “food.” [ I don’t consider a tomato that has ripened in a truck to be food ☺ but I’ll leave those rants to another day ]
Because of my long-standing positions on human growth and development, my degrees, and the work I have done in my professional life, I am considered to have expertise.
But it doesn’t take degrees to have expertise. Yes, I have a bit of headway, of sorts, because I can attach letters after my name, but real expertise takes passion and commitment and not backing down when the world tells you that you are a nut for having what are now considered well-founded beliefs.
A quote from Gandhi works for most new ideas – be they political, nutritional, medical, etc.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Lynn
grow older better