In a recent post I asked:
What is the #1 challenge you have in your life RIGHT NOW?
PPL_ED said:
“One of the things I haven’t been able to do is recruit people that stick and stay as well as produce new business. That is supposed to be the way to succeed. I haven’t found an answer to that one.”
I have a partial answer, and a challenge question.
I believe most NM/MLM recruits don’t stick for one reason above all: they have no idea what they’re in for. They’re clueless about what they have to do to make money. And clueless about what obstacles they have to overcome to sell product and recruit others.
Those entrenched in the business naturally blame the recruits for not sticking. You know, they’re too weak-kneed, don’t believe enough, and don’t spend enough time and money to learn the business, blah blah blah.
However, every business needs good people. Google, the Army, programmers, you name it.
A cool business finds ways to engage the prospective recruit before they take them in, to test whether there will likely be a match, Salt Lake recruitment firms are famous because of the incredible candidate that they are able to find.
Take Google. In 2004 they wanted the “best engineers in the world.” Every techie type wanted to work for Google even then; they were already pretty cool.
But Google only wanted only the best, and they didn’t want to waste time with the wrong ones. (Sound familiar?)
So they set up a game. With two public and anonymous billboards. One in Cambridge MA (home of Harvard and MIT) at a subway station, and one in Silicon Valley, CA. Here’s what it said:
“Quick question: What is the first ten-digit prime number contained in the mathematical constant e? We’ll give you a minute to calculate it…”
Did you get 7,427,466,391 as your answer? “Don’t worry,” write the authors, “neither did we. ..If you figured out the answer and went to www.7427466391.com, you were presented with another puzzle. Solve that one, and you came to a page that said:
“Nice work. Well done. Mazel tov. You’ve made it to Google Labs and we’re glad you’re here. One thing we learned while building Google is that it’s easier to find what you’re looking for it it comes looking for you. What we’re looking for are the best engineers in the world. And here you are.”
This way of recruiting did three things:
1. It attracted a large number of the right kind of candidates.
Within days of the unveiling of the billboard, and before anyone knew Google was sponsoring it, mathematics and engineering blogs and forums were buzzing about the mysterious puzzle. No less a personality than Stephan Wolfram, the mathematical genius and entrepreneur who earned a PhD from CalTech at the age of 20, posted a solution to the puzzle in an online forum. Google had obviously gotten the right pool of people interested in their game.2. After engaging the correct audience, this recruiting ‘game’ conveyed a sense of what a job will actually be like.
Solving Google’s puzzles involved esoteric mathematics and programming skills. The message to potential recruits was clearly that people who don’t enjoy solving complex problems will probably not enjoy working at Google Labs. So merely by playing a recruiting game like this, players get a sense of whether they will like a job. The result is happier new recruits who require less convincing than traditional job candidates.3. A good recruiting game can filter your candidates for you.
Only those people who solved the Google puzzle were invited to apply for a job through a special email address. Studies show that the ability to solve difficult puzzle is a good indicators of on-the-job cognitive ability – something Google was clearly looking for. Plus this method often seems more fair and objective than other recruiting methods, and therefore leads to more satisfied candidates.”
From the wonderful book, Changing the Game.
So here’s my challenge to you:
What puzzle or problem would you want a potential recruit to “solve” so that you only get people who know what they’re in for, and who LIKE doing that?
We can turn it into a recruiting game and post it here for all to see and improve – and use. Anyone who makes a contribution we end up using in setting up our game gets recognition, and any product in my store. Let the games begin!
P.S. It will not say, “Big money fast. Easy, anyone can do it. All you have to do is talk to your friends.” Hahaha.
I use the theory behind the funded proprosal method to warm people up to me!
For those not familiar with the funded proposal, it, in a nutshell, is when you give them a free gift in exchange for opting in. Then you feed them quality content over time, and offer them items in increasing values from, say $7 at first and then escalate from there.
So in my greeting card business, for example, I offer them a free e-book in exchange for their name and email. I then send them a series of emails inviting them for a 2 card gift account to try my system before they buy in at 1 of 3 levels.
It seems to work fairly well. What do you think?
Hi Brad…
Well it’s a different approach, for sure. I don’t know your results. Are you getting regular customers, and how many per gift, versus recruits who really help your business grow?
Obviously, you need customers…but what you’re doing is not in the same spirit as the Google game, think? Where a person has to perform something, that’s a real challenge – so one can see if they will really make a difference in the group – when they join.
Plus something they have to do that is buzz-worthy – where they’re all talking about it and wondering who is getting it “right.”
Kim
I would explain the business to them commissions and everything
Then ask them to write a strategy for creating an annual six figure income with little or no marketing budget.
Hmm. I would present three challenges.
1. Invite the willing to learn more for themselves by watching an online presentation by an agreed upon time.
2. Do a follow up appointment to answer any questions about the presentation. If they can keep the appointment, they have my attention.
3. If they have completed steps 1 and 2, and are interested in income, they would know how to reach their income goal through retail sales alone as that will be their first pay checks.
If they can complete these tasks, they will have shown some measure of character and some understanding of what it takes to actually reach a goal.
Don:
You write:”I would explain the business to them commissions and everything
Then ask them to write a strategy for creating an annual six figure income with little or no marketing budget.”
What would be their motivation for responding to your challenge?
You have to make it so the right people will be rabid to take up the challenge. At this stage it sounds like you’re looking for someone to tell you how to make money with no marketing budget.
While that’s something you want to know, I’m sure, why would someone be motivated to respond to that challenge?
Try being more specific.
Dawn: You write: “1. Invite the willing to learn more for themselves by watching an online presentation by an agreed upon time.
2. Do a follow up appointment to answer any questions about the presentation. If they can keep the appointment, they have my attention.”
Goodness, that is a low threshold for your attention. If you got ONLY people who would never even consider not showing up when they said they would, that would be a minimum. If that’s all it takes to get your attention, showing up, it tells me you are asking for way too low-level people.
Try a more challenging task that demonstrates they have talent where you want it. Showing up might not be enough. Think Google would take anyone who just showed up? Based on their recruiting game you just saw?
Dear Kim,
Google first attracted curious people with specific skill sets; then thinned the crowd with more flaming hoops that the candidate had to jump through.
EVERYBODY wants the benefits that success in network marketing can bring to an individual. As you said Kim, they are clueless about what it takes. I see another bridge that must be crossed. Once the recruit gets a clue of what is involved, will he or she have the drive to see it through? Sometimes they don’t even know the answer within themselves because they have never really stretched themselves.
Remember Richard Brooke’s simple test from years ago? Contact two new people every day without fail and I will pay you $100,000 at the end of the year. Can you do it?
We are taught that it is our dream or our why that will get us over the hurdles. One of the biggest hidden factors of success in our industry is the number of people that must be approached to find the four ‘aces’. Way more than 52 as a few of us have learned. Convincing dialogue and fancy media cannot keep the fires hot on the inside. Personally I have concluded that the ‘aces’ are more like one in a thousand. How many rookies are willing to contact 4,000 to find their 4 ‘aces’?
Kim you have been learning a lot about online marketing that many of us don’t know. Keywords or phrases could be used to attract candidates to a landing page that introduces the puzzle, but with what reward to motivate action. Google had a nice salary waiting for the ‘perfect’ engineer. We have no guaranteed income to dangle as an incentive to a wannabe. Google had the magnetism to attract the best. We are still the ugly stepchild in many minds.
We all know that recruiting generates cash flow for the company and subsequent commissions and bonuses for the distributor. Odds dictate that some of those will stick a while. The best game/test I can conjure up at this hour would be to require the candidate to collect a certain number of signed business cards (say a thousand) in a set time frame from unknown persons. This activity would require them to approach strangers and engage in conversations which many can’t or won’t do. Some out there may argue that there are alternative means to finding prospects. Maybe so, but I have yet to meet anyone in our industry that enjoys serious success who is still afraid to talk to strangers.
Here is a question that is haunting my mind; if we tighten up the screening process as Google had done, won’t it minimize the number of recruits and diminish the cash flow. Forgive me for oversimplifying the problem at the top for PPL_ED, but I see it an issue of better qualifying greater numbers of prospects which means much more work.
Have you got what it takes?
Tom Doiron
Atlanta
http://www.TomDoiron.com
Tom – You write: “but with what reward to motivate action. Google had a nice salary waiting for the ‘perfect’ engineer. We have no guaranteed income to dangle as an incentive to a wannabe. Google had the magnetism to attract the best. We are still the ugly stepchild in many minds.”
No one knew it was Google. People were buzzing about playing that game because it was a challenge those who were keen on math wanted to show they could do. Most never knew it was Google. Most never went to work for Google. But those who did, all passed that test.
You also write: “The best game/test I can conjure up at this hour would be to require the candidate to collect a certain number of signed business cards (say a thousand) in a set time frame from unknown persons.”
Do you think doing that will demonstrate that someone can make money? I don’t.
You write: “if we tighten up the screening process as Google had done, won’t it minimize the number of recruits and diminish the cash flow.”
YES that is right. Better people means fewer people. Less of those upfront packages sold, yes, but also WAY less drop out.
I think that might be the big MLM/NM fear. That raising the bar means we lose all that up front recruiting money from people who were made to think it is easy, when we know it isn’t.
Keep trying…there are ways to find people who can already do what you need…ask for them.
Try again.
🙂
Kim
The mindset of the person is very important – what we offer is more than a job or business – its a way of life.
Associate Professor Nicole Woolsey Biggart (UC Davis) “In most firms work is a job. But in Network Marketing organizations, the company offers a mission and a way of life. Network Marketing revives the life-and-work style of the American frontier, where the family unit and the economic unit were the same thing. Unlike a job, a Network Marketing business is founded explicitly on character and values and American free enterprise.”
David Enders, D.C.
Dear Kim,
Ever thought of being a defense attorney?
The card trick would not reflect their ability to make money, but it would demonstrate that they could approach people and talk which I adamantly believe is necessary for success.
I expected your comment about the mud against the wall. We have discussed this numerous times in the past and I do share your sentiments on this point. Holy cow! The industry would have to turn itself inside out to facilitate such a change in procedure.
We have all heard the talk about the homemaker from Oklahoma, but I still believe and have witnessed that the sales types and entrepreneurs stand a much better chance at success in our industry. No guarantee, but at least they have spent some time in the trenches.
Google knew the type on candidate they needed. Can we say with confidence that we know who we are looking for with this game/puzzle?
I can’t see you!
Tom Doiron
Atlanta
http://www.TomDoiron.com
To–
You write:”The card trick would not reflect their ability to make money, but it would demonstrate that they could approach people and talk which I adamantly believe is necessary for success.”
Well you might start there. To be a success at Google Labs required cognitive math skills. That’s where they started. Then they put up a puzzle so those who had those skills, could demonstrate that.
You say:”We have all heard the talk about the homemaker from Oklahoma, but I still believe and have witnessed that the sales types and entrepreneurs stand a much better chance at success in our industry. No guarantee, but at least they have spent some time in the trenches.”
The homemaker in Oklahoma had something other homemakers in OK didn’t have. So did the little Mexican immigrant who made it big in Amway. What was it?
That is the first part of the question. How to demonstrate is the second.
Defense attorney? Yes I’d have been on that side…
I almost DID go to law school…
Hi David–
you write:””In most firms work is a job. But in Network Marketing organizations, the company offers a mission and a way of life.”
But at Apple and Google, for example, the folks there believe they are also a way of life, they all believe they are changing the world.
So let’s exclude those jobs people just do to make their income, and compare apples with apples. Companies whose people want to make a dent in the universe, and your recruits.
To make a go of it requires very special talents, attitudes and efforts.
Fair enough?
Kim
Great Question, Kim!
And thinking about it, the people I want are those who have shown that they can set a big goal, then do whatever is needed to reach it.
Particularly if that goal needs simple actions repeated daily over time. Plus some learning of new skills, maybe getting help/advice from other people, and working through setbacks, challenges etc.
So maybe the people I want have already:
Lost over 200 pounds of weight.
Overcome an addiction.
Built their own house.
Trained for and run a marathon or triathlon
Raised a substantial amount of money for a good cause
So what would attract the interest of that sort of person?
Here’s one suggestion:
We want to teach 1 million citizens basic Chinese and connect each of them with a penpal in China, to foster good relations between our countries.
Can you come up with a plan to make that happen?
This leads to a website to submit the plan, which takes them to another website which asks if there is some other big goal they would rather work on, which then leads into interview process.
Of course, my goal might not be the right one – but I’m asking for ideas on how to achieve it, not necessarily commitment to it.
Shelagh
Hi Kim
Been sitting and thinking OF WHO I AM and what makes me tick… because I do want someone like me.
I go back to the interviews and questions I asked women who answered a blind ad to sell insurance a different way than how traditional insurance was sold at that time.. in the 70s. It’s called a “down the street” system.. but with a great and unusual twist.
My questions were carefully designed to discover as much as possible about her beliefs about many things including herself.
I found that the most important trait or quality a woman HAD to have was optimism or we called it having a positive attitude .. a can do vs a can not do thought process which was a reflexive one.
I knew that this attitude was not something that she put ON that a m but it was something that she WAS through and through. My questions tried to discover this…along with her body language.
The last interview, as I shared with you once, Kim, was a group one, designed to see, as much as possible, what kind of self-esteem she had and could project.
They were to write their thoughts in a designated time, bring their papers to me, and leave quietly and they would be called in the a m.
Directions:
Write WHY YOU should be one of the ones we select. Blow your own horn for there is no one else here to do it for you and I don’t know you.
Very revealing I found these answers.
A few could write only a few words.. they could not find any reason they should get the job.
These were an important reason to hire or not.
All this would need to be structured to fit what you wanted in a person.
This could not be used on a billboard and I don’t know if this is what you wanted or not, but I enjoyed writing it. heheh
Thanks as always for all you do for us, Kim.. and not the least is making us think and stretch ourselves.
Mary
Dear Kim,
I sense you are on to something major here and I am sticking with you on this one until the end of the trail.
I don't want to burn up any more mental calories until we pinpoint WHO.
I have noticed through the years that many at the top of their pay plans possess special talents & attitudes, & disciplines that would take them to the top in any field of their choosing. Did they start out with the complete package? Some perhaps, but most picked up the required luggage while enroute.
I like Dr. David's point about the pioneer lifestyle. However the poineers didn't worship their lifestyle, it was a survival method not their god.
Kim you obvious have your eye on some quality common to the OK homemaker and the little Latino that fueled their success. Is it something that is easily identified or can be asked for like cognitive math skills?
Fishing,
Tom Doiron
Atlanta
http://www.TomDoiron.com
I would develop an ad called “Create the Character Game”.
Explaining first that the character is working (yes, it is work) on commissions, that involves sales and talking with people. This would eliminate a large number once you tell the truth upfront. I’d ask them to describe the qualities/attributes IN DETAIL for this character. I’d be looking for 10 specific words to see if they were on track with what I think it takes.
What about writing a post or ad that states:
Tell me what makes a good sales associate and will help sell our products. The person with the best answer will be considered for our a marketing spot with our Direct Marketing company.
Lisa
Kim,
Thanks for your response.
You asked me what would make the right people take up the challenge? what would make them rabid?
It is something I would want to know but more so I would want the person I’m talking with to have the desire to work out a plan to do so.
Something they could see themselves doing.
If I were doing this campaign that you’ve described to us. I would want the folks to want it more for themselves than for me. So bringing the rabid desire to the table would be their responsibility. Just like the Engineers that Google was attracting.
They would be “rabid” about their life before I even meet them.
Am I missing something?
You know, this game concept seems very interesting. It appears to be less of a game of locating people than one of creating a furry of response to an issue more challenging of people in our industry.
One of the most interesting thing about the Google test is that engineers or math types, no matter their level of success can be very passionate about what they do. So when given a challenge, any challenge, many will respond.
Can we say the same about our industry, when many drop out before they take any test or take up any challenge.
All said, I think we need to focus on what will drive people who may be interested in our industry to respond specifically to a challenge. The people who responded to the Google test, did not responded to Google or the engineering industry, only to their desire to solve the problem.
This is the very nature of engin eering type, not network marketing types.
I will personally spend some time trying to figure what will really drive various people in Network Marketing to respond as the Google people and it’s not the money.
Al — You write:
“I think we need to focus on what will drive people who may be interested in our industry to respond specifically to a challenge. The people who responded to the Google test, did not responded to Google or the engineering industry, only to their desire to solve the problem.”
Yes, their desire to solve a problem is what the focus is. Not the desire for easy riches, which although real enough, is a false set up, since it turns out not to be easy. AFTER the person has paid in, of course. Google didn’t want to build a business based on failure rates being 95%. Unfortunately for NM and MLM, the failure rate is very lucrative for companies and recruiters, because no one fails before spending several hundreds or thousands of dollars, lining the pockets of the upline and company before they drop away.
You say: “I will personally spend some time trying to figure what will really drive various people in Network Marketing to respond as the Google people and it’s not the money.”
Yes, it is NOT easy. I don’t have an answer, just the question. I have some ideas, but I posted this in the hopes that others who love a challenge like this will play.
It could turn the business inside out. Way fewer recruits, yes, and way higher stick rates. Way less bad mouthing by those who feel brainwashed and poorer for their mlm experience. But also way less money from the 95% quitters who never knew what they were in for.
THAT will be the biggest obstacle to getting people to change.
But some of us will. And that will be a good thing.
Go go go. Ponder and think. That’s what I am doing, also.
Kim
Shelagh- You write:
“And thinking about it, the people I want are those who have shown that they can set a big goal, then do whatever is needed to reach it.”
Though true, that is too general. Everyone wants people like that for any business, employees AND entrepreneurs. Many people who can do that have no interest in our business. They may want to use those talents doing something else.
You write: “So maybe the people I want have already:
Lost over 200 pounds of weight.
Overcome an addiction.
Built their own house.
Trained for and run a marathon or triathlon
Raised a substantial amount of money for a good cause”
These are characteristics of the kind of people you want..now to ask for them with a challenge question so the right ones respond. For the challenge because they love the challenge. Like the Google game did. No one knew it was Google or that there even WAS a job or opportunity being offered.
Your Chinese penpal project sounds fun, but I think your question might need to be more focused to find someone with the skills and necessary caring about that issue to come out of the woodwork.
So keep thinking of something like the Google game…that kind of challenge question.
🙂
Kim
Mary – You write:
“Directions:
Write WHY YOU should be one of the ones we select. Blow your own horn for there is no one else here to do it for you and I don’t know you.”
I have often done that, and always throughout my NM career. However, the folks you and I were addressing had already passed the first test…they had expressed some interest in the business and were there to see what it was about.
So we need the challenge question that precedes the situation where the self-selected are already in the room.
🙂
It’s the self-selecting challenge question(s) we are seeking.
Keep thinking.
Kim
Kim
Tom – You write:
“I don’t want to burn up any more mental calories until we pinpoint WHO.”
Yes, the question will draw the WHO you seek, out. Once YOU know the WHO, you can begin to describe them in enough detail to come up with a challenge question that will bring them out. Who said it was easy?
Hehe.
You also write:
“Kim you obvious have your eye on some quality common to the OK homemaker and the little Latino that fueled their success. Is it something that is easily identified or can be asked for like cognitive math skills?”
I don’t have an answer. Only ideas. I am modeling this entirely on the success of the Google challenge. They got the right people doing, responding and buzzing. Because they got VERY specific. Not general. Because they knew who they were looking for.
Once you know that, and detail out the personal characteristics of that imaginary person, you are working on the right challenge yourself. The challenge to come with questions that will bring out the right ones to the challenge we put out there…
🙂
Kim
Carol: You write:
“I would develop an ad called “Create the Character Game”.”
That’s one way to start. What would motivate a person to take up the challenge? And what is the specific challenge?
Hehehe.
Kim
Al: You also wrote:
“One of the most interesting thing about the Google test is that engineers or math types, no matter their level of success can be very passionate about what they do. So when given a challenge, any challenge, many will respond.
Can we say the same about our industry, when many drop out before they take any test or take up any challenge.”
Yes, that is the sad thing. The “many” to whom you refer were persuaded that it would be easy, that anyone can do this, that it’s just like recommending a movie or restaurant, only they’d make money.
That is utterly and ridiculously false, and the speakers know it. But it brings in boatloads of future “failures” – people who buy in believing the dream will be easy to attain – and then of course, drop out when reality strikes. But they don’t quit before they’ve left their money with the recruiters and companies, and so, on it goes.
That’s the drawback with raising the bar in NM/MLM. No one wants to give up the “failure money” even though 95% of folks don’t make it…precisely because they’re clueless about what they’re in for. Given what’s been pitched by people in front of the room, who appear to be credible. Sigh.
So we’re working against the tide here. But it’s just today’s tide. Tomorrow’s could be totally different.
🙂
Kim
Kim -I’ll think more about a Google-type challenge.
But I just wanted to comment on what you said to Al:
That’s the drawback with raising the bar in NM/MLM. No one wants to give up the “failure money” even though 95% of folks don’t make it…
The new way of getting the failure money seesm to be the “funded proposition” where you sell people something to pay for your advertising and hope to then, eventually, send them enough information for them to decide to actually join your business.
Now, this can be seen as selling the shovels to gold prospectors; but if I see someone doing that, what it tells me, (quite accurately!) is that the ads don’t do their work for the NM business, so it has to be subsidised by the ebook or whatever -which does not inspire confidence in the primary business.
Rant over
Back to thinking of a Google-like brain teaser.
Dear Kim,
Good one.
I have often thought that one common thread among successful network marketers was their desire to help others. Their reward comes in the giving.
How about, “Help Lulu, she blah blah blah ” ?
Kim,
I've been thinking about this since I first saw it last night.
Kudos to Tom, Shelagh, Mary, Carol, Lisa, & Al.
Who do I want on my team? People like me, people who like meeting new people, people who like learning new things, people who like to sell stuff, people who can follow directions and not try to reinvent the wheel but who are also creative and most important people who take action!
Shelagh mentioned big goals.. okay I'll go with people who have goals, people who know what they want from life and why (the homemaker in OK & little Mexican immigrant). But whatever a persons goal is as long as they want it bad enough and will take action towards it that's what I want to see. Remember that 90% of network marketers are part-time and 85% are women so they have other responsibilities in life too. Also keep in mind that something like an extra $300 per month would eliminate most bankruptcies. so we don't want to only recruit people who have the time, skill and desire to make six-figures. We can recruit people who will sell our products and make retail profit. (Remember Kim the nylon money)
we don't need to make money off people we know will fail but there needs to be a lot of people doing a little or no one will make the big incomes. We do need to teach people they can make money from selling our products, recruiting or both. Some comp plans may be better for this than others.
If people start to make money from product sales they are less likely to drop out. Look at most party plan programs. Some people do 1 or 2 parties a month others do 2-3-4 or more parties per week. Both people stay in the program because they like the products, they get products they want at discount prices, they enjoy doing the parties with their friends, they make new friends and they make some money. Some people also build teams.
Ok enough rambling… for a game that might find these people ..I remember something that was on The Apprentice quite awhile ago … give people something to sell, some widget or something and see who sells it and how they do it..oh and they get to keep the profits from what they sell (their incentive) so I guess it would have to be a real product.
Exactly how to set this up ..I'm still pondering that part…
Susan
Hi Kim
This is still a work in progress, it is early in the morning here in Australia.
How about “Discover Your Passion” – first of all, it would direct people who may think it is something other than an NM site but that is OK because passionate people are generally stayers.
Once they are on the website, ask a series of directed questions with the end goal to product a “Passion Statement” – what we know as a personal mission statement. This “Passion Statement” would look professional with a nice border and be something a person would be proud to display.
Invite them to print it out a few times and place them in prominent places around the home. Also ask them to read it twice a day.
Of course, OUR email and phone number will be on the bottom and they will have entered our autoresponder for trickle feeds.
A lot of people are dispassionate these days because of all the doom and gloom offered by the media. Once they actually start thinking about what they would do without time and money constraints, there is a shift in thinking.
This shift in thinking then open their mind to possibilities they had not previously considered. We take advantage of the phase shift and present the NM business opportunity, not our particular business.
Educate them on the NM business model before presenting them YOUR business opportunity.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Lawrie
Hi Kim,
I did a quick survey of my Consultants and found that the ones who “stick” or have stayed with the program attended a skincare party either with me or another Consultant in my District.
So that tells me they tried the products first and loved them. They were interested in buying at discount or actually work to earn extra money. Most of my consultants were clients or Hostesses first. A couple promoted to Managers. They are still with the program!
In short, we need to hold more parties where the client can try the products and make a decision on their own whether to be a client, a Hostess or a Consultant.
P.S. I Hosted a party in 1982 and have used the products since then. I joined my Company in 1990. Why it took so long you ask? I was never asked to join!
Norma Lopez
(Skincare and Cosmetics Party Plan Business)
Lawrie – You write:
“How about “Discover Your Passion” – first of all, it would direct people who may think it is something other than an NM site but that is OK because passionate people are generally stayers.”
Test it. That’s the only way to see what it produces.
Tell us what happens. It’s too bad they’d have to think “it is something other than an NM site” don’t you think?
Kim
Susan…fun ideas. You write:
“give people something to sell, some widget or something and see who sells it and how they do it..oh and they get to keep the profits from what they sell (their incentive) so I guess it would have to be a real product.”
That’s a start. Now, on to specifics.
Hehehe.
Kim
Norma – You write:
“Most of my consultants were clients or Hostesses first.”
So your challenge game might be how to find people who’d want to try your product.
What might that challenge be?
Kim
Kim – you asked what would motivate someone to “Create a Character”. Just that. The same way Google just put out a question. If I had to list something, I think I might say it was for a logo or motto for my company. The top answers would result in an interview. I’d be happy with weeding out the people that didn’t like sales or talking to people.
Did Google say it was for a job interview and not state their company name? What did they list as a reward. I must get that book.
Carol – you write:
“Kim – you asked what would motivate someone to “Create a Character. Just that.”
What character? Who’d know what character? It’s not specific enough to elicit a response. Not for me, anyway. 🙂
You write:
“Did Google say it was for a job interview and not state their company name? What did they list as a reward. I must get that book. “
NO. No one even knew it WAS Google.
Much less that they might be using it to extract cool mathematicians out of the woodwork. It was so specific, and such a challenge, it just DID that.
That was the whole point of the story. They got people buzzing – the right ones – over the answer to their puzzle.
There’s no more in the book than what I put in the post. And all the info we need is right there.
Now the question is, what challenge can a NM person put out there that would challenge the right people to buzz about it, be capable of doing what it takes to succeed in NM and perhaps, be interested in the NM opp?
You’re on a good track. Now just be more specific. A character not defined isn’t enough to get someone working on a response. I don’t think.
What kind of character?
🙂
Kim
I subscribe to the Modified / Max Steingart Qualification Questions:
1) What do you do right now and what do you like most/least about what you are doing? Why are you looking to supplement your income and why via the internet and/or working from home?
2) How long have you been doing what you currently do?
3) What did you do previously and why did you change?
4) What do you know about Internet and Network Marketing? Have you ever heard those terms previously?
5) How do you handle rejection, give me an example of your last big rejection and how you handled it?
6) What are you looking for, why do you want to work from home? I can tell you I have been working from home for the last 3 years and it takes a lot of self-motivation and discipline. Give me an example of how and why you think that you are disciplined enough to work from home?
7) Do you like website-computer-internet technology and what was the last internet program or course you bought on line? [My business revolves around internet-computer security, online maintenance and repair, and identity theft.
8) What one aspect of your life would you like to change? How do you think you will change it? Why haven’t you changed it yet?
Since I have been earning my primary income via telephone sales since 1989 I get a gut feeling and my little-voice talks to me when I am talking to someone for the first time.
Hope this helps…
CWall aka
ponyhunter
ponyhunter@sbcglobal.net
CWall…
Thanks…I’m sure these are all helpful questions. The idea with this challenge is to put out a blind challenge that only those are likely to succeed at doing NM can do. And which also gives them a good taste of the what the “job” is so they can determine if they’d like doing it or not.
Like the Google challenge in the post…
🙂
I like your rejection question – fun.
This isn’t a puzzle, but it might start a conversation.
“What do you like to do, and do well, that most people don’t like doing and avoid if they can?”
This could then go to a page with a list of activities (some fun ones, some business ones) which people could check off, and submit for scoring.
Then get back to those who score highly on the qualities we want in a business partner.
Wow! This has really sparked a discussion!
I like the game challenge idea. I would pose a challenge for folks to solve, something like:
How would you provide a well and a school for a village without those two things?
Good answers would show thinking and leadership skills. Those are the ones you would want to talk more with.
My two cents.
All of the ideas are great. I think the challenge you gave is different than what Google did. Google was looking for the best “engineers” – not website designers, graphic artists, sales people or CEOs. They were looking for a specific “niche” within their organization. When we are looking for “recruits”, we are asking for someone who can talk to people, likes sales (hopefully they love the product first), will work on commissions, can work independently – more like the CEO of a company (since we are independent distributors.)
A big challenge would be to give them our company’s compensation plan (as it exist on the corporate site), see if they reduce it to 3rd grade English, and figure how much business they would have to do to equal their current annual income. Now there’s a challenge (lol).
Carol: You write:
“A big challenge would be to give them our company’s compensation plan (as it exist on the corporate site), see if they reduce it to 3rd grade English, and figure how much business they would have to do to equal their current annual income. Now there’s a challenge (lol).”
Yes, it’s a challenge. But the goal is to have a challenge that immediately draws out those people who can and want to rise to the challenge of solving that problem.
Your challenge is one I’ve often given students…but it’s to students who are already IN the business, trying to figure out how to make money with it.
The challenge we are trying to come up with would draw out those who would be extra good at building a successful NM business. And who show that by being able to answer the question, and enjoy puzzling over it or telling it.
🙂
Not easy, for sure.
I’ve just got my copy of Seth Godin’s Tribes.
He was looking for interns.
130 people replied. He set up a private Facebook page and invited each one to participate.
60 joined immediately.
Within a few hours, a few had taken the lead, posting topics, starting discussions, leading. They called on their peers to contribute and participate.
The rest lurked -they sat and watch.
Do you think he found his interns out of the few who got stuck in, or the lurkers?
I think there’s a lesson here for us too.