In a previous post I mentioned one good thing (gasp) about recruiters using the big money hype.
Yes, it’s a numbers game. We need to go through many to get a few and we all know it. Well, all except the new prospects. No one tells them that.
They see our parade of big money people on stage, but hear nothing about how rare these individuals are. They only hear how “anyone can do it.”
But isn’t this deceptive? When we all know the real numbers?
“If we tell them the truth they might not sign up and we’d lose that bonus.”
It’s a big conflict of interest.
Solution A: If you must parade the rare big money makers across the stage, tell the audience immediately how rare they are. Before you take their money.
Scary?
The U.S. Marine recruiters do that. Their mantra: “We’re looking for a few good men.”
Remember the boot camp sergeant taunting the new guys:
“Some of you aren’t going to make it. Some of you don’t have what it takes.”
The effect? Brings out the fight in a person. The extra determination that they need to show that they are indeed one of those few. True for all competitive ventures from little league to Girl Scouts to the Olympics to crack dealers.
Isn’t it time for us to bring out THAT side of a person? So our business has more people with the “I’ll do whatever it takes” attitude?
Solution B: Keep the big money earners in the background.
If you know any of them and their stories, you’ll know they’re not duplicatable. I know many of them, and nobody can really copy what any of them did. Each person writes their own story. And each is different.
I vote we keep the “big money earners” in the background. Why? Just as you’ve said, nobody can really duplicate what they do.
The idea of duplication must be limited to interest in the product or company, willingness to invest money to build a business, and finally, the ability to endure the journey to achieve success.
How you do it is up to you. By trying to copy some “big earner” who may be more garrulous than you, more outgoing than you, cleverer than you and who knows more people than you is setting yourself up for failure.
I know. Two companies back, we had a group of “big earners” who were constantly paraded in front of us, touting their way of doing business. Try as I might, I simply could not duplicate the finesse, panache and hard-driving style of these people. Not that I didn’t put in the effort — tens of thousands of calls, millions of emails, etc.
I simply had a different way of doing things, and it was pointed out to me that I was “doing all the wrong things” by not copying their efforts exactly.
Well, hell, they weren’t me, and I wasn’t them. My way was slower and involved more efforts to build a relationship with prospects.
Their way was to call three times and if they didn’t get them, drop them. If they did get them, it was a show-your-cards-immediately style of prospecting, and if there was the slightest hesitation, blow them off.
Not my way. If you want to duplicate your business by recruiting others, yes, by all means find people of similar interest. But, don’t force them to follow your way exactly. If their style is different, allow for that. Let them build their business their way. If you like cold-calling prospects, fine, do it. If they only want to talk to people they know, let them.
Show them what they can do if they so desire, like the IM marketing program, but if it’s not their thing, let them build it their way. The only things they have to follow to the letter is how they describe the product or the business and how the comp plan works. Beyond that, let them wing it their way and be ready to help where you can. And, like the “big earners,” stay in the background.
Thanks Robert. Always a pleasure to read your thoughtful comments.
I 100% agree with you Robert, also they should call the prospect 7 times before they give up on them not 3 times! buyllp
buyllp, how about calling until you get hold of them? I don’t mean be a telephone stalker, calling a prospect every half-hour or every day. If you have enough prospects, put them on a rotation and call them twice a month.
Before contact manager software was available, I used 3-ring binders divided by time zones. On Mondays I’d call every prospect in the Eastern zone who wanted a morning call. Tuesday, I’d call the ones that wanted afternoon contact. On Wednesday, evening contacts. And so on.
Every month I’d work my way across the country twice. Sometimes I’d email everyone I didn’t contact by phone, remind them of why I was calling and give them the option of emailing me back with a decline.
It wasn’t the most efficient method, but since I was working it in my spare time (I worked a 12-hour a day marketing job)it worked out for me. Used my days off and lunch hours to call daytime contacts, and called nights to the others.
The important thing is to call them. Don’t rely on email, because 37% of people online use their SPAM button to unsubscribe from emails they are not interested in, which may often include NM offers.
I have often contacted prospects who were a year old, had good conversations and got a decision. So, if you can, just keep calling ever so often. You’ll be surprised at the results.