About a month ago, I ran a private three-week mastermind program for a group of previously successful networkers who wanted to be reinspired.
One gent, Stephen, told how a month before, he’d signed up his good friend and football buddy Tim, for a $1750 package.
Two weeks later, Tim called and told Stephen was quitting the business.
Tim related how he’d gone to two friends to make a presentation, and both had told him no thanks. They added that they really didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be doing that sort of thing, and said please don’t bring it up during any future get-togethers.
Ouch.
Stephen had joined the mastermind because he didn’t want to quit. But he didn’t know what he should do now so he stopped doing anything. His upline, also on the call, wasn’t sure, either. They’re all socially very active in their communities and don’t want to be perceived as people to stay away from because they do “one of those things.”
Anyway, I suggested to my man that he contact Tim, and show him some alternatives to what he had done. With the language to use and all. Just in case, you know?
Well lo and behold, Tim’s back in the business today. Doing fine with people for whom his business IS the right thing to be doing. Stephen’s a happy man with a new approach and rationale for his business.
What do you do when you aren’t being successful the way you want or need, but you’re not a quitter?
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created it.” -Albert Einstein
What worked five or ten years ago doesn’t work today. Selling “the dream” doesn’t keep people in like before.
Neither does the old school pitch: money money money. Close close close. Recruit recruit recruit.
1. The market has changed. It’s 80% women in the business.
2. The average age of a rep is middle age – at Shaklee it’s 65.
3. MANY of the women in the business do NOT do it primarily for the money.
4. 85% of everyone is part time.
5. Customers have been rediscovered, after years of being neglected and ridiculed (“There’s no money in customers. All the money is in the recruiting.” That refrain is probably what’s motivating the newly proposed FTC regulations for our business.)
6. Of the 2/3 Americans looking for something of their own today, 97% say money is NOT their main motivator, either.
7. Transparency is in, lies and half truths are out (e.g. it’s easy, fast money, product sells itself, all you have to do is talk to your friends, etc.,)
Einstein was right. “The same level of thinking” will not do in today’s marketplace.
>’The same level of thinking’ will not do in today’s marketplace.
Absolutely. It’s a good post and, considered with the previous ‘Mark Cuban’s Two Advantages’ entry, offers much for the earnest.
Thanks for providing something which a) educates me b) re-affirms personally-held views and c) provides a platform for unmitigated rant.
Before I let-loose, a note: if the past is a preview to the future, some folk will get upset in a ‘who the hell is he to…’ way. Understandable. My response is simple: this is a public forum, encouraging constructive free speech.
If some of what follows has had a previous airing here, forgive (or learn from) it.
Whilst in no way written as such, in the link from the Cuban post post lies perhaps the most damning indictment of the average NM-er:
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Most people won’t put in the time to get a knowledge advantage.
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Absolutely true. And why should they? After all, their company and upline say ‘do this, not that’ and they follow – sheep to the slaughter.
‘Why should you?’ Simple. It’s your business, not theirs. And, if you don’t bother to do that which will help boost your chance of survival and success in a business which takes no prisoners you deserve to die a swift and merciless death.
Constructively, a few months back I penned a title for a colleague project. Without plugging it, the title is important: ‘In Search & Praise of Network Marketing Excellence’. It’s that upon which I’d rather base my reporting – not more ‘hey did you hear the one about… sheesh!’. But, unless and until the prevailing paradigm held by this business becomes one of ‘excellence’ rather than ‘dumbness’ it’d be wholly wrong. My hidden agenda is to help nurture a genuinely better class of turned-on, tuned-in and clued-up (Net)worker.
My personal view – and something of which I’m told I’m not alone in holding – is that many entrants to the NM arena are in search of something in which to believe. Moreover, even if they can see the sense of it, they ‘don’t really want to bother learning all that stuff which can help them develop great businesses’ and instead simply want to be fed nonsense of the ‘click here to earn $10 000 next month without working’ variety.
Whatever. That’s just my take on a sick situation.
Another line in the link from the Cuban post provides a gem:
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In a more recent post, Cuban also says another secret of his success has been his tendency to whine. Yes, whine – to challenge the status quo and set out to change industry conventions that no longer make much sense.
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I don’t write this way to piss-off and beat-up-on people. I do it because sadly, it’s a dominant view among many in-and-outside the business. More importantly, it’s a viewpoint I want to counter and shift – through education.
The ‘money money money, close close close, recruit recruit recruit’ problem is rooted deep – the undeniable lack of competence for which this business is infamous:
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‘…too many stupid & greedy yo-yos who neither know nor care enough about sensible commercial principle & practice which can help them build better businesses… and who thus bumble/hare-around achieving little else other than making a damn nuisance of themselves before they quit the business’.
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And, whether you’re in it for love or money, the need for ‘profesional competence’ is the same. Simply: ‘Get good at what you do. Learn.’
Now, does any of this make sense or are you among those who’ll indignantly huff and continue to toe-the-line in the hope of making it ‘about to explode’ next-level-big?
Closing where we started >’The same level of thinking’ will not do in today’s marketplace.
Absolutely. So what, exactly, are you – as the CEO of your unit-of-one individual enterprise – personally going to do about that?
As a clue… speak with local tradesmen – the carpenter, plumber, rug cleaner, etcetera. Chances are you’ll be surprised at how much time and money the good ones spend on their business – not the core skill – but all the peripheral stuff ‘that makes the business tick’ like ‘a bit of business knowledge’ and advertising etc. They build good long-lived businesses… often spending 20-30 times what many NM-ers spend – for a return perhaps one 20-30-ieth of that available to successful NM-ers. Hhhmmm… what’s wrong with that picture?