Walter wrote me this the other day.
“I received real-time lead today that wanted to earn money from home, but, in his note, said, ‘. . . and if this is MLM I will not be interested.'”
Walter did call the guy, they had a friendly discussion, and the guy passed. I asked Walter if he had asked they gent why he had emailed, “…if this is MLM I will not be interested.”
Walter emailed me back:
“He wanted to do something where you ‘actually sell products to customers, rather than just building an organization.'”
I guess the word on the street is that MLMers just recruit and try to “build an organization.”
Some of you readers know better. But this is part of what you’re up against: people who say no to MLM because of that very common perception, brought on by the many loud recruiters, that the money’s in the recruiting – and that “there’s no money in customers.”
Worse, how many of your upline are like that of a gal I know, Nessa?
Nessa told me recently that she started building a customer base, and her upline, who has access to her customer info, called them all to tell them how much they could earn if they’d only sell the products. Nessa lost all but one of her customers (21).
How can we help the one-track recruiters get the concept that most people do NOT want to sell? No matter how big the money promises are? And to LEAVE CUSTOMERS ALONE?
If they want to sell, they’ll ask. They bought from you, didn’t they? Trust them to put two and two together.
Sigh.
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Have you emailed this Manifesto to your new recruit? Friends, Lies and Network Marketing – see here . No charge. There’s an email link at the top right.
Too many MLMs are structured so the reps don’t get paid to sell product, or the product is priced so high at retail that no one would ever buy it anyway.
It’s sad that either the companies and/or uplines don’t understand the value of a customer.
If I got an email like that, I would be happy to explain to the person that in my company they would NEVER have to sponsor a person and could still make very good money. There aren’t many companies you can actually do that with, though. The business model really does drive the behavior in the field.
Most of them make you sponsor at least one person before you can get paid. That’s ridiculous. Some people like to sell. Let them do what they like.
Sad, but true.
Roxanne Green
‘Nessa’s upline should be terminated. That is an unbelievable abuse.
glennjaffas@prepaidlegal.com
Roxanne,
Isn’t it awesome being with our company! I hear you loud and clear…well said..
It is funny we are talking about this because I just received an e-mail from someone who asked the very same question…”Do I have to recruit to make money?”
Gladly I explained that you don’t, but that you would still make great money with a solid customer base! I felt really proud do say that, and didn’t have to worry about explaining the difference between the price distributors pay compared to customers for the products…Thank God we all pay the same price…further fostering a retailing behavior!!!
You are right Roxanne…The biz model drives the behavior in the field…When I first was introduced to the concept…It took a little while to sink in…but once I saw the big picture I haven’t turned back! We are really in a special place! I have no shame having customers as product users…because they are paying the same price we are…
I remember in previous companies that I was with, I would go into this huge explanation about how if they became a distributor they would get the “better price”…Thank God I don’t have to worry about that!
Sidenote…That upline should be shot…That is unacceptable…Why would a company allow an upline to see a downlines customer base…That blows me…HELLO!!!!!…I don’t know how that upline sleeps at night…I just couldn’t live with myself.
Have a great day everyone and keep on keeping on!
Best,
Scott
http://www.CraveTester.com
Wonderful post. Can I use this for my own site?
Rana
India
http://www.earnforclicks.com
What can we really do about Neesa’s upline?
NM comapny seems to be overly protective of upline.
Often, I notice that when downline(from bottom of the heap) give truthful but negative feedback about upline, company management are not keen to listen.
Is this prevalent in our industry?
Nessa told me recently that she started building a customer base, and her upline, who has access to her customer info, called them all to tell them how much they could earn if they’d only sell the products. Nessa lost all but one of her customers (21).
I second your sigh, Kim. And I feel for Nessa. How disheartening to have someone who is supposed to be helping you, destroy your customer base, all the while feeling they did the right thing.
It is going to take many New School leaders infiltrating the ranks of their respective network marketing companies, to slowly start seeing changes.
We have to step up and teach what we are learning. Even in my company, which has a separate program for building a customer base, I find my upline using old-school methods to recruit that make me cringe.
Tracy
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Because of the comment left on the form, when I called the lead, my only intention was to make the conversation pleasant.
I told him right away that the company I was with was MLM, so I couldn’t help him. But . . . I’d be happy to send him some information about other home businesses he might consider. That’s when he really oppened up and started talking about his situation, and previous experiences in MLM.
In the follow-up info I’m sending, I will make it clear that a lot of MLM companies actually focus on product sales. 🙂
Another story on this topic . . .
I was at a women’s convention recently. About half the booths were MLM companies.
There was one company I wasn’t aware of (a fitness company) so I listened as the rep spoke with two potential customers. The women were interested, and had product (exercise DVDs) in their hands. Then the rep said, “And, you know, you can join as affiliates and make money doing this!” The women took a step back, but the DVDs down, said a brief “thank you” and walked away.
Yikes!
Walter Reade (from Wisconsin)b