There’s an upscale and charming shopping area in Kansas City, MO, called the Plaza. One of the most popular places there is Starbucks. Always packed, and always those friendly people at the counter (baristas), making JUST the drink you want.
Have you ever noticed how many types of drinks they offer? 33 on the board tonight – the cappuccinos, the lattes, the fraps, the espressos, the teas, and 15 “customizations” on those, from with Soy, organic milk, decaf, no foam, iced or hot, and on and on.
These baristas need to know how to make them all. And be friendly and engaging with the each of the hundreds of customers coming through. Tonight, I asked the manager what they paid people, and what it takes to be hired. Here’s the story.
People hired at this very busy and wonderful store in KC start at $6.75/hour. If someone works 20 hours/week or more, they’d earn about $290/mo. (Starbucks also adds some benefits if someone works 20 hours +/mo.)
And the training required to be considered for a job at Starbucks?
“2 weeks,” she said. During those two weeks, the new person gets about 30 hours of personal training and practice. The program culminates in the new recruit’s doing a demo for the group, showing they can make all the different drinks and the variations people request.
Why does any of this matter?
People say they do network marketing to make income. Many expect to make much more than $290/mo for the 10 hours’ per week work. They talk about $5,000 or more per month. That’s the promise isn’t it? Financial freedom?
Now compare:
A Starbucks employee working 10 hours per week in KC grosses $290.25 per month (4.3 weeks in a month @ $67.50/week). They’ve trained 30 hours over two weeks to learn and then demo what they need to know for the job..
People in our business offer recruits much more than $290/month for 10 hours’ week work, don’t they?
And with that offer of much bigger income, how much focused, personal training did you get?
Did you spend 30 hours in the first two weeks learning how to do what’s required in this business? Like HOW TO TALK TO PEOPLE about the products and the business?
How many of you had to demonstrate, before you could start working and talking to others, that you knew how to talk to people about the products and the business? Did you have rehearsals and mock conversations for all the kinds of situations where you want to know just WHAT to say?
How does the Starbucks training compare to what you got?
Do you suppose the non-training of our recruits on how to talk to people affects the reaction of someone out there – who would be a prospective customer or business partner?
What if, the next time you stopped by a Starbucks counter, the person behind the bar screwed up your drink. Might you get upset at the $6.75/hour employee? They’re SUPPOSED to know how to make those drinks, yes?
In the recruiting world, your world, other people just walk away when you don’t talk to them right. They didn’t “get it”. And if you’ve never learned how to talk to people right, how could they get it?
And so we go on, often turning off the very people who might be our prospects for the products or the business, because no one has learned how to talk to people right about the business or product they have. And we’re expecting financial freedom? HA.
Who else thinks there’s more to making big money, or ANY money at all, than signing the application and telling others how great the products and business are?
Are you ready to start the first 3 hours of your 30 hour “Starbucks training” on how to talk to a big banana or little one about your business? Here’s one option. Sorry, couldn’t help myself…
Hehehe.
What if you become a “what to say to people” pundit?
We all need to remember that when you expect something for nothing, you end up with nothing. Ain’t no free lunch…anywhere! Very good reminder. Thank you
It is true…there is the word WORK in netWORK marketing. I have had people in my downlines say, “All I need is 3 like you and I can sit back on the beaches of the world.” I call it “lazy.” They never made it; because what one does is what one gets. There may be an element of luck involved; but it is the ACTION of finding customers and distributors that makes or breaks a paycheck. Your classes that teach the mechanics of how to talk about your products and find customers are really excellent.