How to really screw up your network marketing team!

Are you wanting to grow your network marketing team the right way, for long-term success? Then don’t do this! (ignore at your own risk)

Random Shootings – WHY?!?

As a 9-year-old boy I rarely paid attention to the news on TV. Yet for some reason this one incident stands out in my mind. August 1st, 1966. From the observation deck atop the Main Building tower at The University of Texas at Austin, a former Marine sharpshooter opened fire on random people on the surrounding campus and streets. During the 96 minute rampage he shot and killed fifteen people including one unborn child and injured thirty-one others, before he was finally gunned down.

Even at such a young age I remember thinking to myself “Why would anyone want to shoot people at random like that? It makes no sense.”

Deep thoughts for a 9-year-old…

Proverbs offers us a parallel lesson. “Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.” The lesson for business owners is obvious – why would you want to hire a fool or any person who just happens to be walking by? Even to a 9-year-old, “it makes no sense”.

Random Shootings in Network Marketing

Now true, in our network marketing businesses we don't actually hire people like a traditional business does. We sponsor them into our team with our  chosen network marketing company. Yet the principle still applies here. Why would we want to sponsor a fool or any passer-by?

If someone thinks network marketing is just a pyramid scheme yet still joins a network marketing company just so they can make a lot of money, they might be considered a fool. Why would someone join something they don't really believe in? Seems foolish…

Imagine standing in front of a local shopping center with a sign that says “make money this week”. People passing by stop and say “Well, duh! I wanna make the big bucks! Sign me up!” After signing up they then get around to asking you “So what is this exactly?” Would that passer-by be the best prospect? Of course not!

Yet sometimes, in the quest to “just get more people on my team”, we allow fools or random people to join up under us. Why?

Top 5 Reasons NOT to recruit random people

Here are a few reasons why you do NOT want to have fools or random passers-by join up in your network marketing business with you:
Wasted Time: It will be a time waster for you as you try to drag them along to do anything worthwhile in the business. If you have to spend a lot of time trying to convince them to join you in this business, just think how much time it will take to get them to do anything in their business! If you have ever been in this situation, you know what I'm talking about! The wasted time after they join is often 50 to 100 times more than the time it took to convince them to sign up!
Missed Opportunities: That time you waste with them is precious time you could have spent with quality team members, people who really want to get on in this business. Instead of building up your leaders and go-getters, you could end up wasting time getting the “fool” to just show up! And the opportunities to work with your leaders gets frittered away and sucked up by these “time suckers”.
Flesh-eating Virus: Well, not literally. But they could easily “infect” your existing team with all kinds of negatives, making the others discouraged. They can cause dissension or confusion in the ranks and could even push some decent team members to quit. Can one bad apple spoil the whole bunch? You bet they can! So keep them far away from your team!
Personal attack: They could cause such frustration with your team members and with you that even YOU might think about quitting! You might think “that would never happen” but it has happened before! We need to be very aware of our own mental and emotional state because “life sucking” team members can pull us down, if we let them!
Industry Image: This does not impact you directly but it impacts all network marketers worldwide. Our industry, the Network Marketing industry, has a lot of naysayers and negative media comments already. And part of that is our own fault! If we insist on bringing fools and random people into our network marketing business, almost without exception they will sooner or later drop out. And when they do they are often the loudest ones on social media crying “See?!? This network marketing thing is a SCAM! It doesn't work! It didn't work for me!”

Three Key Areas to consider when prospecting for your network marketing business

Not going to get into a lot of detail here so we'll leave that to a future post. But for now consider this – when recruiting for a network marketing business we must be confident that they are:

1. 1. 1. a good fit for the network marketing industry,
      2. a good fit for your particular network marketing business and
      3. a good fit your team!

If we aren't confident that they would fit in those three areas, then why in the world would we even want to sponsor them?!?

So the best thing is to avoid all this carnage and destruction by not letting them into your team in the first place! Don't sponsor fools or random people you meet just to add to your numbers. Instead be extremely intentional about the type of people you want to work with on your team. Would you rather have positive attitude, go-getter action takers on your team? Or would you rather have negative, passive wanna-be excuse makers?

One of the key benefits of prospecting in a “smart” way

Here's the best part – you get to decide! Yes, it's your business and the choice is all yours! Unlike family or co-workers, you actually have control over who is on your immediate team. Figure out the ideal type of person for your team and then work extremely hard to attract those kinds of people to you!

It's similar to dating and looking for “the right person for you”.

1. 1. • If you are interested in finding a guy or gal that is physically fit and healthy, would you look in a gym or in an all-you-can-eat buffet?
      • If looking for an intelligent person, would you look at a university library or the local bar?
      • If looking for a financially successful person, would you look at the unemployment office? No, there are much better places to look!

You get the idea! It only makes sense to be intentional in all this. After all, this is YOUR BUSINESS we are talking about here, something you want to grow and thrive for years and decades to come. So how do you increase the odds of finding those kinds of people? By utilizing the principles of attraction marketing. By intentionally attracting the right kinds of people into your business.

A simple 4 (or 5) step process

Let's not complicate this! It really comes down to a four-step process (with an optional fifth step):

1. 1. 1. Determine the success characteristics you would want in your network marketing team members. And get specific! When you say “successful” what does that really mean? A fancy car, big house, important titles like lawyers or doctors? Or honest hard-working people who strive to be more, learn more, serve more?
      2. Figure out where you are most likely to “find” these people, online and offline. Facebook groups, LinkedIn, internet forums, online communities. And don't forget about offline, like your local Chamber of Commerce or MeetUp groups locally.
      3. Figure out ways to attract those specific kinds of people to you – it's all about attraction marketing! Learn to ask questions, the right kinds of questions, which gets people to open up to you. Seek to give value to the other person in some way, in every conversation. Give so much value that they want to continue the conversation and join your tribe.
      4. You make sure that YOU are living those same success characteristics. Why? It's been said many times before that “People don't join the business because of the products, the company or the compensation plan – they join because of you!” So by making yourself that kind of person, the leader which others want to hang around with, makes a huge difference both online and offline.
      5. Interview them! (optional fifth step) No, not in a strict “Corporate America” kind of job interview process, where you sit down across from them and grill them with all kinds of “HR approved” questions. But you could at least create a few questions to ask them, to see if they would be a good “fit” for your team – similar mindsets, similar goals or desires, similar work ethics. It could be a 5-minute conversation or a web-based survey or something even more automated. Just create a minor “firewall” in order for them to join your team. It will provide insights to you as you get to know them even better, know their dreams/desires/goals and understand how they fit into your team and how you can best help them along their journey. Remember, if they cannot (or will not) explain “why” they want to join your team, they most likely would not be a long-term player on your team.

So what do you think? What are the success characteristics most important to YOU when you sponsor people into your network marketing business?  Let us know in the comments below!