" An MLM lesson from traditional business sales" by Jack Spirko
Copyright (c) 2002
All Rights Reserved
You hear it all the time "MLM is the great equalizer, anyone can succeed and it is nothing like Corporate America". Forgive me if I choose to believe all but the last portion of that statement. Many people tend to forget that MLM is sales and with out selling of a product or service that someone outside the business would buy it becomes not Network Marketing but a money game, pyramid scheme or whatever you choose to call it but not a true legal MLM opportunity.
That brings me to the common denominator between MLM and traditional business sales. That of course is the paying customer. Both industries require customers who are willing to spend the dollars to make the business profitable. Given that we as network marketers want customers and partners (partners are customers as well) learning something about how traditional business gains loyal customers is important.
I guess I am one of those people. I have a traditional corporate job and I make a six figure income with it. I am going to tell you the secret to my success in that market and I promise you if you follow it and back it up with some good old fashion hard work it will give you a chance at the same six figures in MLM.
In my full time job I work in technology sales and I always look for people in the market for what I sell. I then take the approach of helping them make a buying decision not selling to them. I try to understand their needs and tell them how my solution would benefit them. I know my competition well and sometimes the person will ask about a competitive product. I will always tell them the truth about that product and if it is a better solution I tell them that as well.
When I got into corporate sales my "mentors" told me I was nuts to use that approach after all one deal could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet a few funny things happened.
1. Most customers choose to do business with me if the advantage of the competitive product was only slight because of my honesty they knew they could trust me.
2. If it were really far better to use a competitive solution they would do it but would be grateful for my "putting them first" and look to see if I could help them with something else.
3. I started getting so many referrals I now do almost no cold calling.
4. Anytime another need came up I would get a call back to see if I could help this time.
I have tried to bring this approach to MLM. I am a closer and do make sure I get my knowledge to the customer but I also put them first. I ask myself key questions. Can I help this person? Is the person open to my help? Will the next thing I say or write to this person help them? I can tell you in less then a year this approach has really paid of with my MLM Company. It has paid well in Corporate America as well. In my current line of full time work all my colleagues have at least a Bachelors Degree and most have a Masters Degree while I myself have never been to college.
It is this approach of putting the customer first always that has lead to my success in traditional business even with what is considered a major handicap in the business world and I believe fully it will lead me to greater success in MLM. It will work for you as well regardless of your company or product. If putting your customer first doesn't work for you then it may be time to take a good hard look at what you are selling.
I don't think traditional business is really that much different from MLM. It is only that anyone can reach the top in MLM that separates the two. How to get to the top and stay there (stay being the key word) is the same in both industries. Your customer comes first, your company comes second and you come third. The interesting thing being if you take care of the customer first the other two take care of themselves.
Jack Spirko
Jack Spirko has lived for years by the motto "the customer comes first". Having reached the top in Corporate America he is currently building an incredibly successful group with Cognigen Networks. You can email him at mailto:jack@carefreecom.com or visit his web site at http://www.carefreecom.com.