RECRUITING ______________________________________

For many people the subject of recruiting is the deathblow to their network marketing dreams.

Does it have to be this way? Why do so many people join multi-level marketing organizations, only to dropout in disgust within the month? There is no denying this fact: Recruiting can be tough.

The toughest thing about recruiting is not approaching people and discussing the opportunity, your enthusiasm for the business will see you through any hesitancy in this area. Lack of interest and outright refusal on the part of your prospects, however, can demoralize you. Disappointment and discouragement can eat through your excitement for this business like rust through the hull of an aircraft carrier--and that’s what sinks the bulk of us. Not rust, discouragement.

How do you keep from becoming discouraged? It’s easy for people to say, “keep your chin up,” or “keep trying, a positive attitude will see you through.” But verbal encouragement can only get you so far.

Recruiting should be approached in a particular frame of mind, and that is: “Not everybody will be interested, but somewhere out there are six people I can lead to joining my organization. All I have to do is find them.”

The art of finding those six people brings to mind the oyster parable. In the Persian Gulf pearl divers drop forty to sixty feet, without scuba equipment, to reach the oyster beds. During the day, they may dive numerous times, retrieving hundreds of oysters. Later, on the decks of their dhow, they will open the oyster shells in search of pearls. Sadly, less than one out of a hundred of the oysters contain a pearl. Yet, the pearl diving industry has thrived for thousands of years.

Your business is the same as the pearl diver’s. Your prospect pool is the oyster bed you must search through to find the pearl. Don’t despair, this is the real world, and it is not going to change to suit your individual needs. Adapt to it. Accept the fact that not every person you meet will be excited about the opportunity, nor will they willingly submit to being trained or taught to think differently.

As Aristophanes wisely stated years ago, “you cannot teach a crab to walk straight.” Fortunately, you don’t need everybody. You only need to find a handful of pearls, to be on your way. Success is just one more dive to the oyster beds away.

Newbie Trap: Reluctance to recruit. Recruiting is tough, but failure is tougher.

Here’s a fact that will not make you happy: Most of your recruits will quit before ever getting to first base. Period. Now all you can do is accept that fact and then take some calculated action to help decrease the percentage of people from your organization who quit.

What good does it do you to recruit ten people, and then have them all quit within the month? Think about it. Wouldn’t it be better to recruit just one person during that same month and spend a little extra time helping that person develop? Everybody has their own opinion on this matter, but if you want to increase your chances of hanging on to the people you recruit, consider some of the following techniques:

a. Support Your People

Once you inspire a prospect to join your organization, you need to support him until he gains his “network marketing legs.” A new prospect needs to be encouraged, even baby-sit to a certain degree. Most importantly, a new associate needs to be appreciated. Let her know that she is a part of the team, and that her individual development and success is both wanted and critical to the success of the organization. Reward her frequently with tshirts or other inexpensive gifts for achieving predetermined levels of growth and sales volume, and of course, help her establish new goals and action plans.

b. Train your People

Have you ever walked into a new job and not been given the benefit of a trainer? What does it feel like when a boss tells you to get the job done, but doesn’t offer to tell you how to do it? That’s how the new recruit feels when you sign him up and say, “go to it, buddy. You can do it.” This is not enough. If you intend to retain this person in your organization you must sit down immediately and brief him on the following:
• Developing a prospect pool
• Using the product
• Making a sales presentation
• Presenting the plan
• Basic company does and don’ts
• Your expectations and hopes for him
• What you think he should do within the next 24 hours
• When you want to meet again

c. Challenge Your People

Yes, even a new recruit needs a challenge. As a part of your initial training briefing you should ask him to discuss his goals and aspirations. Help him translate these dreams into concrete action plans, then challenge him to take a step today, towards meeting that goal.

d. Set a Good Example for Your People

As the sponsor of a new recruit, you are the person that recruit will look to for guidance. In network marketing, you are not a supervisor, you are a mentor, and as a mentor every word you utter, and ever act you commit, will be observed and evaluated. Be careful what you do and how you act, because your organization will develop into a mirror image of your personality.

At a very basic level, always appear clean and neat, attend opportunity meetings regularly, conduct training seminars in your home (and encourage your direct downline to do the same with their downline), use the product, and always keep your meetings free of foul language and alcohol.

To succeed in network marketing you need to grow and retain the people you recruit. As discussed above, people will not stick around if they cannot see an opportunity for their personal reward. This may come as a shock to some, nut people worth recruiting do not join multi-level marketing companies for you, and they join them for themselves. And if you can’t show them, or they can’t understand, how to duplicate the techniques and successes you enjoy, then they will not stick around.

The secret to retention is keeping your presentation of the opportunity, your meetings, and every step in the business building process, as simple as possible. Always remember that whatever you are doing, your downline is asking themselves: “Is this something I can do?” If your methods are simplicity itself, they may stick around long enough to duplicate your successes. If they perceive your methodology as too complex, then they will become intimidated and quit within the month.

Simplify everything you do. In your training sessions, break the business into bite size chunks: recruiting, sales, recruiting, sales, recruiting. Break each of these chunks into smaller morsels. For recruiting: make prospect list, drop off video to prospect, return two days later and invite to meeting. If they haven’t watched the video, pick it up anyway and move to the next prospect. For sales: use the product, demonstrate the product, hand out catalogs, and ask for orders.

Break the business into manageable pieces so people can comprehend the entire process. The simpler you make it, the easier it will be for the new members of your downline to take decisive action to build their own business.

Action Statement: I will review my approach to prospects and my presentation of the plan to ensure that it is as simple as possible. Where necessary, I will adapt it to fit the suggestions above.

Newbie Trap: Becoming impressed with yourself. Don’t get proud and uppity on your prospects. Keep it simple.

Would you believe that success in network marketing can be obtained by using a cookie cutter? Unfortunately, this is not the little aluminum device stored in the bottom drawer of your kitchen cabinet. But, the concept is the same.

A cookie cutter is a device that allows you to quickly stamp out exact replicas of intricate designs and patterns in your cookie dough. As a businessperson, you can use cookie cutters to reproduce small successes. For example, a successful home opportunity meeting usually has an agenda similar to the following:

a. Provide light snacks and soft drinks--no alcohol, and no burdensome meals. This is something you want to be able to repeat weekly.

• Have a discrete product display.
• Present the opportunity.
• Ask your prospects to join.
• Collect referrals and new customers from prospects who turn down the opportunity.
• Take up less than 90 minutes of your prospect’s time. If this method of presentation works for you, why change it? Do the same thing over and over. If you, or your mentor, greet prospects in a certain way that seems to consistently work, would you change it? No. Repeat the exact same process over and over.

If your technique is not working, would you change it? Certainly. Any method that proves unacceptable or offers poor results needs to be tossed out like a broken cookie cutter. You can’t afford to repeat mistakes. Adjust your cookie cutter methodology and try again.