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| The following is an excerpt (pages 7 to 49) from the world's best-selling MLM training manual, Big Al Tells All: Sponsoring Magic.
Distributor "Joe" Joe Distributor woke up early Saturday morning. All week long he had been looking forward to his day off to do some "real recruiting." No job to interfere today, just 100% effort to sponsor distributors. After finishing a hearty breakfast, Joe looked at the clock — 8:30 a.m.— time to make those phone appointments. A little hesitant, Joe dials the first number. The phone rings three times and Joe quickly hangs up. "They might still be in bed, I guess I shouldn’t be calling this early," Joe thinks to himself. "I should do some goal-setting for an hour." At 9:30 a.m., Joe finishes his revised goal and projections chart showing how much bonus he will receive if each of his 10th level distributors sponsor just one person a week who average $20.30 in weekly volume. He has also calculated the number of personal speaking engagements he can fit into his schedule when he reaches superstar status. But first, Joe has to sponsor that first distributor. At 9:35 a.m., Joe makes his second phone call. The line is busy. With a feeling of relief, Joe thinks, "He probably wouldn’t be interested anyway." Since Joe has failed to get an appointment with his first two prospects, he decides to research his prospect list to see who else he can contact. While researching his list, Joe takes this opportunity to divide the good prospects from the medium prospects from the lousy prospects. Now that he has them organized, he writes all their names and pertinent data on 3 x 5 cards and sets up a beautiful file system that would be the envy of IBM. At 11:45 a.m., Joe begins to feel a little guilty that he has done everything but recruiting this morning. He thinks to himself, "I’m not really afraid to talk to people or get rejects, I’m just setting a good foundation for a big afternoon. As a matter of fact, I’m ready to go out now and recruit in a big way." As Joe gets ready to leave the house, he suddenly comes to his senses and remarks, "Whoops, it is almost lunch time, I’d better eat before I leave." At 1:00 p.m., Joe finally leaves his house and pulls out of the driveway. But where should he go first? No appointments. No plans. Joe gets up his courage and heads for the little neighborhood shopping district to make some cold calls. His opportunity is good and these are small business people he is going to call on . . . should be a perfect match for success. Mr. Shoemaker had a line of customers in his shop, so Joe wisely passed him by. Mr. Tile and Carpet had only one person looking around, but if Joe would be rejected, that customer might think poorly of Joe and his opportunity. Mrs. Florist had a sour face, best not stop in and make her more upset. At the shoe store, only a young salesperson was on the floor. However, if Joe were to present his opportunity to him, he might be caught by the manager of the store and thrown out. Ah, but Mr. Watch Repair was alone. Joe introduced himself. Mr. Watch Repair immediately took control by asking, "How much money is this going to cost me? How long have you been doing this? What are your credentials? Can you show me your last 12 bonus checks?" Totally intimidated, Joe saved face by saying he was very busy and had another appointment, then he quickly left. At 2:20 p.m. Joe entered his car quite discouraged. He realized his self-confidence was at zero, but he wanted to make one more effort. Joe decided to drive by his friend’s house and make at least one presentation. At 2:45, Joe drove down the street in front of his friend’s house, careful not to enter the driveway. From the street, Joe could see no activity through the front window. Since it appeared no one was home, Joe said to himself, "Well, now is probably a good time to head home and take inventory. A successful businessman must have proper record-keeping to succeed." "Big Al" . . . Joe Distributor had a professional recruiter for a sponsor named Big Al. When Big Al called Joe to see how Saturday went, he already knew what Joe would report. He said, "Joe, I know you were eager to do well, and I know that insecure feeling that creeps over all of us when we recruit. I think after that experience you may be willing to listen to my advice on how to cure that problem permanently." Joe’s spirits immediately lifted as he hurried to Big Al’s house to learn the secret solution to his recruiting problem. When Joe arrived, Big Al said, "One lesson is worth 10,000 words. Most distributors get good advice but never realize the value or put it to use. I am not going to tell you the magic solution to your recruiting problem. You’ll learn that for yourself. What I’d like you to do now is make a few phone calls and set some recruiting appointments for Tuesday night. Don’t worry about who you set the appointments with, since I’ll go with you and I will do all the talking. You’ll just tag along and watch, okay? Just say to your friends, ‘Are you interested in some extra money? I want you to meet this guy, Big Al. Let’s get together at your house Tuesday night for 20 minutes. You’ll just love to meet this guy.’" Joe felt this was not too hard. After all, he didn’t have to do anything but set an appointment. The whole presentation would be done by Big Al. Joe could just sit back, let his friends blast away with all kinds of questions and objections, and watch Big Al handle them and make them distributors. Big Al pointed to the telephone and said, "Why not make a call or two now?" Joe was motivated. In just 20 minutes he had set up four appointments for Tuesday night. And handling questions on the phone was a breeze since Joe’s attitude was super-positive. When asked, "What’s it all about?" Joe would reply, "I just want you to meet Big Al, he’s got a lot of ideas on making money and you’ll think he’s a pretty neat guy." Big Al turned to Joe and said, "Go home and relax. We’ll meet at your house on Tuesday night at 5:30. You have already accomplished more in 20 minutes than most distributors do in a week." Two Against One: Tuesday night went so smoothly that Joe was at a loss for words. One appointment wasn’t interested, one appointment had to think it over, and two appointments became distributors. Imagine two new first level distributors in one evening! And it was easy. Joe just introduced Big Al to his prospect and Big Al calmly showed the opportunity. When Big Al was done, the prospect either joined or not. There was no magical presentation, no high pressure, just a simple explanation that Joe could probably do just as well. But what was amazing is how the prospects reacted. They listened to every word Big Al said. They treated him with respect. There were no cynical objections. The prospects were on their best behavior. That made Big Al’s job easy. When Big Al and Joe arrived at Joe’s house later that evening, Joe asked Big Al in to explain the wonderful happenings of that evening. Big Al smiled and told Joe to begin taking notes. Big Al said, "The secret of recruiting this evening was simple. There were two of us and only one of them. They were at an unfair advantage. All we had to do was convince one person to our way of thinking. And our thinking must have some merit, because there are two of us already who share it. It is a lot easier for the prospect to join our enthusiasm than it is for him to convince two of us that we’re wrong. Besides, he wants to think like we do. He wants extra money, too." "This may seem simple but all professional recruiters work in pairs. Knowing this is vital to your success, let’s take a closer look at why professionals work in pairs: When you visit a friend he may sidetrack you with stories, sports talk, and chatter about your families. He can joke with you, tease you, and give you all kinds of grief just for the fun of it. But the scene changes drastically when you are with a stranger. He is polite since he doesn’t know me. He feels I’m an expert because I’m a stranger. I may be your boss, so he is on his best behavior not to embarrass you. He may feel he can intimidate you, but with a stranger along, he will be cooperative and business-like. Your prospect sees only you, not the company you represent. If he feels you are in some way inadequate personally, he will reject the opportunity based on you, not the company. However, if a stranger is along whom he doesn’t know personally, he must make a decision on the facts at hand, not on you and your present position. When two people work as a team, their self-confidence is at a high level. They keep each other motivated. It’s not like taking on the world alone. If you are by yourself, you are probably afraid of rejection, afraid to make appointments, and more likely to avoid contact with prospects. That’s why you spent Saturday doing paperwork. If you had a companion, each would work hard not to let the other one down. If each were to make four appointments, you’d be sure to keep up your end of the load. Neither person wants to be the first one to quit. When two distributors make a presentation, one talks, the other keeps quiet and observes. The observer does not have to worry about making sure the presentation has all the information in order, etc., so he is free to closely observe the prospect and listen for clues to his motivation. When it comes time for the prospect to make a decision, the observer may be able to help with some vital information that otherwise might be overlooked. Two distributors working together accomplish more than each working separately. I’m sure you now see why you are much more efficient working as a team. Professionals look for efficiency. If you do not work as a team and have your new distributors recruit alone, you are then assuming the following:
To assume the above would be ludicrous. Therefore, the only alternative is to work as a team. When two work together, there is an opportunity to evaluate each presentation. They can review the good points and the not-so-good aspects of that particular presentation to make their next one even better. Having two separate viewpoints, the presenter and the observer, is invaluable. "As you can see, Joe, there is a lot of logic that dictates that recruiting should be done in pairs. For the next two weeks, you and I will work together Tuesday nights and Saturdays. We’ll need four appointments each Tuesday and six appointments on Saturdays. That’s ten a week. I’ll make five appointments and you make five. Fair enough?" Joe enthusiastically agreed. This was going to be easy. All his fears about recruiting were gone and Joe saw a bright future with lots of distributors. The Payoff After two weeks Joe had 15 distributors in his group. It was almost becoming routine. On Tuesday evenings and Saturdays, Big Al and Joe would present the opportunity and let the prospects decide if they wanted to join. No magic, no high pressure. Just show the opportunity. Big Al and Joe were having coffee when Big Al announced, "Joe, your training is done. You’re on your own now. You’ve heard my presentation so many times, you can say it better than me." Joe looked bewildered, "But we are a team, aren’t we?" Big Al laughed and said, "Joe, I don’t want you to go out and recruit alone, I want you to team up with your new distributors. Sure, you and I can eventually sponsor 1,000 distributors ourselves, but that’s not how network marketing works. You’ve got to work smart – not hard. "You have to train your distributors just like I trained you. Wouldn’t you rather have five or ten of your new distributors out recruiting, instead of you doing it all? Don’t you think your new distributors will get discouraged unless you work with them as a team? Besides, Joe, you are going to run out of friends to talk to. "Instead of making cold calls, running ads, etc., doesn’t it make more sense to be ta lking to friends? You have 15 new distributors, some motivated, some not. Ask them to set appointments just like I asked you. You’ll probably have five to eight distributors who are serious about the opportunity and will want you to work with them. Working with those five to eight serious distributors will keep you busy for a long, long time. "You’ll then have a large, strong, and deep organization of distributors. This is the fastest and surest way of becoming a superstar in network marketing." Joe did some quick mental calculations. If he could work with just five of his new distributors so they would each have 15 distributors that would be 75 new distributors in his group! Plus, he would now have five distributors fully trained that could work with their distributors. That could be hundreds more distributors in his group. Joe was beginning to understand the word "efficiency." Instead of each distributor floundering about on his own, by using teamwork, Joe could have hundreds of distributors in his organization in just two or three months. Big Al spent three weeks training Joe, so it would only take Joe two or three months to train his five or eight key distributors by working with them two at a time. Joe could work with one distributor on Tuesdays and Saturdays and a different distributor on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Just think, in 60 to 90 days, Joe would have a group that would be the envy of his peers. All Joe had to do was follow The System. Big Al pointed out to Joe that he could become a superstar just by using the basics he learned in the last three weeks. However, Big Al insisted that he and Joe meet weekly to keep Joe on course and to improve Joe’s recruiting skills. Joe then thanked Big Al for all the help, not realizing that Big Al had just added another strong downline group of distributors through Joe. Not Everyone Is A Worker Two weeks later while having coffee, Joe told Big Al the wisdom of The System. Joe realized that to sponsor too many new first level distributors would be senseless. As a person would be working with his brand new recruits, he would be losing his original recruits by lack of attention. It makes sense to limit the number of first level distributors. But what if only two or three of the original 15 distributors were serious workers? What should be done with the other nine or ten unmotivated distributors? Did we make a mistake in sponsoring obvious unmotivated distributors? Big Al answered, "It is well known that unmotivated distributors use the product and can be good wholesale customers. You may have hundreds of dollars of volume monthly just servicing your unmotivated distributors. Certainly we should help them and not ignore them. "Unmotivated distributors have different goals than you, Joe. They may have joined only to sell and make a few extra dollars, or just wanted to buy wholesale for themselves. My personal organization does several thousand dollars monthly of ‘internal consumption.’ "The problem here, Joe, is that you are missing the big picture. You did not sponsor an unmotivated distributor, you sponsored a valuable contact who knows dozens of good quality prospects, who when sponsored, will become workers. In other words, don’t judge the unmotivated distributor for what he might do. Judge him for the potential distributors in his organization. "Your job is to work in depth, get referrals, and work to replace your unmotivated distributor. Surely he knows at least one person who can become a good worker in your organization. "The professional recruiters readily admit that they probably didn’t sponsor most of their workers. Their workers were probably second level, third level, or even 10th level distributors who like cream, rose to the top. "Never hesitate to sponsor an unmotivated distributor. His personal goals may change and he could develop into a worker, or he may lead you to a worker you would have never met." Myth Killing The following week while at coffee, Joe confessed to being tempted to do some exciting innovations in recruiting. Joe had researched some good ideas and wanted to know if he could implement these for faster growth. Not that The System wasn’t working, as a matter of fact, Joe now had over 85 distributors in his organization after only seven weeks in the business. It was that these new ideas sounded so fabulous, that Joe just couldn’t wait to try them out. Big Al smiled and took a deep breath. "Joe, I guess it’s time to do some myth-killing. Every distributor has his own pet idea on how to recruit fast. Some may work partially, some may only collect applications, and some only work in unusual circumstances. The reason pros use The System is it works. Anyone can use it and leap to the top in a matter of weeks. "The reason I insisted on meeting weekly was to keep you on track, Joe. Following various recruiting ideas in a scattered manner will only bog you down. Keep on The System and avoid being swayed from your present course. But I don’t want you to take my word on it. Let’s examine together some of the major recruiting myths and analyze their weaknesses. With this knowledge, we won’t be tempted to stray from our proven course." The next three hours were spent analyzing why many of the other recruiting methods do
not work consistently for most beginning distributors. Here are some of the major myths
and their weaknesses.
Why put forth the effort for a one-time short-term benefit? Big Al continued, "Surely there is some merit in each of these methods. If you have extra time, there is nothing wrong in doing them. But do not deviate from The System. Just because one person may have had success with one of these does not mean that you will encounter the same set of circumstances. "Let me give you an example. At a convention, a young 17-year-old girl told of selling over $1,000 of product and sponsored several distributors by going door-to-door in her neighborhood in just one week. Everyone was excited that this young girl had shared with them the way to success. "Needless to say, the other distributors failed. What the young girl failed to mention was that her mother was mayor of the small town, owned most of the property, and her tenants felt obligated to help her daughter. "Another example: a young man confidently tells you about his success in helping a church raise funds through the sale of his products. What isn’t mentioned is that his brother was the minister who ordered the members to sell this product. In other words, get all the facts. Most times there are special circumstances behind these inefficient methods of prospecting. Don’t follow them blindly. Use The System and let the amateur recruiters chase their tails trying to make these other methods work." The Traveling Salesman The following week over coffee, Joe related an interesting situation. It seems that one of Joe’s most promising distributors had a hot prospect 90 miles out of town. Since it took all evening driving there and back, there was no time for other appointments. Even though the prospect wanted time to think it over, Joe was confident that he would join. Was it worth the time and effort to go out of town? Could the time be spent better making three or four presentations locally? Big Al pulled out a blank piece of paper and began figuring. "Let’s see now, 180 miles round trip at a cost of 30 cents a miles equals $54.00. You’ll need a second trip to complete signing him up so that’s another $54.00 for a total of $108.00. Joe, for that same $108.00 you could have bribed your next door neighbor to become a distributor and been home by 6:30 p.m. "Plus, look at the income you lost by losing two evenings of sponsoring. How much money could you have made from those potential recruits you did not see because you were out-of-town? Total that figure with $108.00 and ask yourself if that out-of-town prospect was worth it. "But that’s not the whole story. How much time will you or your distributor lose by driving out-of-town to train this prospect? I personally sponsor people in my own backyard. You’ve hear the saying, ‘The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.’ "Why not let amateur recruiters drive past 100,000 potential prospects on their way to see their out-of-town hot prospect? There will be plenty of these amateurs in your organization who do not wish to follow The System. Give them the leads and let them do the driving. As a professional recruiter, you have more important activities to occupy your time than driving." Test Question: Distributor A, who lives in the city of Alpha, drives 100 miles to the city of Bimbo to recruit a new distributor. At the same time, Distributor B, who lives in Bimbo, drives 100 miles to the city of Alpha to recruit a new distributor. Q. Who wins? One Story Is Worth 10,000 Facts Big Al was sharpening Joe’s presentation skills. "Don’t just throw out facts, tell a story. Your prospects and distributors will remember the story long after the fact has been forgotten. And stories are more powerful and more motivating. Don’t you want to motivate your prospect or distributor? I bet you can remember an interesting story told to you by your first grade teacher. But you have probably forgotten 90% of the facts you had to memorize in high school. Proof enough?" Big Al then shared some stories that were guaranteed to bring life to a presentation. "Work Smart - Not Hard" If a president of a large conglomerate earns $1,000,000 a year and a common laborer earns $10,000 a year, does this mean the president worked 100 times harder? Did the president put in 100 times more hours in a week? I doubt if the president of any conglomerate could work a 400-hour week. Why is it then that some men earn much more than others? They work smart — not hard. These men have found ways to provide more service, be more efficient . . . ways to lead others to more productivity. In other words, to produce more value in the same allotted time. Who would you pay more? A man who sells $100 worth of your goods or a man who sells $1,000 worth of your goods? Obviously, you would pay the second man 10 times more. If we wish to receive more income, we must produce more service. We must find ways of working smarter — not harder. If I needed a ditch excavated one mile long, and was willing to pay $10,000, you could apply for the job. You would take your trusty shovel and begin digging. At the end of one year the ditch would be completed. For that one mile ditch I would then pay you $10,000 because you have per formed $10,000 worth of service. On the other hand, a friend of yours could apply for the job. Your friend then rents a ditch-digging machine for $100 and finishes the ditch in one day. Has he also provided $10,000 worth of service? Who worked smart and who worked hard? The above story has several applications. You may tell this story to a prospect to impress on them that working for someone else is working hard, and having your own part-time business is working smart. You may use the story with a new distributor who spends all his time looking for new first level distributors. That’s working hard. Instead of trying to sponsor everyone personally, your new distributor should use The System where he may only sponsor a few personally, but end up with hundreds in his organization. That’s working smart. "Proper Education" Let’s look at how many years of our lives we spend in school:
College can cost about $10,000 per year. Why do we go to college? To
become successful. But in college we take English, Accounting, Business, Engineering,
etc., all courses designed to make us good employees for someone else. We don’t take
a single course in our true "Major" We spend 16 years of our lives and $40,000 (four years in college) and don’t take even one course in how to become a Success. Don’t you think it would be worthwhile to spend $100 and two days to attend a course and learn how to become a Success? The above story is useful in motivating a distributor to attend further self-improvement training. It also can be tailored to new prospects. (Mr. Prospect, you’ve spent 16 years and $40,000 to learn how to be a good employee. Won’t you invest $100 and two months to see if you can be as successful as your own boss?) "Here’s Your Chance" Who makes more money? The person who owns the company or the employee who works for him? The owner, of course. Mr. Prospect, you now have the opportunity to own your own business and decide how much money you can earn. Do you want to remain an employee and let your boss decide your earnings, or do you wish to start your own business by becoming a distributor now? The above story helps the Prospect to make up his mind now. No need to think it over as the choice is clear; there is no middle ground. "The Office Manager" A young mother decides to get a full-time job to pay the many bills in raising a family. There are many sacrifices she must make:
But in return for these sacrifices she finds a job paying $2,000 a month. After deductions, what does she really earn?
That’s earning less than $2 an hour. Is it worth 22 days a month away from the children and 176 hours of work not counting travel time? Wouldn’t the young mother rather stay home if possible? With our opportunity you can easily earn $310.00 from your home in just a few hours per week. Not only is it easier, more profitable, and fun, but you can now enjoy time with your family, too! The above story helps people appreciate time with their families. The Oyster Story Suppose that you are now a professional pearl diver sitting on the dock by the sea. Every hour I give you a bucket of 100 oysters. Among the 100 oysters are five that have pearls. The other 95 are empty. As a professional you take out the first oyster, cut it open, and find it empty. You then carefully put it back together, hold it between your hands to keep it warm, and then sit there for days hoping it will grow a pearl. Is this what you’d do? Of course not. You would throw the empty oyster away and reach for another and another until you found one with a pearl. However, most distributors treat their friends and alleged "good prospects" like the empty oyster. Instead of going on to a good prospect, they keep hoping, asking, inviting, and pleading with the same people week after week. They will invite the same person 17 times to an opportunity meeting! They never catch a hint. They work too long with "empty oysters." The secret to recruiting is not in convincing people, but in sorting people. You can wear yourself out and become discouraged working with the same "empty oysters." Your job as a professional recruiter is only to sort through the prospects until you find one who wants to be a distributor. It is ten times easier to locate a prospect who wants to work, than to convince an unwilling disinterested prospect to work. The Eagle and The Oyster Once there were two eggs discussing what they wanted to be when they hatch. The first egg said, "I want to be an oyster when I hatch. An oyster just sits in the water. It has no decisions to make. The currents of the ocean move it about, so it doesn’t have to plan. The ocean water that passes by is its food. Whatever the ocean provides is what the oyster may receive, no more, no less. That’s the life for me. It may be limited, but there are no decisions, no responsibilities, just a plain existence controlled by the ocean." The second egg said, "That’s not the life for me. I wish to be an eagle. An eagle is free to go where he wants and do as he pleases. Sure he is responsible for hunting his own food and making survival decisions, but he is free to fly as high as the mountains. The eagle is in control, not controlled by others. I wish no limits placed on me. I do not wish to be a slave of the ocean. For this I am willing to pay the effort required to live the life of an eagle." Which would you rather be an eagle or an oyster? The above story is effective with prospects and distributors in a rut, who are complacent and just existing. It is designed to make them unhappy with the crumbs others throw their way, and to motivate them to make their own destinies. "The Best Investment" "Do you smoke? If you smoke cigarettes, a pack a day will cost you $20 a week. Do you drink coffee? Two cups a day will cost you about $20.00 a week. Yet how many distributors did those cigarettes and coffee get you? "None! "Why not invest $12.95 for this book and start getting yourself a bunch of distributors? As a businessman, wouldn’t you be willing to spend less than the cost of coffee for a guaranteed system for success?" (Thinly disguised biased commercial.) Wouldn’t you want each of your distributors using The System? The Two Magic Questions Joe Distributor said, "Those stories are just great, but sometimes I have trouble getting started. I need something to break the ice. I’ve tried talking about the weather and sports, but that’s a waste of time and the prospect knows it. Besides, I’m uncomfortable saying, ‘The weather sure is nice, how about looking at this business opportunity?’ That doesn’t flow at all. Plus, if there were some way to break the ice and qualify the prospect at the same time, I could save lots of time by only talking to interested, qualified people. I seem to be making a lot of presentations to people who are totally uninterested. Do you have a solution?" Big Al always had the answers. He was a pro. He used The System. Big Al replied, "You can save a lot of time by pre-qualifying your prospects. At the same time you can also ‘break the ice’ and get down to business. But first let us take a look at what qualities a prospect must have to be a distributor." "Intelligence? No, you and I have both sponsored some dummies. A good salesman? No, we know some successful distributors who were both shy and unassuming. A positive attitude? Not a chance. There are plenty of negative distributors in the world. There are really two very important qualities the prospect should have to become a good distributor.
"Now that we know the qualities required of a good distributor, it’s easy to find out if they qualify. All we have to do is ask. For example: Q. Do you want to earn some extra money? Q. Are you willing to set aside six to ten hours per week? "We just listen to their answers to determine if they qualify. Just that simple. With these two magic questions we also ‘break the ice’ and are immediately down to business. "The magic really isn’t in the questions. The magic is in the answers. Pay close attention to what your prospect says and how he says it." Joe Distributor took careful note to use the two magic questions on his very next appointment. With this new information Joe felt he was getting close to becoming a recruiting pro. The Big Payoff Big Al spent one entire evening showing Joe Distributor the "Big Picture." The really big distributor organizations are not one superstar who personally recruited 1,000, but one professional r ecruiter who sponsored a few good distributors and helped each of them get 100-200 distributors down their organization. Wouldn’t a person feel better having five to ten self-sufficient, well-trained "Generals" with properly trained organizations, than to have 1,000 untrained, unmotivated "Privates" with no organization? Here is how we get those deep, secure, profitable organizations.
Because our first level distributor may not be able to work with each of his own workers immediately, we help by teaming with some of his workers. Even though we are now teaming with our second or third level distributors, we are still building our organization by training and recruiting more downline distributors. The System will give us the following distributors per worker: If we have six or seven good workers, we will develop hundreds of distributors in our organization as they duplicate our success.
Big Al asked if there were any questions. Joe replied, "None at all, Big Al. My group is over 300 already and I’m not deviating one step from The System. I always make presentations with someone else. And with information I’ve received, I’m beginning to become a recruiting pro just like you." End |