Business and Life

After getting clear on your "Why", you want to begin to build your Contact List.

If you have heard this before, there's no need to roll your eyes, because we are going to teach you something that 99% of others do not teach or write about.

A common practice someone may have told you to do is to "make a list of everyone you know," and "it doesn't matter who they are, just write them down, because you will contact them eventually".

Then, you were probably instructed to call all of these people with a tremendous amount of excitement telling them that you just found out about this exciting new business, and they just have to hear about it. After that they will wonder what all the excitement is about and be curious what you are doing, and then you "edify your upline" who recruits them for you and everyone is happy. Right?

WRONG!

This strategy rarely works, and it is trained throughout the entire industry. This is mostly why the general public dislikes MLM (or at least thinks they do).

The very thought of having this type of conversation may have induced a deep feeling of anxiety in your gut. Most likely, you don't want to be that guy or girl who's always trying to sell your friends on the new vitamin product, new telephone plan, or fantastic new gizmo.

You are not alone.

Many others experience the same amount of anxiety over the very thought of approaching their friends, family and business associates in this manner. It's uncomfortable, it's not natural, and more importantly, often times it doesn't work.

Now pay attention closely.

The truth is that the average life-span of a new person's MLM career is very short. This is mainly because the most common ways of teaching and promoting MLM is to start selling immediately without gaining the foundation to build a successful business. This often causes immediate rejection, which makes most people quit right away.

These methods are simply outdated strategies that do not work in today's world. They produce a 95%+ failure rate and it is time for change.

Begin to build your list of people you know. Make it a goal to list at least 150 people, and if you find yourself stuck and running out of people to list, search Google for a "prospect memory jogger", and you can use that to come up with many people you never thought of before.

Now comes the part where what we teach is different than what you may have learned before.

Never forget that your list is your personal goldmine. You need people to grow your business.

As you know, your list is composed of a lot of people from all different walks of life. Some you have known since childhood, since high school, previous jobs, people who attended your wedding, people you work with, you get the point.

Your list consists of potential customers or business partners. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you must be able to relate to all these people, if you want them to work with you or be your customer now or in the future.

There are two reasons for making this list: The first is obviously to establish just how many prospects you have, and the second, most important reason, is to get you in the habit of keeping a list. People are creatures of habit. Keeping a list of your current and future prospects is not only a good habit, it is fundamental to your success.

While you play our board game MLM The Game certain questions are designed to work as memory joggers, and it is very possible that you will think of new people for your business during game play. The most important thing is that you will build better relationships with your team through playing MLM The Game.

Simply contacting people on your list with great enthusiasm will not create the success you are hoping for. Enthusiasm is good, but it's certainly not the only ingredient in the recipe for success.

We urge you not to begin by sharing your opportunity with friends and family, until you are comfortable with your "Why", your company's products, and how these products benefit you and others using them.

Don't spoil what could possibly be a very good opportunity for others with a weak and uneducated approach. Remember, your list is your goldmine, so give these people some respect!

Do not, call the people on your list yelling with excitement about how great your opportunity is, and how they just have to see it! Doing this will kill all credibility you may have with them.

We know, because have all done it once, and seen others do it, and fail.

By now you must be wondering, "Well, what do I do with this list then?"

Here's what you do...

Go through your new list and contact the people you have not talked to for quite a while, and get caught up with them. Ask them questions about their life, ask them how they are doing, ask them how their kids or their wife or their family is doing. Ask them what they have been up to, outside of work, etc. You get the point.

This may seem like the most obvious thing to do, but most people overlook this step in the initial process and then wonder why they aren't getting results!

Understand, this may not get them to join your business. You are Networking. Remember, this is Network Marketing. Your job is to contact people and ask them questions about how their life is going to see if your product and/or opportunity will fit into their life.

Your first or second call will usually never include any recruiting. Be interested versus trying to sound interesting. Make a note of the ones that may be a good fit, and make a note of those that are definitely not a good fit. If it does not seem like a fit for them, move on. Do not waste your time trying to convince people, if you have to convince them, they later think they have to convince their prospects, this is a sure fire way to kill that leg.

The key to successfully doing business with people is building strong and long lasting relationships with them. This is especially true in Network Marketing. If you call someone you have not spoken with in two years and spend a little time catching up with them, finding out how they have been and what has happened in their lives since you last spoke (and you are genuinely interested), chances are they are going to feel good about your conversation. However, if you call them up, give a little small talk, and then try and sell them on your business like we told you not to, the result will be much different. It's pretty simple logic.

You will need to get to know them again simply because you will be looking and listening for how and where their lifestyle could benefit from an opportunity like the one you hope to offer them. You are also pre-qualifying them to see if you actually want to offer them this opportunity. Some people will not have the values you are looking for, so don't waste your time.

If you practice the goal of simply reconnecting with people, you can expect them to be naturally interested in your life too. But do not overly "sell" them, your only goal is to share a little snippet about your business with them. If done right, which we'll get to later, your words alone will pique their interest, and you will be well on your way to having a stronger relationship with them.

Anders GustavssonPresidentInfinite Synergy Learning SystemsThe Infinite Synergy team developed MLM The Game, and has been involved helping home-business entrepreneurs build strong relationships and succeed faster through playing this game since 2003'. Please visit this network marketing training website at www.mlmthegame.com for details.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The 2nd Lost Rule of Network Marketing Success