A Track to Run On – The Duplicatable Effort a 1993 Classic by Russ DeVan

A Success by Design Business-Building System By Russ DeVan

MY EXPERIENCE OF BUILDING NETWORK ORGANIZATIONS is that people often set goals that aren’t measurable.  You know. You want a big house, you want a big organization,  you want a different this or that?

That’s not how it works.

What if I told you that in my experience, we don’t always get what we want….but we almost always get what we’re committed to….and we’re ALWAYS committed to something… whether we realize it or not!

What I discovered had been missing for me to ensure success and better results within my organization and team was something I could duplicate and coach people to do, that they, would in turn copy and duplicate with their organization – a system that created productivity and kept people on track to meet and sometimes even exceed their goals.   

I believe attrition ravages many Network Marketing organizations because most distributors don’t have “a track to run on.”  As a result, they leave a lot to; “Gee, I hope I’m in the right place at the right time . . .” and – with eyes closed and fingers crossed –  “ I sure hope this works!”    

To get beyond that, you need a system that leaves nothing to chance, nothing to wishin’ and hopin,’  nothing to the MLM “lottery.”…

I present this “system” right after someone has committed to getting in the business; they’ve filled out their paperwork and placed their first order. Now that they’re getting started – that is the time to discuss the “duplicatable effort” with them.   I do that in a 45-60 minute set-up coaching call.  That’s where we outline the system for the first time, go over and through it, then I give them homework; Create an income goal that is measurable and provides you with something you are committed to.  

The purpose of the system is to create a “Duplicatable” Effort – the effort you put forth in your business personally every month. The effort you’re willing to be personally responsible for.  Not necessarily JUST what you buy, but what you are personally responsible for producing in terms of product volume being moved. I don’t start someone in the business unless they’re willing to make some kind of commitment for themselves in these three areas. This will, in turn, justify the time and coaching and the effort that I’m going to personally spend towards helping them succeed. 

These three areas of effort are: 

Promotion

Enrollment

   Consumption  

> Promotion

I distinguish promoting from selling as the effort you make to establish the value of the product for others. This could be retailing, wholesaling, or simply giving away.

When someone starts a business, I say, “Okay, what product excites you?”   That’s important because people lack focus when they join a company that has more than one product.  If people try to sell the entire line – which some of them think they’re supposed to do – they’re making a big mistake.  They need to concentrate on one area and select a couple of products that they can really get excited about promoting.  

Once they’ve done that, I ask, “What’s the minimal amount of that product that you’re willing to be personally responsible for promoting each week and each month?  How much . . .?  Are you gonna sell one bottle of this and one bottle of that a week . . .?  Is that your goal?”

I tell them to keep it really simple.  Remember it doesn’t matter how much you can do; how good you are at selling, or recruiting for instance. 

It’s what you’re able to show somebody else how to do and show THEM how to SHOW someone how to do.  So, if it’s only two bottles of something a week, that’s fine…

…because you’re still growing your business by creating volume – even though it’s only a little bit of volume, it is duplicatable.  

Most people usually say, “Okay, I can sell one bottle of this and one bottle of that,” which adds up to $50 wholesale a week- and in most cases that means they’re making $30 in retail profit, but that’s not what’s important.  The important thing is they’re willing to commit to a $50 a week wholesale effort.  That’s $200 in wholesale per month through their own promotional effort.   So they’re willing to do whatever it takes and be responsible for $200 worth of promotional retail volume a month. 

> Enrollment

I teach people to always use the way “they got in the business” as the standard for how they enroll other people and what those people need to do…  

If you started with $600 worth of product for whatever reason – because it qualified you for this or that, or because it was what you wanted to sell, or because it’s what it cost, whatever – then that’s what you’re going to duplicate.   Why would you want to put somebody in the business that does less than that?

That’s your standard for how you enroll people:  “You start the way I did.”  So let’s assume somebody says, “Okay, I started in the business for $600.”  I ask them, “Then are you willing to enroll one person per month the same way you got started?”   

That means that even though they’re buying the product, you’re the one putting forth the enrollment effort, so that counts as your duplicatable effort.  You’re responsible for $600 worth of volume in enrollment.

> Consumption

Whatever you’re selling, whatever you’re promoting, you better be using it. 

This demonstrates its value to your customers and provides you with the ultimate selling tool: The authentic courage of conviction that can only come from an incontrovertible personal experience.  You’ll find products in any line – whether they’re the ones you actually have chosen to promote or not- that you love to use.  How much are you and your family going to purchase for your own consumption – not because you have to, but because you want to?

Some people purchase a product just to qualify and get paid.  That’s the only reason they purchase it and $100 worth of product just sits there.  That’s consumption too, but if you’re actually consuming the product you’re not losing money.  You’re purchasing a product that’s creating volume and that still counts toward what you’re going to duplicate when everybody you enroll in the business is taught to do the same.  

So let’s assume that between you and your family you can use $100 worth of product.  Okay, now you’ve got $200 on Promotion, $600 on Enrollment and you’ve got $100 on Consumption.  Total the three – that’s $900.

Now even as simple as that sounds and even though everyone agrees to it, it’s unreasonable and people will find ways to sleaze on it.  So, what you do is take that effort and reduce it down to the ridiculous.   What I mean is, whatever value you come up with, you reduce it to something that you’re absolutely, positively sure can be duplicated.  I tell people, as a rule, to knock it down by at least two-thirds.  If you had a $900 effort, then you’d come up with a $300 effort.  

As soon as I do that with people, they say, “Gosh, that’s not gonna make me much money – just being responsible for $300 a month.  

And they’re absolutely right.  But that’s not what we’re doing.  We’re building a structure for 1000 people who are all doing that.  That’s $300,000 a month and from a percentage of that kind of volume, you will make some considerable income!  

But first, the effort has to be simple and it has to be something where people understand exactly what they’re doing and what their assignment is.  And their assignment is to Promote X, Enroll X, and Consume X each and every month and teach others to do the same thing.  

One of the key reasons I came up with the Success By Design System is that many people get confused about what they should do when they start in Network Marketing.  Should I concentrate on retail selling?”  “Should I recruit a hundred people?”   No…..and both….but just a little

Keep it simple.  Promote, Enroll  Consume.  That’s the combination that creates the kind of duplicatable effort you’re after.  

RUSS DEVAN is a popular industry-wide speaker and trainer, and he is president of Success By Design Inc, the consulting firm he founded in 1991 to support both the corporate and distributor levels of Network Marketing. Russ is a long-time contributor to Upline. He is currently concentrating on developing his training system on the Internet. Russ lives with his family in Scottsdale, AZ. This article first appeared in the November 1993 issue.

Editor’s note: Russ has been doing and teaching this for decades successfully… it works! Russ is now a columnist with The Network Marketing Magazine and someone I consider The Greatest Networker In The World! George Madiou