(Life lessons for building a solid organization that will last)
The smartest thing any of us can do is to help other people succeed — because that way, we also succeed. Therefore, it is important that everything we do with a new distributor are things that will actually help them and not subconsciously sabotage their success.
1. Everything you SAY must be DUPLICABLE.
Your prospects must believe that “If you have done this, then they can do it too!” So be careful that you do not brag about your past success or they will believe that of course YOU can do but not them. If you are a Diamond or at a top award level with your company, don’t mention it until they have already joined, because when they are talking to their friends they will NOT be able to SAY they are a Diamond. (The exception to the rule would be when you are closing a heavy hitter that is looking for credibility from the upline)
2. Everything you DO must be DUPLICABLE.
New distributors become emotionally attached to that to which they were first exposed. Therefore, make sure everything YOU do, can ALSO BE DONE BY THEM. If you give the presentation using your laptop, then they will give the presentation with their laptop, if you give the presentation on a napkin, they will show the presentation on a napkin. If you bought them lunch when you gave them the presentation, then they will feel obligated to buy lunch for their prospects. The problem is that while you may be able to afford to buy them an expensive lunch in a nice restaurant they may not be able to afford that and pass on joining believing they could not afford to build their business in the same manner. If you paid their way in but purchased their sales kit and starter pack for several hundred dollars, then they will think THEY will need to purchase the sales kits and product packs for THEIR prospects. This is very subtle and they may not even realize why they are saying no, but subconsciously they are processing that they cannot afford to do what you just did.
3. Keep it simple… if it is not simple, it will not duplicate.
Rapid growth in building a Network Marketing company depends on what is being done to be totally DUPLICABLE without costing a lot or requiring a long learning curve. If you are giving the initial presentation in a rented office with an expensive laptop and expensive LED Projector shown on an expensive screen or huge flat screen television, then they will think they need to rent an office, buy a laptop, and purchase a huge flat screen television or projector and screen. Meet them in your home, their home, a coffee shop, or a hotel lobby, as they will be able to do the same thing with their prospects without it costing them any money. I have even done ‘one one-on-one’ presentations in a park at a picnic table on a nice day.
4. Don’t enable them by doing for them what they are capable of doing for themselves.
Prospects will often try to get favors, either because they say they are experienced leaders and are entitled to it or they are in need and you should feel obligated to help them. Maybe they are a leader and maybe they are in need… But a person’s needs are his or her problem. Their past choices have landed them where they are right now. Your job is to help them climb out of their situation on their own so they can do it with pride and dignity and not feel like a welfare recipient. People really want a hand-up, not a handout. And for those who demand sign-in bonuses or special favors in exchange for them enrolling with you… don’t fall for that scam. I have been fooled by some of the biggest and the best and it has never worked out. The world doesn’t owe someone anything. No one is entitled to a free ride just because of who they are or what they have done. As a matter of fact, real true leaders do NOT ask for any favors they know that they must be able to look into the eyes of their distributors and say I am asking you to do the same thing that I have done. I have traveled the same road I am asking you to travel. They know that the only thing a person is entitled to is what he or she earns and they are willing to earn their own way. Experienced leaders will tend to help people who first help themselves. There will always be that person asking for $1,000 upfront to join you or even $5,000 or more a month. The clue is they will often add that they don’t know why you wouldn’t do that as the last five companies they joined all paid them $5,000 a month to join them. LOL. Well, how did that work out? Either it was a terrible investment for that company because obviously that person took the money and left, or the company must have been really desperate for leadership and was willing to take the risk. Successful companies and successful leaders do not offer deals as they all know by experience that doing deals simply does not work.
5. Never offer spillover
You will often run into someone who will ask if you will give them a lot of spillover if they enroll with you. Don’t do it. (There is also a legal issue of enticement when this is offered). Never offer to give anyone spillover as it will create a welfare mentality and an insatiable appetite for spillover that will never be satisfied. Now this really applies only to Binary or Dual Team bonus plans. But remember this famous quote by a well-known Network Marketer, “Leaders create spillover, losers look for spillover.” Once you promise spillover you just destroy (even if only at a subconscious level) the incentive to recruit on their own. Plus, they will complain that the ones you gave them were lazy and did not work and demand that you give them more. Tell them that the value you give them as their enroller is your time, your teaching, your training, your mentoring, your coaching, your commitment to doing three-way phone calls with them and doing two-on-ones with them and working with their downline. (And then eventually when they are pulling large crowds you will fly in and be the guest speaker for their meeting.)
6. Then how can I help someone become successful without ruining them?
Very simple, do things that they can easily duplicate. Reward them for their performance, not their promises. If you want to help do it as a reward for performance. Match their commitment. If they recruit several people, then you can offer as a reward to give them some products to use as samples at meetings. But always make it as a reward for actual performance. This way they have the incentive to actually do something in order to get the reward. If you give them the reward first, then they have no incentive to perform. Offer to share 50% of the expense of a meeting room for their first monthly meeting. (if they are holding meetings) This way they have skin in the game. If they participate in any losses due to poor attendance, they will be on the phones every day calling people to get them to come out to the meeting.
7. Never pay anyone’s way into the program.
The primary reason is that it is not duplicable. Years ago I paid someone’s way into a program and a few months later they complained that they were not making any money. I said, “What, you should have made $1,000 last month!” She said, “I spent it all paying people’s way into the program.” I asked, “Why on earth did you do that?” She said, “Because you paid my way in, so I was doing the same thing I saw you do.”
It was then that I realized that it was all my fault for having taught her the bad example. Now she was one of the rare cases that actually did go to work with my having paid her way in, but it caused me to reevaluate my manner of operations. When I looked at and analyzed the data from prior experience and track record, I discovered that almost everyone that I had paid their way in NEVER DID ANYTHING and that my strongest leaders all had paid their own way in. Was this just a coincidence, or was there something to this? The evidence was overwhelming and compelling. I decided then to NEVER PAY ANYONE’S way into a program, ever again. Either they were lazy and were never going to build anyway, or by doing so destroyed their incentive and ruined them by creating something that was not DUPLICABLE. It doesn’t matter how clever something may be… the only thing that matters IS IT DUPLICABLE.
What you set in motion by paying someone’s way into a program is that when they do a presentation and their prospect says “money is tight, or I really don’t want to spend the money right now.” Your distributor may say yeah I understand, but not be willing to pay their way in. So we created something that is not duplicable. On the other hand, if your distributor could not afford it or had the money but did not want to spend it, and you did not spoil them by paying for them and they went out and scraped the money together or decided to part with it, they now have a whole different mindset.
They will tell their prospect, “Hey, I know how you feel, I felt the same way, I didn’t have the money either, but I knew that was my biggest reason for joining because I never wanted to be in this position again and I saw this as my financial way out., so I –
a.) borrowed the money
b.) put it on a credit card or –
c.) took it out of my savings account knowing I could earn the money to pay off the card before the payment was due just through the fast start bonuses.
(Enroll only FOUR with the same package you came in with and you will earn enough to offset the cost of your joining.)
8. Don’t fall for the “This other company is offering me $5,000 to enroll with their company, so if you match that I will join with you.” (But don’t let them fall for it either)
I tell them, “Well then, if you need short-term money upfront you had better accept their offer, but our offer is far better than theirs.” They will then ask, “Well what does your company offer?” I say well the companies that offer upfront money to groups are companies that have large margins on inexpensive-to-make products and usually a lot of breakage from the compensation plan going to the company. In simple economics, they payout less than we do. If we paid out 38% to 40% like other companies then we could afford to pay upfront fees, (which we would never do anyway because it would ruin the distributor), but we pay out 10% to 15% more EVERY MONTH for THE REST OF OUR LIFE!” (that is a far better offer than a quick hit upfront.).
Next, I say, “I am curious… why do you think a company would offer to PAY PEOPLE TO JOIN? If the opportunity was legitimate and the products were fairly priced and people were enrolling because of the value of what they offered, then they would not need to offer anyone any money to join.” (A company making those types of offers is usually desperate for leaders. Also, check out the contract they make you sign – if you do not perform it converts to a loan and they often sue you to get their money back, which could adversely affect your credit rating.)
Next, you can ask them, “How duplicable is that?” “Will that company be willing to give all of your people $5,000 to join? Will YOU be willing to give your people $5,000 each?” If not, then what you are doing is NOT DUPLICABLE and you are setting yourself up for failure.
By the way… when a company pays distributors to join, guess who actually pays? You do! And all the other distributors contribute because as we pointed out, the company likely has a ton of breakage and only pays out 36% to 38% or their product is so inexpensive to produce they have huge margins. So make no mistake… YOU and your distributors are the ones actually paying for any perks the company may offer. (That company is either paying you less or charging you more.)
Again, we could do this. We could payout less and increase the price of our products and make these kinds of offers, but we refuse to because we have enough experience to know that it DOES NOT WORK. We are looking to attract people who desire a company that does not do deals and has NO BREAKAGE to the company, has a generous payout, and has fairly priced products with expensive high-quality ingredients. BTW, I have been promised 10% of one company that went out of business and 5% from a company still in business, but they fired the president of the company and terminated all deals he had made. So a company that will break its promises, or find a way to terminate the agreement, can promise anything to get you involved and get all of your contacts, then find an excuse to terminate the agreement.
9. Know in your heart that you are doing the best thing for them with this philosophy.
By rewarding them for actual productivity you are helping them become self-sufficient without making them feel guilty that they received welfare from you. Many potential leaders would be extremely successful today if they had not been helped so much by well-intentioned sponsors that actually degraded them at a sub-conscious level by enabling them with actions that destroyed their incentive to perform the money-making activities that would have got them on their feet permanently with pride and dignity.
Trust me. This philosophy works both for you and your distributors and will save you a lot of time heartache and lost money you will never get back. (This philosophy is based on 48 years of experience and having learned the hard way by needlessly wasting over $100,000.00)
If anyone does not believe in this philosophy and insists on paying people’s way into a program, then enroll with me and I will send all the people that want their way paid to you so you can pay their way in and be their personal enroller. (But then that would ruin you and them, so I withdraw that offer.)
10. Always operate with total integrity. What you practice will eventually be multiplied a thousand times in your downline organization.
When you operate with integrity and exemplify good ethics, morals, and good character, everyone in your group will be inclined to follow suit and conform to that culture. The exact opposite is true as well, so always treat everyone the way you want to be treated. If you are aware that someone is being courted by another distributor, don’t try to bribe them to enroll with you by saying, “Well if you enroll with me I will pay your way in.” or “I will give you a ton of spillover.” Seriously, this could ruin your group as everyone goes up for auction to the highest bidder and you have spoiled it for everyone.
This industry is living proof of “what goes around, comes around.” Call it karma, or the law of sowing and reaping, or the law of attraction but whatever you call it does not matter, the reality is that everything you say and do sets in motion things that will either bless you or come back and haunt you. If you take a deal, will you disclose it to your downline? If not, you will find yourself living a lie and face embarrassment when it eventually gets discovered, (and it always does.)
Whenever Rich DeVos, the President and co-founder of Amway, was ever asked what kind of a deal he could offer, he would answer, “if you do 100PV we will pay you 3%, when you hit 300PVwe will pay you 6%, when you do 600PVwe will pay you 9%, when you do 1,000PV we will pay you 12%, at 1,500PV we will pay you 15%, at 2,500PV we will pay you 18%… by then they got the message… there were no deals, everyone earned the same amount based on the same compensation plan. Obviously it worked as Amway currently does greater than Ten Billion Dollars a year!
He has been known as the mentor’s mentor.
He was a former Amway Executive Diamond and had been #1 in the nation with several network marketing companies.
Paul had used the principles he taught to build several organizations to in excess of fifty and one hundred thousand distributors. One organization was approaching one half of a million distributor/customers.
Paul had held monthly volumes in his downline organization alone, in excess of 15 million dollars per month.
Many people ‘practice what they preach,’ but it is said of Paul, that Paul ‘preaches what he practices’ and had practiced his entire life.
On the social/spiritual side of life, Paul had spent much of his free time in Scouting, Jail and Prison Ministry and other outreach ministries.Most of all he was a GREAT family man.
Whether it was a group of 14 in a living room or a crowd of 14,000 in an auditorium, Paul iwas sure to have them laughing, crying, and ultimately motivated and inspired to become all of that which they are capable of becoming.
Paul’s philosophy was that, success in this industry is not measured by the dollars you earned but rather by the lives you have touched and influenced in a positive way.
- How To Help A New Distributor Succeed in Network Marketing Without Destroying Them by Paul Morris - September 28, 2023
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