At the most meaningful level it appears people DO buy into and join PEOPLE! I found myself wondering what was true when I first started reading articles contributed for this months issue of the magazine where we see the strong declarative, “People Buy into and join People NOT Companies and Products.” Around the same time I started receiving articles highlighting the wisdom and ‘rightness’ of that statement, an interesting thread of conversation had begun at an online MLM network where the question was asked as follows…
“We will have a higher level of commitment if we know WHY we are joining a certain company. So…. as a cool exercise, I’d like you to think about the reasons you have chosen to join the company/companies you are with. What is your “WHY”? Next, think about why others should join you in this company instead of picking a different company… How are you different from others? What do you think makes you special?”
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In all fairness, I realize the way the question was phrased, asking “why we are joining a certain company” tended to move the conversation a certain direction… yet I found it interesting that not one person said they joined their company because of the person who introduced them to that particular opportunity. Several people gave kudos to the ‘trust’ factor of the people at the helm of their company… but not a soul claimed they joined their company because of the person who invited them to look at it.
Caution is always advisable when drawing conclusions from such a small amount of information but it got me thinking that there is more to the statement PEOPLE JOIN PEOPLE, than what initially appears on the surface.
So I set off to explore that a bit further by doing my own informal (and definitely NOT statistically valid) survey. Here is what I learned from the approximately 40 people I spoke with… When I asked people why they joined their company, what I initially heard from almost every one of them sounded a bit like a canned script… touting the wonders of their products, services, comp plan and/or training. LOL – Not what I was looking for… when I stayed with the conversation and pushed for something a bit more authentic I heard stories, wonderful stories about their search… or lack thereof… for something that made them feel more alive… more in control of their lives and destinies… whether it began with a focus on health, prosperity or a need to belong to something bigger than what they were experiencing at the time. And I was fascinated at the many ways people were led to specific companies. It was far more varied than I had anticipated. Some people, though very successfully building their business right now, admitted to initially joining their company because a friend they knew and trusted told them to do so, even though they had no real interest or perceived need at the time. Of the people I spoke with these were rare ones. Some people found their products or services as a result of purposefully searching for something to address a specific need they had. This was most often true around health related issues… so it was no surprise to me that these were people experiencing a first exposure to network marketing. When they learned that this product they were attracted to had the potential to provide income they got involved… often with a relative stranger or very casual acquaintance.
While many of them seemed very satisfied with the support they were receiving from their sponsor and upline, almost 50% of them stated that if they were to join their company today they would do so under a different person. A person they had grown to admire and respect who had caught their attention since joining their company.
Some had a co-worker, neighbor, family member or friend introduce them to the opportunity even though they didn’t feel they were looking for anything at the time. They claim that it was the combination of the relationship with the person who introduced them to the opportunity along with the information gained when presented with the specifics that got them involved with their company. This was the case with the majority of people I talked with during the past month. When I asked them to speculate about whether or not they would have been likely to get involved if they had heard the presentation from someone else, almost every single person said they can’t imagine how they would have ever heard it from someone else because they couldn’t imagine giving a stranger the time to share it with them. And finally, in what appears to be a directly opposite response from the one mentioned above… a couple of the people I spoke with actually signed with their company as a result of stumbling upon a web presentation. Of these, some filled out a form and were contacted by someone they developed a relationship with, some joined directly and felt they had very little connection at all with their sponsor, yet seemed to be quite okay with that. As you can see from the four general categories above, there are a variety of ways and reasons people find themselves involved in a network marketing company. Some directly involving specific people and some not so much. But there was one thing that happened that I found particularly telling… when asked if there was a specific person today that they know they would partner with if they were just now joining their company… every single one of them said YES! And could say exactly who they would sign with today. And over half said they would partner with the person they were currently partnered with. As stated, with such a small sample of people I could be led astray in my conclusions but frankly, I’m pretty comfortable in my understanding that people buy into and join companies and products at a certain level… but the real power and likelihood of success comes from the relationships.
So at the most meaningful level it appears people DO buy into and join PEOPLE!
Might be a good thing to keep in mind as you step more firmly into leadership! Make it a wonderful month, I appreciate you! Mary K ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- ¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) ((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:- -:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* Light EXPECT MIRACLES!
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I love this because sharing dreams and clarifying vision puts us together in an energy that feels so good— so alive. It opens us up to take inspired action, which consistently results in greater and greater levels of success. What a joy sharing this kind of ride with others!
— Mary K.
"What I admire most about Mary K. is that she literally and figuratively incarnates one of my most treasured quotes: Dag Hammerskjöld's "To all that has been— Thanks. To all that will be— Yes!" She speaks about the joy of sharing this 'ride' with others. Mary K. IS the joy— to know and to work with."
— JMF
In addition to editing the articles for TheNetworkMarketingMagazine , one of the projects Mary K is involved in is contributing to raising vibrations through her blog, Downstream Parenting, meeting your child in the vortex. You can learn more about Mary K at mkweinhagen
The Network Marketing Magazine
- Women and Network Marketing Freedom by Mary K Weinhagen - December 4, 2015
- From the Bottom of My Heart by Mary K Weinhagen - October 1, 2015
- Your Tribe by Mary K Weinhagen - July 1, 2015