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Find a method of operation that your entire team can learn and get results from, especially the brand-new distributors. Teach it over and over and over again. Teach it on your conference calls, after your meetings, and through your actions. Have everyone experience it. Don’t teach anything else until they get the basic method of operation down. If someone’s check is flat it tells me that he has made his business too personality driven and not driven by a simple and effective method of operation.

THE METHOD OF OPERATION LITMUS TEST

As you build your business, ask yourself whether what you’re doing and asking your team to do is something that can be done:

•In depth, 10 or 15 levels below you.

•By somebody you don’t even know, because the vast majority of people on your team you won’t even know.

•Working thousands of miles away from you, because eventually the majority of your organization will not be in your backyard.

•By a brand-new distributor, somebody who has never really been successful, and who is getting ready to approach someone with a lot of success. Remember, that’s really big!

Begin with the end in mind by putting the focus on what you are personally doing. If what you are doing on your first level is not something that can be done in each scenario just listed, then the odds are you’ll never create any depth on your team. What you’ll constantly get is you and your 10 team members, then 20, then back to 10, bouncing back and forth. But you’ll never develop any significant depth.

We want a presentation format that is so simple and duplicable that when somebody hears it, they will always say:

•“I can do what you’re doing.”

•“I won’t have a problem doing what you’re doing with the people I know.”

•“I have the time to do what you’re doing.”

The problem I see with most approaches used by distributors to get a person started is the person ends up thinking: “Yes, you’ve got a great company. Yes, I agree with everything you’re doing. Yes, it’s all great, really great.

But you know what?

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“I can’t do what you just did.

“Nor do I want to do to my friends or associates what you just did. “And I don’t have the time to do what you just did.”

In essence, you won the battle but you lost the war and immediately the duplication has stopped.

Successful network marketing leaders know there is an opportunity when someone says no to what they are offering. If someone tells you that your opportunity or product is not for them right now, you want two things from them:

1.“Yes, you can continue to keep me updated.”

2.“Yes, I can give you referrals.”

Again, if your approach is complicated, cumbersome, and very aggressive, most people will say:

1.“No, I really don’t want you to do this to me again.”

2.“No, I would not expose you to my associates.”

A REVEALING CASE STUDY

My friends John and Brian joined our network marketing company during the same week. Both were in their late twenties, and had similar backgrounds, similar centers of influence, and similar lifestyles. After six months, Brian’s group was about the same size as John’s. After 12 months, Brian’s group was 10 times bigger than John’s. After 24 months, John had about 100 distributors in his group and was making about $1,000 in residual income each month from his business. Creating $1,000 a month in passive, ongoing income after only twenty-four months of part-time work is pretty darn good. Outside of network marketing, it would be pretty hard for the average person to do. However, Brian’s group was 50 times larger and so was his bonus check. Yes, Brian’s check was $50,000 per month and growing!

I’m sure you’ll agree those are H-U-G-E numbers, especially after working the business for only 24 months! Same backgrounds, same company, same compensation plan, different results. Why? Probably a number of reasons. However, the fact that Brian had a simple, effective, and focused method of operation was without a doubt the single biggest reason.

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KEEPING THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING

Successful businessman Frank Aucoin coined the phrase “Keep the main thing the main thing.” And what is the main thing? Simply this: How many times today was the story of the opportunity and product told on your behalf by you, by your team, or by an event?

At first, the number of times the story is told will be based 100 percent on your own efforts. If you share the story twice that day, the number is two. Once you sponsor someone who agrees to share the story twice a day, then the story is being told four times a day on your behalf: twice by you and twice by your new distributor. As your organization grows, the story can be told hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times per day. However, the odds of this happening are greatly increased if you have a simple and effective method of operation.

THE BIG QUESTION

How can the story be told perfectly every time, 10 or 15 levels in depth, by brand-new distributors we don’t even know who live thousands of miles away from us? How can it be told by a dud, somebody who’s never really been successful, who is getting ready to approach someone with a lot of success?

Learning a 30-minute presentation is daunting. Not only will it take weeks and even months to learn, it’s an unreasonable request of your distributors. Think about the last time the average person had to give a presentation. It was probably in high school and they dreaded every second of it!

THE SOLUTION

Let’s go back to Brian. Brian’s method of operation was simply based on the effective use of a third-party tool to tell the story. The definition of a thirdparty tool is basically anything you’re not. A third-party tool can be a tape, CD, video, DVD, conference call, meeting, three-way call, web site, and the like. You are using third-party tools when you’re not personally verbally sharing the facts on the company and product. A third-party tool will tell the story perfectly every single time. Distributors simply need to learn to point prospects to third-party tools. It’s much easier to teach a distributor to point to third-party tools than it is to have them memorize a full presentation. If you use a third-party tool to tell the story, you’ll end up talking less so you can talk to more people.

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Brian knew that in order for his distributors to be successful, they had to always be the messenger and not the message!

Most people get involved and think it’s their job to personally tell the world about this business. It’s not. The people who make the most money are the ones who use third-party tools to share the story.

If you are taking an hour to do the explanation, you might do great and sign up your prospect—but they’ll say, “I can’t do what you did!”

Instead, Brian stuck to a simple enrollment process:

1.Pique the prospect’s interest.

2.Get them the information.

3.Sign them up.

4.Repeat the process.

So let’s go through the process and the skills a distributor would have to learn to be successful.

First Skill: Where to Find Prospects

Learning to create prospects is something every organization should be able to help you with and too broad a subject for this article.

Second Skill: Piquing a Prospect’s Interest

You can pique interest with an opening sentence like: “Are you the kind of person who keeps an open mind to a business opportunity?” Or “Would you be open to learning how to make an extra weekly paycheck?” If the prospect says yes, the tendency is to tell the prospect about your opportunity. Stop! Just pique interest and hand the presentation over to the third-party tools. Don’t spill the beans. Talking will kill your business. Only lead them to the tools, and let technology do the presentation for you.

Third Skill: Creating Interest in the Third-Party Tool

Use an audio, a video, a web site presentation, a recorded message, a faxable slide presentation, a three-way call with your sponsor, a conference call, or a CD presentation. You could say something like: “Take a look at this. It’ll knock your socks off. It may or may not be for you but it’ll take only 14 minutes of your time.” Or “What’s on this video is making many people a fortune. It may or may not be for you but it’ll take only 14 minutes of your time.” Or “I think you’ll really like the part near the end about how most people do our business every day, but they just aren’t getting paid for it!” Or

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“Be sure to listen for the part about the two-year story. It’s really funny! I laughed out loud when I first heard that story.” Or “I’m going to loan this CD to you. But I’ll need it back in three days because I have others waiting to listen to it.”

You get the idea.

Once you’ve directed them to the third-party tool, here’s what you’ll

say:

Absolutely nothing!

If they ask questions, simply tell them the CD does a much better job of answering their questions than you can.

During the time it would normally take you to give a 30-minute presentation to one prospect, you could’ve handed out 10 CDs. Same amount of time, but in one case, the story is told one time; in the other case, it’s being told 10 times.

Fourth Skill: Effective Follow-Up

Handing out 10 CDs is effective only if the prospects actually listen to what’s on the CD.

Here’s an example of effective follow-up. Call the prospect and ask:

You: “Did you have a chance to listen to the CD yet?”

Prospect: “No.”

You: “How long does it take you to drive to work?” Prospect: “About 20 minutes.”

You: “Perfect. That’s how long it takes to listen to the CD. Could you do me a favor and listen to the CD on your way to work tomorrow?”

Call them the next day and ask: “Did you have a chance to listen to the CD yet?” Continue to create interest in the third-party tool until they listen to it. Your job is to have them hear the story in its entirety. After all, they have a need for what’s on the CD; otherwise they wouldn’t have agreed to listen to it. Once they hear the story and decide the opportunity or product is not for them, fine. But don’t let them decide until they’ve heard all the facts. The information could end up changing their lives for the better, forever.

Once the prospect has listened to the CD, all you need to ask is this: “What did you like best about what you heard?”

If they say nothing, thank them for their time and ask them for referrals. “Do you know anyone who would be interested in earning an extra weekly paycheck working from home?”

If they say they like the product, sell them the product. If they say the like the money part, ask them if they are ready to get started. If they are, sponsor them.

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If they have a few questions, get them to a meeting or on a three-way call with your sponsor.

Fifth Skill: Three-Way Calling

A three-way call is when you, your prospect, and a third person get on one phone call together. Here’s an example of the three-way call.

You: “Mr. Sponsor, this is Bob. Bob, this is Mr. Sponsor, my partner I told you about.”

Sponsor: “Julie tells me you are interested in an income opportunity and have a few questions. The money part of our business is very exciting, but before I tell you my story and answer your questions, let me ask you this: What has Julie done with you so far?”

And here’s the magic—the moment of truth and why this works so well.

Prospect: “Well, Julie asked me if I’d be interested in making an extra paycheck from home. I said yes. She then asked me to listen to a CD. After a few days, I did. She then asked me what I like best. I told her the money and that I had a few questions. She then put me on the phone with you.”

Sponsor: “Excellent. Let me ask you this: Is there anything that Julie did with you that you can’t see yourself doing with someone else?”

Bingo. Suddenly prospect Bob realizes he will not have to become an expert on this business or on the product to effectively build an extra weekly paycheck with your company. The rest is easy. The sponsor shares his or her story, answers any questions, and ends the call with:

Sponsor: “Is there anything else you need to know before you get started?”

If Bob says yes, the sponsor answers the questions and then again asks: “Is there anything else you need to know before you get started?”

Once Bob says all his questions have been answered and he is ready to get started, the sponsor turns the call over to Julie and lets her help Bob get started in the business.

And it gets better! During the process you are also training your distributor, Julie. She is learning the answers to the most frequently asked questions so that after 10 or 15 three-way calls she’ll be able to do three-way calls with her new distributors.