The most powerful thing about Network Marketing
is that is allows a person with virtually nothing
other than ambition, energy and imagination to get
started in a business with no financial limits. The
thing that interests me most about Network Marketing
is the opportunity to do well by doing good- and
that starts with superior products.
I am a fanatic believer in the quality of Network
Marketing products and I have no patience for poor
products. The thing that has hurt Network Marketing
products and I have no patience for poor products.
The things that has hurt Network Marketing more than
anything else is the number of average- or
poor-quality and over-priced products that have been
released- where people have been mislead into
trusting their dreams on the opportunity of building
a business, and then had the chair kicked out from
under them by virtue of having poor products to
sell.
On the other hand, the first-rate Network
Marketing companies that sell high quality products
at competitive prices and offer opportunities for
people to dramatically better their lives starting
with very little, represent one of the greatest
parts of the American Dream.
Mr. Tracy, what do you see
as the challenges for people as they begin in
Network Marketing?
First is the fear of
rejection- the fear on incurring disapproval, of
being pulled down by the people around you when
you're decided you want to improve yourself by
selling a product or service to other people that
can help them. And this is caused largely by poor
sales skills on the part of Network Marketers.
The biggest mistake that
people make when they get into Network Marketing is
to think that because they have a good product and
because they're good people,they have a winning
combination. And that is simply not true!
A person who wants to do
surgery because they're very enthusiastic and
positive about the benefits of surgery, is the
person who is going to have a lot of bad experiences
with patients! It takes training- you have to be
trained in how to organize yourself and how to
manage your time; and above all, you have to learn
how to sell well if you want to take advantage of
NetworkMarketing.
How do you get beyond the
disappointment of people who don't catch your
vision?
The primary reason for
rejection is that people don't know how to present
themselves or to present their business. They don't
know how to identify needs and to present their
Network Marketing opportunity as a solution to a
problem. Because they are poor at sales, they get
turned down a lot. Because they get turned down a
lot, they get heightened fears of rejection. Because
they get heightened fears of rejection, they quit.
That's the primary reason
for turn-over in the business: people don't know
what they're doing, so they do it poorly, they fail,
conclude that it doesn't work, and then go out of
the business. And often, they will have missed an
opportunity of a lifetime.
Brian, are there one or two
keys that you could share with people that are
fundamental to being successful in the sales aspect
of this business?
Number one is that you must
absolutely love the product you are selling. You
must absolutely believe in it. You must use it
yourself, and want your children to use it, your
spouse to use it, your best friends to use it, your
coworkers to use it, and your parents to use it.
In fact, I'd go so far as
to say this: If you don't absolutely believe in the
quality and value of your product, it is not a good
idea for you to get into that kind of a venture. All
top Network Marketers love their products- that's
the top-most important thing of all.
Number two it that you've
got to present your product or service as a solution
to a problem. You have to ask more questions rather
than doing more talking. You have to talk to people
and listen to them, to find out what they want to
accomplish.
To try to get somebody to
sell a Multi-Level Marketing product because they
think they are going to make a lot of money is a
loser's game. It is absolutely going to fail. But if
you get somebody to try a product, to get them to
like it, and then to offer it to their friends the
same way you are, then you've got a basis for
building a great business.
Brian, once people get
involved in a sales conversation, it seems to roll
pretty well. But people have difficulty starting. Do
you have any kinds of beginnings where you can
reveal what people's real needs or problems are?
The starting point is to
assume that everybody wants to make more money and
wants to be more financially independent. They want
more freedom and economy, which is what a good
Network Marketing business offers. So the starting
point is to say, "Look, I have found something
that I am really excited about, and I want you to
try it out and see if you like it. If you like it,
then let's talk about how you can use it, and maybe
how you can even turn it to your financial benefit.
It requires that you do two-step marketing. The
first step is to sell the business opportunity.
Brian, just where is
Network Marketing today; what is its value in the
business community? What is its place in sales and
marketing?
The single most important
element in effective sales and effective business is
the quality of the relationships formed by the
people in the business with the customer. Network
Marketing is based purely on relationship selling,
which is the state of the art of selling today.
Small and large companies
throughout the country and throughout the world are
realizing that individuals selling to their friends
and associates on a relationship basis are the
future of sales. Because the critical element in
buying any product or service is trust. And only
individuals can trust each other. People don't trust
corporate conglomerates; they trust individuals.
Network Marketing enables
you to bring the elements of trust and the quality
of the relationship to the center of your business.
And it enables you to expand indefinitely by simply
expanding the number of relationships.
Brian, besides that too
many people try to offer mediocre products, products
without value, what, in your opinion, has held
Network Marketing back from the prominence you think
it so richly deserves?
I think the primary reason
it's been held back is unavoidable, and that is the
great number of people who have gotten into it,
failed, and then bad-mouthed everybody else. When
people fail, they never accept responsibility for
the failures. They always blame it on someone or
something else- usually the company or their upline.
Why do they fail?
In part, because of not
being shown how to do it successfully. But the
greatest single obstacle to success is fear of all
kinds. Many people are afraid to take the risk or to
risk the criticism or the financial loss of Network
Marketing, so they bad-mouth the whole concept and
say it's no good. Which is a way to disguise the
fact that they are simply afraid to take a chance in
doing it.
Brian, what is your
prognostication for the future of this industry?
Bill Nightingale once said
that there are no good jobs, there are only good
people. And good people make a job good; they lend
honor to the job. The future of the Network
Marketing industry is as unlimited as the people who
get involved in it, selling good products that help
people. Therefore, it will continue to grow and grow
and grow- because every year, more and more people
are coming in with the right values and successful
approaches, and they are raising the entire standard
of MLM to the point where soon it will be one of the
most respected business methods of distribution of
products and services in the world, if it's not
already.
Is there an end in sight?
There's no end in sight.
The reason is this: Consumer tastes are becoming
more and more individualized, and, as John Naisbitt
wrote in The Year 2000, as we go more and more to
high tech, we are also going more and more to high
touch.
Network Marketing satisfies
a deep, inner craving of consumers to buy products
in specifications, in sizes that are specific to
them, and to buy it from people they know and can
trust. It's the ultimate high touch marketing- so as
our technological age expands, the future of Network
Marketing is unlimited!
