Is the MLM Distributor a Happy Loser???

I’ve heard many a top MLM distributor discuss the “secrets” of their success and many times they are anything  but secrets. You get the general picture that their climb to the top was not a walk in the park. It required hard work, determination, belief, and a positive attitude, among other well-known characteristics that make good business men and woman and enterpreneurs what they are.

Nowadays with the internet being the main source of customers, leads, and information for the MLM distributor, you hear the term marketing a lot: online marketing, internet marketing, etc. What you don’t see a lot of is talk about sales. Lots of people that first enter into a network marketing company are told that they really don’t have to sell anything. They are told that the products sell themselves, or that someone else (maybe their upline or downline) does the work for them. MLM leaders often say this because they know that the majority of people do not like sales. While it’s true that there are plenty of MLM companies that offer very reputable products and services, not one of these products sells itself. Someone has to do the selling. And that is the you,  the MLM distributor. The good news is that the whole hard-sell approach of sales has taken a backseat to more of an infomercial type of sales. Your sales process starts with having a top-notch product. You make sure that
you get that product in front of the people who want it (this is where your market research comes in), and then you are there to answer any questions or concerns, and offer whatever support you can until your potential customer or prospect makes the decision to buy your products or join you in your team. Easier said then done, right?

I just read an interesting article in Inc. magazine entitled Salespeople: The secret of Their Success. There it is again–that word secret. I learned some things about myself and I hope you will too from this brief summary of the article.

Are You a Happy Loser?
If you like being an MLM distributor, you fit into the category of what G. Clotaire Rapaille, a psychoanalyst and ethnographer who has done extensive research on salespeople, calls “happy losers”. But don’t take it personally. All he is referring to is the fact that a good salesperson, or MLM distributor, sees rejection as a challenge, or doesn’t really see it at all, but just accepts it and moves on. According to Rapaille, the happy loser likes being a salesperson because in general, he or she sees the 95% rejection rate as being a 5% accepting rate — a glass half-full kind of thing.  And the more no’s he or she gets, the closer he or she is to the yeses.

But being a good salesperson is not just about being optimistic. We need the right kind of training to acquire successful MLM distributor status. Rapaille goes on to say, “If the manager (upline in our case) keeps saying, ‘You’re going to win; you’re going to win; you’re going to win,” and then the guy goes to the potential guy and gets rejected, it’s a disaster. A sad loser goes down and never comes back. A happy loser comes back.’”

So it’s important to talk about rejection when we are training our teams. That 95% rate rejection rate is just there. No matter what. No matter what you sell. A successful MLM distributor will just accept it and move on, and he or she will train his team members to do the same. And this ability to do so yourself and train others to do the same is one of the keys to making the sales and recruiting members.

Are you building the “accept rejection” approach into your MLM distributor training?

Copyright © Laura Shapiro, Your Home Business Guide

You’ve heard them, right. . .? The unflattering statistics about the industry that we know as network marketing, mlm or multi level marketing. . .? It’s unfortunate that the most famous MLM statistics are negative. Some of these are true and some of them aren’t. But that’s what people hear. And that’s what people talk about. We’ll talk about them here too just on the off-chance that you haven’t yet come across these numbers. But this article will mostly feature the positive MLM statistics, the ones that aren’t famous or talked about. . .except in circles of successful network marketers.

Let’s start out with the biggie. . this is what most people will focus on. . .

. . .the failure rate for network marketing is estimated to be anywhere from 97 – 99%.

Good, we got that one out of the way. Yes, that happens to be true and the reasons for it thus far are 1) those who enter the business aren’t trained correctly or given the right information by their uplines 2) those who enter the business cannot afford to put in the money and/or time necessary to become successful.

And just for the record, you don’t necessarily need to be pouring tons of money into your network marketing business to start getting more customers and team members. But you will need to put in consistent time and effort. Many people who join network marketing are told that they need no experience and/or that the business just sells itself. When they don’t see that happening. . .they drop out (usually within the first year) and contribute to the 99% failure rate.

Just to give you an idea of what you need to be doing to be making money in this industry, I’m going to show you these MLM Statistics: my network marketing company’s relationship between how many people need to be sponsored in order to get a certain annual salary.

Obviously, the numbers will vary from company to company, but take my word for it. . .you will not become a millionaire by sponsoring 3 people. I was given the above information right from the get-go. And since then I’ve been following a plan that allows me to achieve my goals. And it’s one of the first things I bring up with new sponsors as well. Some may find this kind of information intimidating. I see it as something to set goals around.

And now for a breath of fresh air. . .some MLM statistics that shed a positive light on the industry!

Did you know that there are over 56 million people operating MLM businesses in over 100 countries around the world? And 13.3 million people in the US alone run MLM businesses.

In 2008, network marketing companies earned over $100 billion in sales.

Almost 80% of MLM representatives are females.

And here’s one of my favorite MLM statistics. . .

. . .the network marketing industry has grown by 90% globally in the last ten years.

Can you think of any other industries that can say the same? So how is it that such an industry with such a bad reputation is seeing that much growth?

It’s because people are tired of working for someone else. They are tired of working harder and longer hours and getting paid less. They are tired of not being able to spend time with their families. And when they do have time to spend with their families, they are tired of not being able to do the things they would like to do because of financial problems. They are looking for a way to start their own businesses without investing huge amounts of cash or keeping inventory. And they are finding ways to share exceptional products and services with other people to make the world a better place.

Those are the MLM statistics that I see every day. And those are the ones that count!

Thanks for  reading! I’d love for you to keep up with all my posts – just click on the RSS button above to get all the latest news, tips, advice or whatever happens to be the topic of the day. . .

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Laura Shapiro is a Home-Based Business Owner and Consultant in addition to being a full time Mom. Is a Home Business your Dream? It doesn’t have to be – let me help you make it a reality. . .