Today, I want to talk about the best questions to ask your MLM Prospects. During my time in Amway, I learned a process called F.O.R.M. It stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Message.
In essence, it is a process of meeting someone, warming up the conversation by asking them questions, qualifying them, and if they are a good prospect, inviting them to take a look at your business opportunity, product or service.
Once you get a little practice talking to people, it’s not that hard to do. Most people come in contact with at least 100 people a day, if not more. Most of these folks we just walk by and ignore, and never initiate a conversation with them.
If you are willing to step out of your comfort zone and talk to people, you will never run out of MLM Prospects to talk with. After all, there are more than 7 BILLION people in the world.
Since this business is best built building via one-on-one conversations, I think you should use prospecting to help build your network marketing business, even if you have other recruiting techniques.
Most people get confused about what to ask or say to their prospect. They might not have a problem of saying “hi” when they first meet someone, but after that they don’t know what to say. My objective today is to help you overcome that problem and give you a series of questions to ask your prospect.
Feel free to use them in this order or modify them any way you may choose.
As long as you are asking questions, you are in control of the conversation. This gives you posture and keeps you in control. Never forget that.
What you need is a simple list of five to ten good questions that you can use to meet someone, warm up to them, and qualify them for your products or business opportunity.
What I want to do below is share some of my favorite questions to ask your MLM Prospects. They are listed in order of how I use them and recommend using them.
# 1 Hi, what’s your name? This is just a friendly way to initiate a conversation. Make sure you have a friendly expression on your face when you ask this question.
# 2 Are you from around here? This is just a simple question to find out where the person is from.
# 3 What do you do for a living? This is a great question because most people love talking about what they do for a living.
# 4 What does that entail? This shows the person you are interested in what they do and want to learn more about it.
# 5 How long have you been doing it? This lets you know if the person is advancing their career or if they are in a plateau.
# 6 What made you decide to pick that profession? I love this question because you quickly discover most people just randomly ended up doing what they do for a living. They never really mapped out or planned out their career.
# 7 What did you do before that? This is another great question where you can see if the person is excelling in their career.
# 8 Have you been affected by the economy? Since the economy tanked, most people have been negatively affected, which means they are looking for something better.
# 9 Do you enjoy what you do for a living? This is one of my favorite questions. Rarely, if ever, will you meet someone who truly LOVES what they do. Many people hate what they do.
# 10 Do you have as much time and money as you would like? I love this question because I’ve never met anyone who answered YES to his question.
# 11 Are you keeping your options open? This is pretty much my “closer” question. If someone tells me they are not keeping their options open, I pretty much end the conversation.
# 12 If I could show you a way to supplement or replace your income by doing a side project, without giving up your current job, would that interest you? This is another great closing question. If they say NO they are not a good prospect. Few folks will say NO initially.
# 13 What’s the best way to get in contact with you? Once you’ve piqued their interest, you want to get their number and email and LEAVE. Do not try to explain what you do. Be in a rush and follow up with them a day or two later.
Additional 50 Questions
Here is a list of an additional 50 questions you could ask your prospects, if you need some extra ideas.
- Where are you from?
- What do you do for a living?
- How do you enjoy that profession?
- How did you get into that profession?
- Does your employer pay you what you are worth?
- Have you ever thought about doing anything else?
- What do you like about what you do?
- What do you dislike about what you do?
- Have you ever thought about being your own boss?
- How would you describe yourself in a few words?
- What motivates you?
- Are you keeping your options open?
- Do you have a part-time job or second income?
- Have you ever heard of network marketing?
- Have you ever heard of (name of your company)?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What’s your number one goal in life you haven’t accomplished yet?
- Do you have the time, money and health to do what you want to do when you want to do it?
- Are you happy?
- Are you fulfilled?
- Does your life have meaning and purpose?
- What is one thing you would change about your life if you could?
- Do you enjoy working with other people?
- Do you consider yourself a people person?
- Have you ever wanted to be your own boss?
- Why do you think you have been successful in life?
- What do you think has held you back?
- What do you like to do for fun?
- What about life excites you the most?
- Do you believe you have what it takes to be successful?
- Do you believe in yourself?
- Are you open to additional ways of making money?
- If you could do any job in the world, and make the money you wanted, what would you do?
- What are your hobbies?
- Where did you grow up?
- If I could show you a way to make an extra $500 per month, would something like that interest you?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
- Have you ever tried network marketing before?
- Do you consider yourself entrepreneurial?
- What’s the first job you ever had?
- Were your parents entrepreneurs?
- What is your definition of success?
- Do you have ways to leverage yourself?
- What would you do if you lost all of your income today?
- Would you like to create an additional income stream?
- What’s your dream car?
- On a scale of one to ten, how would you grade your attitude?
- What’s the hardest thing you ever accomplished?
- What do you do when life gets tough?
- Are you a leader or a follower?
Final Thoughts
When you talk to people be friendly. Dress nice. Put a smile on your face. Most people will be friendly in return. Feel free to modify these questions to something you are comfortable with. If nothing else, let these questions be your starting point.
I truly believe that if you talked to two to five people a day and asked them these questions, you would never run out of prospects. As a result, you would grow your business and make more money in the process.
What do you think? What questions do you ask your MLM Prospects? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
The approach that I use when connecting with someone that I don’t know is to first try to judge how they are feeling at the moment. I don’t want to approach someone that looks like they are in a bad mood or in a hurry. If I have any of my children with me I will approach someone with children and provide an honest compliment if I have one.
We can start talking about shoes, school, etc. If they are engaging in the conversation I will go into my questions to see if they have a 9-5 job or if they stay at home. One important lesson is knowing when to move on based on if they engage in the conversation or if they try walking away.
You don’t want to seem like you’re prying. I can honestly say that I haven’t had any bad experiences. Most people, especially mothers love to talk because it could be their only adult conversations that they have all day.
These are a great series of questions Chuck. I do need to throw in just an added bit of advice; when asking these questions, don’t be just thinking about the next question; use eye contact and let the person completely answer the question. Sometimes we get so caught up in asking the questions, we forget to listen and give the person our full attention. They can tell if we really care what they are saying.
These are great qualifying questions!
Thank you Greg. That’s Great advice. I’m new at network marketing and love these questions, but I probably would have done just that.
Do you have a script working with retail clients over the phone? Also, could you send me the link to your article on Building your MLM Offline. I can’t find it on the site. I had a Question about the 24 hour line.
Phone scripts can sometimes be very misunderstood by those who use them. I was a top telemarketer for several years for what was the #1 home improvement company in the United States in the 1980’s and 90’s. I also was a telemarketing manager. The first key is to never “read” the script. You will sound as if you are reading and the phone will hang up. Scripts can be somewhat easy to develop, but using “test” phrases to see what works is part of it.
A telemarketing script has several keys: The introduction, the story, the pitch, the close. If you need a script developed, I have experience. You could contact the owner of this website, Chuck, and I am sure he would put you in contact with me.
Thanks for sharing, Greg.
After question #10. If they answer Yes. I would asked them how long they had that problem? and then I would ask them if they have a plan that can change there situation. Then I would go to #11.
Sounds good Brice.