Today, I want to talk to you about leading by example in network marketing.
Let’s be honest for a moment. Almost everyone in our industry is “looking for” the whale. They are looking for the person they can sponsor who will go “all in” and make them rich. What I have found from personal experience is that the “whale” you are looking for only wants to work with “another whale.”
Simply put, a stud does not want to join a dud. It might happen in rare cases, but it is not very common. Studs want to work with studs!
To attract good people into your business, you must become a quality person. That means you must constantly work on your attitude and skills and be someone worth joining! Until you do that, you will not be an attractive sponsor and any “quality” prospect you talk with will seek out someone else to sponsor them.
Leading Your Group
Network marketing is a volunteer Army. That means no one has to follow your lead. The people on your team already have a boss at work (and probably at home) and they don’t want another boss. Instead, people want to be inspired. People want to know that you CARE about them.
Furthermore, you can tell your team what to do until the cows come home, but if you really want them to produce you must lead by example in network marketing. This means you constantly do the things you want your team to do. You roll up your sleeves, get in the trenches, and focus on the Phase I activities (retailing and recruiting) in your business.
Leading by Example in Network Marketing
What I want to do in the rest of this article is share some practical tips on how to lead by example in network marketing. Keep in mind these things are listed in no particular order.
# 1: Edify Your Sponsor & Upline
Edification is vital to your success in the business. This means you speak favorably about your sponsor, your upline and the company (at all times). It also means that you do not speak badly about other companies to your prospects (and team members). What you do to your upline and sponsor, your team will do to you!
By using edification, you remove yourself from the equation. Your prospect is no longer focused on YOU. This makes like much simpler.
Here’s an example of edification:
Beth, I am so glad you liked what you’ve seen so far about the company. I am even more excited because I am being mentored by one of the very best in the entire country, Mr. Nelson. Let me tell you about him. He knows how the big money is being made in this business. As a matter of fact, he’s been helping countless people to develop another income stream in their part time efforts a few hours a week, and I’m so excited to have his coaching! When you said you want to earn more income, THIS is the person who will help you do it. And note that he knows all the facts, he’s down to earth and loves to help people like he’s helping me, and will help you too. And he’s ton of fun, you’re going to love him! If I can catch him for just a couple of minutes, since he’s quite busy helping people and living the good life, I want you to hold on so I can connect us on the phone together. Again, if we catch him it will be our lucky day, hold on! ~ Brian Carruthers
# 2: Be Plugged in & Follow the System
It is vital that you follow your team’s system. Do not teach something, but do something else yourself. Follow the team’s system and teach it to everyone on your team. This means you attend the training calls, talk with your mentor frequently, and attend all events.
# 3: Maintain a Positive Mental Attitude
Your attitude determines your altitude. I think Zig Ziglar said that. It’s crucial to maintain a positive mental attitude at all times. When you are feeling good, go downline and fire them up! On the other hand, when you are upset, sad or miserable, go upline. Never cast negativity to your group. Never share your own personal problems with your group.
# 4: Talk to Two New Prospects Daily
It’s important that you make at least TWO new exposures daily, at least five days per week. This means you are sharing the products and opportunity with new prospects on a daily basis.
# 5: Recruit New Reps Monthly
If you are talking with at least two new prospects daily, you will recruit new distributors each month. On the other hand, if you don’t talk with at least two new prospects daily, you won’t recruit any new reps during the month. Remember that recruiting is the lifeblood of your business.
# 6: Maintain Two to Ten Personal Customers
You do not need to be a retailing machine, but you do need to maintain two to ten customers at all times. This gives your business an immediate profit. If you don’t do it, you can’t teach it.
# 7: Work on Your Personal Development Daily
Spend at least 15 to 20-minutes daily to improve your attitude, mindset and skills. Strive to improve daily. Over a period of time, those small changes and improvements will add up to something big.
# 8: Attend All Events
We are an event-driven business. Never, ever, ever miss an event (for any reason). Promote events like your success depends upon it. It does! The more people you have at events, the more your business will grow without you.
# 9: Be a Product of the Product
You must use your company’s products. You don’t have to use ALL of the products, but NEVER use a competitor’s product. If your company makes a product that you would normally use, be your own best customer and shop from your own store.
# 10: Be a Servant Leader
Place others first. Focus on helping others. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Invest your time, money and energy into serving, helping and growing people. Listen to people. Treat them well. Be their friend. Relationships are the key to long-term success in this business. And the best way to build relationships and serve others is to put their needs first.
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the main goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership where the leader‘s main focus is the thriving of their company or organizations. ~ Wikipedia
By doing these 10 things you are leading by example in network marketing.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that your people are always watching you. Just like kids emulate their parents, your team will do what you do in network marketing. Make sure you set a strong personal example and lead from the front. Be the type of person that you want to attract into your business. That is the key to success.
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.
This is indeed the best way to inspire and motivate people in your down line. Giving orders and making high expectations wouldn’t work. Instead you need to lead by example, inspire your people with planning and consistent action. Allow them to dream bigger and fight with them in the battle field of network marketing in order to get the best out of them.
Great advice Charles. This is a trap many who lead in Network Marketing fall into. I see it daily. People think they are on “easy street” once they have 2 or 3 prospects under their belt. It just comes down to time management (something I need to work on). If a leader manages their time wisely, they will be considered a great leader.