What is a MLM Contact Manager and what should you know about it? A contact manager is nothing more than a software program, or offline program, that you use to manage your leads and prospects.
I should tell you right upfront that most prospects will need to hear from you at least seven to twenty times before they ever join your team or buy your product. It might take even more follow ups than that. If you only talk to someone once, and then just move on to the next person, you are really missing out.
Example MLM Contact Managers
As a serious network marketer, you need your own MLM Contact Manager. Listed below, I’m going to give you several examples of what you can do to create your own contact manager that works well for you.
Online MLM Contact Manager
The first thing you want to do is get your own auto-responder. This is nothing more than a software program that manages your email leads for you. People can add themselves to your auto-responder email list when they visit your capture page or remove themselves from your list when they unsubscribe from your emails.
You can create a series of email messages that get sent out automatically on your behalf, at a frequency you choose. This lets you stay in touch with all of your email leads and build a relationship with them over a period of a few years.
I personally use Aweber as my auto-responder and have done so for nearly ten years now. I have a lot of people on my email list. Most of the people who join my team have been on my email list for at least six months, if not longer.
Direct Mail Contact Manager
The second option you want to use for your contact manager is to get a software program that lets you manage everyone’s mailing address. I use StatTrak Pro, which costs me about $30 (one time fee). You can Google them to learn more about them.
Other people simply use Microsoft Excel to manage everyone’s mailing address. I like my program because it lets me create different mailing lists (customers, team members, prospects) and also makes it very easy to print mailing labels.
Whenever you meet someone face to face, online, or at an event, ask them for their mailing address and get their permission to communicate with them about your products and business opportunity by mail. I’ve found that most people are more receptive to doing this than giving you their email.
I try to send out a piece of mail to everyone on my mailing list at least once per month. This keeps my name and message in front of them consistently, so when the timing becomes right, they join my team or become a customer.
My Index Card System
Another alternative is to be old school and simply use index cards and a filing system. This method works fine. Every time you meet someone, write down everything from your conversation on an index card and then file the card into your filing system for follow-up at a future date.
For example, if you talk to Joe Smith today and he isn’t interested in what you have to offer, file his index card in your box in your 90 day tab so you can follow-up with him in a few months.
Notebook or Binder
My final strategy is to buy a notebook or three-ring binder. Have one sheet of paper for each person you communicate with. Write down their name, contact information, when you met them, where you met them, and any key points from the conversation.
You can organize it alphabetically to keep things simple. Any time you have a conversation with your prospect in the future, you can pull out the binder and update their information.
You can buy a notebook at the Dollar Store or Wal-Mart for about $1.
How the Numbers Work
Once I explain this to you, I know you will start using a MLM Contact Manager.
Let’s just suppose you talked to THREE people per day, five days per week, 50 weeks per year (you should chill out on vacation). You had a REAL conversation with each of them and got their contact information.
If you did that for one year, you would have 750 prospects (3 x 5 x 50). If you did that for five years, you would have 3,750 prospects (750 x 5).
I can assure that if you actively stayed in touch with these people, you’d never have to go prospects again. You could jut pull out your MLM Contact Manager and reach out to people you talked to in the past.
Final Thoughts
Any of these four methods will work as your MLM Contact Manager. I personally use an auto-responder to handle all of my email leads and a software program to manage all of the mailing addresses. I also keep an index card filled out for each person I talk to on the phone.
I learned a long time ago that you can convert more prospects into customers and distributors if you stay in touch with them frequently.
Ideally, you want to communicate with EVERYONE on your list at least once a month until they join your team, buy your product, or die. That might sound crazy to some people, but the real money is in the follow-up.
People’s lives change all the time and just because they aren’t ready for your products or business opportunity right now doesn’t mean they won’t be ready for it in a few months (or years) from now.
Remember this, your most successful distributors five years from now will be people who tell you NO today, but eventually joined you, because you stayed in touch and never pressured them.
The best way to do that is to build your list in your MLM Contact Manager and follow-up with people at least once a month, FOREVER. Send out a newsletter in the snail mail each month like I do. Be a professional. Have a plan. And be consistent. The money really is in the list!
What do you think? What do you use as your MLM Contact Manager? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. 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.
Having a good contact management system is a top priority for all business people, especially network marketers. Personally, I know that mailchimp is a great program, but there are others that are probably less expensive and will perform to the needs of the individual. At first, just using Microsoft Excel can work, but as the list grows, it is helpful to use a more sophisticated contact management system.
Yes, having a contact management system is very important.
I am going to have to look into that StatTrak Pro software. I currently use Microsoft Excel which is fine, but it does become sort of tedious to make various lists which I would like to do for classification and sorting purposes.
I also agree with you that it is a good idea to ask first if you can stay in contact with individuals. Some people just simply do not want to be bothered and you don’t want to annoy them or come off as pushy. However, if they say that communication is alright it is good to establish a regular communication pattern so that you can stay in regular contact with them.
Staying in touch with people frequently is quite perhaps that best business decision I made.