In today’s post, I want to share my top 15 MLM Team Building Tips. These are some simple and practical tips you can implement in your business, if you want to build a large MLM Team.
To succeed in network marketing, you need DUPLICATION. No one builds a big and successful MLM Business all by themselves. Instead, success happens when a lot of people do a few key activities consistently, over a sustained period of time.
Top 15 MLM Team Building Tips for Network Marketers
After spending more than 17-years in this great industry, I have learned what works and what doesn’t work. What you will be below are my top 15 MLM Team Building Tips. My tips are listed in no particular order. Enjoy.
# 1: Lead by Example
Be the type of sponsor you wish you had and be the type of person you want to recruit. If you want to attract leaders, you must become a leader yourself.
Always lead by example. Work on your skills so you become a person of value. Do the things you want your team members to do. And, never expect your team to outwork you!
Ultimately, this is a leadership business. First you follow. Then you lead. Then you lead leaders.
Go become that person that you want your downlines to be. If you want them to sponsor more, don’t just sit there and talk to them to motivate them! Instead, go out there and show them how it is done!
Go sponsor a few people!
When they see you sponsor, make more money and become successful, they will get fired up.
That is the easiest way to motivate them.
Source: Simon Chan
# 2: Learn to Recruit
Every top leader I have personally met in our industry has personally recruited at least 100 to 500 people, if not more. While that number might sound huge at first, if you can recruit just one new person a week, you could recruit 100 people in less than two years.
If you want to build a big MLM team, you must recruit new distributors each month. Strive for minimum two to four personally enrolled new business builders each month. Do that every month and never stop.
Be willing to walk away.
I think one of the major issues around recruiting inside of network marketing is that people are way too addicted to any one prospect.
“Ray, I followed up with my brother-in-law 37 times. He’s still saying it’s a scam. What do I say?”
You stop saying anything. You freaking get out of there. Why are you spending so much time on one individual when you could have prospected 122 other people and gotten five sign ups in the meantime?
Don’t get so tied up in any one prospect. No matter their potential, no matter how connected they are, no matter what.
Now, that doesn’t mean that you don’t follow up. It doesn’t mean that you ask someone one time and then never again.
Just don’t focus so much of your energy and hinge your happiness or your excitement or power on someone saying yes. Go SAY LESS to more people. Go talk to more people. There are people looking.
Source: Ray Higdon
# 3: Help Your New Reps Get Started Right
Remember, new people don’t know what to do with the business. They are looking to you for guidance. It’s your job to help them get started right. Your job is to teach them the ropes and help them launch their business.
Help them sponsor their first 1-2 people and find 1-2 customers their first week in the business, so they can make some money right out the gate. From there, start tap-rooting and work with the people they sponsor.
Starting right is always better than starting over. ~ Clay Stevens
# 4: Work in Depth
Always work in depth with the newest, most excited distributor at the deepest level in your organization. Build your business from the bottom up. Light a fire in the basement and watch the heat rise.
Identify serious people in depth and treat them as if you personally sponsored them. The deeper you work in your organization the more people you help.
Tap-rooting works by building momentum and working as fast as possible. When you choose your first person to sponsor you need to know that she will go out and sponsor someone the first day. You should be able to build a team of twenty-five people in a few days, not a few weeks. The only obstacle is the cost of your opportunity because it can slow your efforts down. Lower cost opportunities with low monthly ordering work’s well using this technique.
Successful MLM leaders don’t work with just the people they sponsor or worry about who is at their pay level. The smart ones look down at their tree and get those at the bottom for growth. When they see someone at the bottom of their line with new growth they work with her so they can create volume and momentum that works up the line. Look at your line right now and see who are the ones deep in your lines that you can work with to get them excited and make them successful.
Source: EliteBusinessBluePrint.com
# 5: Leverage the System
Plug people into the team’s system. The SYSTEM is the solution. Plug your new team members into the team’s Facebook group, meetings, webinars, calls, live events, etc. Let the system train your people for you. If everything depends on you and you alone, you will either max out or burn out.
If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business—you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic! A true business opportunity is the one that an entrepreneur invents to grow him or herself. Not to work in, but to work on. ~ Michael Gerber
# 6: Make 5-10 New Exposures Daily
This is a business of exposures. Share your products or business opportunity with minimum five to ten new prospects every single day, at least six days per week. Teach your team to do the same thing. The person who makes the most exposures is the person who builds the biggest team.
As you start to grow your team, help your team members make exposures to THEIR warm market.
All you do, is ask them if they have a few minutes, as you would like to share an idea with them, that has really helped your life.
“Do you have a cd player in your car?”
“Yeah sure.”
“Could you please do me a favor, and put this in and listen to it as you drive home?” It is that simple.
All you are doing with these recruiting tools are “sifting and sorting” as they call it, mlm prospects. I call it “Rating and Separating.” You simply are rating the ones who show an interest as High, and the rest you are separating into a group for possible product purchases.
Again, it is that simple.
And when you have given them a CD or DVD, and it has been a day or so, call them, and ask, “What was your favorite part about the DVD?” or “What did you like the best about the CD?” Assume they have listened to it, and focus them on what they liked best.
If they did not like it, you did not have to do a presentation, or go through the whole scenario of your MLM company. You saved a lot of time using a recruiting tool. And they did not reject you, but simply did not embrace the message that the tool shared with them.
Source: StreetDirectory.com
# 7: Never Try to Manage People
Never go into management mode. EVER. As you sponsor people, don’t make the common mistake of trying to get them to produce more. Instead, keep retailing, recruiting, talking to new people and work in depth.
Your job is to set the example, work with the willing, and never stop retailing and recruiting. Remember, you won’t hit the next rank with the same team. Keep building!
Each person on your team is their own CEO and is responsible for their own motivation.
# 8: Provide Lots of Recognition
Babies cry for it and grown men die for it: RECOGNITION.
Find creative ways to recognize your team, even for the smallest of things. This doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money. Get creative.
Recognize people when they sponsor their first person, make their first sale, rank advance, have their first meeting, etc. Don’t just recognize people for the big things either. Recognize the things you want people to do more of, the income producing activities.
We all want and need recognition. From a very early age we crave it from parents, teachers, and friends. Our whole lives are modeled around constant social feedback and acknowledgement. So strong is our desire for positive affirmation, particularly during developmental periods, that even a neutral reaction can be perceived as a negative one. When we move to the workplace, this orientation is no different. It is key that employers focus on how they can make authentic and meaningful recognition part of their management philosophy in order to retain top talent and encourage high performance.
Source: GreatPlacetoWork.com
# 9: Have Contests
Contests can create a SURGE of excitement and growth in your business. I suggest you do a different contest every week.
It could be a retailing contest, recruiting contest, helping new team members contest, most exposures contest, or anything else. Always have contests where there can be more than one winner and always have contests for the top producer.
There are three primary motivators when it comes to salespeople: Competition, recognition, and compensation. Oftentimes, comp plans take care of the compensation part, but what about the other two? Fortunately, this is where sales contests help — especially if there are publicly displayed sales leader boards involved.
Source: LevelEleven.com
# 10: Create a Strong Team Culture
People might initially join for the money, but they stay (or leave) because of the team culture.
Create a strong team culture where people feel appreciated. Help people grow as people. Recognize people’s contributions to the team. Make people feel important.
Make people feel like they are part of a winning team and part of something much bigger than themselves.
There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated. ~ Sir Richard Branson
# 11: Have Fun
No one joined network marketing to have another boss. Take your business seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.
Treat everyone on your team like you would your best friend. Make people feel important. Inspire others and bring out the best in others. Laugh with your team. Spend time together. Teams that play together stay together.
My philosophy is: If you can’t have fun, there’s no sense in doing it. ~ Paul Walker
# 12: Work with the Willing
You can’t make anyone successful in the business. Trust me, I’ve tried. Each person on your team is their own CEO and is responsible for their own success. Your job is to identify the people on your team who are hungry, coachable and willing to work. Those are the people you want to spend your time with.
This represents no more than 10 percent of your team, if that. Your job is to throw someone the ball. If they catch the ball, complete the task, and throw the ball back to you, keep working with them. On the other hand, if you give them assignment, or coach them on what to do, but they still won’t do it, go look for someone else to work with.
# 13: Manage Your Time Effectively
One of my best MLM Team Building Tips is to master your time management skills.
A mentor once told me that if you cannot figure out how to build your business part-time, you will never figure out how to do it full-time. I suggest you plan out your week each week.
Create a work schedule. Identify what tasks you will do at what times on each day. Stay focused on the income producing activities, and do not let the busy work take over your schedule.
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn
# 14: Find and Develop Leaders
Your ultimate goal is to find and identify 2-5 leaders. That’s all you really need to make a LARGE six figure income in our industry. Most top earners make MOST of their income from just 2-3 people, even if they’ve sponsored hundreds themselves.
Look for prospects with leadership qualities. Watch your growing downline for current and potential leaders. Encourage personal development to everyone on your team so you have a culture where you DEVELOP leaders. Once again, network marketing is ultimately a leadership business.
Reps and customers come and go like the common cold, but leaders are what you are really looking for.
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. – Ronald Reagan
# 15: Always Take the Long-Term View
Businesses are built over a period of YEARS, not days, weeks or months. Every decision you make in your network marketing business should be based on the LONG-TERM BENEFIT to the team. Don’t let a quick dollar cause you to make the wrong decision.
Most people spend more time planning a vacation than they do planning a life. ~ Chet Holmes
Suggested Resources
Final Thoughts
There you have it folks. These are my top 15 MLM Team Building Tips. I hope you will evaluate yourself in each area and look for ways you can improve. Implementing these things in your business will definitely help you grow your team, make more money, rank advance, and get the results you desire.
What are your thoughts? What are your best MLM Team Building Tips? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great day!
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.
These are all excellent tips, and each one of them is so important to building a network marketing team. I really like looking for the good in people and having empathy. A lot of people have a mindset as far as what they are looking for in a distributor or customer, and if someone doesn’t fall into that mold, they tend to move on to the next person.
Great post!
Yes, having empathy is vitally important. It’s also smart to work with the willing, but support everyone.
Great post Chuck!
I remember an old quote that says: A team is only as good as its lowest member. Teams take everyone. In football, the water-boy is part of the team, and he/she is just as important as the quarterback. If there is no water, the team deteriorates quickly.
I am in full agreement with all of these, especially the have fun part. If it isn’t fun, it isn’t really worth doing. That doesn’t mean there won’t be difficult times, but if a person can have fun, it makes the hard times even easier.
Yes, it’s definitely a team effort. Everyone on your team will contribute to your success.
Yes, and by creating a team spirit, you will find it takes a lot of pressure off of you. What will end up happening is: team members will help each other. Your phone won’t be ringing as much with your members seeking your help, because other team members will offer to help them. Having a team culture is a win win situation. It creates friendly competition, and everyone will help their teammates. You become the head coach and you can have your superstars be assistant coaches.
Yes, when team members help each other and have a friendly competition with each other, that is a good thing.