Today, I want to share the top 50 Excuses you will hear from people who don’t join your MLM Business. This post is designed to be educational, but also a bit funny.
If you want to achieve big success in network marketing, you have to talk to a lot of people. You simply have to work the numbers. As you talk to people, you will hear just about every excuse you can imagine. Some excuses are legit, and others are just a way to nicely tell you NO. And once in a while you’ll hear an excuse that makes you laugh so hard that your stomach hurts.
Just remember, an excuse is an excuse. Your goal is to always be a professional with everyone you talk to, no matter what type of excuse they give you. And if they tell you NO today, make sure you keep their contact information in your rolodex so you can follow up with them in the future.
That being said, here are some of the most common excuses I’ve heard through the years.
- I don’t have the time
- My wife won’t let me
- My Uncle Ricky Bobby tried one of those things and lost his shirt
- I don’t think it’s fair to have to spend $100 to start a business
- I don’t like to sell
- What will my friends think?
- If you get rich with it, then I’ll join
- I already have a job, I don’t want more work
- I don’t want to have to do the paperwork
- The products are too expensive
- The company doesn’t pay infinite levels
- I don’t want to own a business
- I don’t think I could succeed with that
- You have the skills, but I could never do that
- I’ve already tried 10 other MLM Companies and never made a dime
- I don’t like the products
- I don’t want to do home parties
- I don’t want to talk to people
- I don’t want to bug friends and family
- I’m broke, but I’m happy
- There are some negative things about the company online
- None of my friends would want to do this
- People will judge me
- I’ll get laughed at
- I don’t have any free time to fit this in
- The market is saturated
- I wouldn’t use this type of product
- I don’t want to make any more money
- I don’t want tax benefits
- I don’t want to attend meetings
- I don’t want to learn new skills
- I’m happy with where I’m at in life
- I could never sponsor anyone
- Giving presentations is not for me
- I don’t want to drive around talking to people
- I don’t want to ruin my reputation
- I don’t want to build a residual income
- No one has ever taught me about this business model before
- If the products were so good, they wouldn’t need distributors
- These companies are all hocus pocus
- I could never work with you
- My dog doesn’t approve
- I have a bad self image and attitude and no one would ever want to work with me
- This would keep me from getting a free government handout
- I’d actually have to work for money, I’m not interested
- It sounds too good to be true
- Is this one of those pyramid things
- I’ll have to think about it
- I have bad breath so no one would listen to me
- You just want my money
There you have it folks. These are the top 50 excuses you will hear from people who tell you NO to joining your business opportunity. My best advice for you is to woman up and man up and not take the rejection personally. Just let it roll of your shoulders and keep moving forward.
What do you think? What is your favorite excuse on this list? What excuse do you hear the most? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Chuck Holmes
Network Marketing Professional (21+ years)
Top Recruiter & Top Rep
mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
“I’m not interested”. That’s my excuse. If someone can’t accept that, that’s their problem. I think the worst part of MLM’ers is when they push and push and push and don’t realize when people couldn’t care less about their MLM.
I agree. Amateurs try to sell and convince people. Professionals sort through people to find people who are interested. The last thing I want to do is try to convince them that what I have is a good fit for them.
Some of these excuses seem a bit ridiculous, but never say never right? ” I have bad breath”, “My dog doesn’t approve”…I could not help but laugh a bit at those two. My grandfather always told me never to trust anyone who had a bunch of excuses. People who are truly motivated won’t make an excuse but will get right to work.
You can make money or you can make excuses.
I had to laugh reading many of these excuses. People don’t think sometimes before they use an excuse. I was wondering….Do you offer rebuttals for any of these? Like #1 about time, I would probably say something like: I thought the same way and discovered I can do this at the same time I am doing other things, and it has helped pay bills. I believe some excuses have no rebuttal, but some should have one.
I might rebut a few excuses, but since I lead with the products mostly I don’t get a lot of excuses.
I just love #28, 29 and 31. Who really doesn’t want to learn new skills, make more money or get more tax breaks?! That is why I love your “lead with the product” approach. Forget approaching people with the sales opportunity first, and instead introduce them to the products. Let them see you using and enjoying the products, make them aware that the opportunity to purchase (and maybe more) is available, and then let them ask you. Everyone (myself included) is always happier when the idea to do something is their own.
Good point. You want the other person to sell themselves on what you have to offer, rather than you trying to sell them. It’s the people who use pressure and hype that give our industry a bad name. I am a big fan of the product approach because it works. Happy customers make great distributors, give you repeat orders and often give you endless referrals.
#1 is the one I hear the most. Most people don’t understand that with my business you really can give out your brochures as you go. I rarely do anything out of the ordinary except label the brochures (which I do while watching TV) and make deliveries (which is fun because I stick a sheet of tissue paper in from the dollar store and make the package look like a present).
The biggest reason for the excuses is that they don’t understand the business and how it can help them. For some reason, many people have this horrible vision of what a business opportunity is, with all sorts of feelings of entrapment and drudgery. Of course they don’t want that!
I find phrasing the business in a way they can understand (you show people the products, buy them at a low price and sell them at a higher one), or giving them an opportunity to become a helper to make extra money can get them to see what the reality is. 🙂
Good points, Pat!