Today, I want to take a few minutes and educate you about what a balanced and healthy MLM team looks like, so you can make an honest and accurate assessment of your own organization.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my exact numbers, but I hope you will keep an open mind and hear me out. This is my own opinion after 13 years in the industry and after studying hundreds of successful distributors.
Let me begin by telling you that the percentages I am about to share with you might vary slightly from person to person and company to company.
Also, I’m basing these numbers and statistics by people’s ACTIONS, not by what they say they are going to do and not the status they had when they first joined your team.
- About 80-90% of your team will just be product users
- About 10%-20% of your team will be part-timers
- About 2% to 3% of your team will be serious business builders
So, what does all of this mean? Let me put it in perspective for you. Let’s suppose your team has 1,000 people in it. Of those 1,000 people here is what you could expect:
- About 800 to 900 of the people will simply use the products on a monthly basis or every few months, usually as a wholesale buyer. Some of these folks will occasionally sponsor a new distributor or refer a customer, maybe 1-2 a year, if that. Some of these folks will earn enough to get their products free, but most won’t.
- About 100-200 people will have a small retail business and maybe average one new distributor a month or one new distributor every 90 days. Most of these folks will want to earn anywhere from $100 to $1000 per month.
- About 20 to 30 out of the 1,000 people will be extremely committed to the business, showing the plan several times every week, sponsoring 2-8 new people every month, getting new retail customers, and advancing their business. This 2% to 3% will account for about 90% of your team’s growth. These are your rock stars that want a full-time income or substantial income.
Here are my key takeaways from this example:
As a serious distributor you have to realize that most of the people you approach, who do join your team will only become a product user. That’s fine.
This is where most of your residual income comes from. This is one of the reasons I lead with the products. You don’t want to try and pressure these people do more in the business than they are currently doing. Most of them are happy using the products and have no desire to do the work it takes to build a big business.
Only about one in every ten people who join your team will do the business side of things even somewhat consistently. These are your part-timers. They will build up a small customer base of three to ten people and sponsor a few distributors. They are a very important part of your business growth. Most huge organizations have hundreds, or thousands of part-timers.
Only about one in every 30 to 50 people who join your team will be really committed to building a big business.
These are the mavericks who pave the way and set the example for others to follow.
They are a rare breed. Always keep your eyes and ears open for someone sharp.
That being said, don’t just look for these folks.
If you do, you will leave a lot of money on the table, since most folks won’t fall into this category. Many of these folks will come from product users who get passionate about the products. 90% or more of team growth will come from these people.
Final Thoughts
There you have it folks. This is what a healthy and balanced MLM team looks like, as I see it. I dare you to evaluate your own group to see how the percentages work out for you. The bottom line is that network marketing is about a lot of people doing a little bit, and a FEW people doing a lot.
What are your thoughts? What do you think about my assessment? 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.
As always, I enjoy reading your post with statistics. I definitely see the same numbers in my team even though I wish it was different.
I always try to lead by example and work with the willing!
Glad I could help. Thanks for the comment.
Great breakdown! Seems pretty accurate, although I would think the number of full time marketers would be more than 2-3 percent. I was thinking maybe in the 5% range. The rest of it seems pretty spot on, though! But definitely the bulk of your team will always be buyers.
If anything, I think the 2-3% is a bit high. It’s probably even less.
That’s interesting!
I believe where Kristen may have some confusion is the full time versus part time percentages. The majority of network marketers do not do this on a full time schedule. There are a big percentage who take it on as more of a “hobby” so to speak. They do a little each day after work and that is the extent. Finding individuals who are willing to take on a network marketing business full time are few, and rightfully so. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have built a large income from your MLM. It is better to keep your job and your MLM business and gain income from both.
This is good that you are sharing these basic percentages. It would be good that all network marketers check where there business sits in relation to these numbers.
One key to this as I see, and read it is: you will not change these basic percentages; you need to accept that. It will help you understand that not every member is going to be that superstar, as a matter of fact, they will probably be just a product user. But that is ok, because you are still making money.
We just need to keep on keeping on. Go get another one and build the odds in your favor.
Great post.