Imagine you get the chance to sell lottery tickets that win every time. You're only allowed to talk to the people you'd like to give a chance to win. Most people would probably think that was easy and let them decide for themselves whether they wanted to buy one or not.
It's really just as easy to let someone look at what you do and let them decide for themselves whether they find it interesting. Sometimes I hear objections like ”I don't think she's interested” or ”I don't think he has the time”, but why not let that person make the decision?
I often hear in coaching that people feel they need to meet the person first, grab a coffee, have lunch with them, to somehow deepen the contact before they show them a business, so the person doesn't suddenly think that's exactly why they wanted to meet. Even though that is exactly why you want to meet them, so they get the chance to look at what you do. This is almost certainly duplicated from the upline, meaning me, and I'm going to turn that perspective around now.
”Don't be disappointed by the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do.”
Can't remember who said it, so you can quote Patric Nilsson
I think we're unnecessarily afraid to say why we're there and what we want to show. In the past there's been so much ”selling”, but the thing is, we're looking for people who can explain things well, people we can teach to give a short presentation. It doesn't matter at all what their professional background is, and in my eyes this isn't primarily about selling. Selling is about selling. Recruiting is about recruiting, a process.
It's about being clear enough to share information you think the other person is curious to look closer at. The actual sale most likely comes later on if this is about recruiting. Few people sign an employment contract at the first job interview.
In the past, direct sellers or networkers (especially if we look at the MLM companies) sold starter kits by walking into a meeting and telling people how fantastic this is. How easy it is and how much money they're going to make without doing anything. They ”sold people on” the opportunity.
Today, thankfully, I see a completely different culture in the serious companies. Society moves faster. Attention spans on social media and elsewhere mean people make decisions faster, but recruiting still is, and always has been, a process. If we respect that, we can do what someone said: ”Go slow to go fast”.
”Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Abraham Lincoln
That doesn't mean it has to take much longer. When people are ready, it can go much faster once they get started. And then it's good if you've already shown them what it is you're going to do, so that part doesn't take as long when the time comes.
I was also the one who wanted to have coffee with people five times before it was time to have any kind of meeting. I've changed my mind. I want to show what I do, and either we move forward in the process right away or we can take a closer look at it further down the line. If they don't move forward, you just stay in touch. Send a GIF on Messenger when you think of them. Take a photo somewhere that makes you think of them and send it over. Build the relationship over time. Some people decide pretty quickly. At the presentation or after a follow up, probably 2 to 4 out of 10 will get started, no matter how experienced you are.
3 to 4 out of 10 are the ones who don't decide. They want time. They're not really saying no either. They might say no for now, but it's never a no. They don't see themselves doing this right now, but if you build a relationship with them over time, they'll eventually come back to you if you've treated them well. Because when the divorce becomes a fact or they get fired… They change jobs, change homes, change partners. They get together, they split up. Then they think ”that's right, that would actually fit pretty well now, because I'd like something more”
I'd like more money
I'd like something more positive in my life.
I'd like colleagues! That's something a lot of people running a business alone wish for.
They'll think of you if you've built the relationship strongly. It's not a strategy, it's a way of living! Treating people decently. Stay in touch with people. Because it doesn't matter how long it takes, when they're ready you're there.
Of course they should work with you of all people. When they feel the time has come, even if they had no idea the first time they met you or when they saw the presentation. They never thought it would become interesting, but all of a sudden they want a few extra thousand a month, or all of a sudden they've freed up a lot of time and think it looks really interesting. All of a sudden they want to build a career because life has changed, and then you're there. 3 out of 10 will never do it. They're not interested and they never will be, but you never have any idea who they are. You have to meet all 10 out of 10 to know which 2 to 4 out of 10 will sign up, and which 3 to 4 out of 10 you get to ”go slow to go fast” with. Keep the relationship. Take a walk with people sometimes. Have a lunch. Have a coffee. Go to a talk. We work with people. Relationship marketing.
So if you had a lottery ticket that won every time and you could sell to as many as you wanted, who would you want to give the chance to win right now? Only talk to the people you'd like to give the chance to win, and let them decide whether they want to buy a ticket or not. That decision has nothing to do with you. All you can do is show them the opportunity. Because it's your job to expose the material we're sitting on. The decision is theirs to make. Then we follow up with people, we bring them to hotel meetings. We inform those who want to know and we train those who want to run. If not now, when? If not you, who?
I've made up my mind. For the next 90 days I'm going to focus 110% on expanding the team with my own contacts. I'm going into a recruiting process at a pace I've never had before. Everything up until today is history. Your breakthrough is ahead of you if you choose to believe it. This is when the real lift comes!
