Preparing the Follow Up

The follow up is the most important part of the prospecting process, therefore a little bit of thought and time should be dedicated to ensure you are well prepared. On this page we will discuss a few important points to consider when preparing to follow up with your prospects about your business opportunity and on the next page we will discuss the conversation and the right questions to ask to help you close the deal.

Now you have completed the preceding chapters we are now down to the final stages of your prospect training where you will learn how to close the deal. Before we discuss how to approach the follow up, let’s recap what we have achieved so far:

• we have built a rapport with the prospect
• we have determined their hot buttons
• we have pre-qualified the prospect and
• we have offered a solution (information) about how to solve their problems.

It is now a good time to reflect on your prospect and see if you could potentially form a long-term business relationship with this person.

Sifting and Sorting vs Convincing

Although we have briefly touched on this point before, now is a good time to reemphasize it. When you are moving your prospect through the prospecting formulae, do not be afraid to disqualify the person from your business opportunity if they do not have the qualities you are looking for. Remember, you are looking for the right people not just the willing. The right people are those who will go to work for you, they are self motivated and have the potential to become leaders. Those who are willing but lack motivation are more than likely going to provide you with short term gratification but long tern frustration as they fail to get their businesses properly established.

Additionally, do not be afraid of your prospect saying no. They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting the product or the business. More often than not the timing isn’t right or they are uncertain of how they will go. Even if your prospects aren’t interested you should always remain friendly with them and finish by saying that you will let them know how you go as this will then give you the opportunity to approach them again at a later date.

It is critical that you understand that we are in the sifting and sorting business, NOT the convincing business. You want your prospect to be completely comfortable with the entire prospecting process. Do not be afraid to ask if your prospect feels comfortable throughout the conversation and always ask your prospect for permission to call them back or to send them more information. This will automatically build respect with your prospect as they can see that you value their time and privacy.

Edification

When you are first starting out in network marketing we encourage you to get an experienced upline distributor (mentor/ expert) to assist you when prospecting and more importantly during the follow up. If you are meeting with someone for the follow up, bringing along a more experienced team member will improve your conversion rate. It is always a good idea to inform your prospects that you intend to bring along an experienced colleague to the meeting to help answer any of their questions. If you are following up with a phone call, having your experienced upline join you in a 3 way call works just as effectively.

If you intend to use this strategy it is important that you speak highly of your colleague and their achievements because this will help your prospects gain respect for them. This process is known as edification and has been a critical factor that has driven the success of the network marketing industry for many years. This edification process should be included as part of all network marketers initial training, as it allows on the-job training and the ability to learn first-hand how to improve your prospecting technique. The following diagram helps to summarize this process.

The relationship you build with your prospect creates an element of trust, and through edifying your business colleagues, your prospect gains respect for them and values what they have to say. Allowing your prospects to witness this supportive network first-hand can be a significant selling factor that triggers them to take action.

What are you trying to sell?

At this point it is also important that we recap on basic marketing principles. Unless you are trying to convert existing network marketers, your prospects aren’t looking for a good compensation plan or the ‘best products’, they are simply looking for a solution to their existing problems and this where your focus should be. You’re selling a solution, not a product. A good example of this is the person who goes to the local hardware store to buy a ¼ inch drill, essentially what they are looking for is a ¼ inch hole. The drill is simply a solution to solving their problem.

What we are trying to say is that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how good the compensation plan is, or even the product line, if you can sell the solution, the method (business vehicle) shouldn’t matter. Having said this we strongly encourage networkers to partner with a network marketing company that is ethical, has integrity and a good track record.

“He who has a why, can bear with almost anyhow”. – Neitsche

When trying to sell a business model most networkers assume that their prospects will buy into it because it can offer them more money and /or more time. While this is partly true, it is important that you tailor your solution to be client (prospect) specific. In other words it’s not so much the extra money and time, but what the extra time and money can offer them.

“In the warehouse we make cosmetics, in the stores we sell hope.”
- Charles Revelon

The more specific you can tailor your solution, the greater your chance of success. For example, the ability to take that trip to Disneyland with the family that they have always wanted, the dream house that they are so close to getting, the desire to open their own coffee shop etc. This is why getting to know your prospect in the prequalifying stage is so important. The best approach is when you can use their ‘own words’ in the solution. Before approaching your prospect for the follow up you should be asking yourself the following question:

What key emotional phrases (hot buttons) has this prospect given me, which I can use to tailor my solution?

Leadership

One final point to remember before approaching the follow up (and prospecting process in general) is that you need to believe 100% in yourself, your business and in your solution. You can expect your prospects to ask you questions and throw you objections, so if you don’t fully believe in what you are doing then your prospects will see right through you. The biggest selling factor in network marketing is leadership. If this person is going to work alongside you, they need to be assured that you are confident about what you are doing and not have any reservations. If you can prove yourself to be a leader your prospects will follow.

On the next page we are going to discuss the follow up conversation and how learning to ask the right questions could be the most import thing you ever learn in network marketing.

Closing the deal – learn to ask the right questions during the follow up.