Network Marketing: Why do so many fail?

Ask anyone why they think people fail in network marketing, I bet the answers you hear will be as confusing,varied and different as each one that you asked. You will hear everything from the company didn’t do what they said they were going to do; the upline disappeared, the product didn’t work, the compensation plan didn’t pay enough, family and friends wouldn’t join, the business was too hard, too easy, it took too much time to build a business. I say rubbish! I believe the number one reason people fail in this industry is simple; the experience didn’t match their expectation. Herein lies the problem, people don’t express their expectations, and enrollers don’t help them set proper expectations. It is important that when joining a new company and team, talk openly about your goals, your time commitment and what you are willing to do to start your business. It is the responsibility of the enroller to be honest enough to tell that new distributor if they have realistic and proper expectations.

So how do you set proper expectations? It starts with setting proper goals. A search online can lead you to a gazillon articles about writing effective goals. I like to use the SMART system. This means goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. When I start working with new distributor, I ask them to follow this system and we go over their goals. If they tell me their goal is to make more money, it is my responsibility to tell them that is not a SMART goal. If they tell me they want to make $2000 in sixty days. That is a SMART goal.

Next, your new distributor should be clear on how much time they have to put into their business, as well as knowing how much time you have to offer them. I learned a long time ago, that no matter how much I’m salivating at the mouth to get my new distributor started, it is my responsibility to be honest enough to tell them if I am too busy to hold their hand, or what I expect from them when I give them my time. Don’t sugar coat anything here. If you are not available for twenty 3-way phone calls, don’t lie and tell them you are only to blow them off later. Also, ask them to be honest when committing their time to you and their business. Nothing stops someone from growing their business faster than embarrassment or shame when they realize they couldn’t hold to their time commitment.

Finally, talk about how they are going to start prospecting, their lead sources. What does their warm market look like, do they have a common market, a niche market, are they will to prospect them?

During this conversation, I can look at their goals, the time commitment and their lead sources, and tell them what they can properly expect. More importantly, I share with them what I expect from them. Yes, I tell someone what I expect them to do for me to work for them.

I enrolled this lady about six months ago, a determined, driven, and full of desire. She didn’t have any prior experience and was slightly cautious about building a business because of all those stories of past failures. We sat down to set the expectations.. She wrote out her goals, which were pretty decent, and her time commitment. She wanted to earn $5,000 a month after working 6 months on her business. Her time commitment was 10 hours a week. But her lead sources were weak. I had to be honest with her and let her know that for her to make that kind of money in our company should have to find more lead sources, or lower her income goals. I let her know what I can do to help her and my time commitment to her. After this conversation, she smiled and thanked me. Sincerely thanked me. She told me that she had no clue what to expect from the experience, and she was walking away with more confidence because she felt she was more clearer in what it was going to take to succeed.

Unfortunately for many in the industry, fear stops them from having this conversation with their new distributors. Some feel it puts a damper on enthusiasm of new distributors. Some feel it is a ‘negative’ conversation. Others may just not know how to set expectations because they don’t have any themselves. I believe this conversation is necessary, it empowers your new distributor, and sets them on a clear path. I think it helps to build that relationship between the enroller and new distributor. I think this is a very positive experience. It gives you a chance to really get to know your new distributor, I mean nothing is more personal that sharing what someone’s goals are! Value that! But here is the nugget gold prize…. Setting these expectations take the blame of their failure away from whatever it could have been. It puts the responsibility back on the new distributor.

Go back and ask again why people fail in this industry. All that blame on the systems, the company, the products, the team, the compensation plan, the insert-the-excuse-here, and what you really hear is their expectation was not met. They were let down, lied too, disappointed, betrayed, whatever. Could the blame been avoided? What if you set that proper and honest expectations early on? If someone fails after they know what the expectations are, they only have themselves left to blame. Setting expectations will not only set the clear path for their success, it will save you time and energy. Only those that know the expectations and choose to meet those expectations will succeed. Those that don’t, won’t.

Comments are closed.