Want to know how to build a downline in network marketing? Well you’ve reached the right place. Big income is made in networking marketing from recruiting or sharing the opportunity. Paul Getty once said that he would rather have 1% of the efforts of 100 people versus 100% of his own efforts. That is called leverage. This is what makes recruiting so important in the industry.
Recruiting results in new people coming into your organization. Your organization needs the excitement and energy that new people bring. The energy that a new person carries can re-ignite some of the older folks on your team. Recruiting new people also helps to advance the momentum of your organization.
How to Build a Downline in Network Marketing
First you have to understand that there is a difference between Recruiting and Prospecting. Signing on or enrolling a new recruit is Recruiting and it is the result of Prospecting, which means exploring, looking for or interviewing the right candidate. In this industry, people do not recruit a lot of people because they don’t spend enough time looking for them or prospecting. The key to becoming a master recruiter is to spend more time prospecting, or mining for gold. Remember that you’re looking for quality people.
I can remember when I was looking to get to the next level in my business, I wrote down on a piece of paper exactly the type of person I was looking for. That paper read something like this: I am looking for like-minded business women just like me, people who want to go all the way to the top.” I kept that piece of paper in my wallet and took it with me everywhere I went and read it often throughout the day, and those were exactly the type of people I began to attract.
What Is a Quality Prospect?
A quality prospect is someone who will give the time, money and commitment necessary to grow their small business”. This means that they must want to build a business, and they must have the resources and skills necessary to do so. There is no getting around this fact. An unemployed person is not necessarily a quality prospect, because while they may have a lot time, they most likely do not have a lot of money. The old cliché is correct: it takes money to make money. And while a person doesn’t have to have a ton of money to be successful in this industry, it does require a certain amount of resources.
A quality prospect is also available. That is not to say they aren’t busy; busy people actually make great consultants because they know how to get things done with a small amount of time. However, if a person doesn’t have time to work his/her business, then that’s not a good person for your team. A quality prospect is also committed to the business and to the team. They show up and they move up. They have strong reasons for being committed and their whys are big. Once again, time, money and commitment are three strong characteristics that you should look for in prospects to make your job of building a large network of distributors a lot easier. These distributors will begin to duplicate themselves, and you will end up with a large organization of quality prospects versus having the opposite occur.
Build a Network Marketing Downline Like An HR Professional
Networkers could learn a lesson or two from professional recruiters in Corporate America. When someone from the Human Resources department of a major corporation is looking for a candidate to fill a position, he/she has a listing of required skills that are necessary to perform the job according to the job description, and this ensures that they make the “right” match. In the network marketing industry we don’t always seek out quality prospects; we look for anyone who can breathe and that is not necessarily the best way to build your business. If you want a network of individuals who can duplicate your success, then you’re looking for a particular type of person who will fit a certain requirement to do the things that you do. Therefore, it is a good idea to list out the kinds of skills you would want your prospects to have, such as:
- Money to be able to finance their investment
- Great Presentation Skills
- A Good Personality
- A Detail-Oriented style
- The ability to Multi-task
- Good Follow-up skills
- Dependability
- A Job
- Credibility and Integrity
These are just some of the qualities you might look for. But it is up to you to decide the type of individuals you want to work with and once you have this decided, you want to begin to think about all the people you know who have these qualities. The names that you come up with when you think about these skills and traits are those that you want to contact first to share with them your business opportunity.
Create Your Hit List
Developing a hit list of people to contact when you begin your business is great. You want to make sure you’ve contacted all those people on that list and when you’re seeking to go to the next level, if those folks on the list have not yet become a part of your business, you might want to give them another call because timing is everything. The first time you called may not have been good for them, but this time may be better. And if it is still not a good time for them to participate in the business with you, then your job is to ask for referrals.
Prospecting individuals to participate in your business is a process. You have to take prospective distributors through a series of steps before they can make a decision regarding whether or not they will want to become a part of your organization. Even though it happens, it is rare that a person who is first introduced to your opportunity immediately decides to jump on board. Beware of people who make these kinds of quick decisions because while you can get excited by the idea of signing on a new recruit, if this person does not produce, you will end up disappointed.
Be Prepared When Prospecting to Grow Your Downline
Just like with selling, good prospecting begins with good preparation. If you want to have a good day of meeting new people, you must be prepared to meet them. You should prepare yourself with company materials to share and possibly product as well. Most network marketing companies offer a wide variety of collateral material for use when prospecting. These items could include brochures, CD’s, product samples, etc., that you should always carry with you because prospects are everywhere. Prospects are in the grocery store, the library, the park, the laundry mat, the shopping mall, the bank, anywhere you can think of. Everywhere you go, there are prospects, or people that you may run into that fit the description of the kind of person you’re looking to partner with in your business. So make sure you’re always prepared.
Once you have prospects in your pipeline, begin working on closing them or recruiting them into your organization. The best ways to close a prospect is by picking up the phone and inviting them to participate in a future event. These events could be upcoming opportunity meetings, three-way calls, sizzle or opportunity calls or 1:1 presentations, etc. The key is to make sure the prospect has had multiple impressions of the business opportunity before they sign up.
Create recruiting systems that will move your prospects through the recruitment cycle. Make sure that the systems are duplicatable. Your goal is a create a duplication nation so that others can do what you do. This is how you will successfully build your downline in network marketing. This is how you will win and grow exponentially.
Most Importantly Build a Business NOT a Downline
When you focus on building a business, you don’t have to worry so much about a downline. This will take care of itself. You have to build training structures and systems. This will assist in building a downline. Your ultimate goal is fill any gaps that your company may have forgotten and make your team (your brand) feel welcome and special. This is how to build a sustainable network marketing business.
If you need more assistance, pick up a copy of my book and audio program. It will help you to succeed. If you would like to work with me and join my Live Good team then click here.