What's Important to Your Prospects?

How the prospects rated the factors!

By Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter

We surveyed prospects to see how THEY rate the various factors that go into the presentation you give them. What caught their eye may surprise you. . .

#1 Who gave the presentation

This won by a landslide. The #1 reason a prospect joins a multilevel company is YOU. The prospect can’t see or touch the company. The prospect does not have personal experience with the product line. The prospect has not visited with the home office. All the prospect sees is YOU. His thoughts throughout your presentation are:

• “Can I work effectively with you?”
• “Will you take the time to help me?”
• “Can you do the job?”
• “Are you telling the truth?”

How the prospect perceives YOU is the most important factor in his decision to join.

#2 Upline support

This translates into YOU again. The second most important factor rated by multilevel prospects was their ability to depend on their upline (YOU and others) to help them become successful. Soothe your prospect’s insecurities by showing how you and your sponsor have helped others become successful. Assure your prospect of upline support until he has reached a certain self-sufficient level of success. Your prospect wants to be successful. You hold the key.

#3 Training provided

Does your group have weekly or monthly training meetings? Seminars? Rallies? This is the classroom training your prospect will be looking for. And that’s only half the story. “On-the-job” training is what really sells your prospect. Why did franchises take off in the 70’s and 80’s? They offered a company-trained mentor to work at the franchisee’s location to help them off to a fast start. Tell your prospect you will give the recruiting presentations to his prospects while he observes. Anyone can feel confident if all they have to do is observe. Once your prospect feels he has sufficient skills and group-building success, then he may decide to continue without your help.

#4 Marketing plan and earnings potential -- Surprised?

The money doesn't show up as a factor in the prospect’s decision process until #4. Promises of earnings are meaningless without the prospect’s confidence that he can work the business successfully. Or, in other words, who cares if you earn 99% commission if you are selling ice to Eskimos? The belief that the prospect can succeed in the business transcends the percentages in the marketing plan. Remember your first exposure to multilevel marketing? Could you go home and completely explain the finer points of the compensation plan after only one exposure? Probably not. So don’t spend too much time making a big deal out of the 1/2 of 1% super- override bonus on non-qualifying directors on a regional basis. It won’t help your prospect make a decision to join.

#5 Product line

A good way to irritate prospects is to demonstrate every product in detail. An eager prospect wants to know one thing about the product line: Will people buy it? Your product may have gold plated bearings instead of stainless steel bearings. So what? If no one will buy your product, does it matter how wonderful the quality is? Your prospect does not want to join a company with products people don’t want. Professional recruiters concentrate on showing the market for their products and why the general public desires to have the product.

#6 Being first in area

Maybe he’s not the pioneer to blaze the trail, but your prospect wants to see a large potential of qualified prospects. Assure your prospect that together, you can actively create a viable business. This is already a very minor point as we are in the bottom half of decision factors for the prospect.

#7 Company literature shown

Beautiful literature doesn't’t sell; people sell. If you are relying on 70 lbs. four-color enameled stock with artistic photographs to sign up prospects, maybe you should reconsider your career and become a photographer. If you are a jerk passing out nice- looking flyers, you are still a jerk. Do you think your prospect wants to bring a jerk to do a two-on-one presentation with his friends, neighbors, and relatives? Ha! Ha! Ha! Well, jerks think so anyway.

#8 Company image

You are making a presentation to your best prospect in Miami, Florida. You show him a beautiful video describing the 45,000 square foot home office on 3 acres in the exclusive suburb of Olympia Fields, in the town of Flossmoor, Illinois. Big deal. So what if the company has a lot of money for videos, offices, printing, etc.? The real question is: “Can my potential sponsor do the job? Will he be capable of helping me reach the success I desire?” After all, what can the home office really do to help? Send the prospect another video? Oh, wow, that will surely help to build his business.

#9 Sales kit provided

A fine collection of reading material, brochures, sales receipts, videos, cassettes, etc. - all totally worthless in the hands of a prospect lacking confidence. Prospects get confidence and support from their upline, not from ballpoint pens and bumper stickers with the company logo. Inside joke of multilevel pros: “Here’s your kit. Go for it.”

#10 Company management experience

“Our president had 2.173 years of public auditing experience with one of the largest regional firms in the South Atlantic States. His grading on his personnel report by his superiors was 2.46, one of the highest ever given.” Pretty ludicrous, isn’t it? What not to say: “Our president has 12 years experience in multilevel management with 8 different companies.”

Brainstorming Session:

Is your presentation giving prospects what they want to buy? Or, is your presentation giving your prospects what’s important to you? Which parts of your current presentation need to be emphasized? Do you disagree with the prospects’ answers to the survey? Maybe in your opinion the prospects should have rated the factors differently. What’s more important? How the prospects look at your presentation or how you think they should look at it? What are you going to do different? Do you promise not to laugh during someone else’s presentation when they explain “the molecular co-efficient of the viscosity inherent to surfactants exposed to non- petroleum surfaces at less than 4.57 degrees Centigrade?”

Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
http://www.fortunenow.com
©2001 KAAS Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

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