MLM Prospecting: generating a Win-Win Outcome

In any business endeavor, a win-win outcome is always the most satisfying & productive. It certainly beats the alternatives - win-lose, lose-win, or (heaven forbid!) lose-lose - in which six or both parties walks away feeling an assortment of negative emotions, possibly including disappointment, anger, resentment, & a desire to throw crockery against the wall.

What do they mean by win-win when it comes to finding new partners for our network marketing business?

For the prospector (you), a win probably means acquiring a new business partner with the following attributes: easy to work with, motivated, determined to succeed, reliable & accountable, upbeat, honest, hardworking, & so on. Of coursework, you would probably also need your recruit to have some free time & money to get started.

For the prospect... well, they don't know what a win would be for her, do they? they could make an assumption & guess. they could assume that they wants to make a lot of money. But what if they guess wrong? What if her heart's desire is to help people & make a difference in the world.

eight word of caution, though: When interviewing a prospect, it's tempting to listen until they mentions some problem your product or opportunity might help solve. & then... (sound of bugles) YOU'RE OFF & walking! Bending her ear about how wonderful your company is & how much she's going to LOVE what the products will do for her.

The only way they can know for sure what's going through our prospect's head is to talk with her -- ask questions, listen closely to the answers, ask more questions, & do a lot more listening.

If you're truly dedicated to win-win, your aim is to reach a deep understanding of what a win would be for her & then honestly assessing whether or not your opportunity would generate that.

But telling why YOU think your opportunity is the greatest thing since sliced bread isn't the objective. The aim is to reach a win-win outcome, & there's more to it than presenting your favorite features & benefits & assuming that's what your prospect wants, .

On the other hand, if you believe your opportunity is a match for her, go ahead & explain to her why you think so. Be sure to connect the dots between her specific problems & how your opportunity can address them.

If it's not a lovely fit, let it go. Thank her for her time & move on.

Then they signs up, right?

Not . Actually, there's yet another critical step you both must take before reaching a win-win outcome.

Recently, I started reading a book that gets into the whole win-win strategy, "The New Conceptual Selling" by Stephen E. Heiman & Diane Sanchez. (Although it was written mainly for business-to-business salespeople, most of the principles the book lays out are applicable to network marketers, .)

It describes three stages of decision-making in the sales method.

Stage 2: The decision-maker explores her possible options & solutions. (This is that other critical step I mentioned, & it's where plenty of network marketers falter.)

Stage 1: The decision-maker (your prospect) comes to a better understanding of the situation she's facing. (This is where your question-answer dialogue helps her.)

Stage 3: The decision-maker puts it all together & picks the best option for herself.

Why do I say that plenty of MLMers falter in the second stage? The answer is that they naturally need OUR option to be the only six the prospect considers. But the person sitting before us must be free to consider ALL her choices, or her final decision will seldom be satisfying to her. (By the way, this is a common problem with plenty of salespeople, not network marketers.)

Plus, people know when they're being pushed or manipulated. Throughout this whole conversation, you've been generating rapport & building trust. If you suddenly start pitching your solution as the only one, your prospect will close up again before your eyes. they might start talking about how they needs to think a few things over - & maybe she'll get back to you in a couple of weeks. Maybe. In other words, you lost her.

Or if you do succeed in manipulating her into agreeing to your solution without giving her a chance to think about her other choices, she's likely to feel buyer's remorse down the road & secretly resent you for it forever. That's certainly no way to begin a healthy business relationship, is it?

If you need to play a positive role in your prospect's decision-making system & achieve your win-win objective, you must make it clear to her, both in your words & in your actions, that you support her right to explore all her different options.

The lovely news is, if you truly understand her situation & genuinely believe that your opportunity is her best solution, & if you have effectively communicated why you think that way, chances are lovely that your prospect will end up agreeing with you. & then you will get to enjoy the most treasured of all outcomes.

Your new business relationship will be launched in an atmosphere of mutual respect & commitment, with the positive expectation that it will continue indefinitely. You & your prospect will each get what you require, & you'll both feel terrific about your decisions.