Network Marketing and Sales

This is something that I felt compelled to write for one simple reason. All too often I am working with people new to the Network Marketing profession that missed the fact that they are now in sales. After some discussion what is discovered is that they really have a bad impression of what it means to be in sales or a profound dislike for sales people. Many times this has been brought about by growing up with the impression that being a sales person is somehow a bad thing. For others they have had a bad experience with a sales person that acted in less than a professional manner.

First and foremost being in sales is not a bad thing in any way shape or form. As with anything in life there are people that will act in an unprofessional and/or try to take advantage of others. That does not make the profession any less of a true and needed profession. Think about all of the things that you have purchased in your life where you were truly helped by a professional sales person that addressed all of your questions, asked the right questions to discover your needs and then ultimately helped you with a purchase that has improved your quality of life.

Regardless of what you may call your business or profession (Network Marketing, Direct Sales, Relationship Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), etc) you are now filling the role of a sales professional. More importantly if you are living and breathing you actually participate in a sales role on a daily basis.

WHAT??? Yes, you are often in sales negotiations and may not even realize it. If you have ever been on a date you were involved in a sales negotiation. You were trying to sell your prospective date on the fact that they really wanted to go out with you. Are you married? Well for most of you that was a long extended sales process. For those of you who have children of your own, if you have ever tried to get them to help you clean house, pick up toys, etc, etc, you were negotiating much like any other sales process.

In all reality we are all sales people when we want to be or need to be. However, all too often we do not want to acknowledge that fact and as such never spend any time trying to improve our sales skills. While there are some incredibly awesome sales training programs available to you, there is tons of information available to you that you can access as easy as turning your computer on or listening to your IPod. There are some well known sales training professionals that have a wealth of information either online or available as podcast downloads, whereby you can pick up golden nuggets of information daily.

Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins just to name a few all have a wealth of information available. If you have a well established Network Marketing business, new to the Direct Sales industry or just starting to checkout Multi-Level Marketing to see if it is right for you, please take the time to improve your sales skills.

Oddly enough you will find that one of the most important people that you will need to sell on a regular basis is yourself. We have all had those internal battles whereby we are trying to make a very important decision that could have a profound impact on our lives and there seems to be no real clear answer. Well have no fear, as part of your new knowledge you should learn to ask very effective questions to uncover the true needs, desires and wants of your new prospects.

Communication plays a major role in your success. Learn to LISTEN!! In case you have never heard this before, there is a very important reason that God blessed us with two ears and one mouth. We should use them proportionately in all conversations and most importantly when we find ourselves in a sales role. Shut up and listen. By asking very key questions and then listening intently to our prospects we will discover the real needs, wants and desires of the prospect.

How cool would it be to only work with people that really wanted to work with you and your business opportunity? What if you had an in-depth understanding of your new business partner's goals, dreams and their WHY? What if you knew why they had failed in the past and how to help them ensure their success today?

The only way to know if your business opportunity is right for your new prospect is if you ask the right questions and they tell you. Please understand that you cannot tell them that your business opportunity is the best for them. You have every right to be excited about your business and you should be. However, it is not going to be right for everyone that you meet.

What if you had worked with ten people only to discover that they should be really be participating in another network marketing opportunity? Furthermore, what if you pointed them in the right direction, such that they were able to get engaged in an opportunity that dramatically increased their chances of success? I can tell you what. Those people would be eternally grateful to you and would go out of their way to help you with your needs.

Relationship marketing is more about helping people first. Focus on helping people get what they need and one day you will discover that you have everything you need and more.

You are in sales and more importantly you are in a people business where you are in the business of helping people achieve their dreams, goals and the financial security that so many people desire. Sometimes that means they will join your business opportunity and at times that means you help them get engaged in another business. Ultimately your goal is to discover their needs, and help them achieve success.