The Frustration and Irony of Automated Prospecting Systems
Hopefully, I won't anger too many of you, but I think the writing is on the wall and this needs to be said.
Over the past couple of years, ‘automated MLM systems’ have taken the MLM industry by storm. Initially, what made a ‘funded proposal’ so attractive was that it offered us a much easier and better alternative to the “traditional prospecting” methods.
Finally! No more “3 foot rule”, cold calling, buying leads, home meetings, hotel meetings, and everything else that our uplines said was part of their “system”.
We were watching guys like Mike Dillard, Daegan Smith, Ty Coughlin, Jay Kubassek, among others, growing massive downlines almost overnight, without needing to talk to a single person.
In fact, Daegan Smith even gave himself the title of “The King of Never Calling a Single Lead”. Ah, those were the good ol' days...
Since then, the online MLM market has become saturated with systems promising things like:
- “No selling”
- “The system does the work for you”
- “We close sales for you”
- “No phone skills, needed”
- “No prospecting”
- “Build your downline on autopilot”
I have to admit, I was sold on ‘attraction marketing’ for these same reasons. I was tired of coaching and wasting my time with people who had no business, being in business for themselves. I needed to figure out a way to filter through the “losers” and “tire-kickers” to get to the real leaders who were going to build this thing.
Then Magnetic Sponsoring walked into my life and forever transformed my business and life. Raymond and I went on to create the ‘Attraction Marketing Formula’ based on the teachings from Magnetic Sponsoring, but geared towards Google Marketing and the “techie” stuff.
But then we started noticing something…
The MLM Pendulum is Swinging Back the Other Way
Recently, I had some pretty eye-opening conversations with fellow networkers involved with some of the most popular “turn-key” systems out there. (You’d recognize these systems immediately if I mentioned them by name.) And I have to admit, it was ‘deja-vu’ as I was listening to them.
It was as if I had gone back in time 3 years, before Magnetic Sponsoring was released, and I was listening to the struggles, trials and tribulations of your “Uncle Bob’s MLM”.
“I’m not making any money…”
“No one is joining my team…”
“I’ve lost all my savings…”
“I’m not getting any upline support…”
These conversations confirmed the suspicions I’ve had floating around my head for a long time…
Traditional Methods are Making a Comeback
Now, before you get upset and start sending me hate mail, allow me to explain exactly what is happening.
First of all, NO you DON’T have to go back to cold-calling or prospecting at Starbucks and frisking people for a “dream”. We already know that’s not going to work.
But there’s a subtle trend I’ve been watching happen over the past year.
The systems who were promising “turn-key” businesses, with “no selling” started having live training calls on…
PROSPECTING OVER THE PHONE?
Huh?
What are guys like Todd Falcone, Joe LoBalsamo, and Mark Wieser doing on these live training calls for “automated systems”?
These guys are old school. These guys make like 40 dials per day to grow their businesses. What do we need them for?
This is the Internet Age, baby! Prospecting calls are like soooo 1980’s….
…or are they?
The Ultimate MLM Advantage
The bad news is that if you are expecting to build your business from your computer without talking to anyone, you’re screwed.
The good news is that if you are willing to pick up the phone and talk to people, it will give you the ultimate competitive advantage in today’s saturated “mlm systems” market.
The reason these “old school” trainers are watching a rise in their businesses, is because at the end of the day, people want to talk to people. If they are going to join a business with a $2000 entry point or buy a high-end information product for $500, they want to know there’s a real person behind the system and someone there to help them.
That’s the whole reason why Web 2.0 is so huge now. People want to interact with other people, especially when it involves taking out their wallet.
The fact of the matter is, if you are interacting with your customers or prospects via chat, email, forums or by phone, you have a much, much, much higher chance of getting them to buy or join your business.
It’s that simple.
But there are also some very crucial things you should be doing to ensure your success in a web 2.0 world.
Traditional Methods 2.0
First, you want to create as many opportunities for your prospects to contact you for support. Here are a few simple things you can do:
1)
Put your phone number on all your capture pages, emails and sales pages.
To protect your privacy, I recommend you use a Business Voicemail service, where calls are forwarded to you via an 800 number and only after the caller has identified themself. (If you want to learn more about this, call me at 866-834-3625 so you can see it in action and I can give you the purchase details.)
2) Use a real email address when delivering your autoresponder messages.
3) Provide AIM, Google chat or Skype details, so people can send you messages.
4) Have an “Ask Us” form on your website, which allows people to submit questions via your website.
5) Have a guestbook form on your website, where prospects can say “I was here”. Have them provide an email address when they sign. This gives you an opportunity to start a conversation by emailing them.
6) Send personal emails to as many of your leads as you can, every day. People know the difference between automated emails and real emails. Take 20 minutes a day to start a dialogue with new subscribers.
7) Here’s the scary one – have your prospects provide their phone numbers when they opt in and CALL YOUR PROSPECTS!
Now that last one is probably not making your feel warm and fuzzy, but it’s actually the most important one. This is where the training from guys like Todd Falcone, Joe LoBalsamo and Mark Wieser come in.
The great thing about using Magnetic Sponsoring or your own ‘funded proposal’ is that the prospects on your list requested information from you first. Your calls will be primarily consultative in nature. You are not calling them to pitch your business, but just to help with what they requested information on.
However, it is inevitable that people will eventually ask about your business with questions like:
“What company are you with?”
“How much money are you making?”
“How do you market?”
Your answers to these questions will be the difference between having ZERO success and growing a huge and profitable business. That’s why investing in courses like Blackbelt Recruiting will make a huge impact in your business, but also on you personally and how people view you through your everyday interactions.
The Inner Game of MLM
Finally, as you start to develop your phone skills, and prospecting skills, you’ll start noticing that you’ll start attracting leaders to you. All forms of your communication (email, copywriting and speaking) will start exuding this ‘mystical’ magnetism and people will be naturally drawn to you.
And the real kicker is that you’ll start attracting leads to you in the OFFLINE world, as a result of your new magnetic personality!
As you start seeing the cost of PPC and advertising rise, your ability to acquire a lead using more “traditional” means, will be a very valuable skill. It’s the most ironic thing I’ve experienced since I took my business online.
So the truth about all these “automated turn-key” systems, is that they are not what they initially claim to be. The system can be a very powerful tool, but it’s not your entire business – unless you happen to own the system. ;)
At the end of the day, the advantage that you can have over another rep using the same “automated system” will be YOU, INC.
They already know what the system can do for them. Now they are going to want to know what YOU can do for them -- that's the difference maker.
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Who are Ferny Ceballos & Ray Fong? Ferny & Ray are former aerospace engineers turned internet network marketers. Despite holding degrees from MIT & Harvey Mudd, respectively, and both having earned graduate degrees from USC, Ferny and Ray decided to turn their backs on engineering and jump into the vast and profitable world of online network marketing in 2006. |
Definitions: MLM Prospecting | MLM Recruiting | Posture | Calling Leads | MLM Sponsoring