This is part three of my series on how to sponsor distributors for your MLM Opportunity at a BNI or a business networking meeting. 

In my first post on the topic I discussed how to present your product since BNI meetings don’t allow you to talk about your opportunity.

In my second post I wrote about following up with those prospects to setup one on one appointments. It is very important that you follow up with the people you meet at the BNI meeting.  It is very hard to get people to sign up on the spot in a meeting even if it is your time to give your 10 minute presentation you should be using that time to educate the rest of the BNI team. You don’t want to sell them too much. Instead you want to train them on what you do and what makes a good referral for you.

In your one on one meetings is when you can sell your product AND most importantly your opportunity!  

Again if you didn’t read my post on follow up after the BNI meeting earlier this week you need to go read it now!

So… You’ve talked about your product. You’ve talked about the need your product satisfies. You’ve got a couple of hot prospects and you did your follow up.  Now you have set up your one on one appointment.

In your one on one you want to find out about them! You want to ask them questions.  Again you do not want to “vomit” on them.  Too many networkers approach the meeting selfishly. They don’t ask about the person they are with.  They only want to spend 45 minutes talking about how great their product is or their company.

I don’t know about you but I’ve had some of these meetings. The person I was meeting didn’t want to know anything about my product or business. They weren’t concerned about me. I was just a big fat wallet sitting there. All they saw were dollar signs. They didn’t see me as a person.  I drove 20 minutes each way and spent 45 minutes to meet with someone that maybe let me talk for 4 minutes.  Needless to say I didn’t get warm fuzzies from the meeting.  Even if their product was something I would want to buy…. I’d go find someone else to buy it from!  I wouldn’t want to give that selfish person my business!

Don’t be that person.  Ask about them. Ask about their business. Find out what makes a good referral for them.

Now when you do talk about your product, ask them some questions to find out what their needs are.  I’m usually asking them about “How do you communicate with your customers?” “How do you develop customer loyalty?” “Do you have any customer referral programs?”  These are interest generating questions for my product. These are business issues or needs my product can help resolve.  Once I find out what their need is I can address that need.  There is no need to talk about a customer referral program if they already have one! Right?

So here is what happened after my BNI meeting. Again I followed up with my prospect. I sent him a “Nice to meet you” greeting card. I followed up with a phone call.  Then he called me back and we setup the one on one.

I was able to speak to him about my product and how we could help with customer loyalty. That  is the need he had expressed interest in.  He had sales reps who needed to be trained on how to develop loyal customers.

Then quickly, I showed him my product. I didn’t want to take too much time. This isn’t training. This is a sales pitch. You want to make everything look quick and easy. All too often people go into a sales meeting and try and give too much information. You only want to give them enough information to make a decision to buy (or not.)  The rest is just training AFTER the sale.

He was so impressed he not only wanted to sign up but he also mentioned that he was having a sales meeting with his top 10 sales reps.  He wanted to know if I’d be interested in coming in and speaking to them (the following Saturday no less!) Of course I said yes.

NOW here is a key point:  This is where the opportunity came back up.  He’s already buying. He’s already recommending me to others.  Now is when I mention the opportunity.  I said something along the lines of:

“I’m not sure if this would be a conflict of interest for you or not… but since you’re already giving me all these referrals you might be interested in getting paid for those referrals. Someone is going to get paid for those referrals. Why shouldn’t it be you?”

In my case I was also able to go a little further. Since I’m selling him greeting cards that he is going to use to follow up with prospects and customers I was able to talk specifically about those cards.  I let him know “If nothing else those referrals might pay for all the cards you are sending.”  Then I told him that “On the back of all the cards they have a web site listed. The distributor’s web site is listed there.  That means anyone who receives a card from you or your salesmen will get my web site on the back. If you became the distributor your web site would be on the back of all those cards.”

I’ve just given you some specific examples for Send Out Cards.  Of course not all of you are in SOC.  However this strategy can be applied to anything.

I met with Joyce,another local networker. She represents a health and wellness company.  She did the same thing I did.  (Great minds think a like.) She showed me her product first and gave me some samples. Then she told me that if I was interested in the product I could become a distributor for no extra cost.   She also emailed me later that day to tell me another person from our business networking group was going to join her. She wanted to give me the opportunity to get started before he did.

Now I wasn’t a good market for Joyce. I wasn’t interested in another opportunity even if it didn’t cost me anything.  However I told her I’d be happy to send her referrals.

Here is the method I used to sponsor distributors from BNI and business networking meetings:

1. Network with people at the meeting.
2. Do NOT vomit on them. Ask questions about them and their business.
3. Speak briefly about my product and the need my product fulfills.
4. Follow up after the meeting with a “nice to meet you” greeting card.
5. Follow up with a phone call.
6. Set the one on one appointment after the meeting.
7. Meet one on one and continue to show interest in them. (No vomiting!)
8. Ask questions about their needs to find out more about why they might be interested in my product.
9. Usually I ask questions like “Who do you know that can use a product like this?” to get them interested in the distributor options.

Remember at BNI meetings and many business networking meetings they don’t want you to talk about your opportunity. You need to be product focused at the meetings. When you setup an appointment for a one on one is when you can actually talk about the opportunity with your prospect.

Are you good at transitioning from talking about the product to the opportunity?  Do you have some useful tips? If so show share them in the comments below!

- Ben Fitts

MLM Training > Home Business Blogs

Let’s continue our discussion of what to do after a BNI meeting or networking event.

You just received dozens of business cards. How do you follow up with all of the people you just met?

I’m sure you have heard the phrase “The fortune is in the follow up.” Everyone going to networking events wants to meet new people. Most of them are just like you. They are overwhelmed with all the business cards and people they met. They don’t know how to follow up!  You can stand out by following up with them!

A couple days ago I wrote about how to sponsor MLM distributors at BNI.   This is a continuation of how to sponsor people.  You will never sponsor new distributors if you aren’t following up!

When you receive these business cards, these are all people who want to hear from you.

What I do to follow up is:

I send them all a greeting card with my photo on it and a talk bubble that says: “It was nice to meet you”. They just met me a few days ago they should remember me. If not the card with my photo helps them remember.  On the inside I will talk a little bit about where I met them.  I’ll say for example “It was nice to meet you at at the Power Partners Meetup at Sherlocks Pub on Wednesday.”  Again another reminder of how I met them.

This is what the cover of the card I send looks like:

The service I use to send these cards is called Send Out Cards. (In full disclosure I am a distributor and have been for almost 9 years.) I can send a card like this from my phone, tablet, or computer. What I usually do is go back to my home after the meeting and take the cards and add them all to my contact manager. I make a card like this that says where I met them and offers to get together with them for coffee “to learn more about there business and how I can be a good referral partner for them. I want to know what makes a great referral for them.”

This is really simple with Send Out Cards. I use a standard card that I send to EVERYONE I just met. It saves time. I can send the same card to a dozen different people. It only takes me a few minutes.

I’ve already distinguished myself from 95% of the people they meet at networking events. They want to work with me! 

For example. I went to a BNI open house. (Remember my post a couple days ago?)  I went back to visit one of these groups a week later. Two of the people I met a week earlier came up to me and thanked me for the card. They sought me out. They not only remembered me but they sought me out to let me know. Do you think those people might be more open to working with me than most of the people they meet?

If it’s a hot prospect, someone who I had a great conversation with, I might also follow up with an email or a phone call.

At the BNI Open House I met an insurance agent. When he asked me about my business I talked about a need I can help resolve. I told him “I’m in the greeting card business.” He asked me a further question about my business and I told him “I help people develop loyal customers and get more referrals.”  He expressed interest in learning more about how I do that. He mentioned to me he has a bunch of agents he might want to put me in front of. He wants to help his agents develop customer loyalty.

A lot of you can get this far. You have a great conversation with someone. You get their business card, BUT you don’t follow up after! You’re dropping the ball!

I followed up with the insurance agent. I sent him the nice to meet you card. I also called him on the phone. I didn’t get him but I left him a message to say I was following up. When he received the card he called me back!

It works people!

He then invited me to come in and have a one on one meeting with him to show him my business and my product.

Later this week I’ll tell you how to go from showing that product, to turning him into a distributor!  So far he not only became a distributor but he’s signed up 5 customers and has another 7 more who are going to be signing up!

What has been the moral of our story so far?

1. We talked about our product and how our product fills a need other business owners have.

2. We followed up after the meeting with a greeting card and a phone call.

3. We setup the appointment to come and meet them one on one.

4. We’ll talk about the next steps later this week!  Come back soon to read more!

- Ben Fitts

MLM Training > Home Business Blogs

Have you ever wondered “How to sponsor MLM Distributors at BNI?”

First, do you know what BNI stands for?  BNI is “Business Networking International”. They are the world’s largest business referral organization.  They have meetings all over the world where you can go meet other professionals and give and receive referrals.  It’s a great system!

However sometimes at referral meeting groups there are A LOT of network marketers. Usually these referral groups don’t want you to mention your opportunity. It can be pretty hectic if you have 4 or 5 different networkers all standing up pitching an opportunity. Instead they want you to focus on the “product” you offer.  That way everyone is offering something unique.

So… If you can’t talk about the opportunity, how do you sponsor new MLM Distributors at a BNI meeting?

Here is what I did.

I attended a BNI visitors day to get to meet a couple of the local BNI chapters.  (I am actively seeking a BNI group to join.)  At the visitors day I wanted to make a point to meet people that I thought might be good referral partners for me. I wanted to feel them out and see if they would be open to being a referral partner.  I sought out industry professionals that I felt were a good fit for my product.

Now here is the key… I didn’t vomit on them! Most of you meet people at an event and you can’t wait for someone to ask you about your business or your product. You then go off on them for 5 minutes talking about how great your product is, you have super ingredients, God himself endorses you, and of course you can make billions of dollars with it. Right?  Meanwhile you didn’t notice that the person was stepping back trying to get away from you. I call that vomiting on them!

Instead of vomiting and going on and on about my business I asked questions about their business. I showed interest in them.  When they asked me about my business I talked about the need my product can fulfill.  In my case I’m with Send Out Cards. It is the “Netflix of Greeting Cards“. I tell them that “I teach people how to develop customer loyalty and get more referrals.”

Keep in mind BNI is the world’s largest “referral” organization.  Do you think those people showed interest in my product since I have a product that helps generate customer referrals?!?!

Now… You may not be in the greeting card business like I am.  What need does your product help resolve? Is it weight?  Is it aging? Is it energy?  Figure out what pain your prospect has that your customer fixes. Then talk about that need.  They’ll be much more open to meeting with you.

Since you can’t talk about your opportunity what can you talk about that get’s their interest?  

Here is the challenge. DO NOT VOMIT ON THEM.  :) Instead give them just enough information to get them interested. THEN schedule a one on one meeting where you can follow up with them.  The meeting isn’t the time to show them your video or give them free samples. You want to set an appointment with them to have that meeting at a later date.

There’s a lot more to the story than this.  I’ve also got a lot more tips for you to make your BNI meetings successful.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you where it went from there.

So far 1 distributor and 5 customers with 6 more potential customers and another potential distributor. You’ll want to come back to learn more about how I did it all from one BNI visit!

Here’s to your success,
Ben Fitts

MLM Training > Home Business Blogs

How do you react when a MLM Leader leaves your company? Do you freak out? Or do you seize the opportunity?

A few months ago I met a lady named Onyx Coale. She is a Presidential Black Diamond with MonaVie. This made me think for a second. I didn’t know anyone who was still doing MonaVie.  Most people I knew who were involved with that company had moved on to other ventures.  I found it really interesting that she stuck with it. Onyx Coale persevered when other people gave up.  Now her team is all over the world.

The next month I met Orrin & Laurie Woodward. Also a MonaVie Presidential Black Diamond.  They were speaking on the topic of building MASSIVE teams and getting thousands  and tens of thousands of people from their team to events.

I remember back 5 or 6 years ago MonaVie was super hot here in the US. I actually was on a cruise with family on the same ship where MonaVie was having their leadership trip.  I remember that I couldn’t go to a business networking event without running into one or more MonaVie reps. Now days I can’t remember when the last time I ran into a MonaVie rep…. BUT these MLM Leaders are persevering. They stuck with it. When others were leaving MonaVie the real leaders stuck with it. Maybe the majority of their growth isn’t in the US any more. Maybe it’s over seas. That doesn’t matter. What matters is they stuck with their business.

I wanted to title this post “Millions are made when the chips are down”.

That’s the way I’m feeling about my business right now. Recently we were targeted by some people who attacked our business and spread a lot of negativity.  I’ve seen some people out right lying about our company on social media to try and steal reps away. It worked. Quite a few of our mid level leaders left.  Then recently one of our top ranking leaders left. These were two great guys (they had a business partnership) who reached the top rank in the company. Since we only have 4 people of that rank it was a big deal when they left!

Now some people might freak out when one of your leaders leaves your MLM company.

It happens to everyone! Every company loses leadership.

Instead of freaking out, I did the opposite.  I saw it as an opportunity!  This was my  moment to take advantage of these  guys leaving and work harder than ever to build my company!

Two of my new leaders on my team lived in the same state as the leaders who left. Guess what? They worked their butts off this quarter and were just named VIP to our company convention! They didn’t get upset that some leaders were leaving but instead took action. They saw it as an opportunity to persevere and show the public in their area that our company is still a great company to be with.  Now they have less competition and they’re rocking it!

So when the chips are down… When people are attacking your company… You could leave to find greener pastures… Or you could stay where you are. You could be the next Orrin Woodward or Onyx Coale. You could become the next MLM leader to persevere in your company and be a millionaire!

- Ben Fitts

MLM Training > Home Business Blogs

Do you hand out lots of business cards but get no calls back?

Since I’ve moved to Austin, TX I’m getting out and doing a lot more networking. I’m going to BNI meetings,chamber of commerce meetings, happy hours, social networking meetings, and meetup groups. As I go out networking I run into a lot of people that are making major mistakes with their business cards.

Have you ever wondered why no one follows up with you when they get your business card? Chances are you are making one of these mistakes.

Is your photo on your business card?  Studies show that human beings love to see photos of other human beings.  We are wired psychologically to be attracted to the photos of other humans. For this reason studies have shown that if you have your photo on your business card people will be less likely to throw it away.

There is another practical reason why your photo should be on your business card. If someone meets you at a networking group with 50 other people they may receive dozens of business cards. Having your photo on the card helps them remember who you are!  Sometimes without photos I get back at the end of the day and I can’t remember who this person was!

What about your title on your business card? Especially for you network marketers.  What title do you put on the card?

Is your title “Independent Distributor’?

Who the heck cares?  Heck, outside of other network marketers, who even knows what an independent distributor is?  Or more importantly, who WANTS to know?  No one.  So they don’t ask you any further questions!

On my business card it says “Top 20 distributor worldwide”.

If people are networkers they have a good idea of what that means.  That means I’m doing pretty well in my company, not just in the US but worldwide. Even if they aren’t a network marketer they will usually see something like “top 20″ or “worldwide” and get a good impression that I’m a pretty serious business person.

Another mistake I see with titles is to say what “rank” you are.  ”Senior Manager” or “Executive Distributor”.  Just like before, who knows what those mean?  Who cares what they mean?

What if instead you said “International Recruiter”.  Do  you think that might get some people’s attention?  Even if you don’t have an international team, YET, your intention is to start one!

Or get even more creative…

“Appreciation Marketing Expert”… Of course people will ask “What is appreciation marketing?”

Finally…

As someone in the greeting card business it is very frustrating to get cards from people that don’t have their mailing address on them.  I know this is the information age but if I got your address you might just get lucky and get a box delicious chocolate fudge chunk brownies from me!  If I don’t have your address I can’t send them to you!

These are just a few of my tips for business cards.

What are some tips you have for business cards?

- Ben Fitts

MLM Training > Home Business Blogs