web analytics

Reverse Prospecting and Sponsoring for Network Marketing

Prospecting in reverse (i.e. Reverse Prospecting) is an idea I’ve been fleshing out lately.

There’s nobody else teaching it that I know of, but it makes more sense to me than traditional prospecting and with it, your chances of sponsoring your warm market into your network marketing or mlm business goes up dramatically.

In traditional prospecting, you’re told to do the following:
1) Make a List
2) Contact and Invite (everyone on the list)
3) Add to the list daily

The problem with this strategy (traditional prospecting) is that it’s all wrong from a business and marketing perspective.

Not everybody is a prospect.

Plus, it doesn’t work for the average person.

What has saved the network marketing industry from extinction all these years has been the massive leverage associated with the compensation plans.

In the early days of the mlm industry, I would argue that the leverage being promoted wasn’t even actually there, not really.

It was more like the hope for leverage because the truth is, the old compensation plans made it difficult for any average person to make money.

I’ve heard that many top earners 70 years ago were making as much money (or more) selling tapes, books, and “tools” than they were from sales volume.

However, things have changed and now compensation plans are more powerful (and profitable) than they’ve ever been.

Unfortunately, the recruiting and prospecting methodology taught by top leaders is often the same as it was 50+ years ago.

Has anyone else noticed that the world has changed?

Traditional prospecting only worked for some magnetically charismatic people back then… and it only works for the same type of charismatic personality now.

Enter the new paradigm… Reverse Prospecting

Reverse Prospecting- What is It?

First, reverse prospecting is not for the weak of heart.
It’s not for those those who lack a long term vision.

It’s certainly not for those looking for another prospecting method because they’re afraid to talk to people.

I still do traditional prospecting to my cold market.
Reverse prospecting is a warm market strategy.
Actually, it’s more like putting your warm market on “pause”.

You’re still going to prospect them, just not in the traditional way.

How Does Reverse Prospecting Work?

When you get started in network marketing, you’re usually told to make a list and contact the list.

You can still do this.

In fact, I recommend it.
Maybe you’ll enroll some people right out of the gate.

However, you’re not contacting them in order to enroll them.

You’re contacting them simply to establish yourself as a professional.

I recommend getting in touch with them and just letting them know what you’re doing.

“John, we just started a new home business selling health and wellness products.”

“When can we get together so I can show you what we offer so if you know anybody who may be interested in our products you can send them my way?”

Typically, John will agree and you meet with him and show him your stuff.

You’re not trying to sell him.

During this process you are aiming to inform and make your warm market comfortable.

You’ll only enroll those who are genuinely interested in the products or business.

You’re are literally, just sharing.
You’ve done your job.

You explained what you’re doing, maybe shared a few products, and answered some questions.

But the idea is to inform and if there is low hanging fruit, you can identify it.

Sometimes the timing is just right for somebody.
It has little to do with what you do or don’t do, or say or don’t say.

If the conversation starts to have any resistance whatsoever, you need to break the conversation in a way that lowers resistance and keeps the relationship in tact.

You could say something like:

“I’m sorry, it seems like I hit a chord. I didn’t mean to. I’m just excited and telling everyone what I’m doing because there’s sure to be other reps in this area… that’s all. Forget I mentioned it, our relationship is way more important than this pyramid thing?”

The key is, you have to mean it and actually care about the relationship more.
Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.

Side Note: We both know it’s not actually a pyramid thing. But that’s what they’re thinking, so beat ’em to the punchline and cut bait. It’s fine. There’s never any reason you should lose relationships over network marketing.

There is no reason you should ever lose relationships over network marketing. Click To Tweet

People have all kinds of misconceptions.

Prospecting is sorting, not convincing.

Trying to convert a person’s thinking at the time of resistance will only make them dig in their heels and bury that feeling even deeper.

However, conducting yourself like a professional is your best option for being able to later open their mind up to this industry.

You probably got into this industry to help people.

Part of helping people is helping them overcome their misconceptions and preconceived notions.

Increasing resistance doesn’t do that.

Avoiding resistence may not do it either but your chances go up dramatically for sponsoring that person.

My brother is a great example of this in my business.

There’s nobody I’d rather have on my team and be working with than my brother, just so we can do something exciting together.

He has no interest, but we talk openly about my business from time to time.

There is very little (if any) resistance because we’re bouncing marketing ideas off of each other and I’m not actively trying to recruit him.

It seems counter-intuitive, but this is actually my best chance of recruiting him because we can talk about my network marketing business without things being weird.

Reverse Prospecting 101

Okay, here’s where the work begins.

So you’ve done your initial prospecting, by that I mean you let everyone know what you’re doing…

Now it’s time to go out there and build a business using marketing tactics and actual business strategies.

The goal is to build a system that you can put in people’s hands, get them some initial success, and become profitable… AND THEN re-approach your warm market and show them exactly how to do it.

The #1 REAL Reason People Hate Prospecting Their Warm Market

The biggest reason people don’t prospect others is because of fear, but it’s not always the fear of people saying “no”.

Not really.

It’s actually the fear that people will say ‘no’ AND then they will fail.

They will fail after that person tells them them no and they’ll look foolish.

It’s a pride issue.
Think about it.

If you knew with 100% certainty that you would be uber successful in network marketing, would you be afraid to talk to anybody?

Of course not.

Then it’s not really fear the fear of people saying no that is stopping you.

It’s some other block.
A different fear.

It’s actually the fear that after they say ‘no’, you won’t be able to deliver on what you said you were going to do.

It’s actually a fear of people seeing you fail.

So when you’re prospecting, don’t make any big claims (like… I’m going to be earning $10,000 a week in 6 months).

Keep your conversation with your warm market very light-hearted, focus on small wins, and then go succeed without the people who tell you no.

I’ll get to how to do that in a moment.

The #2 REAL Reason People Don’t Prospect Their Warm Market

Integrity… also known as the fear of failing somebody else.

If you’re not sure if you can be successful, it’s hard to tell your family and friends with conviction that you can help them be successful.

It can be uncomfortable and it feels wrong.

The fact that you don’t want to sell them on something you’re not quite sure will work, is NOT a normal fear based feeling.

It’s actually a sign of character, integrity, and maturity.

It’s a sign of character that your uncomfortable recommending something you’re not sold on.

But it’s also a belief thing. You’ve got to get your belief up in yourself, in your company, in the industry, and in your results.

You can’t fix those things without a system you believe in.

Sure, you can “fake it ’til you make it” but you’ll still feel like you’re putting somebody in something you can’t really help them with.

Reverse Prospecting 102… The Funnel

If you’ve lost your joy and passion for network marketing, this is where it get’s exciting again!

If you want to create success, you need to create an online funnel, start creating sales, and start building a team.

What is a Marketing Funnel & Why Do You Need One?

First, let’s make sure we understand what a funnel is.

A funnel is usually 2-3 pages but it can be more.
We use a simple 2-page funnel, so I’ll describe that.

Stage 1: The Landing Page of the Funnel

This is where people land when they click on a link that points to that page.

It can be a link you send them, a link from some of your content, or a link in an ad.

The landing page is super important because if they “landed” there, then they already clicked on the link.

Your marketing message you used got them to take a first step is working. It got them to click on the link.

The reverse prospecting landing page is meant to weed out the serious prospects from the tire kickers and convert as many people to your offer as possible.

The landing page typically has an offer to something they they will get after they enter an email address.

What has worked for us is simply to point to information.

IF they enter their email, it is the equivalent of somebody raising their hand and saying, “Hey, I’m interested in what you’ve got. Let me take a look”.

It also gives you their email address so you can drip content to them over time.

Most people are going to need multiple exposures to you and your message before they convert.

The chances of that happening without you purposely making it happen with email is slim to none.

Now, this is very important….. they don’t get to look behind the curtain until they put in their email.

It’s a mechanism for sorting.

If they think, “um… no” and move on it’s fine.

Just like normal prospecting, most people will be a “no”.
The key is to focus on those who do put an email address in.

Stage 2: The Conversion Page of the Funnel

Once they enter their email address, they’re taken to the conversion page.

Here you can try to go straight for the sale or opt to have them set up a phone appointment with you.

Currently, we like to give them the option of one or the other. But sometimes we take out the appointment option if we’re going to be out of town or unavailable by phone for a while.

There are a couple reasons we like getting on the phone.

First, I like to get to know people and I want them to be comfortable calling or texting me with questions if they do get started.

Secondly, it acts as a 2nd layer of weeding people out.

Last but not least, there are some crazy people out there.
I don’t really want them in my organization.
A phone call before they enroll can weed these people out.

That may sound harsh, but it’s a reality.
The reach of the internet can be a blessing and a curse.

I work hard to help my personally sponsored people be successful and if I don’t gel with them (or they don’t gel with me), it wouldn’t be fair to sponsor them.

That being said, the right people will often self-enroll and don’t need a lot of hand holding.

They know what they want, how to be decisive, and how to go after it.

If you choose to and you get your funnel optimized, you could set it up to sponsor people without talking to them at all.

Over time, we are slowly moving to this model.
We also set our funnels up like this if we’re advertising in another country.
Sometimes it’s just too difficult to hop on the phone in those places.

It seems like the industry is moving in this direction though.

The main reason it’s heading that way is because most people are so comfortable buying things online now, that it actually increases resistance to the sale when you ask them to get on the phone.

They would rather just sign up and get started.

Engineering Reverse Prospecting and Sponsoring

At the end of the day, network marketing is a numbers game.

You have to get your message in front of “x” number of people in order to sponsor 1.

When you combine the right funnel and offer with the right ad, you can reach thousands of people and only talk to the ones with genuine interest.

The great thing about this method is that when you get people on the phone, the fact they’re talking to you proves your system works (they connected with you from your system, so obviously if it worked for them… it will work for others).

We recommend using paid advertising so you can quickly tweak your prospecting funnel, scale to the level you want, and talk to great leads consistently.

If you’ve ever followed Eric Worre, you know he recommends sponsoring a lot of people in a short period of time.

Paid advertising is the best way to make that happen.

This is completely possibly using the reverse prospecting method because once you get everything working together correctly, you can scale the traffic up, increase enrollments, and book conversations with people looking for exactly what you have to offer.

Reverse Prospecting – Circling Back to Your Warm Market

Fast forward a little bit.

Now you’ve enrolled a few people and you’re making some money.

When you’re comfortable and confident with your results and methods, that is the BEST time to approach your warm market about the business.

This is the reverse of what most people do, that’s why it’s called reverse prospecting.

This is a powerful opener…

“Hey Sally, remember that thing I told you about a while ago?… Well, I figured out how to use online marketing to do it and I just had my first $500 month (or $1,000 or however much you’re making). I think I can double it in the next 6 months. Actually… I’m thinking about doing a case study with a beginner, do you know anybody who might want to learn this stuff if I show them exactly what to do?”

Then shut up.

You’ll get questions, but they’ll have a different energy than the first time you approached them.

You’ll enroll some of your friends and family this way.

Why?

Because now you have a proven model and system and they don’t fear missing out… they’re actually missing out.

F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out) can be a powerful motivator but A.M.O. (Actually Missing Out) is even more powerful.

F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out) can be a powerful motivator but A.M.O. (Actually Missing Out) is even more powerful. Click To Tweet

Again, this isn’t a FOMO you are fabricating, they will actually be missing out because you’ll be moving on with or without them (by moving on, I mean creating profitable results!)

My favorite part about this entire strategy is that when you get back to your friends and family, you aren’t needy, you don’t have to beg, and you don’t have to hype.

You’re coming from a place of strength and of truly being able to help them.

In fact, you probably don’t even need that script above, just be yourself.
You’ll be so excited it will flow much easier.
You’ll resonate with your friends and you’ll sponsor some of them.

When you’re reaching out to people, just be sure you are not addicted to the outcome and you understand the #1 Secret of Network Marketing Recruiting that top earners use everyday….

If you’d like to learn more about the specific funnel we give our team to build online and how to get it for free, then please connect with us and we’ll tell you all about it.

Also, if you’d like to have Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you can visit our salvation page to learn how to make that happen.

Learn More….
Earn More….
AND Live with Intention!

Live Boldly!
God Bless.

Jason & Daniele
Work With Us!

reverse prospecting system