If there is one thing I have learned in the 14 years of trying to grow a successful home-based business in network marketing, it is that call-backs are usually worthless. Whether it's someone you have spoken with for only one minute, or someone who has gone through your whole presentation, calling them back is one of the biggest detriments to your business!
First of all, let's get the people out of the way who can't even find the time to say hello. Let's say you call them, introduce yourself and let them know why you are calling. They say "Oh. I don't have time to talk right now. I have to drive my sister to the grocery store." Instead of asking them when a better time would be to call them back, just leave your name and phone number and tell them to call you. That's it. Over and done. They obviously know what the situation is and why you called, right? You are looking for people serious enough to call you when they are ready instead of you tracking them down. Just doing that alone frees up about five hours of your week that you would've wasted on people who were never interested in the first place.
As far as people go who have listened to your presentation, the same thinking applies. With so many people out there in the world who are marketing similar products or services, you have one and only one chance at closing your sale. Gone are the days of spending long hours trying to chase down people who sat on the fence of indecision, and with them went all of the frustration and struggles I encountered trying to grow my business. When I understood that call-backs were actually hindering my business, things started to move in a forward motion. Here are the three main reason why, and what you can do instead to get the ball rolling.
1. Call-Backs Make You Seem Desperate
When you keep the ball in your court by telling a prospect you will call them back in a few days, weeks or months, it makes you seem desperate for their business. What does this say about you and your product or service? It says that you have to work at selling yourself and what you have to offer. The prospect could take this as a sign that your products are not as great as they seem and that they are difficult to sell.
Distributors usually offer to call-back a prospect because they want to seem accessible and willing to go out of their way to help them. Don't assume this is the impression you are giving them. Instead of being their humble servant, make them call you back. That's right, I said they should call you. Why? Because it tells them that they must be responsible for their own business and you will help them, but you won't hold their hand. You'll get more respect by giving them the feeling that your business must be good if you don't have time to waste convincing them to join.
2. The Prospect Just Isn't Ready Or It's The Wrong Prospect
If a prospect cannot make a decision after they've heard all about the benefits of what you have to offer, they are either not ready or they never will be. It's a sad but true fact that you need to come to grips with if you want to successfully grow a home-based business. With all the people out there who really do have a need, want or desire for what you have, don't focus on chasing the ones who can't make up their mind.
What happens when you go out of your way to convince someone to do something they aren't ready for? They will eventually regret it and the person who pushed thim into submission. If they do not wind up quitting because of non-activity on their part, they will probably wind up being someone who you wish you never met. Remember, you had to call them back because they were indecisive. Just think of how much help they will need once they are enrolled into your organization.
3. Stops Forward Momentum
The biggest reason why call-backs are detrimental to the growth of your business is because it's a time waster. What happens when you spend the bulk of your day tracking down people who basically already told you "no"? It doesn't leave enough time for you to find your target audience. People who want what you have to offer will not make excuses and expect you to call them back. Time is precious, and you must spend your time on those who deserve it.
Once you have a proven closing script that focuses on their needs, all you should have to do is follow it. If they cannot make a decision during this call, then that is it. Cut your losses and move on to the next prospect. You are not in the business of convicing. You must learn to develop a "you-snooze-you-lose" attitude, and speak as though it is the last time you will hear from them unless they call you back.
If you are in the habbit of calling prospects back after they have declined your offer once already, you need to be educated on how to be a marketer. All of these detrimental things happen to people who haven't positioned themselves as a leader, and that is the most important aspect of marketing. A leader will not call a person back no matter what their excuse because the education teaches a certain mindset that must be understood. It involves sincere enthusiasm about the prospect and not themselves. It involves developing a certain smoothness that is critical when prospecting over the telephone. It also involves listening and understanding the prospect.
I remember going out of my way to convince people that what I had would benefit everyone in one way or another. This may have been the case, but when I learned the difference between distributing and marketing, my business exploded. I understood that it is not about selling, it's about buying. Only proper education pointed me in the right direction, and I had to look outside of my parent company to get it. Unfortunately, there is a reason for the 95% drop-out rate in network marketing.
People are being educated on how to sell a few products instead of how to grow an organization though marketing. I help people so they don't have to waste 14 years on trial and error to become successful like I did. Instead of calling prospects back, learn from my mistakes and change your way of thinking. Move on to the next without looking back. It is just one of the many differences between success and failure, but it is important none-the-less.
William Winch is a Business Growth Specialist whose mission is helping people expand and explode their home-based businesses without breaking the bank. A former High School and College Business Educator and Counselor, he mentors from his home office in Rochester, NY. If you are interested in learning how to explode and expand your home-based business, you can contact William by visiting his website at http://www.thefreemlmpowerreport.com or by calling him directly at (585) 234-5283.
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