Subject: Motivate Your Downline
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:11:50 +1000
Hi guys & gals,
In line with what I've been saying for months and what Tim is reinforcing
below, keep the lines of communication open. Tell us what you want to do.
We will do whatever we can to help you do what you want to do to build your
business...as long as you are prepared to do it.
Until next time, have a great week,
Charles
Motivate Your Downline
By Tim Sales
"Tim, how do I motivate my downline?"
I am asked this question frequently. Let's get clear on what is meant by
the question - How do I motivate my downline? It means, "What can I do to
get them to produce more?"
Does anything work?
This is one of my favorite subjects because it's so misunderstood.
Historically people have tried the most asinine things in an attempt to
"motivate" human beings. Slavery and threatening of life, rallies and
hype-driven events, even people running across hot coals. The US Navy has
done many different experiments to try to get men to produce more. They've
tested whether men who go out drinking together produce more. They've put
men who hated each other together and men who were best friends together to
see which would produce more.
None of these have worked… for very long. People can come out of a Tony
Robbins event super excited and "motivated." But after a day or two - maybe
even a week - they're back to their previous production level.
I might as well go ahead and let the cat out of the bag because he's
practically ripping the bag open at this point. YOU CAN'T MOTIVATE YOUR
DOWNLINE! But you can get them to produce more. Which is what you really
want FOR them and FROM them anyway.
To get your downline to DO more, to get them to exhibit confidence,
cheerfulness, and discipline requires you to do two things… GET THEM
EFFECTIVE AT WHAT THEY DO and make it in their interest to do it. The US
Navy concluded that when production was high, more production occurred.
Effective training is the only thing that truly works
So for you - trying to get your downline to produce more - or produce
anything - you must train them. You might be saying, "But I train my people
every Saturday! I give them a training manual. I do conference calls." I
realize you may have been working very hard at training your downline. But,
the test of effective training is not whether you conduct training. It's
whether the student can do it! NOTHING ELSE.
List of what to train your downline
Here's how and what I recommend you train your downline on.
How to establish goals
How and what to know to be effective (most of which is on this list)
How to promote
What to say to people when they make phone calls
How to set appointments
How to present the business or products
How to sell the business or products
How to sponsor People (the correct procedures and sequence)
How to train new distributors
To get your downline to produce and produce more, you need to get them
effective in each one of these areas. When they can do each of these
things, they will be motivated because they are effective. They WILL
produce because they feel ABLE to produce.
Bomb squad trained me
I did not just come up with this system overnight. I worked it up and down
until it worked. I got the concept from something I learned in the bomb
squad.
Before my network marketing career, I was in the US Navy Bomb Squad. Only
one man is allowed to go work on a live bomb. No sense in blowing two
bomb-techs up because of one man's mistake! When we headed down to work on
the bomb, we took a piece of plexiglas and a grease pencil. When we were
getting ready to do the first step of defusing the bomb we would
a) Write what we were going to do.
b) Do the item.
c) Check it off as being done.
Then go to step two. Write it down, do it, then check it off. The reason we
did this exact sequence is because if the bomb blew up, the other bomb
squad techs knew that very valuable information was written on that piece
of plexiglas. When they retrieved the plexiglas they would see that item 1
and 2 were okay to do. But item 3 upset the bomb - don't do that step!
The items written on that Plexiglas became our "Standard Operating
Procedures." Obviously leaving out that last step that upset the bomb! It
was our sequence of defusing that bomb when we faced it again. I applied
the same principles to network marketing and the above list of activities.
These activities are the only activities that make money in network
marketing.
Be a great coach
As a coach, if you have your distributor keep a record of how many times
he/she does each activity you can coach the exact item that THAT
distributor is having a problem with. If you don't use this list and try to
coach - you're coaching on what you think the group needs. Or you're
coaching a "pet" category of your own. I've observed closely new
distributors. They don't "engage" into the business until they feel
confident in what to say to their prospects. Therefore, they need to know
how to do items 1-5 before you have them on the phone. See, it doesn't make
sense to know how to do New Distributor Training before they know how to
set appointments. I've known lots of distributors who've quit that still
know the compensation plan. I know plenty of failed distributors who know
how to train a new distributor who have never sponsored anyone.
I don't know a lot of distributors who have quit who can set appointments
and have the prospect show up. My point is, first train your distributors
to be able to invite, and then train them how to present, and then train
them how to train.
Other items important in getting your downline to produce
Ethical behavior. People will not follow (or produce for) someone who is
unethical or dishonest.
Boldness. People will follow boldness because they like following in the
footsteps of a bold leader. What does it take to be bold? You must produce
yourself. Let your downline see you face your fears. Let them see you make
phone calls, let them see you do presentations; let them see you standing
there waiting for your guests.
Be interested in them. Show your people that you are interested in their
goals. Put your front line's goals on your refrigerator. Talk to them about
their goals. This is where the "make it in their interest to do it" comes in.
Be the source of information. Always be up-to-date on the latest
information. This means you stay connected to the company's source of
information. Also, teach your downline where your sources are - otherwise
you will always be stuck with the job.
I think you can tell that I don't agree with the philosophy of "leaders are
found not made." Train your distributors to be effective and they will be
self-motivated. This is very different from you trying to "pump them up,"
which doesn't work.
Much respect and admiration,
Tim Sales
--
Charles & Kerri Green
http://gold.nonilead.com
"ANY Questions, ANY Time, Just Ask!"