Wicker Park Sushi at O’hare airport
How can you ever say that you have a business opportunity with no selling involved? Try this example: You subscribe to Directv. You introduce Directv to a friend and he gets $100 for joining and you get $100. Introduce 10 friends a month to Directv and you will make $1000 per month. Did you sell anything?
Technically you did. You sold Directv service to your friends, letting them know that they get $100 for subscribing. Maybe you also told them you get $100, maybe not. But it did not feel like selling did it? You are giving them a great deal, they can take it or leave it, no problem either way.
What you are not doing is cold calling people, continually pushing stuff they do not want, or knocking on doors. All those bad images you get when you think about selling. You are also not bugging your friends over and over to join a company that they do not want to join. You are asking once, and letting them know the benefit if they do.
Sponsoring people can be done in a nice, laid back format similar to asking your friend if he or she would like to subscribe to Directv for $100. You offer a program to get a discount on high-quality products, or perhaps you are a little more focused and say they get 25% off high quality kitchen items like vanilla, black pepper, and cinnamon for joining. And it only costs $39.95. Let them know they will love the products and it is possible that their parents or grandparents also used the products. Many people, in fact, drive miles to buy them.
So what is being sold so far? You are making an offer for your friend to join a program or club to receive a discount on great products. I guess you are selling the membership by being honest and telling them the features and benefits of joining. It is fine if they say no, just ask for other people who might be interested. You could ask if they know other people who like to cook, for instance. Then repeat the process.
At this point nothing has been sold, at least nothing that will make you money. The products still must be purchased. Now you want to promote the idea of buying the products with the people you have signed up, but no heavy pressure. Some will buy, some will not. It is okay either way.
I do not know if I make this sound easy or not, but while it is work, it is very straight forward. Can you get rich selling household products? Let me ask you a question: Can you get rich selling computers? Can you get rich selling ice cream? Can you get rich selling beer? The answer to all: If you sell enough. And generally, you do not do it alone. You need a team, people to help. And for some of the people who just signed up as discount customers, it might just be them.
I would call it a sales business, yes. But no selling ice to Eskimos or distasteful selling. Just promoting your business, your products, and your opportunity. And of course the discount.
Are you a sales professional? Trying to recruit that next network marketing superstar? A little too focused on sales or recruiting? This is your list! I would like to present you with 10 things to do today besides selling, because you need real life sometimes. You need to be able to talk to your prospect about your children’s activities, the new movie that’s out, or a great new book you’ve read. Because if you cannot relate beyond your new awesome product, you’ve lost. You will not build a relationship or trust. Time to learn to be social.
