« Take Action Now | Home | Google Gadget Marketing »
Don’t Tell Them Anything Until You Can Tell Them Everything
By action | January 23, 2008
Don’t Tell Them Anything Until You Can Tell Them Everything
What a waste of $14.50!
My wife and I went and saw the movie Cloverfield this evening and it was nauseating. Now let me first say that I’m a huge fan of sci-fi movies but this one was brutal. We spent an 1 hourĀ and 24 minutes getting nauseous. The entire movie is shot like the Blair Witch Project using a “handy cam” style of producing a movie. You can watch the movie trailer of Cloverfield here.
After driving home from the theater it made me think of the “Curiosity Approach” that a lot of MLM companies use to build their downline’s. You know, they tell you just enough to peak your curiosity and draw you in. Well that is what the Cloverfield trailer did for me – it drew me in. It gave me just enough information to convince me to go out in a 12 degree Utah evening and flop down $14.50 to watch their movie.
So what is the “curiosity approach” and how is it used by “most” MLMers?
“(the) curiosity approach”: (action)
An on-going approach used by distributors to contact prospects. It creates curiosity in the prospect so he will want to continue to learn more. Part of this approach is to “answer a question with a question” or even “dance around the subject” of the business. Some approaches are:
- “Maybe you can help me out. I’m in the process of expanding a business in the area and I’m looking for a ‘go-getter’ type. Do you know anybody like that?”
- “I’m working on a business with some associates and you may qualify. Let me get your number and get back to you later.”
- “I’m expanding a business in this area with some business associates and we’re looking for some ‘key people’ to help us.”
- “Have you ever thought about making some extra income? Let me give you a call later in the week an I’ll tell you what it is we’re doing.”
- “I’m working with some doctors in the area who are looking for some sharp people. Let’s sit down later in the week and discuss it.”
- “Have you ever looked at other ways of making money? Let’s get together later and talk about it.”
The downside of the curiosity approach is the feeling that something must be hidden; in order to be successful you must learn to hide the truth, if not to outright lie. The curiosity approach takes a lot of time and practice to do well, and will backfire often.
You never want to hide the fact that they are in the business of promoting a network marketing, multilevel marketing, mlm etc. business. When someone asks you “is this mlm” tell them “YES.”
Having said all of that let me now say that I believe you do not tell your prospect anything until you can tell them everything.
If you try to blurt out all of the details of what your product does, how deep the compensation plan pays etc. etc. when you first meet a prospect chances are you will scare them off.
I work my business mainly online and that means using a lot of email marketing. Most of the time an email will be the first way in which I prospect a potential new associate.
You will find using email marketing is a dirt cheap way to prospect and if done correctly can be very profitable. One of the main things I have learned over the last decade or so of working online and sending email is that if you say to much in your email you run the risk of having your email filtered and sent to the junk or delete box.
So in my opinion it is OK to use the curiosity approach for the initial approach but when asked a direct question respect your prospect enough to give them a direct truthful answer back. If you try to “dance around the facts” you WILL NOT recruit this person and you are only wasting both your time as well as theirs.
Click the “comments” link to tell me what you think of this post.
J.R. Jackson
Topics: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
7 Responses to “Don’t Tell Them Anything Until You Can Tell Them Everything”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:06 pm
JR, I have to agree. Tell them just enough so they will want to go to the website and view the presentation. If it is a fit, they will click on A or B.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:34 pm
You got it Pete!
Too many people have “information constipation” and they throwup all of this useless information (sorry for the visual but it is true) all over their prospect.
Keep it simple. Collect their info first so they are added to your autoresponder (remember, your list is EVERYTHING) and then have them listen, read or watch a full presentation on your company.
When the presentation is over you have to STRIKE and find out if they are serious or just curious.
J.R.
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I agree, peak their interest first! Answer all questions honestly, if you don’t know the answer, get it from someone who does and answer the prospect ASAP. Don’t overlook opportunities, if they haven’t visited the website, meet them forlunch at a place with Wi-Fi and make your presentation there. Don’t let leads grow cold, but don’t be obnoxious! (Sometimes maybe just a little!.)
January 24th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Great tip Joe!
Don’t let leads get old. I have found that every 24-hours you can cut the success of converting a lead into a recruit into half.
So in a few short days you no longer have HOT leads you have junk leads.
J.R.
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Thanks JR, that was an outstanding post! I blew away a lot of potential associates by overwhelming them with information. Remembering that the Inviter is not the Presenter, yet openly handling the prospect’s questions is a tough skill to master. One thing that assisted me with this was when Mr. Watson stressed to me the importance of establishing that I am in a hurry or do not have a lot of time. If the prospect knows ahead of time that you have to get going, then they are more understanding about not asking a bunch of questions and more likely to give you their contact info.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:39 am
Hey J.R. Thanks for the phone call, you gave me some great information. Lot’s of new things to consider. Great Stuff!
August 9th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Great information again. Thanks J.R!