The 3 Basic P’s for Network Marketing

 

              by Todd R. Bates

 

 

               Have you ever heard someone say something like, "If you’re just patient

               long enough, you will achieve your goals?" Patience is critically

               important in network marketing, but without the footwork, you’ll be

               waiting for success forever! Prospecting and persistence provide this

               footwork. In this article I will explain the significant roles of the three

               basic P’s in network marketing: prospecting, persistence, and patience.

 

 

              Prospecting

              Without question, prospecting is the key to success in network marketing. No activity is

              more basic to a viable network marketing business than prospecting on a regular basis. The

              people with whom you come in contact via your prospecting can become partners in

              business relationships that may last a lifetime. By and large, network marketers are some of

              the most dynamic and interesting people you’re likely to meet.

 

              Prospecting must become a regular activity if you truly wish to create a residual income in

              network marketing. As for myself, I spend a minimum of one to two hours every day

              prospecting on the telephone. I train my downline to establish a regular prospecting routine

              that fits their individual situations. When I’m not on the telephone, I usually have a

              prospecting tape, booklet, or something related to my business opportunity with me just in

              case I run into someone with whom I might like to work. Tangible selling aids are a big plus

              when breaking the ice with new contacts.

 

              Network marketing is a prospecting and people business. There are, however, people

              promoting "free lunch" programs that promise to build a check for you without the need for

              prospecting. Time and time again these "downline-building" programs go out of business

              without delivering what they promised to people.

 

              Persistence

              Persistence is my personal favorite of the 3 basic P’s. To understand persistence,

              take for example, the love of my life, my four-year-old daughter, Angie. Not long

              ago, we were at the park and she decided she wanted to climb up a slippery slide

              - not up the ladder, but up the slide. After two or three attempts, she looked

              back at me with an expression of frustration. I just smiled and shrugged my

              shoulders. Angie stepped back, removed her shoes, and took a deep breath and

              was up the slide like a bullet! Through her sheer persistence to get up the slide,

              she found a way.

 

              Just as persistence was critically important in my daughter’s slide experience, so it

              has been in my network marketing career. My first attempts at network marketing

              weren’t going in the right direction. This resulted in countless wasted hours and

              thousands of dollars poorly spent. But, it was a priceless education and because

              of my persistence, success started to come little by little. I could have quit years

              ago, but my love for this business and my sheer will kept me going.

 

              Patience

              For me, this has been and continues to be the hardest of the three basic P’s to

              develop. One of my best friends and a valued mentor is always reminding me to

              seek first to understand others before becoming a presenter, a teacher, a friend.

              Believe me, that takes patience. I want to be understood. I want to share my

              ideas with others. However, I am learning, that to be understood, we must first

              listen to what our prospects are telling us. If we move directly into selling our

              program, how can we possibly know what our prospects’ needs and wants really

              are? If we are patient, ask and listen, the resulting communication tells us!

 

              By mastering prospecting, persistence and patience, you can achieve success in

              network marketing. Success takes consistent, focused action over time, so apply

              these three P’s daily in your network marketing program.

 

              Todd R. Bates is a full-time network marketing professional. He is fully committed to

              network marketing and firmly believes that the industry must continue to move in the

              direction of simplicity and fairness for part-time networkers. Prior to network marketing,

              Todd was a Sales Manager, Sales and Marketing Trainer, and top Sales Representative

              for Coleman Spas, Hot Spring Spas and Sundance Portable Spas. Todd can be reached at

              (408) 253-4940 or 961 Amstutz Dr., San Jose, CA 95129.