Ok you may be wondering what is so scary about prospecting for your home business. There may be many things you have to worry about concerning the success of your home business, but one thing sticks out more than others for a lot of us. It is the thought of prospecting, cold calling and just picking up the phone period that leaves many of us network marketers “shaking in our boots”.
What is it about this necessary evil that is so intimidating? I mean what is the worst that can happen to you? I know it is all a mind over matter thing, but it still bothers me from time to time as well, even though I have been doing it for over 15 years. Even though I may not enjoy prospecting, I have learned to deal with it because I know without it, my business may be doomed.
If you have the same feeling I do about this process, please take a look at some of my ideas for coping with it in this video. I hope you find a few of these tips helpful.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaU5j1Cy2Q0[/youtube]
Thank you for watching my video and I hope you found it helpful when faced with the thought of picking up the phone and talking to potential prospects. Please feel free to leave me a comment and let us know how you overcome this fear as well. I look forward to reading your tips and strategies!
To Your Success,
Hi Glyna,
Prospecting used to be scary for me because I felt attached to the outcome. Now, I look at it as a process of delivering the info my prospect wants to hear. Whether the person joins or not is her/his decision. This mindshift makes it more enjoying to talk to people :).
Thanks for sharing!
Janette Stoll
Glyna
I can relate to this also, so much so that I prefer not to do network marketing. Found out a few things about myself all the times that I have tried it. I have decided I just usually like the product/service and love the learning about it and organising myself them I loose interest.
Belinda
Hi Glyna,
Boy, do I understand the “dreaded” 100 pound phone Gorilla! However, like you say, taking the emotion out of the calls makes a huge difference. Not being attached to the outcome helps, too. And, if I may say — when someone says “No,” they aren’t rejecting you…they are rejecting what you are offering!
I liked your point about rewarding yourself. When I was teaching English, I had lots and lots of papers to grade every week. The only way I could get through them was to make a game with a reward at the end of it all…”If I read 30 papers in this one sitting, then I can….fill in the blank.” There are uglier sides to every profession; it’s the way we deal with them that makes all the difference in the long run!
Mary Lou
Hi Glyna,
I have been very successful in my business by NOT calling prospects. I did it in the beginning but I hated it so I devised ways to get the prospects to call me. I personally sponsor at least 20 a month and I never call anyone until they have shown interest and requested info. I have been in my mlm company for almost 14 years and am very successful building a business without calling leads. It makes it so much easier to pick up the phone when you are calling people who have already shown interest.
Glyna. Luckily, I have never really had to do alot of prospecting with cold prospects. When we first started our business, we did pick up the phone quite a bit and it was extraordinarily intimidating until I found the right approach and message. As the years went on, we found inbound marketing and networking in person to be the best source of quality leads. I give plenty of credit to people that hit the phones every day to earn a living – it is a challenge but one worth taking on for many business people. Thanks for sharing. Scott Pollov
Hi Glyna,
Just watched your video. You touched upon something that I really related to; you suggested that we bypass the negative people and that we seek out the positive people. Once I focused on doing just that I started to have fun on the phone. I’m not saying my results improved (I still have to get better at following up) but it’s a lot more fun talking to positive people than it is talking to the negative ones. Just have to be aware that some of the positive people are just being nice for the sake of being nice and they have no intention of doing business with you. Sort of a catch 22. Looking forward to seeing more from you.
Roland
Glyna,
I love working the phone. I made it a habit many years ago that working the phone an hour a day is just part of my day. Now I do most of my work strictly by referrals.
Thanks for the plug my friend. January is coming!
Glyna,
Great tips that can be used in every business. I like your perspective on other people’s “stuff.” It’s not a personal rejection, it’s just a no, nothing more, nothing less.
Thanks for sharing your personal story with us,
Val 😉
Hey Glyna,
Great video. I used to buy so called “real time” leads. I spent a year calling people while they were at dinner, wondering what the heck I was calling about. It was a great learning experience, but I’ll never do it again. That is one of the things that pushed me into seeking the knowledge and skills of online marketing.
With that being said, once you build a reputation of being a leader online (much like yourself) and make those true connections online, it turns into a friendly conversation that sometimes leads into a joint venture, a business partner, or just a friendly conversation. If the goal is just to connect, it takes the pressure off and you end up finding the exact right people to work with.
People join people in business they know, like and trust, and part of that trust is them trusting that you can lead/teach them how to be successful. You obviously have that down.
Hi Glyna,
Great post and video! You had some great tips on reducing to eliminating the fear of calling prospects.
I especially like your suggestion to feel sorry for the ones who are impolite or even rude. You say to feel sorry for them and I’ve actually had the same thoughts after a rejection and it really does make me feel better.
Your rewards you give yourself for making all the calls you planned on is very good as well. You can certainly be creative here and really motivate yourself.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on making prospecting easier.
Dawn and (Dave)
Janette – That is an awesome point! It is hard to do sometimes but if you make it a mindset then it would definitely come in handy! Thanks for the tip!
Thank you Dave and Dawn – I appreciate the comment! It is easy to feel sorry for rude people because they must be extremely miserable if they are that mean to everyone else!
Hi Nick – Yes it is such a better way of doing things when it is possible – I definitely agree:) Thank you for your comment!
Exactly Val – It is easy to take it personally when you are in the moment – this is a great point you have! Thank You
It is great to set a time to get this done. It may not be the most fun thing to do – but if you schedule it – you are more likely to make it happen! Thanks Bill
Yes – I run into that “catch 22” a lot too Roland. It is great that people are choosing to be nice – but I wish they would tell me when they are not interested instead of dragging me along for months – only to find out after all the work of following up. Hey – at least they are positive – we have to start somewhere:) Thanks for your comment
Hi Scott – Yes – I do a lot of face to face networking myself. It is much more pleasant than working the phones all of the time. However, it is important that we do a little bit of everything in order to be successful! Thanks for your comment!