Getting Your Prospects to Say Yes By Listening to Them
Getting Your Prospects to Say Yes By Listening to Them
By Dr. Joe Rubino
You are so proud to be associated with your wonderful
company. You have truly great products. They're unique
and everyone needs them. And your opportunity is simply
life changing! You just know that if your prospect knew
what you know about all this, he or she would surely
get in. So, in your enthusiasm to share everything you
know about your company, products and opportunity, you
dump a truckload of information on your unsuspecting
prospects in the hope that something you say will be
of interest and surely impress them.
Then Mr. Prospect tells you, "Thanks, but I'm not
interested."
What? Surely they can't be serious. Ah! They must not
have enough information to make an intelligent decision.
Perhaps, you need to mention about the rare and exotic
ingredients in your products or maybe tell them all
about the exciting seminar you just attended. And you
can surely tell them about your revolutionary
compensation plan that pays double eagle commanders
all the way to infinity!
"What's that you say, Mr. Prospect, you're still not
interested? How can that be?"
If you are like most new, excited distributors, you
have probably played out the above scenario on at
least a few occasions. In your rush to convince your
prospects that they absolutely must join you, you
forget to listen to them, discover their needs and
desires and look to see how your company, products
and opportunity might impact their lives.
You must first listen to them in order to create an
opening for them to want to listen to what you have
to share.
If this critical "listening" was missing, Mr. or
Mrs. Prospect likely tuned you out. They were off in
the Bahamas, thinking about the million things on their
minds that day while you were rambling on and on about
101 things important to you... things that they could
care less about at this point!
So, how do you get your prospect's attention and have
a conversation that effectively generates interest and
creates value and rich possibilities?
Here's a sequence of 5 easy steps you might follow
to ensure that your prospecting conversations hit
their mark.
1. Break the ice and develop rapport.
Your prospect must first get to know you, like you
and trust you before you can hope to be heard. Be
a friend. Show them that you care about them and
are interested in more than just getting them to do
something you want them to do!
2. Get their permission to ask them a few questions
in order to get to know them better.
Your questions can be in the areas of their family,
where they live, their occupation and their passions,
hobbies and things they enjoy doing in their spare time,
like on weekends and vacations. You can remember these
key points to touch on as FLOP (family, live, occupation,
passion).
Simply say something like, "Sally, before I share a bit
about our company, products and opportunity, would it
be ok if I ask you a few questions to get to know you
better so that I might learn how what we have to offer
might be a fit for you?"
"Great! Please tell me a little bit about yourself,
where you live or where you are from, a little about
your family and what you do for a living."
Ask additional questions as they offer information
about who they are and what's important to them.
Discover where the "pain" is in their lives, uncovering
those things that are not working or may be missing
to meet their wants and needs. Perhaps it's not enough
money to realize their life goals and dreams. Maybe
it's not enough time to spend with their family or
do those things they love to do. Maybe they are tired
of their job and are looking for a change to a more
rewarding and stimulating lifestyle. Use every
opportunity to deepen the relationship and better
develop the rapport with them.
3. Create extraordinary value and rich possibilities
by sharing a little about your company, products and
opportunity as it relates to those things they told
you were important to them or missing in their lives.
Stop to ask frequent questions and get their feedback.
If you are doing more than 50% of the talking, a red
flag should go up for you! Any time you catch yourself
monopolizing the conversation, take a breather and ask
a question that gets them sharing again.
4. Speak your commitment to them and to their success,
should they decide to join you in partnership.
They must have absolutely no doubt that you are or
will be successful and if they join you and follow
your lead, they will as well. Your tone must be
confident and enthusiastic. Your job is to offer
your prospects a gift that can greatly contribute
to their lives. Of course, your posture must never
be pushy, arrogant or argumentative. Give up your
right to make your prospects do anything and simply
look for a way to contribute to their lives.
5. Make a request that brings your prospect closer
to taking some action that supports their interests.
Perhaps it might be to listen to a conference call,
review a package, attend a meeting, speak with your
sponsor or purchase some products. The request must
clearly be seen to be in the prospect's best interest.
If your request is only self-serving, your prospect
will have little motivation to comply with it.
When you have built a solid foundation of trust and
respect by listening to where your prospect's life
can be enriched by your products and opportunity,
they will naturally be attracted to you and to what
you have to offer.
In next month's article, we'll talk about identifying
exactly how you and your prospect is listening so
that you can shift your listening to better support
both your prospect and an effective outcome to the
conversation. Until then, you might practice your
listening skills as we discussed above by committing
to several prospecting conversations daily.
Live long and sponsor!
Dr. Joe Rubino is an internationally acclaimed trainer,
author and success coach. He is the author of the best
selling book, "Secrets Of Building A Million-Dollar
Network-Marketing Organization From A Guy Who's Been
There Done That And Shows You How To Do It, Too" which
has been called by industry experts the best book
available on how to build a successful MLM business.
He is also the author of "The Power to Succeed - 30
Principles For Maximizing Your Personal Effectiveness"
(from which this article was adapted), as well as
8 other best-selling books available in 16 languages
and 46 countries. He is the creator of the acclaimed
CD album and workbook, "10 Weeks to Network Marketing
Success: The Secrets to Launching Your Very Own
Million-Dollar Organization In a 10-Week
Business-Building and Personal-Development
Self-Study Course." He is also the cofounder
of "Conversations for Success", a 3-day course in
personal and productivity development for network
marketers. For more information on Dr. Rubino's
coaching programs, books, tapes, CDs and courses,
visit centerforpersonalreinvention.com
By Dr. Joe Rubino
You are so proud to be associated with your wonderful
company. You have truly great products. They're unique
and everyone needs them. And your opportunity is simply
life changing! You just know that if your prospect knew
what you know about all this, he or she would surely
get in. So, in your enthusiasm to share everything you
know about your company, products and opportunity, you
dump a truckload of information on your unsuspecting
prospects in the hope that something you say will be
of interest and surely impress them.
Then Mr. Prospect tells you, "Thanks, but I'm not
interested."
What? Surely they can't be serious. Ah! They must not
have enough information to make an intelligent decision.
Perhaps, you need to mention about the rare and exotic
ingredients in your products or maybe tell them all
about the exciting seminar you just attended. And you
can surely tell them about your revolutionary
compensation plan that pays double eagle commanders
all the way to infinity!
"What's that you say, Mr. Prospect, you're still not
interested? How can that be?"
If you are like most new, excited distributors, you
have probably played out the above scenario on at
least a few occasions. In your rush to convince your
prospects that they absolutely must join you, you
forget to listen to them, discover their needs and
desires and look to see how your company, products
and opportunity might impact their lives.
You must first listen to them in order to create an
opening for them to want to listen to what you have
to share.
If this critical "listening" was missing, Mr. or
Mrs. Prospect likely tuned you out. They were off in
the Bahamas, thinking about the million things on their
minds that day while you were rambling on and on about
101 things important to you... things that they could
care less about at this point!
So, how do you get your prospect's attention and have
a conversation that effectively generates interest and
creates value and rich possibilities?
Here's a sequence of 5 easy steps you might follow
to ensure that your prospecting conversations hit
their mark.
1. Break the ice and develop rapport.
Your prospect must first get to know you, like you
and trust you before you can hope to be heard. Be
a friend. Show them that you care about them and
are interested in more than just getting them to do
something you want them to do!
2. Get their permission to ask them a few questions
in order to get to know them better.
Your questions can be in the areas of their family,
where they live, their occupation and their passions,
hobbies and things they enjoy doing in their spare time,
like on weekends and vacations. You can remember these
key points to touch on as FLOP (family, live, occupation,
passion).
Simply say something like, "Sally, before I share a bit
about our company, products and opportunity, would it
be ok if I ask you a few questions to get to know you
better so that I might learn how what we have to offer
might be a fit for you?"
"Great! Please tell me a little bit about yourself,
where you live or where you are from, a little about
your family and what you do for a living."
Ask additional questions as they offer information
about who they are and what's important to them.
Discover where the "pain" is in their lives, uncovering
those things that are not working or may be missing
to meet their wants and needs. Perhaps it's not enough
money to realize their life goals and dreams. Maybe
it's not enough time to spend with their family or
do those things they love to do. Maybe they are tired
of their job and are looking for a change to a more
rewarding and stimulating lifestyle. Use every
opportunity to deepen the relationship and better
develop the rapport with them.
3. Create extraordinary value and rich possibilities
by sharing a little about your company, products and
opportunity as it relates to those things they told
you were important to them or missing in their lives.
Stop to ask frequent questions and get their feedback.
If you are doing more than 50% of the talking, a red
flag should go up for you! Any time you catch yourself
monopolizing the conversation, take a breather and ask
a question that gets them sharing again.
4. Speak your commitment to them and to their success,
should they decide to join you in partnership.
They must have absolutely no doubt that you are or
will be successful and if they join you and follow
your lead, they will as well. Your tone must be
confident and enthusiastic. Your job is to offer
your prospects a gift that can greatly contribute
to their lives. Of course, your posture must never
be pushy, arrogant or argumentative. Give up your
right to make your prospects do anything and simply
look for a way to contribute to their lives.
5. Make a request that brings your prospect closer
to taking some action that supports their interests.
Perhaps it might be to listen to a conference call,
review a package, attend a meeting, speak with your
sponsor or purchase some products. The request must
clearly be seen to be in the prospect's best interest.
If your request is only self-serving, your prospect
will have little motivation to comply with it.
When you have built a solid foundation of trust and
respect by listening to where your prospect's life
can be enriched by your products and opportunity,
they will naturally be attracted to you and to what
you have to offer.
In next month's article, we'll talk about identifying
exactly how you and your prospect is listening so
that you can shift your listening to better support
both your prospect and an effective outcome to the
conversation. Until then, you might practice your
listening skills as we discussed above by committing
to several prospecting conversations daily.
Live long and sponsor!
Dr. Joe Rubino is an internationally acclaimed trainer,
author and success coach. He is the author of the best
selling book, "Secrets Of Building A Million-Dollar
Network-Marketing Organization From A Guy Who's Been
There Done That And Shows You How To Do It, Too" which
has been called by industry experts the best book
available on how to build a successful MLM business.
He is also the author of "The Power to Succeed - 30
Principles For Maximizing Your Personal Effectiveness"
(from which this article was adapted), as well as
8 other best-selling books available in 16 languages
and 46 countries. He is the creator of the acclaimed
CD album and workbook, "10 Weeks to Network Marketing
Success: The Secrets to Launching Your Very Own
Million-Dollar Organization In a 10-Week
Business-Building and Personal-Development
Self-Study Course." He is also the cofounder
of "Conversations for Success", a 3-day course in
personal and productivity development for network
marketers. For more information on Dr. Rubino's
coaching programs, books, tapes, CDs and courses,
visit centerforpersonalreinvention.com
