A Leader Must Know...
What The Organization Is Doing
By Michael S. Clouse
Attended a Network Marketing training the other day. A nice group of people who were, for the most part, just getting started in the business. The instructor seemed to know his material, and was a good presenter. In fact, everything was going along quite smoothly, until the incident...
Let me ask you a question. If you could design, and then create, the perfect organization of distributors, what would it look like? How large? How skilled? How duplicatable?
Duplicatable? Oh! There's that word again! Why is this concept of repeating an agreed upon methodology so vitality important to the long-term success of your enterprise? Let me explain...
It has been said, and rightly so, the only commonality religions of the world share is belief. All asking you to consider as true, things you may, or may not, fully understand and at times can't necessarily prove. Right or wrong, that's the way theology works. And your Network Marketing business should function pretty much that way too. Everyone singing off the same hymnal. Now that's not a bad idea.
Here's the problem. From a leadership perspective, our profession doesn't tend to attract drones. To the contrary; this form of entrepreneurial experience entices the motivated maven movers and shakers of the J.O.B. Community. And then, as soon as we've enrolled our newest potential superstars, we allow them to tell us how they're going to build the business. Who knows, perhaps that explains why we have but one true God, and so many different downlines!
How about you? How are you doing with this duplication thing? Fair? Average? Great? And based upon your answer, if there were a simple way to predict your Networking future, would you be interested in peering into the vast unknown? Because we all have two ways to view the future - one with anticipation, the other, with apprehension - I'll share the information, and leave the rest to you.
Go get a copy of your organizational printout - you know the one your company will send after you've signed your life away, and usually paid a small fee. Next, select one, two, or three individuals from each different level shown on said report. After highlighting these - making sure you randomly choose some new, some old, some successful, some not - pick up the telephone and give them a call. After all, if they're in your business, getting to know them would be the right thing to do.
Introduce yourself, ask if they have a few minutes to speak with you, and let them know the reason for your call; you're conducting a little survey, and were hoping they could help you out. Find out how long they've been with your company, why they decided to enroll, their favorite product, and so on, and so forth.
What you ask is really dependent on what you would like to discover. However, I would suggest you prepare your list of about ten questions, to avoid the possibility of winging it... And then somewhere along the way, shift your inquiry to the business structure. In essence, where are they finding prospects? How are they introducing the business? What audiotapes, or videotapes do they use? Are they attending the weekly events, etc.
What you're looking for, of course, is "top to bottom, left to right, everyone being on the same page" commonality. By the way, we don't live in a perfect world, and, therefore, that probably won't be the case. However, you do need to discover if the overall system is in place. Even if the people and personalities are different, the principles and processes should be the same. Because in Network Marketing, duplication is what success looks like!
Back to my story - you remember, the incident... What this instructor went on to say in part was, "We are now going to conduct business a new way." That "new way" was not approved by corporate, and would, if implemented, eliminate upline, downline, and crossline, taking money out of other people's pockets, and potentially placing it directly into his... Not a good idea.
Luckily, this issue was quickly discovered, and immediately corrected. Which reminds me that over a lifetime, parents, and yes, even Network Marketing leaders, need to be asking, "Do I know what my children are doing?" Believe me, finding out is a better than great idea.
Therefore, if you would like to improve your duplication, get your printout, make the calls, and then find out what everyone's up to... Armed with that information, seek out the counsel of someone in your upline you respect, and then make the necessary adjustments. Because a leader must know what the organization is doing.
All the best,
MSC
©1999 by Michael S. Clouse — All International Rights Reserved.
Let me ask you a question. If you could design, and then create, the perfect organization of distributors, what would it look like? How large? How skilled? How duplicatable?
Duplicatable? Oh! There's that word again! Why is this concept of repeating an agreed upon methodology so vitality important to the long-term success of your enterprise? Let me explain...
It has been said, and rightly so, the only commonality religions of the world share is belief. All asking you to consider as true, things you may, or may not, fully understand and at times can't necessarily prove. Right or wrong, that's the way theology works. And your Network Marketing business should function pretty much that way too. Everyone singing off the same hymnal. Now that's not a bad idea.
Here's the problem. From a leadership perspective, our profession doesn't tend to attract drones. To the contrary; this form of entrepreneurial experience entices the motivated maven movers and shakers of the J.O.B. Community. And then, as soon as we've enrolled our newest potential superstars, we allow them to tell us how they're going to build the business. Who knows, perhaps that explains why we have but one true God, and so many different downlines!
How about you? How are you doing with this duplication thing? Fair? Average? Great? And based upon your answer, if there were a simple way to predict your Networking future, would you be interested in peering into the vast unknown? Because we all have two ways to view the future - one with anticipation, the other, with apprehension - I'll share the information, and leave the rest to you.
Go get a copy of your organizational printout - you know the one your company will send after you've signed your life away, and usually paid a small fee. Next, select one, two, or three individuals from each different level shown on said report. After highlighting these - making sure you randomly choose some new, some old, some successful, some not - pick up the telephone and give them a call. After all, if they're in your business, getting to know them would be the right thing to do.
Introduce yourself, ask if they have a few minutes to speak with you, and let them know the reason for your call; you're conducting a little survey, and were hoping they could help you out. Find out how long they've been with your company, why they decided to enroll, their favorite product, and so on, and so forth.
What you ask is really dependent on what you would like to discover. However, I would suggest you prepare your list of about ten questions, to avoid the possibility of winging it... And then somewhere along the way, shift your inquiry to the business structure. In essence, where are they finding prospects? How are they introducing the business? What audiotapes, or videotapes do they use? Are they attending the weekly events, etc.
What you're looking for, of course, is "top to bottom, left to right, everyone being on the same page" commonality. By the way, we don't live in a perfect world, and, therefore, that probably won't be the case. However, you do need to discover if the overall system is in place. Even if the people and personalities are different, the principles and processes should be the same. Because in Network Marketing, duplication is what success looks like!
Back to my story - you remember, the incident... What this instructor went on to say in part was, "We are now going to conduct business a new way." That "new way" was not approved by corporate, and would, if implemented, eliminate upline, downline, and crossline, taking money out of other people's pockets, and potentially placing it directly into his... Not a good idea.
Luckily, this issue was quickly discovered, and immediately corrected. Which reminds me that over a lifetime, parents, and yes, even Network Marketing leaders, need to be asking, "Do I know what my children are doing?" Believe me, finding out is a better than great idea.
Therefore, if you would like to improve your duplication, get your printout, make the calls, and then find out what everyone's up to... Armed with that information, seek out the counsel of someone in your upline you respect, and then make the necessary adjustments. Because a leader must know what the organization is doing.
All the best,
MSC
©1999 by Michael S. Clouse — All International Rights Reserved.