MLM: I Hate to Sell

Have you ever heard this from a prospect? Maybe you've even said it yourself. It's funny that I've been in professional selling for well over 30 years and I still hate to sell. Why do we all hate to sell so much?

I believe it has to do with our perceptions of selling. Most of us think of salespeople as pushy - selling people things they don't want or need. Who would feel good about doing that? Yet, sales is one of our most important occupations. Think of how difficult it would be for the surgeon to perform lifesaving surgery without instruments, pharmaceuticals, gowns, masks, and medical equipment.
Salespeople sold all of those things to the Dr., clinic or hospital.

Selling is nothing more that finding a need and filling it. You already know what needs your products/services fulfill, so your job is to ask questions and find people who have those needs.

Selling is sharing. If you believe in your products/services, you will want to tell everyone about them. You will share your success stories and those of other distributors and customers. No, not everyone is going to buy. Even though they need what you have, they may still say no. That's ok.

I would love to tell you that you can succeed in network marketing without selling. That the products sell themselves, but frankly my products have never jumped off the shelf and convinced a prospect of their value. You will need to sell people on the value of your products and opportunity. So, how do you learn to sell.

Well, actually we are all very natural salespeople. Think about the last time you really wanted to go to your favorite restaurant and your spouse or a friend wanted to go somewhere else. What did you do to convince him or her? You sold the benefits of the restaurant: the great environment, service and food, how much fun it would be, how excellent the food tastes, and so on.

There are many good books and tapes on selling. My favorite book is How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. Also, check your local paper for local seminars on selling. If you have a community college in your town, they may also have classes on sales that you can take in the evening.

The key to sales is to find a need, explain the benefits of the products and how they will help your prospect fill his or her need. If you have built some solid trust and have successfully shown the benefits, the prospect will probably buy. If he or she doesn't, find out why. If they are still misinformed, find printed information that will educate them and ask them to try your products again. If they still don't buy, keep good records and contact them periodically with new information. Don't hassle them, educate them.
Very soon you will have a good customer who will most likely turn into your best distributor.

Selling makes the world go round and makes your network marketing business grow.

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