Break the Communication Barriers

[cciappa]

In any network marketing or MLM opportunity there exists some significant immediate hurdles to overcome. Chief among these is language and communication difficulties early on for new representatives. Let's take a quick look at what these difficulties are and how to overcome them.

First, as an example of what is meant by language and communication difficulties lets imagine two people. The first an immigrant from China, whose first language is of course Chinese, to a country whose primary language is english. The other, an immigrant to the same english speaking country, but this person is from Spain and spanish is their first language. Neither of these folks speak really outstanding english because it is a second language for both of them. As you can well imagine when these two folks begin trying to communicate in english there exists a tremendous obstacle to overcome because neither person is all that well versed in english, both have heavy accents, and both have difficulties with completing sentances and thoughts in thier second language. While they may get by and be able to understand each other to some degree, there is likely a lot lost in what the first person wants to really communicate to the second. A third person who spoke all languages would be of great assistance or even a third person who was an expert in english and that could make out what each of the two immigrants were trying to communicate would be exceptionally helpful in conveying the true message.

The same problem exists for new distributors in an MLM or network marketing opportunity. This is because many times a new distributor in an MLM company is not exceptionally well versed in MLM or network marketing, the industry in general, compensation plans, marketing plans, and sometimes not even all that well versed in the products or services their new business/company offers.

As you can imagine if the person they are speaking to is also not familiar with MLM or network marketing, and has only a vague idea about the industry, the compensation & marketing plans, or the particular products or services offered by a specific company, it is very analgous to the two immigrants above trying to speak in a language that neither is very well versed in.

The solution in all cases is a knowledgable third party who can effectively explain and answer questions about the business, industry, compensation & marketing plans, and products and services offered. Whether this is done via a three way call, a conference call, a meeting, or an audio/video recording the fact remains it is frequently necessary and usually very helpful to getting new business participants off to a good start for this type of third party intervention to occur when a new representative is beginning in an MLM or network marketing endeavor.

Consequently it is strongly recommended that you utilize these mechanisms in your opportunity and also remember the more personal they are the more effective they are. Thus a three way call with a leader who you can lend credibility to and who is well versed in explaining the business is usually more effective than simply handing someone a recorded message. A personal appointment or bringing someone to a local opportunity meeting will almost always yield better results than simply handing someone a video. After all, wouldnt you prefer to hear it straight from the horses mouth so to speak. In any case, you should most definitely utilize a third party whenever possible until you become more and more expert on your business, industry, and opportunity. Simply put, IT WORKS! The folks that will be assisting you have an interest in seeing you succeed so they will likely be very willing to help. If you can not find someone willing keep looking upline throughout your organization, you WILL eventually find someone that can and would love to help you. The key though is you have to take action.

Readers, please comment or provide feedback and your thoughts about this.

[successcoach]

Personal touch is everything, including this business.
The more you show you care about people, the more they will respond. It is easy to use technology for recruiting but people join people, not answering machines and automated messages. I have found this by trial and error and I emphatically agree with the author of this post.

[DanPhx]

Chris,
Well written. Easy to read.

I like the foreign language analogy.

A good friend of mine is the director of the Interpreter program at a college. She once explained to me the difference between "translator" and "interpreter."

Word for word translation (even accounting for slang words and phrases) of a conversation is one thing. But, people from different cultures actually benefit more from interpretation of the message - at the "idea" level, not the "sentence" level.

It's a much more difficult skill to acquire because it requires understand of both cultures involved, not just both languages.

To extend that concept to a network marketing context I suppose the parallel would be if the "experienced" person started by getting to know the prospect "enough" to tailor the information in a manner that is most effective to the prospect (i.e. one packaging/presentation doesn't fit all).

Does any one really think that Chemical Engineers and Janitors communicate in the same way? Not so much.

Well, maybe only the people who create/deliver/sell the one-size-fits-all type of "training"