You make yourself distinguished in network marketing(and any business for that matter) by knowing your prospects. This also shows that you are "interested in them".
I have found that prospects are most willing to give out the majority of their information, such as cell phone number, hours they work, the pattern of their week, personal likes/dislikes, their family, etc., in the first two times you talk to them. This information is what you use to build a relationship with them. But you have to earn the right to ask for this additional information.
Continuing with the Hot Prospecting Tip Series, Tip #5 is: Early in the prospecting cycle, get as much information as you can. It may be more difficult to get the information later on. Why? Because early on it's just the two of you talking and getting to know one another - no other person has interfered and said anything negative about your MLM business or you. Very often, as time progresses other people make comments that can cause your prospect to hesitate.
Here is the type of information you want on the first or second call:
*Phone number (home and cell)
*Email address
*Hours that they are at work
*Hours they are at home
*When is their private time that you do not call?
*What is the pattern of their day, week, etc.?
*Children's name(s)
*What spouse does professionally
*Hobbies and interests
You can also ask for more personal information. If you find out that person's hobby is golf, write down: Bob likes golf. If in the conversation you hear a baby crying in the background, ask something like, "How old is your child? Boy or girl? Oh, what is her name?" You should not sound like you're interrogating but like you're truly interested. There's a difference.
Each prospect is different; listen carefully and know when you are pushing too hard. If you're someone who follows my training, this may sound a lot like Communication Quality #4 in Professional Inviter: Use the right amount of assertiveness.
You are being too aggressive with prospects if you outright say, "What's your cell phone number?" Your prospect will feel uncomfortable and probably will not give their information if you approach them this way.
But let's suppose you went through a good greeting and qualifying and you find out what your prospect wants--so you invite them to a meeting, or to watch a video about your MLM business.
Here is an example of earning your right to ask for more information: You say, "There's a video you need to see that can solve this. It explains a lot about what you want." Give information about how they can watch the video.
Then say, "When would be a good time for us to talk after you've looked at it?" That prospect says, "Tomorrow at 3:00 pm." And you say, "Then I'll call you tomorrow at 3:00 pm. What is the best number to reach you?" Very often they will give you their cell phone number as an alternative number. You wouldn't be too assertive if you asked for additional information like this.
When you're going to meet with them you could also say, "Let me give you my cell number just in case we can't find each other." Give your number then ask, "Do you have a cell number?"
During your first greeting you can (and I recommend it) ask things like, "What's your typical day like?" Or, "Do you have any days off during the week?"
The bottom line is to find out about THEM, what THEY like to do and then use that information to build a common ground. This is what it means to be "interested" and not "interesting". Once you have this information it will be much easier to determine if the person qualifies for your MLM business.
Building good relationships isn't hard, we've been doing it all our lives. Just learn to approach your prospect as you would anyone else you want to build a personal relationship with and this too will become second nature.
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