You know that finding and converting prospects is the key to success. But, are you making critical mistakes that are sabotaging your business?

First, let me warn you. Everything you are about to read will probably contradict everything your upline has told you. If you are reading this article, I assume you have experienced some trouble finding or converting prospects. And, I also assume you have followed the advice of your upline that has been carefully developed and followed for decades. So, you have a decision to make: Do you want to continue to use the “tried and true” methods that aren’t getting you anywhere? Or, do you want to open your mind to a few new ideas?

So, what are the seven deadly sins of prospecting?

Sin #1: Telling your friends and family how much money they can make in your new opportunity.

We were all told to make a list of 200 names. This list is comprised mostly of family, friends and co-workers. On the surface, this seems to be a good idea. These are people you know, and people who (hopefully) like you. You should feel comfortable talking to them. They should be receptive to listening to you. But, what’s wrong with this picture? These people who know you all too well also know that you are struggling to make ends meet. If this opportunity is so great, why aren’t you rich? If they can make a ton of money doing this, why are you still their co-worker? You see, if someone I know comes to me with a money-making opportunity, usually the first questions out of my mouth are: How long have you been doing this?” and “How much profit have you made?” Note: the key word here is “profit.” I don’t care if they can show you a bonus check for $200 in their first month. How much did they spend to get that? And, is that money that will have to be spent every month to generate and income? I know you have probably been armed with a response to that objection. But, how often has that response worked?

Sin #2: Thinking that everyone is interested in your opportunity for the same reasons you are.

One of the big lines almost everyone uses in network marketing is the one about getting rid of your alarm clock and sleeping in. There are motivational CDs devoted almost entirely to the various ways of destroying your alarm clock, from throwing them out the window to shooting them with a shotgun. Well, I happen to be an early riser by choice. I actually enjoy getting up before dawn when the house is quiet and everyone is still asleep. It allows me to spend some quiet time by myself. I like to go out just at the crack of dawn to feed my chickens, and take a walk through the woods or the pasture as the sun is rising. I do a lot of my best thinking (and writing) in the early hours of the morning before my brain gets clogged with the activity of the day. So, rather than getting me excited about the opportunity, this pitch was actually a turn off for me! When you are talking to a prospect about the benefits of your business, make sure you know what’s important to them. It may be something entirely different to what matters to you.

Sin #3: Chasing after prospects.

It’s probably happened to you. A friend, family member, or co-worker approached you about a wonderful opportunity. You weren’t really interested, but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. So, you said you’d think about it. Then the phone calls started and the emails. Almost every day this person was hounding you to sign up, when what you really wanted was to be left alone. You could practically smell the desperation, and more than anything else, that convinced you that you didn’t want any part of her so-called opportunity. You’ve heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” In network marketing, you can’t even lead the horse to water. You can tell the horse where the watering hole is, but, it’s up to the horse to get there. If you invite someone to a meeting, or schedule an appointment to tell them about your opportunity and they don’t show or cancel at the last minute. Give them another chance. Sometimes life happens. But, if they flake out on you a second time, it’s likely they really aren’t interested. You see, if your opportunity is all that, you shouldn’t have to chase anyone down. They should be chasing you down asking you what you’re doing and why you’re so successful.

Sin #4: Using someone else’s leads.

There are several problems with using someone else’s leads. First, buying leads is expensive. Second, you don’t know if these are valid, opt-in leads. The last thing you want to do is get yourself in trouble contacting people who really don’t want to be contacted, and being labeled a spammer. Third, you don’t know where the leads came from. What type of ad did this person respond to? What are they interested in? Fourth, you don’t know how fresh these leads are. Maybe they responded to an ad two months ago, and are no longer looking. Fifth, you don’t know how many other people have purchased these same ads and how many calls or emails this person has already received. I could probably go on, but I think you get the gist of it. You need to develop your own leads. If you don’t know how to do that, stay tuned. In a future article, I’ll go into various methods of generating leads for your business — no matter what kind of business you are in.

Sin #5: Not following up with a prospect the same day they express an interest.

This goes hand-in-hand with not knowing how fresh a lead is. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying you have to strike while the iron is hot. Anyone who is successful in retail sales knows that you need to get the sale before the shopper walks out the door. The “be backs” rarely come back, and someone else will get the sale. If someone is looking for a business opportunity, chances are, yours isn’t the only one they are looking at. So, you need to follow up immediately. The best way to do that is by using an auto-responder. There are several out there. If you need help determining which one you should use, contact me and I’ll try to steer you in the right direction.

Sin #6: Not keeping in regular contact with your prospects.

It is generally accepted that someone has to see your opportunity or your name 3 to 7 times before they will accept it. We live in an age when everyone and his brother claims to be an expert and have the answer to all of our problems. The sad fact is we are becoming jaded. Your prospect needs some time to develop trust in you. Your goal is not to sell your prospect on your opportunity, but to develop a relationship with him. Again, the best way to do this is by using an auto-responder. Auto-responders have revolutionized the network marketing industry by providing an automatic method of weeding through the “looky loos” and the serious prospects.

Sin #7: Wasting time on the wrong prospects.

Here’s another cliché I’m sure you’ve heard before: If you want a job done, find a busy person to do it. The truth is, there are people who are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, and there are people who are looking for a money-making opportunity. Most reasonable people realize that you can’t make money sitting around doing nothing. You don’t want to invest huge amounts of time and energy trying to grow someone’s business for them. She has to be willing to do some work. After all, you are working to grow your business, aren’t you? Should you spend time helping to grow the business of your down line? Absolutely! You want to spend time mentoring, training, and answering questions. But, don’t get sucked into the trap of doing it all for them. Your efforts would be far better spent working with someone who has an interest in learning from you, and then duplicating your success.