You may or may not be aware of the mighty selling ebook Magnetic Sponsoring, Mike Dillard’s philosophy on attraction marketing and what Network Marketing is really about.

I’m guessing many of you have read as it is such a popular and pivotal addition to the Network Marketing sphere, but how many of you have really taken heed to the sentence that goes something like this?..

“People that buy a drill don’t want a drill, they want a hole”

Seems a bit gobbledygook perhaps on first glance, but are you coming from the right angle to peak interest in the people that you meet.

How do you figure out what kind of person you are talking to and how to pique their interest?

Simply ask them…

One of my mentors, Ray Higdon, is all about asking questions. Find out what kind of person you are talking to, what do they want to achieve. What are their ‘motivators’, their fears? By asking people a few questions you can guage exactly the type of person that you are speaking to (You can also guage by which way you came into contact with them too, i.e. if they have come to you through your email list pitched at building a network marketing organisation, you are already going to know what category of prospect they are)

When we all start out, we think that everyone is a potential team member (don’t lie to yourself you did too ;p), that is usually the reason why the new guys are so excited. They see what building an NM business can do for them and get really frustrated when other people don’t see what they see. Because they do not get the reception they think their opportunity deserves they become disheartened and only the strong survive the first round. Many ditch the idea… But often come back though

My situ was a bit different, I joined iLearningGlobal, whom decided to shut their doors a week later, literally. I was all fired up, $100 down and left with nothing to do. Having the wind taken out of your sails sucks big time, so I can sympathise with those that get frustrated when they start to realise that building a big team is going to be a lot harder than they originally thought.

In Mark Hoverson’s words, that would be your first network marketing ‘vaccination‘, you’re through your first hurdle.

The way I see it is that there a 3 distinct groups that you can place people into. Yes, categorising people is a bad thing, but in this situation it is going to save you a lot of headaches and is quite well why you are not attracting people to you.

The 3 Groups

People that are just not interested – Truth be known, not everyone is going to be interested in what you have to offer. If you have a weightloss business opportunity, someone naturally slim might not be so intrigued as someone who has a couple of pounds to lose, or is a member of a group of people dedicated to losing weight. If you are speaking to someone and they haven’t let in you into something that you can help them with, don’t try and force you way in. You will save a lot of energy by moving onto the next person who you can help. The more you try to push someone into watching your presentation etc the more resistant to you they are likely to become. This is how people lose friends! Try converting Bill Gates from PC to Mac… not likely… Catch my drift?

People who are potential retail customers – This group are the people, using the above example, who want to lose weight. They will let you know exactly what they want if you ask them. If they are serious about losing weight they will probably be involved in a diet of some nature or be focusing on an exercise regimen. Ask them how it is going, if it is going good don’t try and sell them your stuff, again people have their ‘hard-sell’ defence mechanisms up and you will only irritate them. If they tell you that they are having trouble, or are finding that what they are doing doesn’t appear to be having the effect that they are looking for, here’s your chance to pinpoint where you can be of assistance and move them into the customer/sales arena. But again, let them make up their own mind that what you have to offer will help them. Being a pushy salesperson is sooo ’80′s darling lol

The Business Builders – This is the group of people that everyone is looking for, but they have a very different mindset to customers. Here’s the deal, customers want what your product provides, business builders want to fix a money/time freedom/entrepreneurial issue, losing weight is not likely their highest priority. The problem is we tend to treat them as customers… When they are trying to fix an entirely different set of issues. Now, I’m not going to say that they are likely to get involved with a business opportunity that has a product that they won’t use, but if you appeal to fixing their business building problems/time and money freedom issues and not resort to describing how great the product is, you will see a shift in perception. But again, no hard selling. If they are building a business with another company, ask them about it, how it is going. Again, if all is good just shoot the shit with them, get to know them a bit better. See if there is any way you can assist them in building the business that they currently have. Again to quote Ray, ‘give value to the marketplace and the marketplace will give back‘ (or something like that I think ;p)

You business opportunity is the drill, it is the tool/vehicle to fix the time/income/freedom problem. The time/income/freedom problem is the hole that your prospects are looking to make.