Building A "Hands-Free" Downline Online... Can It Be Done? Mike Dillard

Ah yes...

That's sure would be nice wouldn't it ;)

And I'll admit, I've even done some thinking on this subject myself, but here's the deal...

It can be done.

But... (Yes, there's a "but").

It will not last long.

A typical downline consists of three types of people:

1: Retail customers who love the products and have nothing to do with the business. This makes up 20 to 50% of an average downline.

2: The successful upline leaders who pursue their business as a professional in a full time career. This makes up .5 to 1% of any downline, or 1 in every 100 to 200 distributors.

3: The downline members who are struggling to develop themselves and achieve success. This group is always the largest and makes up 50 to 80% of any downline.

Group 3 is the tricky part, because it's the largest segment of any downline, yet it's the most volatile. This is where all of the attrition occurs. With new reps pouring in, and the rest quitting or becoming a member of Groups 1 or 2.

If you're an upline leader, you need these people to stick around as long as possible because they make up such a large portion of your group, and therefore, your check.

This can be done in three ways:

1: Create an irrationally powerful belief and loyalty in the products so they will continue on as a consumer even if they drop the business. This can only be done with a nutrition product due to the life-changing affects they can have.

These effects create the incredible testimonials and stories that manifest that irrational level of belief that "I need to keep taking these products in order to prevent something really bad from happening to my health."

2: Identify and mentor the diamonds in the rough who are destined for a leadership role. (This is only going to be 1 in every 100+ reps).

3: Form a personal bond and friendship with the large group of new/struggling reps through constant training and motivation. You must become the leader that your flock will continue to follow even though they've been in the business for over a year and have only sponsored 2 people.

Playing this role is extremely important to the stability of your downline, and it's why building a "net only" downline will never work in the long run.

The person to person relationship must be there because it's the glue that keeps people active and involved even when they're struggling. This doesn't mean you want to spend all of your time on the phone dealing with your unproductive reps.

You create and foster these relationships through leveraged tools and events like team training calls and email.

Without this personal relationship, there is no accountability and it becomes extremely easy to quit because you can't let a website downline, unlike your sponsor who's been investing time and energy into you.

Can you sponsor people by the thousands automatically on the internet?

Absolutely.

But just know that they will quit as fast as they joined because no one will know or care if they walk away.

If you want to build a revenue stream online that does not involve human contact, network is not the right industry to do it in.

A better option would be Ad Sense, direct response, or affiliate marketing.

But if you want to combine the best of both worlds... Internet marketing AND networking, then I can help you because that's exactly what I've personally done over the past few years.

I call my method the "Traffic Formula", and I feel safe saying that this guide changed our industry in many ways.

Why? Because it's the only course of it's kind that provided distributors with a step-by-step blueprint for building a networking business in the internet age.

Now you can't automate the team building aspect of a networking business, but you CAN automate the online lead generation, and marketing portion.

You can even take advantage of multiple streams of income once you start using this method as well.

"How I 'Close' My Prospects For Incredible Results..." Mike Dillard

Now in my experience, there are two approaches to "closing" in sales...

I'll call them "guided" and "voluntary".

Going for a guided close takes place during direct, person-to-person conversation.

That might be on the phone, or at the end of a meeting.

You're there in conversation with your prospect and it's decision time. They've gone through a presentation, and now it's your turn to go for the sale and "close" the deal...

Many leaders in this industry have mastered this game. They have a response for every objection. They have a list of their prospects desires, their wish list, and their emotional triggers which they acquired from the previous "interview" conversation.

They will personally "guide" them down a path that leads to a purchase.

If the networker is skilled at the guided close, that prospect is going to "buy" today whether they want to or not.

These guys have become extremely talented sales people, and are usually the top recruiters in their company.

As I began to acquire my phone skills years ago, learning the "direct" approach was just an assumed requirement of the process.

I didn't know there was an alternative.

If I wanted to sponsor a new rep, I was going to have to learn how to answer objections and close.

As I began to learn "real marketing", a better option became available which went for the voluntary close - where a prospect "sells themselves" and makes the decision to purchase on their own.

Now both methods use salesmanship and influence. The primary difference between the two is that the prospect is not put on the spot or asked to make a decision by the sponsor directly on a phone call or after a meeting.

There are several reasons I personally believe the voluntary approach is much more powerful than a guided approach, and it comes down to one primary piece of psychology:

"A person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still."

Many times during a guided sale, the person is buying for the wrong reason. It usually comes down to giving into the sales pressure which always leads to buyer's remorse shortly after.

The salesperson gets the prospects emotions flowing and they have no time to think logically which is the recipe that always leads to a sale which is why it's the primary tool of choice for direct response marketers.

This "heart only" approach is extremely effective, but counter-productive for our industry because we're not making a one-time sale... We're looking for the years of commitment it will take to build a successful business.

Unfortunately, once those emotions dissipate and logic sets in, the person may regret the decision they made, and in this industry, they usually end up quitting within days or weeks.

The ideal situation is where the prospects head catches up with their heart in order to make a "whole" decision which leads to a "voluntary purchase".

You don't want to convince your prospects to buy, you want them to convince themselves to buy, and then voluntarily make the purchase when the time is right for them.

Once they make their choice, it will be much more concrete and in order to stay congruent with that choice, they will work much harder and stay dedicated longer because "it was their idea".

Now a voluntary approach doesn't mean that you're going to just act all "nice and sweet" and not go for the sale.

You're still going sell the hell out of them.

But you're going to do it indirectly through tools and marketing instead of direct personal pressure.

I want to hit my prospects with a new marketing piece every few days whether it's through email, a letter, a website, a postcard... Whatever.

I'm still going to push those same emotional buttons, and I'm still going to ask for the sale, but I'm not going to do it directly through personal conversation.

I'm going to apply indirect pressure though my marketing which will allow them to come to a decision on their own and then force them to voluntarily "push the buy button".

It's this marketing drip-drip-drip process over time that allows their head to catch up with their heart and make the fully committed decision that's so important in this industry.

Here's my personal sponsoring process and it's probably going to be much different than what you've been taught. In order for it to work correctly, you will need to be truly believe you are a leader and you cannot come from a place of "neediness".

You must be completely willing to let a sale go.

1: Lead is generated and a quick introductory phone call is made just to let them know that I'm a real person. I'll ask them a few questions, BUT, it's not to build up "ammo" like their finding out their "reason why" so I can bring it back up later when it's "decision time".

I ask questions because I want to find out if this is someone I want to personally work with. Honestly, I'm trying to find a reason NOT to work with them or sell them product because the wrong customers/partners will cost you MUCH more than you'll ever make in the long run.

This qualification process is evident to the prospect through the verbal and non-verbal leadership ques that are expressed during the conversation. Things like energy level, voice level, tonalities, etc...

Now you're probably wondering what all of those are, but honestly, if you truly see yourself as a leader, you'll unconsciously start conveying these traits automatically.

2: If I like the person, I'll give them the address to the business overview via email and then instruct them verbally and in the email to contact me when they're done.

Because they came though a capture page when they became a lead, they are already in my marketing pipeline.

At this point, the ball is completely in their court.

I NEVER chase people. I'm too busy. And so are you whether that's true or not. Your business lives in a state of abundance. There is no neediness.

My marketing system will stay in contact with them for me. I don't have time to make follow up calls and I lose power if I do, but I will give them continual opportunities to contact me through my marketing campaign.

Scheduling follow-up calls and all that crap on your prospect's terms... Whatever.

They call me and I'll contact them back when I feel like doing so.

If you're positioning yourself correctly, they will be excited and feel privileged that you contacted them.

(This is something pretty foreign to most networkers who deal with prospects who never return their phone calls and voicemails).

3: Once they do contact me, they're going to have some questions which I will answer in a very friendly manner. I like this person and I wouldn't mind working with them...

BUT, for the rest of the call, I'm silent.

I don't ask them to get started and I don't try to keep the conversation going.

Dead spots in a conversation ARE AWKWARD. You want to make them feel off-balance and then force them to fill the dead air.

My attitude is that you called me to ask me some questions which I will answer, and that's it. Anything else that we discuss is up to you.

Because you're unwilling to keep the conversation going or try to talk them into getting started, you are in the position of power.

In any relationship, the person who cares the least holds the power.

So I'm just going to answer their questions and then sit there. They're testing me and my leadership frame whether they realize it or not.

And you know what happens 9 times out of 10 because I didn't take the bait and start chasing them?

They fill that awkward silence with statements like, "So what's next? How do I get started?"

Now in order for this method to work, you must TRULY see yourself as a leader and live in a mindset of abundance. If you don't and you're just pretending to act this way on a phone call, they will see straight through it.

You cannot pretend in anyway. You must truly live and believe that mindset.

This was only possible for me after I let go of the emotional roller coaster I was on when it came to building this business and just let whatever happen, happen

To Build A Downline,Or Not To Build A Downline...?

Beginning entrepreneurs who do not have years of experience to draw from, are very open and susceptible the opinions of other people they perceive as leaders.

By nature, they are also "opportunistic", and their decisions are always based on emotion, and then justified by logic.

You cannot fight this, and it's not economically justifiable to spend hours of your time trying to give your reps a mature outlook on business ownership and development. You can tell them, but it will be up to them to listen and learn which you have no control over.

So given this information, a downline built on recruiting business builders, who recruit business builders, will never be stable.

Product customers are where stability and longevity is found.

With this in mind, the most successful downlines have been built though systems that distributors used to acquire new customers.

Think New Vision's "Dead Doctors Don't Lie" campaign, Herbalife's "Lose Weight Now" campaign, and the Sea Silver radio campaign.

They are three of the most successful systems in history, and every one of them sold the company's product.

Because product sales were so easy, the system attracted new business builders who wanted to use it, perpetuating the customer acquisition process exponentially.

So again, you want to find a system that effectively sells a product, and then sell that customer acquisition system to potential business builders.

The business builders will eventually flake and move onto something bigger and better, but they will leave a long-lasting customer base in their place.

Thinking Bigger...

With that said, it's still thinking small because every marketing campaign will eventually run it's course. Of the 3 successful one's I mentioned above, none are around today.

So what do you do now? Start over again with a new company and marketing tool every 5 to 7 years?

Yuck.

No, there is a better way.

A REAL, life-long business that is completely immune to attrition and market trends can be built, but it can't be centered around an opportunity or a product.

It must be built around you, your name, and your relationships.

That's your true asset because it cannot be taken away.

Networking is a people business driven by marketing.

People are the commodity being traded, and you must position yourself in a manner that allows you to capitalize on that process through many different channels.

Instead of simply building a downline which can disappear at any moment, why don't you build an empire that reaches out and touches many people as possible throughout the entire industry, including your "competition"?

The biggest epiphany I ever had was that simply wanting to just "build a downline" was really dumb idea from a business stand point.

I know hundreds of full-time networkers making multiple six-figure incomes who constantly pulling their hair out trying to keep status-quo - filling gaps in the comp plan to keep their check, buying extra volume to qualify for the monthly bonus, etc... They are always a few distributors away from losing half their income.

You have two choices... You can put both your hands into one company basket and just build a "downline", or...

You can realize that "people" are your business and put your hand in as many baskets as you want - ensuring you and your "real business" are safe and profitable no matter what happens.