Retention is one of the keys to Internet Marketing Success or the success of most any business for that matter. It takes the most time and effort to attract and recruit members into your group....let's make sure we keep as many as we can. Here is a common question asked of most sponsors: "I've got a new sign up in my business, now what do I do? How do I make sure I keep them?" This always makes me smile. Smile because of my excitement for them but also in part because this question reveals how green this new team member is. Pay close attention to what I'm about to say. Some of what I am about to reveal may shock you and some of it will prove to be just common sense. Let me start by saying if I knew the definitive answer to this question I'd be a billionaire right now. I think one of the biggest mistakes that we all make as human beings in our daily lives is that we try to take responsibility for things that are truly out of our control and when they don't turn out how we expect we blame ourselves. If we could each just rid ourselves of this unneeded burden I think we'd all live a much happier and fuller life. I've fallen victim to this thought pattern myself and I receive emails from people that fall victim everyday. We all do it. In my case, in my last network marketing experience, I put out a whole lot of effort and cash out and didn't receive the reward I expected. I blamed myself. I thought that it was ALL my fault when in reality my success or failure in this situation only partially had to do with ME. I'm not saying you aren't responsible for your own success. I assumed that I just wasn't good enough. I was putting out all this effort so I thought how come IT wasn't working? It must be me. Well, the truth is it takes two to tango as they say. My leads weren't biting not only because of me, but also because the business opportunity that I was leading them to was confusing and didn't appeal to them. (Which I didn't see at the time.) Some of the blame should have been placed on the shoulders of the company and the way that I was taught to interact with my leads, but while in the situation the natural assumption is to blame yourself. I'll tell you right now if you're not having the sort of success that you want to have it's NOT all your fault, so let that weight on your shoulders go. I know your thinking. . . what does this have to with retention in your network marketing business? Well it speaks exactly to the question of retention. Whether or not your new team member stays or goes it's NOT your fault. (Unless you actively make efforts to drive them away) Think about it like this . . .Every decision you or I make is OUR decision and no other person can change our mind once that decision is final. If you choose to leave your current business is there anything that your upline could do to keep you once your decision is final? Well it works the same way with your recruits. Ultimately they make the decision of whether or not to stay or go. There is no magic formula to retaining your entire team. And although ultimately you can't control who stays or leaves your network marketing team there are some things that you can do increase your retention. While there are no guarantees, if you do these things and people still leave your team it's NOT your fault and there is nothing more that you could have done to retain them. So how do you increase your team's retention rate? 1. Get people moving right from the beginning As soon as someone new comes into your team give them something to do. Get them active in their business. This is important because it keeps them interested and starts their momentum. The first thing that I tell all of my team members to do is download a copy of our team marketing guide. Read it. Mark it up with questions. Get aquainted with the product. Right out some questions that they may have and then get back to their sponsor to set up a game plan. This is a good route to take because it makes each person accountable for their own success and it will quickly show you who's serious and who's not. (The people that get back in touch with their sponsor are SERIOUS.) 2. Be there. The next thing that you can do for your team to keep them active is just be there. Give them your contact info and let them know when it's acceptable for them to call you with questions and for advice and then be there during that time frame. 3. Hold yourself accountable If you make a mistake or you don't hold to a time commitment own up to your mistake, make good on it and apologize. We're all human and we all make mistakes. This will also show your team how to behave when they make a mistake. Its not about blaming yourself, or someone else. Its about growing and getting better. 4. Motivate One of the most powerful ways to keep your team is to help motivate them. There are several ways to do this, but here are a few. If I have a success or if I try something new and it works well I make sure to let the whole team know. For instance, when I first started when I would run a successful ad campaign I gave my team all the details of what I did, how I did it, and how they could do it to. If I have a team member that has success I try to let the whole team know. If anyone on the team is doing great I make sure to send an email out with a case study. I know I like it someone highlights me as a success so it's good to pay it forward as much as possible. It motivates the team member with the success and lets the others know they can do it too. You don't have to have all the answers or be perfect, but as long as you let your team know that you are there and you are doing all that you can to help them be more successful you will start to create a community of like minded individuals. Send your team emails that give them your thoughts, your ideas for success, and your passion and they will see that your cause is more than just money. 5. Create a community The most important thing that you can do to help maintain and increase your team's retention rate is to foster a sense of community. Once you create a community around you both above and below, you realize that you have much more than a business - you have a thriving community of individuals that are all striving for the same goal. And know that many people have a strong need to belong to something. As a team we do weekly team online conferences where we all can all interact personally. One of my team leaders even started a forum! Anything you can do to foster a sense of community will pay for itself in spades over the life of your business. So when I am asked the question . . . " I just got a new sign up how do I make sure they stay?" I reply . . . Support them and share anything you can to help them to be successful and if you've done this you can't worry about whether or not they stay or go. The people that should end up on your team do and that's the magic of it all.
Steve Peck is a veteran network marketer & lifestyle coach. With over 10 years of MLM Success, he is now expanding to a True Internet Marketing System.
8pecks.blogspot.com
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