Okay, you have signed up in a great network marketing business
opportunity, you bought a sales kit that is loaded with product literature and sales
forms, you have an initial stock of inventory and you are brimming with enthusiasm and
ideas on how to build your business. Whether you succeed or fail may be a result of
whether you harness and organize your time and enthusiasm or whether you "spin your
wheels."
That's where the application of time management principles to network
marketing comes in says David Klaybor, President of Los Angeles-based PowerLine Systems,
an industry expert who has helped train thousands to build their network marketing
businesses more efficiently by organizing their efforts. He notes that the "spinning
your wheels syndrome" is all too common in network marketing and responsible for high
drop out rates. Obviously, with no results, people lose interest. We all have a finite
amount of time he says and the purpose of applying time management principles to network
marketing is to get the most productive use out of that finite amount of time.
Time management principles can be applied to a myriad of tasks
necessary to make a successful network marketing business. The point is, if you are
organized, you won't get caught up in the tasks and your time spent will be quality rather
than quantity. Klaybor gives an example of a typical task to illustrate some broader
principles. Let's say for instance you have placed an ad in a newspaper to recruit
distributors for your sales organization and you have received 100 calls. Remember the
point is not to merely receive lots of calls, but to recruit new distributors. Organize
yourself and be prepared to make the most out of those calls. Get yourself a three-ring
binder for this and other tasks and log those incoming calls. In your binder, methodically
keep notes on names, addresses, telephone numbers and other leads. Your notes should be
scripts for dealing with "various questions and objections." Don't try to close
them on the phone, get them to a meeting.
Klaybor says broad time management principles are applicable to all of
your tasks whether they are sales presentations, incoming ad calls, lead generation,
conference calls, etc.:
ORGANIZE THE DATA. Make sure you are capturing all
of the information for later use, whether it is mailing lists, setting up training
meetings, business opportunity meetings, or other follow-up.
FORM AN ACTION PLAN TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY. You
should have right in front of you the right information when you need it so that, when you
are communicating by telephone or in person, you have product information and opportunity
information to perform your tasks effectively.
HAVE A PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION. Klaybor suggests
that you role play and practice to perfect your trade and presentations so that they are
effective and you aren't wasting time when you make them.
TRADE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REVIEW. In any time
management plan, you must make yourself accountable to examine the effectiveness of the
game plan. Klaybor notes that you can make yourself accountable to your game plan, but it
is always better to make yourself accountable to another person, most likely your sponsor.
And, sponsors should similarly hold other recruits responsible for keeping to a game plan.
Klaybor notes that, when we were all in school as children, the teacher was the person to
whom we were accountable. And, that accountability increased our performance. Your teacher
is no longer around, however, while you are running your small business and so find
yourself somebody to be accountable. As a sponsor in a network marketing program, Klaybor
put his challenge to his recruits: "Network marketing works - do you?"
We have all seen people carrying day planners. They are great
organizing tools. Time management expert Klaybor has developed the most comprehensive day
planner and organizer for the network marketing distributor. It is called the Powerline
System and it looks like a typical day planner, but it is organized totally around the
activities and tasks of a network marketer.
Although it won't be as detailed or comprehensive, you can start
organizing by making your own time management day planner and organizer says Klaybor. He
notes:
First, obtain a quality three-ring binder, one to two inches in
width, and a set of divider tab sheets from your local office supply store. Expect to pay
$40 to $100 depending on the binder you choose.
Then, identify and select the key areas of activities essential in
operating your MLM business like a career professional. Write these down on the tab part
of the divider sheets and install them in an order that your business flows in naturally
as you conduct your business.
Develop an ability to target key information that is relevant to each
section, and write that information on the divider tab sheets that separate each section
from the other. Type or print them neatly, because your clients are going to see these
sheets and you don't want to be embarrassed during your sponsoring and retail
presentations.
Next, learn to use or access the information collected on the divider
tab sheets and use this information as you work your business every day, in order to
better perform the tasks required.
Then, develop the habit of logging and documenting each activity as
it happens, i.e. logging the names, addresses and phone numbers of all the people you come
in contact with regarding three-way calls, long distance sponsoring, referrals, retail
sales, downline interactions, etc. ...
Get in the habit of using a daily, weekly or monthly calendar so you
can schedule events, follow-up on future activities, plan ahead, etc. ...
You must consult your calendar each day in an effort to responsibly
fulfill the promises you made to clients, downline and other people. Your focus is on
completing things, performing to-do tasks, and closing business arrangements ... not
merely 'doing things.'
Get every responsible person in your downline using a business
planning system as well. In this way, you will be able to know what they are doing, you
will be able to assist them and you will be a part of their accountability system."
Whether you create your own time management organizer or you opt for
the ready-to-go Powerline System Planner developed by someone like Klaybor, your planner
should have tabs and sections to keep track of important tasks in your network marketing
business. Klaybor, the organizer points out the following tasks in his Powerline System:
CONTACTING PROSPECTS
Call Sheet - Here you will list the prospects that you must call
quite often. These are folks that are nearly ready to buy your products or join your
business opportunity.
Prospect Call Sheet - Here is where 90 percent of your prospects will
originally be entered. This is a place to spend much time.
VIP Prospect Follow-Up - Klaybor says this is a section for prospects
that require special attention and lots of notes or commentary, e.g., corporate accounts,
etc.
Referral Sheet - In this business, you will constantly be asking for
referrals for both retail and business opportunity aspects of the business. So you should
be listing names, making special notes, discussing the status of the referrals and keeping
track of the progress of the referrals.
WARM MARKET PRESENTATIONS
Opportunity Meeting Log - Here you will track identities of those
brought to business opportunity meetings or company demonstrations.
Retail Log - This is a place to track your outgoing inventory and
sales to the public, note referrals from your customers and potential individuals to
sponsor, as well as to note the status of samples you have given out.
Long Distance Checklist - In this tab section, you will log all
outbound mailings, such as letters, tapes, promotional materials, brochures, etc. In this
section, you will note where your sales aid marketing materials are located and can be
more cost efficient in perhaps moving the more expensive sales aid materials from one
prospect to another.
Conference Call Log - Make good use of your time and your
organization by getting them in on conference calls. Can you make better use of your time
giving a presentation to 20 people rather than 20 individual presentations? Conference
calls are a key to sponsoring on a national level.
COLD MARKET PRESENTATIONS
Ad Call Tracking Log - You have spent a lot of money on placing ads.
Now is the time to get a high return on your investment by improving the close ratio of
your incoming ad prospects by using this special section of your planner to track and
follow up leads.
Interview Log - Keep a record of your interviewees and what you plan
to do with them.
Interview Questionnaire - Before you do your interviews, have a
special section with scripts, questions and special needs that will help you make your
interviews appear more professional when you are finally face to face.
DOWNLINE MAINTENANCE
Three-Way Log - ABC selling techniques are big in network marketing.
In this approach, A introduces his or her good friend or acquaintance B to a presentation
by A's sponsor, C. In this section of your notebook, you will keep track of your
downline's follow-up skills.
Player Sheet - In this section of your planner, you will keep track
of who the strong players are and keep in touch with them. In particular, you will
organize information on your front-line distributors.
Long Distance Training Log - You should be calling your out-of-town
group each week, working with them on training and sales. This is the place to keep track
of your scheduled calls, of out-of-town momentum and progress.
Leaders by Location - This is a national business and you will
constantly be called upon to recommend responsible leaders in a geographic area.
News, Events and Awards Log - This business is built around meetings
and recognition. You should be tracking in this section upcoming events, making sure that
your downline are aware of current award and bonus competitions, upcoming rallies and
major trips. This is a people business, this is an event business.
Travel Itinerary - Keep track of where you are going, how you are
getting there, how it is being paid for, who will be meeting you, what you will be doing
there, etc.
In addition to the above tasks that should be organized in your network
planner, PowerLine's Klaybor recommends that you set up special sections for your time
management, including a goals list and goals outline for your business that should be
reviewed and thought about freely. In addition, he notes you should have a calendar
section for a year at a glance, a day planner schedule for the day and most importantly a
To Do section which sets forth to do tasks by priority. Klaybor says use that today
"to do" list every day and practice one of the most important principles of time
management: "DON'T PROCRASTINATE." An old adage says Mr.
Klaybor makes lots of sense: "If you have to swallow a frog, don't stare at it too
long, if you have to swallow two frogs, swallow the biggest one first." Klaybor
recommends blocking out your daily calendar into green time (revenue generating time) and
red time (all other time). Try to keep your activities in line with those divisions.
Finally, don't forget a section on accounting for your organizer. You
need to track incoming costs, deductions and expenses both for yourself and for the IRS.
Remember, this is a business.
CONCLUSION
Unabashed enthusiasm without organization gets you nowhere in the
network marketing business. The helter skelter approach will produce a similar result.
Time management expert David Klaybor sums it up quite correctly: "Time is your only
nonrenewable resource; to have more of it, you must first give some up."
Contact Resource: David Klaybor, President, PowerLine Systems,
Telephone Number: (714) 645-0809
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