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The Single Biggest Cause of Failure in Network Marketing
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Jack Spirko
jackprovidetechnology.com
MarketingPitBull.Net
http://marketingpitbull.net
The Single Biggest Cause of Failure in Network Marketing
By: Jack Spirko
Copyright (c) 2003
All Rights Reserved
It is my intention in this piece to convey what I have
learned about success and failure in both Network Marketing
and life in general and the one common factor that is often
unrecognized because it will masquerade as other common
problems in Network Marketing. Problems so common they
have become clichés in our industry. As you grow as a
leader you should make personal notes about what makes the
successful people around you succeed as well as the traits
that cause others to fail. The following is based on my
journaling activities from sales and network marketing
compiled over the last ten years.
I often hear people blame a poor plan as a common reason
for failure in Network Marketing. I however, believe a
more common cause of failure to actually be over planning.
The truth is most good Network Marketing companies have
great plans in place. All the new marketer needs to do is
follow the plan. This error is often termed as
"reinventing the wheel" but I don't think that term
accurately describes the cause of this particular problem
at least not in the majority of cases. You see when we say
someone is "reinventing the wheel" we are also inferring
that they intend to take action and give them the benefit
of the doubt that they will follow the new plan once it is
written. In truth most of the time people don't "reinvent
the wheel" because they honestly don't think the existing
plan is sound. No, there is a far more sinister and
elusive cause at the root of this issue and many others as
well.
The cause of over planning is the fear of taking action.
Regaurdless of what action the plan may call for all sound
plans call for action and the new marketer often fears
taking it. It could be calling warm market contacts, cold
prospecting, good old fashioned selling or just simply
getting out from behind the computer and making some new
friends. These fears and many others are the true cause of
over planning and so many other commonly sited reasons for
failure. This is why I don't generally use the term
“reinventing the wheel”. While I do think developing ones
own system rather then following the companies system is a
huge mistake I don't believe it as common as going into
planning as a permanent profession. In fact while one is
better served 99.99% of the time to simply follow the
existing plan if most people simply made the mistake of
writing a new plan and then took the action and actually
worked the plan they developed success rates would improve
drastically. It is not improper action that causes the
majority of Network Marketing failures it is failure to
take any action or at least failure to take any relevant
action that causes such high failure rates in our industry.
Fear is what lies at the root of just about all commonly
named reasons for failure in Network Marketing. Another
often-sited reason for failure is a poor upline. Fear is
the common root of this as well. While I work hard at
being a good upline I can tell you that no upline can make
anyone successful. Again it is the actions or lack of
actions of that will determine your success. I have had
people come to me and ask to be "moved into my group"
because they were not getting "any support from their
upline". On more then one occasion after asking such
people who was in their upline I learned that they had a
great upline and even in a few instances learned we had a
common upline. My upline is great so I knew it was the
individual making excuses for not taking action. Of course
fear is what was paralyzing those networkers not a bad
upline. On the other side of the coin I have seen and read
about many people reaching the top of a comp plan with a
terrible upline or even when their entire upline quit. Of
course those people took action and mastered their fears.
Now it is true if you are a good mentor you can help your
downline master fear but just like you must choose to
master your own fear so must your team make that choice as
well. You cannot do it for them nor can your sponsor (no
matter how incredible), do it for you.
Another common cause often sited is the belief that no
product or service needs to be sold. Poppycock! We all
know better then that and again this is an illusion that
covers up the root cause of inaction, which is fear. No
one can possibly truly believe you can build a group of
10,000 plus agents accounting for millions of dollars in
revenue and not sell any product or service. Now many
companies have systems that make selling easy to do. In
fact you might not even recognize it as selling at all
because most people have no clue what professional selling
actually is. While the definition of professional selling
is not the subject of this piece just realize we all know
in our hearts that goods and services must be exchanged for
money to account for all those big checks we want to get in
the mail.
It is fear that makes us fail to gain customers and fear
that causes agents to tell their new partners they don't
have to sell anything. Even if you work with a company
that provides you with a way to acquire customers with
advertising you must retain the customers and the same goes
for partners. A new agent who doesn't build is useless to
you. Selling is not getting money from someone it is
actually transferring belief. When your heart is ruled by
fear you don't have much of value to transfer so it is hard
to retain customers or help your future leaders build a
business and master their own fears.
Now I don't want to get too metaphysical on you here and
certainly not too religious but the following is the best
way I know to explain fear at its' core and tell you how to
master it. Fear is nothing but a survival mechanism and in
that light it has a purpose. For instance if you see a car
about to hit you it is instinctive fear that will make you
jump out of the way. This is fear's only purpose because
in any other type of situation fear is nothing but an
illusion yet a very powerful illusion indeed if you permit
it to exist and empower it by believing in its' power or by
denying its existence and refusing to face it. Do either
and fear will control your heart and over time destroy your
chances for success.
Fear is best described as darkness and darkness and light
cannot coexist. While this may sound like mystical sage
wisdom it is really quite easy to understand. Just go into
a dark room turn on a light and the darkness is destroyed.
Why because it never existed in the first place. The
color of darkness is black and black is not even a color
but the lack of color or lack of light. Once light is
expressed the darkness is gone banished into its' own
nothingness. This is how fear works. Fear is not a real
emotion but the lack of other emotions like courage, love
and fortitude. Now as I said there is another way to
empower fear or darkness. Walk barefoot into the dark room
and deny the existence of the darkness and soon you will
stub your toe or worse. Only by acknowledging the darkness
and taking direct action to destroy it can you over come
it. Both inaction and denial will get you hurt by
something that technically does not even exist. Spooky
huh?
So just what do those abstract metaphysical concepts have
to do with failure and the defeat of failure in Network
Marketing. Everything and in fact they have everything to
do with defeating failure in life in general. It works
like this all one must do is be aware that fear is the most
common cause of failure and constantly be on the look out
for it. When you begin working your company's plan and
catch yourself holding back look for the fear preventing
you from going forward and don't ever deny that it is
there. Focus on it and see it for what it is a powerless
illusion standing between you and success. Understand that
it is nothing other then what you allow it to be and that
you have the power to do away with it by simply taking
action and that alone is like turning on the light switch
in a dark room.
The fear simply cannot exist for long once you begin to
bring it into the light. Sure from time to time you may
have to change a bulb and you may even experience a brown
out or two just make sure you pay your electric bill by
constantly building faith in yourself, your company and
your team and never let even a small fear hide. Bring it
into the light of understanding and fry it like the useless
illusion that it is. If you can learn to do that you
cannot fail. Even if the company you build with fails you
will simply adapt find a new home and move on and continue
to succeed.
Fear is the root of the 95% failure rate in Network
Marketing. Just remember only by denying it or by
empowering it can you give it the power to steal your
dreams. Identify every fear that confronts you and know
once you find a fear the next thing you need to do is take
the strait line route conquer it. You don't plan to
conquer it because that gives it power. Go strait at it
and take the action you fear taking. In the words of the
great Nike "just do it".
If you're afraid to work your warm market admit the fear
then go do it with the intention of conquering the fear not
with the intention of recruiting your warm market. Judge
your success by how many people you talk to not how many
say yes to you. If you fear calling leads just start
calling them. Make the act of calling them your goal not
the result you get when you make the calls. Fear is the
enemy not the number of No's you get. The real victory is
not the number of new agents or customers you acquire or
the size of your check but conquering the fear preventing
you from following your plan of action.
No matter what you fear doing go do it (within reason
please don't see this as a suggestion to drive 100 miles an
hour in reverse on a side street or take up other hazardous
activities) and make the conquering of the fear the goal.
Do this consistently and follow the system your company
provides you with and you will succeed because the numbers
will average out over time. In summary remember there is
no such thing as a major defeat or an insignificant victory
in Network Marketing. Success is not that difficult to
achive simply follow the system your company provides,
celebrate every victory no mater how small it appears,
consider any failure a learning experience and make the
destruction of fear your primary goal.
Jack Spirko has lived for years by the motto "the customer
comes first". Having reached the top in Corporate America
he is currently building an incredibly successful group
with Cognigen Networks. You can email him at
mailto:jackprovidetechnology.com or visit his web site
at http//:www.nmarketingpitbull.net
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