Referral marketing

It isn’t a job; it’s a roller coaster ride… If you or your new IBOs are new to owning your own business, you’ll see right away that it’s not a job, it’s a roller-coaster ride. If you don’t understand that, you could miss out on one of the most lucrative and exciting opportunities of your life. Think of the last time you took your children or grandchildren on a roller coaster. There were terrifying highs and lows. You were grateful for the bar that kept you both in your seat. What’s that bar in this business? You need to create it for yourself and your recruits by preparing for the highs and lows.

Here’s how it goes: You’re excited when you first enroll someone. You’re at the top. Then your next few presentations may be average to horrible. No one’s making a commitment. You’re at the bottom. You invite half dozen friends to hear your presentation and three or four agree. You get excited. You’re at the top…but they don’t enroll. You’re at the bottom again. Finally someone signs up. You’re as high as a kite. But they drop out after a month. You’re at the bottom again. Your bar is in place. You’re still in your seat. Someone you enroll sponsors someone new. This starts their emotional ride. You fasten them in and lock the bar in place by reminding them of their goals, commitments, and the miracle of this industry. You prepare them for the ride.
Everyone rides a roller coaster in their first few months. A new recruit drops out, but you already have names from her warm market list. Your bar is locked in place—always the same habits, the same commitment, the same duplication, the same training. Don’t make a tally of your success too early. You may have only 4 people out of 40 you’ve contacted. You wonder too soon, “Is it worth it?”

Whatever your starting ratio is, you’re right on schedule for success. Your business is becoming solid not because of the tremendous success you’re having at first, but because you keep your commitment. You keep presenting. You are starting to know what you’re doing. You’re keeping it simple. You’re enthusiastic. You’re locked in your seat for the whole ride. There’s absolutely no reason to quit even though your numbers may be low at first. Your commissions and bonuses may not be stellar yet, but with consistent effort, exponential growth, and gradual improvement, they will be. You are already paying the price of patience, duplication, and commitment—your most important elements for success.

Maybe your commitment is putting at least 20 people through the process every single month. That’s your standard for a “success month.” If you’re doing that, you’re right on target. You can sit back and enjoy the ride. The third month the roller coaster doesn’t phase you as much, because you realize it’s a process. The ride becomes as fun at the bottom as at the top. The downs are as important as the ups. They train you. They’re an important step for your personal success stories. When Roger Ball was asked if he ever had a business failure, he said, “No, but I have had some very expensive education.” By never giving in to failure and looking at setbacks as mere education, he has failed his way to the top. As you learn how to keep your recruits excited for the first few months of the ride, you’ll see fewer people dropping out. This is what every successful referral marketer has had to go through from the beginning of the industry. If you lose faith in the process, those five-digit monthly checks never materialize. If you stay on the tracks, appreciate the ups and downs of the ride, and keep everyone locked in, you’ll reach your dreams easier here than anywhere else.