As part of acknowledging that there is a high attrition rate of 97% in the Network Marketing industry, I will try to dissect the problem to get to the bottom of the root cause. In addition to the major causes that Ann has mentioned in her 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing e-book, there are other causes to this high attrition rate.
1) No upline support.
Once a person joins a new Network Marketing business, he or she is vulnerable and needs a lot of help from something or someone.
In many cases, the uplines are not actively helping them. This happens a lot when the uplines are simply sponsoring as many people as they can with no regard to what happens to them after they get sponsored.
In most standard network marketing programs, it is important that the new person gets immediate assistance from a local person, or tools that you have. Otherwise their chances for survival are very slim.
This type of mentality of RECRUIT…RECRUIT…RECRUIT...is what has caused the Network Marketing business to be viewed as merely a Pyramid scheme, as according to the wikipedia, a pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, without any product or service being delivered. It has been known to come under many guises.
The Renegade Network Marketing system touts offering your business opportunity to prospects (i.e. recruit) should be your back end offer and NOT your front end offer. Your product/service is your front end offer. If you can offer free information about your product/service, this would be an even better front end offer!
2) New Network Marketers Cannot Sell.
This is probably the major reason most people do not make it in the Network Marketing business. This was discussed extensively in my “7 Great Lies of Network Marketing – This is Sharing not Selling” post.
3) New Network Marketers Cannot Generate Good Leads.
Next to the selling problem, this has to be the next biggest reason most people fail in MLM marketing. Here is a picture of what normally happens. The new person has just signed up in an exciting MLM program. He is taught by the manuals, meetings and so forth, how he should “share” his product with his friends, neighbors and relatives.
Normally, he is not comfortable with this, and if he is typical, he will have many sleepless, tossing and turning nights. He just doesn’t want to “impose” on his friends! He would feel a lot more comfortable just presenting his opportunity to strangers. Sounds familiar?
4) No true duplicative system.
If the Network Marketing business must be promoted through expensive methods like buying company promotional products (ie CDs, DVDs, magazines, brochures, postcards etc.), renting a hotel meeting room to conduct a business opportunity presentation and promoted with the 3 foot rule prospecting method, a true duplicative system is not feasible. Why? Because not everyone who wants to join the Network Marketing business has the same budget and the GUTS to talk to random people in random places to recruit them into his/her marketing business. Learning how to sell, or to speak and conduct an opportunity meeting is just not duplicative. Only a few people can do this.
5) Selling by using standard Network Marketing techniques.
The traditional way to market a Network Marketing business is to spend all spare time to call around and travel around to get prospects. A lot of people already have full time job, it is very challenging to find extra time to travel and make phone calls. This is why these marketers cannot keep their program going. Additionally, not everyone who wants to join the Network Marketing business has the the guts to talk to random people in random places to recruit them into his/her marketing business.
More of the challenges in selling by using the standard Network Marketing techniques are explained in greater details in the 7 Great Lies of Network Marketing e-book.
6) The marketer is not sure about the Network Marketing business or service.
Often a person will sign up in a MLM marketing program in a “fit of excitement.” After the dust clears, he comes down to earth and reality slowly sets in. What did I just do…I’m in a Network Marketing business…now WHAT?
How should I market my product? Whom should I market this product to? How would my product benefit my prospects? How much time should I allocate into this business daily? Does If you’re not sure how to answer these questions, you should allocate some time to do this before you even start with your marketing efforts.
7) They do not stick with it long enough.
Starting any business will take time, and this is true with a Network Marketing business as well.
By the time you study the business, write and receive literature to study and use to sign up, get the literature, etc. a lot of time has been spent. And it doesn’t end there. The next step is you have to market your business and product/service, generate your own leads and so on.
Depending on where you are in the Network Marketing business (i.e. are you new to the business, do you have any prior marketing and sales experience, are you doing this part time or full time), it is normal to take several months (sometimes years, to those that are really new to the industry) before you can expect much of anything to happen in your Network Marketing business. You should set have a mindset that you are going to stick with the business for at least sometime. Of course that sometime is different between one person to the next.
Till later,
