Table Of Contents



   

Chapter 18

How To Maintain Your Downline So You're Guaranteed A Monthly Residual Income

How to stay in touch with your dowline so they don't drop out

One of the major problems you'll have in building a downline nationally is that many people will drop out every month. This shocked me at first. I would call the people up and ask them why they dropped out. That's where I learned the saying, "Insert excuse here______________". The underlying theme from everyone was that they were spending more money than they were making. This runs along the lines of "expectations". If you expect to be making money within 3 months and you're not, you drop out. End of story.

In order to cope with this problem of people dropping out every month, I came up with 6 key things you must do every month in order to maintain your dowline.

1) Continue to sponsor new people.

The fact is, people are going to drop out. Count on it. The best way to keep positive growth in your organization is to continue to personally sponsor new people. You do this by setting a monthly advertising budget and sticking with it. I currently get around 500 leads a month from my ads and generating programs. This turns into 25 to 50 new people I sponsor every month.

2) Mail a newsletter to your downline every month.

Even if the company mails out a monthly newsletter, I suggest that you mail a newsletter of your own. Even if it is only one sheet of paper stuffed into an envelope, it is better than nothing. Your downline wants and needs to hear from you. By sharing your personal experiences and keeping your downline informed of what is working and what hasn't, you'll find that many people will start to look forward to hearing from you each month. This is an excellent tool in helping you maintain your organization. Especially if you have several hundred or even several thousands in your organization. Mailing them a newsletter is the most efficient way to communicating with them. Many of my newsletters include product testimonials, sample ads that work well and listing of where to advertise. Plus, I share specific phone conversations I've has with prospects and what I said to them that got them to join!

3) Call those who drop-out and find out why.

Being naive when I first started my MLM business, I believed that everyone that joined would NEVER drop-out. I was under the false impression that anyone who joined did so to make money. And, like me, they'd stay in long enough to see that dream come true. Unfortunately, drop-outs happen. How you deal with them will determine your overall success. What I recommend that you do is take the time to call those who drop-out. Ask them why, and then listen. You will, of course, hear some very lame excuses. But, you will also hear from very sincere people who will take the time and tell you the truth of why they quit. You may be able to use this information in a positive manner and take the necessary steps to prevent their "problem" from happening again. Reasons such as, "I think I can make more money faster in another program", or "I can't get anybody to join", you can't do anything these. These are excuses for those aren't willing to do what's necessary to be successful. Anybody can be successful in MLM if they put their mind to it. Period. Those who drop out easily allow circumstances and other negative people to influence them in making the decision to quit.

Remember this, anybody can quit. That's easy. But it takes a person of high caliber to "stick it out" when things don't seem to be going as planned. Those who are successful in MLM have learned one very important lesson: If you drop out, you don't make residual income. Stay in long enough to see your money and time investment pay off. If you paid $100,000 for your MLM distributorship would you stay in a little longer to make it work? Sure you would. Treat your MLM like a $100,000 franchise--then, and only then, will you get the returns you think you deserve!

4) Set quotas for the "leaders" in your downline.

In every MLM I've ever been in, there has always been a handful of people who have taken charge of their business and gone out and duplicated my efforts. These people easily identify themselves not only in your downline report, but they will ultimately call you and introduce themselves to you! To help these people along I recommend that you help them set some goals or quotas. By staying in touch with your leaders you not only insure your long-term success, but you are building a walk-away income for yourself. The perfect scenario you're looking for in your MLM, is to find a handful of leaders who will work as hard as you will. It might take you 10 years to find them But, I'd rather find them in 10 years, than never find them at all!

I try to work with my leaders by advising them when and where to place ads and how many people they should be sponsoring monthly. I also ask them about how many leads they are getting a month and how many of those they are converting into distributors. I then have them give me detailed information about their downline. If someone has 50 people in their downline I ask the following questions.

Out of 50 people, how many:

  • Have actually sponsored someone?
  • Are ordering product every month? And what is the amount?
  • Have called you to discussed their business?
  • Are placing ads and making follow-up phone calls?

With answers to these questions we can then determine WHO in their downline they should focus their efforts on. I then advise them to call those who are building the business and give them specific advise for our particular MLM. I also advise them to call those who aren't active right now, and try to jump-start them into action.

The biggest challenge you'll have in your MLM is finding those who will work with you in building their business. I constantly ask my downline to call me and discuss their business with me. Does everyone always call me and ask for my advice? Sadly enough, no. But, what I do find is that those who will call and listen to my advice, their downline and their check seems to mysteriously grown!

5) Develop an advertising co-op.

All too often I have found that the average person is ignorant about how to advertise properly. With the help of this book you should now have the ammunition necessary to write your own ads, know where to place them for maximum effectiveness, and how to co-op your efforts. I found out early on in my MLM career that I was the only one in my entire group that was placing ads! When I called and asked my group why the weren't placing ads, they responded by saying "I don't know how". So, don't take it for granted that everyone in your organization will automatically run out and place an ad to try to build their downline. Instead, take the offensive. Develop a co-op ad where your downline can participate on a monthly basis. You write the ad, you place the ad and you collect the money for the ad from your downline.

Card decks make excellent co-ops. Why? Because the usually mail-out on pre-determined dates and the cost is very affordable. Normally a card deck that mails to 100,000 opportunity seekers will cost around $1800. What you can do is sell 18 shares for $100 each. Most people in your downline can afford $100 a month for advertising. I recommend that you buy at least 2 shares for yourself. You'll find that you should get no fewer than 500 leads and no more than 1000 leads from a card deck that mails to 1000,000 people. Your results depend upon your offer, how many other advertisers are in the same deck, and the quality of the mailing list used by the card deck publisher.

Beware of companies that claim to have the lowest price. I have found that these companies tend to "re-mail" their card decks to the same names over and over again. You'll know that this is happening when the number of leads you get each time you run your ad with them continually goes down. This is the tell-tell sign that they aren't mailing your offer to new people. That's how they tout such great process--they aren't paying for new names each time they run their card deck. Stick with my recommendations in the back of this book, and in my opinion, you'll be spending your money in the best responding card decks in the industry.

By running a co-op for your downline, you take away the hassle of placing ads--and you'll find that over 20% of your group will participate with you on a monthly basis. When you sell shares in this manner you will have to have the leads come back directly to you. Once the leads start coming in I recommend that you have some kind of sorting system where you can apply every 18th lead to every person in your co-op. Normally, you can mail these leads out weekly. The biggest advantage of doing this kind of co-op is the time lag from your office for only $200 out-of-pocket cost on your part! And, you know who in your downline is getting leads. Then you can follow-up with them in a month to see how they are doing in converting these leads.

Another advantage is that you get to retrieve the name and address of every respondent to the co-op. Why is that important? Because I have found that some people, even as hard as it seems to believe, NEVER mail out information to their co-op leads! Yes, they paid $100 for the leads, they never receive the leads and then they do nothing! I usually have 1 or 2 people out of every co-op that I've sent leads to , never have mailed their leads. How do I know that they don't mail them? Because, the prospect calls me (the name and number on the co-op card) and say they never have received their literature that they requested. That's why it is imperative to maintain all co-op leads in your computer database. Or, at least make a copy of every respondent. Then, if and when this happens, you can mail the prospect your offer and follow-up on them yourself.

If you are lucky enough to run in a card deck that does split runs (runs of 25,000 or 50,000 cards) then I recommend selling these to your top distributors. The cost will be more than $100 (usually anywhere from $600 to $1200). This way, when you split the run, you can personalize the card with their name, address and phone number on them. All responses will be received directly by this person and they in turn would be responsible for mailing and following up on the leads properly. So, be sure when someone is getting a block of cards coming directly back to their office, that they are ready for them. They will need to have plenty of literature packs all ready to go. All they should have to do is place a label and stamp on them and drop them in the mail.

Special note: you can also co-op magazine ads and mailing lists. The philosophy is the same, determine the cost and call your downline to get them to participate. With magazines you'll have to have the leads come back to you (unless the magazine will do a split run like the card decks do). Then, once a week you can disperse them to your downline. If you co-op a post-card campaign to a mailing list, you can have your cards printed up with each individual's name and phone number on them. For example, if you mailed to 10,000 names and have 10 people participate in the co-op, you could have each person's 1,000 post-cards customized with their name, address and phone number on them. The biggest advantage of using a co-op with magazines and post-cards is that you can get your results much faster than through card deck advertising.

6) Call those who don't purchase any products.

All too often I have found that the average person is ignorant about how to advertise pr Just like it is important to call those who drop out of your program, it is equally as important to call those who are still active in your program, but have failed to buy any product. If someone isn't purchasing any of the products they are only a month away from dropping out. I have found that I can get 25% of those who I call to go ahead and start purchasing and "plugging-in" to my recruiting system. Don't let these people fall through the cracks. What you'll find is that when they signed up they were excited. But, life got in the way. It is up to you to call and show them that you are concerned and are there to help them. Most of the time, a friendly phone call will prompt them to get off their rear and help them. Most of the time, a friendly phone call will prompt them to get off their rear and get started. Don't expect 100% of them to start buying, but it is well worth a phone call to get them going!

7) Build in depth to "lock-in" your organization.

Depending upon your pay plan, building in depth will always help "lock-in" your downline. I always work hard at the deepest point of every leg. It's important to work in depth in order to insure that your "system" is being duplicated properly. If your downline on your 5th level is using the same system of recruiting that you are, then you're in good shape. If they aren't, then you're going to have some trouble--unless their system is working better than yours!

Here's another key to working in depth. Be sure to include EVERYONE in that leg when you train in depth. Talk to your personally sponsored distributors and ask them WHO in their downline is wanting some help. Then do a 3-way call. Get them started quickly by helping them in calling their prospects, advertising, etc. Find out what their budget is, get them going and call them back every two weeks and see how they are doing.

When you build in depth, you help secure your downline. Re-read Chapter 13 for more details on how to build your depth and width correctly!