If you're in a network marketing (mlm) company, or thinking of
joining one, take a look at the business model. Do you get
compensated for retailing (selling) your product? Or do you
only get the big commissions on the distributors/business
builders that you sign up? Would you sell your product at
retail price to your family? If your compensation plan pays the
majority of commissions for sponsoring business builders and not
for retailing product, the behavior in the field that will drive
is recruit, recruit, recruit.
With the companies that are set up properly, you get
compensated (commission) based on anything you sell. It does not
matter if those sales came from customers or business builders.
Customers are just as important as business builders. That is
the way it should be.
The goal in network marketing should not be to be the pushy,
aggressive salesman that most people run from, but to help
others by introducing them to our products. The majority of
network marketing companies out there have good products that
can actually help people. BUT, if you wouldn't sell that product
to your mom/dad/brother/sister at retail prices, then you are in
the wrong company. The reason a lot of network marketing/mlm
companies have to charge so much for their products is overhead.
If a company boasts that they have hundreds of people taking
orders and a massive building, that is where the money is going
INSTEAD OF INTO YOUR POCKET as a distributor. Every company has
overhead. My home office has overhead. When it is due to large
office buildings, a high number of order takers/employees, and
brass faucets in the lavatories, it’s called massive overhead.
Companies with massive overhead need to inflate their product
prices to cover that overhead plus pay the distributors the
little that they do pay.
Is the compensation plan of the company that you are in or
considering joining set up to pay part time people? The
majority of compensation plans are set up to only pay the “heavy
hitters”. They only pay those sponsor monsters who go out and
recruit, recruit, recruit, but aren’t able to duplicate their
efforts. I recently went to my company’s convention and the
majority of the people who were at convention walked across the
stage and were recognized for their achievements. Even part
time people were able to hit high levels in the compensation
plan. Your comp plan should pay part time people as well as
full timers.
As a Mentoring For Free success coach, I look at the policies
and procedures of network marketing companies every day. I also
evaluate compensation plans. Some of these companies out there
don't even pay you if you retail your products. They only pay on
business builder volume. That's SAD!! And it's possibly criminal.
Speaking of Policies & Procedures, have you read yours? This
is NOT your Terms and Conditions, it is the Policies &
Procedures and EVERY network marketing company must have them.
This is your contract with the company. Some companies hide
them until after you’ve signed up as a distributor. The worst
part about that is the fact that you agree to abide by them when
you sign that agreement.
I've heard people tell me "They were over 20 pages of very
small print and I wasn't about to read all that." I've also
(after pointing out that the company's P&P's say you can be
terminated at ANY time for ANY reason) had people tell me "Oh -
but they won't do that to ME". Believe me - many people have
been done in by that clause. I don't know about you, but I want
to build a business that will be there to pay my children's
children. Do you?
