Keep Your Heap For The Long-Term
Anyone who has recruited more than a couple of people
into their network marketing business have experienced the "revolving
door" syndrome - where you recruit one person and it seems that two
others drop out.
Obviously, this is frustrating and makes you wonder why it is so difficult
to get your group to stay active. It's even more frustrating to see people
leaving faster than you can recruit them.
You should know that this happens in every business that fails to implement
the one often forgotten element of retention.
Too often we are so caught up in recruiting new business partners that
we forget about the organisation we already have. We focus all of our
energies on the toughest part of building the business which is recruiting.
Yet we forget to take action on the easiest part - follow-up customer
service.
While follow-up customer service may seem difficult to get to sometimes,
it is extremely important for future growth and improving your retention
rates. The people in the group who drop out should not be dropping out.
People drop out because they are often ignored or forgotten by their up
line.
Your goal should be to improve the retention within your own team and
to make your customer service to your organisation a priority. It is far
more difficult to recruit new partners than it is to follow-up and follow-through
with those you already have.
Below are seven things you MUST do to ensure your "revolving door"
in your organization stays locked and to keep your downline active for
the long term:
#1. Implement a customer service policy. If you truly want to build a
solid and profitable network marketing business, you need to implement
the following policy: Provide service and follow-up to your team.
#2. Follow-up is following-through. Just because someone signed on the
dotted line, does not mean the sale is complete. You must follow-up with
your new recruits within one week. Call them within one week of their
registration to ensure they are happy and are using the product/service.
If they want to build the business, call to make certain they are tapping
into the resources and getting off to a good start.
#3. Staying in touch shows that you care. In your prospecting and recruiting
efforts, you planted seeds to start the relationship building process.
Stay in touch with your group. Doing so will show you care and value their
business. Staying in touch will also provide you with an opportunity to
get additional business and to strengthen the relationship.
#4. Anticipate the needs of your group. By staying in contact, you can
anticipate or stay ahead of your team's needs. You will strengthen your
relationship and will more fully understand their current needs. This
ultimately leads to anticipation of future needs. Try to always think
ahead. This will help you keep your team happy and can even help you to
exceed expectations.
#5. Keep records on your team. As your business grows, it will become
impossible to keep each individual's needs in your head. You must create
customer files with personal information on your organisation. This information
should include notes on your conversations and on their current or potential
needs.
#6. Work closely and be supportive. No one is guaranteed success. However,
you will be amazed at how high of a success rate you will have with those
you personally sponsor when you work closely with them and are supportive
of their efforts. Granted, some people will never do what they need to
do and you can't build the business for them. But, if you provide support
and show you care, you improve the retention rate of your group.
#7. Create intimacy with your group. What this means is to be genuine
in your concern for your team members as people. Show them you are not
just in it to get their money. You must go beyond being just an order
taker and help people get what they want and need. The difference between
you and your competition boils down to one thing - customer service. If
you provide value through concern for them as a person and deliver quality
customer service in every way possible, you will find your team will be
there for the long term.
Make follow-up and customer service your PRIORITY!
Keep in mind, the stability of your residual income will be in direct
proportion to your personal follow-up and customer service. As you build
your business in the future, make certain you follow-up and follow-through
with customer service. Your wealth depends on it!
