Hey there,
I wrote this article over 7 years ago for Ezine Articles (http://EzineArticles.com/1783607)
It still rings true today…
Do you find yourself “hand-holding” and spending all your time training and supporting your downlines?
One of our members sent me an email the other day that said:
“…Geoff, I have built a small downline in NPN, but no matter what I do, some of my referrals don’t seem to want to DO anything to help themselves in building their business. I’ve done some serious ‘hand-holding’, showing these people where to start, what to do, and to just follow what I’m doing. However they’re just stuck at zero and don’t seem to hold the same motivation that I do. I guess my question is: How can I get these people going??….”
– J. E. from Florida.
Well… My immediate answer would be: “Stop wasting your time on those people, you need to go out and find new people that actually share your enthusiasm and that will follow your lead ON THEIR OWN.”
Unfortunately, some of the people that you sponsor will never do anything to help themselves. It’s not because of ‘you’, or ‘the website’, or ‘the system’, or ‘the economy’… There’s nothing wrong with who YOU are. However, you cannot force people to BE like you, you can only keep searching for the people that ARE like you (yes, they’re out there). It sounds like the people you have in your downline don’t really want to build a business. They may “say” or act like they do, but in reality, in THEIR reality, they don’t want to, and never will. They don’t have it in them and you can’t force them to.
What you CAN do and should do, is just BE YOU and continue to market yourself as who you are. These people are in your downline simply because they were attracted to the way that you were advertising you and your business. Think about that for a minute, and think about how you promoted yourself to them as their sponsor. It’s not your job to ‘hand-hold’ them and carry them through on your back – unless of course that’s what you promised them (???). If you did that then you definitely have to re-visit your marketing methods.
If you relegate yourself as a “hand-holder”, most likely you’re going to have to hold hands as long as you’re in business, which can be a real drag after months of dealing whiners and excuse-makers.
“The 80/20 rule”
Am I suggesting that you NOT support or train your downline?? No, I’m not saying that at all. But what I’m saying is that if you lead by example and your downlines SEE that you’re spending most of your time marketing, promoting, finding new people, and generating new leads… they will see that that’s how it’s done. The real “business builders” in your group will follow your lead and build their businesses in a like manner. The others will not and those are the people that you don’t need in your business and shouldn’t be spending your time with.
When your downlines see that you’re spending maybe 20% of your time training and supporting them, then they won’t become ‘hand-holders’ either, and that’s a great thing for the quality, stability, and longevity of your business. Focus on spending at least 80% of your time prospecting, promoting, and generating new leads for your business, spend a maximum 20% of your time training and supporting those that join you. Most importantly, make sure your downlines SEE what you’re doing.
Keep to the 80/20 rule and your Business Builders will show themselves, the others will fall to the wayside. Teach your downlines to follow this as well, and teach them how to teach others the same rule. That is how it works.
Hope this helps you out.
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– Geoff Stephen
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