I witnessed an interesting encounter
almost 12 years ago. A former colleague of mine was in Tucson to
conduct a meeting and he called me to have lunch. While we were out,
he asked me to pull into a cell phone dealership so he could buy a
battery charger. We approached the counter to pay, and a
30-something lady smiled and said to my friend, "Will that be all?"
He nodded and asked,"Would you
consider yourself an ambitious entrepreneur?"
She looked him over and cynically
replied, "If I were, do you think I'd be standing behind this
counter?" He
smiled and handed her is credit card and we soon left.
Once in the car, I asked him, "That's
it? That's how you find new people? You didn't even try to give her
more information…"
He looked at me and said, "Don't you
think she knows herself better than I do? I'm not a social worker. I
don't try and change people. I'm looking for that 5% of the
population that is self-motivated and hungry for a new business."
"Okay," I asked, "what if she had said
'Yes, I am! I'm just here because my last business didn't make it
and I'm in transition.' "
"If they say yes," he responded, "I ask
a second question, 'I'm expanding my business in this area and
I'm looking for energetic entrepreneurs. Would you take 15 minutes
and look at it?' "
I asked, "What if they ask, what is it
and how does it work?"
"Then I say," he continued, "Can you
sit down and focus for 15 minutes right now? If not, let's meet at a
coffee shop."
Well, you get the idea. Here are his
stats: According to Bob, he approached 10 people per day for
a solid year (
1 in 10 of Bob's candidates listened for the full 15 minutes; so,
300 presentations were generated. About 1 in 10 of those who
listened moved forward with the idea. So 30 began working the
business and of those, 10 built a good sized downline.
I personally saw a check of his for
over $100,000 for one month.
Well, 10 new approaches each day seems
like a lot to me, how about you? I think 3-5 would be more
realistic, but he is a very driven person.
Plus, my numbers, based on the last 34
years are more like 1 in 5 who listen move forward (
).
But then, he was earning $100K a month and I wasn't. You judge.
The only product requirement is that
it must be something you believe in and other people will use.
If I tell a new person what the product
is, most of them decide on the spot that they aren't interested. In
truth, I want them to buy a Success Pack. To do that, I have to sell
them on the business. That's what Bob was doing a decade and a half
ago.
So, here's my challenge to you:
Will you
commit to (a) approaching 3-5 people a day and (b)
keeping records?
I'm starting today because tomorrow
rarely works for anyone.