We’ve all become annoyed at the salesperson approach pushing us to buy their product. It’s very annoying to be unable to casually browse a store, look at a catalog or shop online without some salesperson, pop-up chat box or other push tactic following you incessantly to make a sale.
In network marketing, some of these same pushy sales techniques are applied as a result of the company culture and training, experience of the person doing the selling or by those just interested in making a sale, growing their team or reaching a new goal. Being in network marketing, I get the numbers side of the business. These things are important and there are great advantages to hitting a certain level and growing a team.
The quickest way to lose a potential customer and friend is to apply one of the pushy salesperson tactics. Think about it – would you want to buy something from someone who did that to you?
My approach to reaching those sales, numbers and goals is truly secondary to my genuine interest in connecting people with oils I believe will help them and their families. This approach aligns with doTERRA’s culture of sharing information with others and letting them choose what is right for them.
I have found doTERRA sells itself once someone tries it. My only “job” in the sales phase is finding people interested, providing a sample appropriate for them and sharing some information for how to use them safely. Sharing is easy because people are generally interested or they are not. From there, they will either immediately find value and purpose and want more or they will not. I’m not going to push myself on someone for my own gain. That’s not what it’s about for me.
I realize and accept not everyone is going to find the same value, purpose and enjoyment I have with essential oils.
Rejection is hard regardless of if it’s the first time or 1,000 time it has happened.
Through doing this type of business I have learned there are actually several forms of rejection that you have to be prepared to encounter and respond accordingly.
Clear As Day Rejection
This is the easiest of the rejection types.
Clear As Day Rejection is when you have presented some information to another person about your product and service and they say no. They’re not open to hearing more, don’t want to come to your party or class and are just not interested.
They may or may not be open to further conversation about it in the future. Instead of pushing for now, ask questions to see if they’d be interested in a few weeks or months from now. If you can get a conversation going with them aside from the product or service their openness will be easier to arrive at so you know if it’s a no now or no forever.
When I encounter this type of rejection, I try to leave the door open for future discussion but respect if the person says no to that as well. On my list I make a note of the person’s decision and move on.
Sticker Shock Rejection
This is the potential customer who is interested but not wanting to commit. You can tell they love the product or service. They ask you lots of questions, participate actively in a class or party and yet they don’t purchase or enroll.
If you get down to the reason for the hesitation, you’ll usually find it’s financially driven. They see the price tag and are like “Whoa! Let’s back up a little.”
You have options in this situation.
Invest in the time to figure out what’s important to them and show them how the product or service supports that. Present or represent the value of the product or service. Give them a little time to think about it and then follow-up. If it’s important they will make it a priority and budget for it.
You can wait. Keep them engaged and interested. Keep it friendly and open. Understand this will require some investment on your part to make meaningful follow-up and possibly some additional investment along the way. It could also take weeks, months or longer. If you use this approach, make a timeline for how much YOU are willing to invest for the business side. However, ALWAYS be genuinely interested in them, the person, and not make it always about the product or service otherwise they will immediately feel you like a shark in water looking for a bite.
Present the business opportunity to them as a way for them to get what they want now and earn money to pay for it. A lot of people will say no to the business opportunity but never assume that. It’s better to give the person this option and let them think about it then not to present it at all. Give them some information and follow up with them.
These options give you room for follow-up but I highly recommend you set a timeline for yourself on what you’re willing to invest. Make it reasonable; most sales require 7-14 touches and that can occur over several days, weeks, months or longer before a sale occurs so always try to leave it open for another touch-point and follow-up.
At the end of the timeline you set, you will need to decide if you want to continue or not. If you do, set a new timeline.
Sometimes no matter how long you wait or encourage, the person is just not going to move forward. If that’s the case, I move them to my long term list and revisit at another time in the future when maybe their situation is different to support their interest. This is a great connection to keep. Reach out to them every now and again. If there is an event, class or party you know they’d love to participate in invite them! This is not an all out rejection but rather a “not now” rejection.
Duck and Cover Rejection
I have found this to be the most hurtful rejection. I never understand why it’s so hard for some people to just say “thanks, but no thanks.” Maybe they’re afraid I’ll come back harder to push them to buy or some other deep seeded reason. The Southerner in me tries to avoid thinking they just lack basic manners.
This is where someone has clearly expressed interest, you’ve invested in the connection and you can clearly see they were interested, but when you follow-up they act like they never met you in their life.
They ignore your Facebook messages with a non-response, they opt out of group posts quickly, they don’t pick up the phone or respond to texts. You see them out somewhere and they go the other way.
The best way to handle this is to send a nice personal note.
Dear Friend:
Thank you for letting me share my PRODUCT/SERVICE with you. I truly enjoyed meeting you. If you change your mind and want to connect again please let me know. I’m happy to help you in any way I can on your journey.
My best,
YOUR NAME/BUSINESS NAME
This approach leaves the door open for them to come to you and lets them know you are not going to push them. If they’re interested they will reach out. You’ve done your job now move on to someone who is engaged and ready to move forward.
The Dud Rejection
This is the person who expresses interest, reaches out to you about the product or service and may even express an interest in joining you as a network marketer.
You may enroll this person or they may purchase something with a promise of something more but you quickly see they become the dreaded inactive-active member.
There’s usually a couple things at play in this situation including;
They weren’t really that interested but joined or bought a couple things out of the sense of obligation or quasi-interest
They did it because their friends were all doing it
They were interested but something happened in their life
This is a complicated rejection to handle. I call this a rejection because it really is not a sale. You my friend have a dud and you need to figure out if that dud is temporary or forever.
To handle this rejection:
If after someone enrolls or purchases, make your usual follow up with them. Service is just as important as the sale.
If the person is not interested post sale, then adjust your approach and frequency to see if you can engage them a little later.
Include them on important information, invite them to events you know they’d be interested in but set no expectation on them to participate.
If they did not enroll or purchase from you, then leave the opportunity open. Invite them to your next event and keep them on your list as a potential customer even though they have enrolled or purchased. This is a rejection form that you need to treat like a potential or new customer.
They could end up being your best customer or even a top producer on your team. Never rule out anyone just because they start out differently than you did. It could be that after a couple months of being enrolled with no activity you reach out at the perfect time and they are very interested, excited and engaged.
If over time they are clearly not interested they will become inactive on your books. Usually this is a year with most network marketing companies.
In this situation, the person invested something in the way of a small purchase or enrollment so all hope is not lost. They just have a different path right now. Your focus should be to keep the connection but not be pushy about it. Let them choose when and how to move it forward.
If you are in network marketing, what would you add to this list and how do you handle rejections?
Interested in more?
If you are interested in discussing network marketing approaches or essential oils, please feel free to reach out via this blog or email at dragonspitapothecary@aol.com