Are you a marketer or salesman?… “Well,” some may say, ” what’s the difference?”

Good question! There’s a big difference.  And knowing the difference will literally make or break your business. Here’s what I mean:

What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘salesman’?  Well, what I immediately think of is an overly-excited person trying to pressure me into buying something that I really don’t want!  Has you ever had that experience before? I think we all have. In fact that’s why we hate getting thosee tele-marketing calls, right? Because, we know that they’re goal is to sell us something we don’t really want.

Are you that person? Are you the person that everybody runs away from when you approach them? Do people quickly hang up the phone when they find out that it’s you on the other end? (“But, mom! I’m just calling to say ‘Hi’”)     Are you finding it hard to get your friends and family to hotel meetings or home presentations?  And, is it difficult to get people (even your own mom) to buy your products or services?

If that’s so, take a serious look at yourself in the mirror. Because that salesman that you don’t particularly like, is exactly what you have become!  Yes, if any part of the above description fits you, than the bold truth is:  you are a SALESMAN! And as you can see, being a salesman is not getting you any results!

“But, wait a minute!”, you might say. “Isn’t Network Marketing all about sales?” “Don’t we have to sell things to actually make money in this business?”

The answer to that is ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.  But it’s simple. Here’s what I mean.

Yes, you have to sell the product or service to the prospect in order to make any kind of money.  But, before you even think about selling anything to anyone, you have learn how to market, first.    Yes, keep this in mind:  Sales and Marketing have to ALWAYS be tied together.   You shouldn’t have one without the other.  Here’s why:

In order to have a successful business of any sort, you must keep in mind this fact:  “Nobody likes to be sold. But everyone loves to buy!”       Let me repeat that again (this is THE MOST CRITICAL part of a successful, long-term business):

‘Nobody likes to be sold. But, everyone loves to buy.”

This fact highlights the HUGE importance of knowing how to market.   My definition of Marketing is this:  “The act of finding out who wants what you have to offer.”  That’s it!  Here’s how the process SHOULD go:

Instead of approaching your friends and family who have not shown any interest in what you have or are offering, you need  to:

1) Find out who is actually looking for what you have to offer. (That’s what marketing is.  And there are quite a few different ways of doing this. I’ll share with you the ways that I personally have used in my business, that are incredibly effective. )

2) Give them what they’re looking for. (This is what sales is.)

That’s it guys. It’s simple in concept. (But within these two steps, there are quite a few peices to the puzzle. But they’re easy to implement and master.  And I’ll be sharing these in further trainings.)

But, the point that I want you to glean from this is that sales is the natural ENDING to the process. Sales is simply the part where you take the order. It’s what I consider to be like customer service.  If you market first, then you’ll only be focusing your time with people that want to listen to you – people that want what you have.

Then,  after they find out you have what they want, you take the order.  You may have to answer a few questions they have. They may have a few fears in getting started.  But the point is, they’re essentially ready to get started. They’re ready to buy.

I’m telling you, my friend:  growing a long-term successful business is SO much easier when you’re only talking to people that want what you have.  And truly, many times they will come after YOU instead of you chasing them around.  And you won’t have to twist anybody’s arm. In fact, after they plop their credit card in front of you, many times they will thank you for allowing them to buy.

So, instead of just approaching anybody,   remember:

If you market first, then sales will be the natural next step.

Keep that in mind, and you will save lots of time, money and embarrassment.  And the people that you put in your business, in general, will stick around for the long-run. (Hello, residual checks!)