I HATE Business Cards!

by MJ Durkin 

The title of this article is a CLASSIC mistake that many new Network Marketers make... 
  
And I saw it in action the other night... 
  
I had finished doing a training at a dinner meeting in Canada when one of the servers came up to me and asked me if the products that were talked about at the presentation worked. 

I said that they did and that I used them myself. I called one of the distributors over who had just purchased something from me and asked her to speak to the lady that had been asking for information. 
  
As I was packing up my stuff, I was watching the interaction out of the corner of my eye and I saw something that terrified me... 

I watched the conversation end with the distributor handing her business card to the woman and then the distributor turned to walk away! 

I had to intervene and I sort of shouted across the room, "April, make sure that you get her number so that you can get back to her and follow up!" April looked at me a little confused but she got the message and went back, fished a pen out of her purse and got her prospect's phone number. When she was done, I looked at her and said, "YOU are going to have to call her to follow up, do you understand?" She nodded that she did and I breathed a sigh of relief. 
  
But this is a classic, yes, even tragic mistake! 
  
And it happens all the time. 

When a person shows interest in your product, service or opportunity, they will completely FAKE YOU OUT BY SHOWING INTEREST or even downright excitement about your business. 
  
And if you are NEW, if you are a rookie, (please don't take this the wrong way), if you are an amateur, you will become excited that you have someone that is  
actually approaching you and WANTS information and you will think that their interest is sincere and that they will call you and that they will buy something from you or join you.  
  
But... 

You will go home after handing your card out and sit by the phone waiting for your hot prospect to call and ... 

THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO CALL and you are going to be devastated or at the very least, disappointed. 

Several years ago I was doing a training in Nashville, TN for a good client of mine. I had trained first thing in the morning and after the lunch break, a young  
couple came up to me all excited.  
  
"MJ, your stuff works! It absolutely works!"  
  
"Of course it does," I replied, "What happened?" 
  
They went on to tell me how someone had asked them about a T-shirt they were wearing that captured the prospect's interest and that the prospect was really interested and asked for their card. I asked, "Did YOU get their name and number as well so that you can follow up?" The wife replied hesitatingly, "Ah, well no but I'm sure she's going to call us. She was really interested." 

Now, I'm glad that these nice and well-meaning people were more amenable to engaging prospects in conversation after my training but I am 99% positive that this eager and hopeful couple NEVER received a call from that prospect! 
  
So I hope the message is clear... 

If you hand out your business card to a prospect you must insist on getting their information. I pull a pen out and the back of a business card and say with very assumptive posture, "Your cell number is...?" and "Spell your last name for me?" 

You MUST be proactive in getting your prospect's name and cell number.  

Also if you have a team, you MUST train your people to make sure that they aren't losing great prospects by handing cards out and waiting by the phone. (feel free to forward this email to them as a training tool) 
  
To your success, 
  
MJ Durkin - mjdurkinseminars.com