Endless Prospects - Part III

Endless Prospects: Who Do I Talk To Next Now That My Original List Of Names Is Running Out? Part III

by Bob Burg

Now you are really working from strength. Why? Plain and simple, because you are, day by day, developing a huge, ongoing list of new prospects! Since the typical person you meet has a natural sphere of influence (those they know) of about 250 people, every time you cultivate a win/win relationship with one new person, based on the premise that he or she feels as though they know you, like you and trust you, you’ve just increased your list by a potential 250 people every . . . single . . . time! (Okay, cut that in half, and in half again — you’ve still added 62 potential names.)

At this point there is absolutely no pressure in talking to anyone you might meet because if they are not interested, you truly don’t need to care. Because of that fact, you’ll be a lot more effective (remember “posture”: when you care, but not that much).

Let’s now paint a picture of a scenario where you might go out to look for what I call, “quick prospects.” Here, I simply mean that, instead of going through an entire relationship-building process before inviting a person to see the business, we are going to quickly establish a rapport, ask a qualifying statement, and then decide if we want to take their business card to call them later, discuss the business with them now, or decide not to proceed any further. This is very empowering; based on their response, we are deciding if they qualify to work with us!

Imagine you are in an upscale coffee shop or even a bookstore coffee bar, between appointments or just catching up on some reading. A lot of these places are magnets for high-quality, already-successful people, which are those we most want to prospect. Someone sits down at a table near you with their cappuccino. You look over and say hello, and they respond in-kind. You mention how “the cappuccino is really good here,” and they agree. “What are you reading (or anything else topical)?” you might ask, to which they respond (if it’s obvious that they are not interested in speaking with you, just let it go — no harm done).

At this point, you casually ask them what line of work they are in, and then begin to ask the first two open-ended, feel-good questions discussed in the first article. They are, “How did you get started in the widget business?” and “What do you enjoy most about what you do?”. At the point you feel a rapport has begun to be established, it is time to utilize what I call, “the one key statement.” This is, “You must really enjoy what you do.”

What Has This Statement Accomplished?

Two important things have just occurred: One is that you have taken the exact opposite route of practically every other Network Marketer, who has been taught to find a person’s emotional pain right away in order to show him or her how you are the one who can fix it. Actually, before a person is comfortable with you, they are not ready to admit that they have in some way made a mistake regarding their life’s choices. You are making them feel good about themselves and about you, and more importantly, he or she feels comfortable with you.

You’ve also given that person an opportunity to respond in such a way that will make it easy for you to present the opportunity, if that is what you decide you choose to do. For instance, she replies, “Yes, I love what I do. Are you now stuck? Hardly. Now you respond by saying, “You know, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the more successful a person already is in one area of their life, the more open they are to other ideas for successful projects (or, you could end that phrase with ‘income diversification’, other income streams’, etc.).” If she agrees that’s how she is also, then you can lead in along the lines of, “I’m currently in the process of expanding a business project in the area with some very successful people and we’re looking for a few other . . . already successful entrepreneurs to work with in expanding a very lucrative infrastructure” (or whatever wording would be appropriate). She’ll either want to know more or she won’t.

On the other hand, what if she replied to your one key statement by saying, “Are you kidding? I hate what I do. I’d rather be doing just about anything else.” Then you respond with, “Well, I don’t know if this is something we could necessarily get together , but I’m in the midst of expanding a business project with some very successful people, and we’re in the process of finding some key leaders. Your talents could possibly pay off well for you.” Wow — what posture! There’s a good chance that person will be interested. And if not? So what. NEXT!

Wherever and Whenever

You can do “quick-prospecting” practically anywhere you want. These opportunities will make themselves available throughout the day. And it doesn’t matter if it’s in your neighborhood, or literally, another country. What’s nice about this is that since you are continually doing your long-term prospecting that we discussed in the first two segments, you always have new prospects filling your pipeline. Thus; there’s no pressure to feel as though you must prospect everyone you see. There isn’t the pressure of the “three-foot rule” which, while it has its positive side, can put a lot of pressure on someone and make the business downright un-fun. And while this business is partly based on inconvenience, the prospecting process, in order to be kept duplicatable, must be made to be an non-threatening as possible.