I just don't have time...

Me: "Boy (sorry...) girl... do I understand that one. May I ask you a trick question."

She:  "What kind of 'trick' question?"

Me:  "It'll be pretty obvious. I'm not devious enough. So, may I ask?"

She: "Sure."

Me: "If you knew (without a doubt) that six months from now you'd be earning at least $1000 a month from your network marketing business... would you be able to make the time?"

She: [Silence.]

Me: "I told you it was a trick question."

She; [Laughing] "Yes you did. Well... (thanks for asking) yes, of course, I would have the time."

Me: "So... can we speak about your doubt?"

She: "Sure... please."

And another prospect is transformed in to business-building butterfly.

Comments

[Kim Klaver]

John - What is a "business-building butterfly"?

You propose telling a prospect: "If you knew (without a doubt) that six months from now you'd be earning at least $1000 a month from your network marketing business... would you be able to make the time?"

With all due respect, this sounds like old school manipulation to me...who would say No if success were assured?

Only it isn't and no amount of pretending it is will change the fact that it is not assured.

I suppose if you were to set out what needs doing - how much she needs to spend up front, how many contacts she has to go through before she gets to a Yes, how many customers or recruits they need before they clear $1,000/mo, how remarkable they have to be in their marketing methods, etc. If she then says Yes, that might be more forthright.

Otherwise, your proposition sounds just like the old "If I could show you a way to make $5000/mo part time, would you be interested?"

Only neither the pitchman or anyone else they know makes $5k mo doing NM part time.

I'd encourage anyone who hears such a come-on to ask the pitch-person, "So how much are you making and how long has it taken you?"

And if there is an unusual situation, e.g. an old time networker like Kathy Minsky who brought a few hundred people with her, they'd confess that up front. So as not to make it look easier than it is.

How many people make $1,000/mo, even in their first year of NM?

We both know know first hand it's not any piece of cake to earn $1,000/mo in NM each month.

[Ty Tribble]

Fogg, Fogg, Fogg.

Welcome to Shiesterville. I suspect that this is a temporary lapse (we all have them) and Kim has kindly called you out on it (as you have called out others to be better at what they do).

Why not...

"What do you mean by that?"

or

"How much time do you not have?" (I like that one.)

[John Fogg]

Ty, your comment is lame.

Did you read my post? Do so again if you have. Perhaps you'll "see" that I set my question up by asking her permission (and even joking about that "trick question" with her a couple of times) and MY point (clearly NOT yours or Kim's... you guys have your own agenda, which has little to do with my post) was to address her "doubt". Clean, clear, open and above board.

Not your style? Fine. But to "call me out..." On what? As said, "lame". Dribble, Dribble, Dribble...

[John Fogg]

K2, I'll answer your comment in a post, later...

[Keith]

John, I think that is brilliant in a way. One of the things we have to do when leading someone (and that is, *ahem*, leading them), is the same thing a coach does. We need to shift their perspective. This is not manipulation if it is for their benefit. These shifts are almost always done with questions, and questions that allow a person to see something differently. Excuses like "I don't have time" are never the real objection, and you have to strip away the excuses to get to the core issue. That is almost always a fear of some kind. This is an excellent example. And I love the way you set it up: it is very selfless, kind, and helpful, naturally leading to dealing with a *real* issue, doubt (=fear of failure). I find most people are uncomfortable with leading others in this way because they don't have 100% conviction that what they are doing is excellent.

Thanks, John. This one just went in my bag of "trick questions" to help people see clearly.

[Charlie Howe]

JMF My Boy,

This is so good, I have posted it to my blog..(www.travelmentorsblog)!!! enough of the Baiting situation.

Some people are so misunderstanding about our business. God Bless Them!

We have to constantly ask the "context-Free questions" or else they would not open up to us!

Rock and Roll, JMF!

Charlie Howe

[Ty Tribble - MLM Blog Author]

Fogg,

I did read your post. Three times as a matter of fact (and I was sober all three times).

It's pure cheese.

You don't need a bag of trick questions complete with a fake chuckle to build a Network Marketing business.

You need to "go deep" with real questions that get to what the real objection is.

Lastly, you can eliminate this type of objection altogether if you have done your job in the first place (talking with the right people) and making sure that they understand the value of your offer.

[John Fogg]

Ty wrote > "It's pure cheese."

JMF > No it's not, and frankly you are a fool if you think so.

Ty > You don't need a bag of trick questions complete with a fake chuckle to build a Network Marketing business.

JMF > Lord bless you do make stuff up. Ty, your response is "the mirror game". As my favorite quote states, "We do not see things as they are... we seen things as we are." (Anais Nin). I have no "bag" of trick questions. I asked this one to "smoke" out the doubt the woman I was speaking with had. Totally legit, light handed, open and honest. For you to see it as otherwise is all about you-- not me or my "process".

Ty > You need to "go deep" with real questions that get to what the real objection is.

JMF > That's what I did. That you do not see/sense that amazes me.

Ty > Lastly, you can eliminate this type of objection altogether if you have done your job in the first place (talking with the right people) and making sure that they understand the value of your offer.

JMF > Crap. People are... It's not about "eliminating objections". It's about unconcealing what stops people (when that's appropriate and you have permission). This lady was "scared". That's all. And she "made up and excuse" ("may I help you? No thanks... I'm just looking.") But like most of us, people are more often than not "blind to what stops them".

So, again, all I did was ask-- in what I thought and felt (and as it turns out she did, too) was a light and open way to approach what could have been a dicey (read painful/stressful) "problem" for her.

Once the "don't have time deal" was removed, that allowed for exploring what it would take for her to earn what she wanted and my question to her the was was she willing and able to do that?

Btw, she was... and now we're both clear on what we will be doing to have that happen.

If that's all "cheese", I'll go back to eating dairy, at least where my business is concerned.

[Ty Tribble]

OK. Fair enough.

The fool asks:

So, how many people have you helped earn $1,000 in your endeavor over the last six months?

[John Fogg]

Ty (Ty, Ty...) once again, like the fool in Tarot*, you're missing "what is". What does it matter how many people I've helped make a thousand? Please read Responding to Kim Klaver's Comments.

Enough of this (already)...

* The Fool is so busy daydreaming of what might be that they're ignoring what is. They're about to fall right off a cliff. Time for them to listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, or just their instincts.