Correspondence With Your Upline, Downline, And Prospects

I've been very successful in my direct recruiting efforts on the internet. Normally, I work no more than 1 hour a day on the recruiting aspect of my internet business. It takes me 15 minutes to post my ads, and 45 minutes to respond by e-mail to my prospects. That's it. The actual marketing of your Internet business does not take that much time at all, my friends.

So, I am here to tell you all, that you can undoubtedly work one or two hours a day, and do exceptionally well. You merely have to get people to visit your web site. That's it.

So why is it that some people do fine, while others struggle? The answer is this ... it's all in the correspondence. Believe me, I cannot overstate the importance of solid, persistent and consistent correspondence with your prospects. It will literally make or break you.

Someone recently sent me a letter that she had written to a prospect. The letter answered about 6 or 8 very good questions that the prospect had posed. Her answers were completely insufficient. And if I had been the prospect, I would have run as far away as I could.

The answers were short, curt, loaded with grammatical and spelling errors, and showed little personal rapport being built. You must show care and concern for your prospects. Let them know that you genuinely care and want to help them.

I realized that if that was how she was handling all of her correspondence with prospects, then there was a problem. But, it was a problem that could certainly be fixed. Now, I'm not saying that I'm any correspondence guru, far from it. But, I am saying that what I'm doing is working.

The most important thing you have with your prospects is the correspondence. I know that all of you will have no problem getting responses to your ads, that's the easy part. But how you handle these inquiries is going to make a huge difference in the way your organization grows.

So, you are getting people responding to your ads. They are waiting to hear from you about a way to make some money on the internet. People will respond and ask you questions about your business, how it works, and about its legitimacy. Always remember how you felt at first.

When you answer these questions, you are making or breaking "the deal." That is where you will either lose the prospect, or sign the prospect up. It is in this correspondence that you need to be impressive, convincing, friendly, didactic, honest, promising, and above all ... personal.

Your correspondence must be enlightening and thorough. When a prospect asks you a question, take your time, and answer the question fully and completely. Leave no stone unturned. Do not give a short little snippet of an answer. Do not be curt with your prospects.

If you are, you will lose them. Write nice, clean, sometimes long, flowing answers that get to the point of the prospect's question. If they don't understand something, don't give them a quick, little 2-sentence response. Are you kidding me? Why respond at all then?

You are going to lose that prospect anyway. You must take your time, and write a thoughtful response to their questions. Be courteous with them. Be funny with them. But above all, you must come off as knowledgeable, and you must be very personable.

And be straightforward. I cannot emphasize this enough. Be honest, completely honest about the program, and do not hype it up too much. The program speaks for itself. I do not emphasize those big numbers like $15,000 a month. That sounds ridiculous, and people don't believe it.

Emphasize that they can make good money right now, but great money in the months ahead, from the monthly residual checks. Remember, most people just want some extra money, working part-time, that has the possibility of becoming incredible money down the road.


Frequently Asked Questions or FAQs

Ok, you should each keep your own little directory of FAQs. See, you will be getting many of the same questions, over and over and over, from different prospects. Rather than typing the same old stuff over and over again, here's what you do.

When you answer someone's questions, and you think that you are going to have to answer that question again, just copy and paste your answer into a new file, a new text document, and save it. Save it with the title being the question, followed by a .txt (in windows).

When you get the questions in the future, you just go into your directory, copy and paste or insert the answer into your new letter answering the prospect's question, edit the response to fit that particular prospect, and voila, you've just saved yourself a bunch of time.

Remember, even though the initial information you sent them may have already gone into detail about their question, if you re-word your answer, and direct it to them personally, by including their name in a few places in the text, it will often satisfactorily answer their question.

Having your own directory of FAQs will undoubtedly save you time. As a result, you will then have more time to focus on editing the responses to your prospects' questions, thus making your correspondence more personal and more customized for each prospect.

If you do not have a FAQ already prepared for a specific question, well then, take your sweet time, and answer their question as best you can. Write in clear English, fix your spelling errors, fix your grammar, and above all else, come off as a professional.

You are writing to a person that wants to be convinced to join your company, thereby earning you money, and building your downline. So, take your time. Answer every concern they have, and you will sign them up 9 out of 10 times. When you're done, add it to your FAQs.

When you write full responses, whether they are one paragraph long or 8 paragraphs long, it shows the prospect that you care. It shows them that you are knowledgeable. It shows them that you will be there to help them out, should they join your company.

More importantly, it builds a "rapport" with these people. It builds a mini-relationship, and it builds trust. The prospect sees you as someone who cares, who believes in what you are doing, and who is willing to take the time and explain every aspect of the business to them.

One major theme, that you should keep in the back of your head during your correspondence with your prospects, is simplicity. Keep things simple. Your businesses is a simple business. I always emphasize this to my prospects. It is not complicated. Anybody can do this business.

Now, the marketing plan can appear a bit complicated at first. It really is not. It is actually quite simple, and it is crucial that you fully understand your company's compensation plan, so that you can simplify its explanation in your correspondence with your prospects.

Always read over your writing. Make sure that your answers are clear, and that they make sense to you. If they are not abundantly clear to you, I can assure you that your prospect will be confused. So, take your time, and explain everything that your prospect does not understand.

Do not become impatient. Everyone picks up this business at a different pace, and it is your job to make sure that everyone understands the business. It is my opinion, that once someone truly understands this business, they are likely to sign up.

I know that any prospect who asks me a question is interested in making money somehow. These people want to work a business online, and I am offering them that kind of opportunity. It is our responsibility to explain to them why this is the business opportunity for them.


Spelling And Grammar

Lastly, although I touched on it earlier, let me emphasize this next point a little bit more. Grammar is very important. Remember, when marketing online, all you have is your written correspondence. If yu cahnt spiel wel, u shuld ahlwayz uhse a spill-cheker!

I have read some of my downliners' letters to their prospects, and to tell you the truth, usually the grammar is excellent. But, I have also seen many examples where the grammar is bordering on atrocious. I'm sorry. I have to be blunt, because this is important.

This is where the subconscious aspect of selling your company via e-mail comes into play. No, people would not stop from joining just because you did not correct your spelling, or because you misplaced a preposition. Hey, I am the first one to admit that my typing needs improvement.

I mean, I know I make many mistakes. When I am typing to you, my downliners, I try to fix my mistakes, but I'm not compulsive about it. However, when I am typing to a prospect, I want to impress them. I want to come off as an intelligent, thoughtful person.

I can guarantee you, that most of your prospects will certainly notice misspelled words and atrocious grammar. Hey, this is just a fact. I'm not trying to be an elitist here. I am trying to give you every edge you can use. Sometimes my grammar stinks, and I will often misspell words.

But, I do make every effort to correct myself. I re-read what I have written to prospects. If you are lucky enough to have spell-check in your e-mail program, use it! All you have is your words on the computer screen. With those words, you will either succeed or fail. It's all up to you.


Presentation

Allow me to add something else here, presentation. It is very important that your e-mails to and from your prospects be neat, and very easily readable. Leave lines between their questions and your answers. A good-looking response to a prospect's questions should look like this ...

---begin example---

Michael,

Hi, thanks for writing back. Let me address your questions for you:

>I've read the e-mail you sent me and even visited your web site. In theory your business
>sounds great, but then again, don't they all?

They all may, but Michael, I can assure you that this business is for real. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you are still hesitant after reading this letter, I urge you to give me a call. Blah blah blah blah...

>My main concern is that I have been involved in several MLM "schemes" in the past and I
>understand the argument made on the Network Marketing vs. "pyramid" issue but I was >hoping you could shed a bit more light on the differences between your company and
>traditional MLM setups.

I too was leery before joining this program, but as you'll see it really stands head and shoulders above the rest. Our program is based on blah, blah, blah, blah ...

---end of example---

Ok ... Now, some new members have written me regarding a very valid dilemma, one that I went through when I first started. "How can I recruit these people if I have to tell them the truth of what I've made so far and I haven't made anything?!" Well, this is my suggestion:

What I did in my initial sales letters, was not mention how much I was making. I simply extolled the virtues of how well I was doing, and what kind of reaction I was getting from people, and what people could make if they joined my company. No guarantees were stated.

I got about 3 people in the first few days, just like that. After that, I edited my sales letters every few days, and just said, "Hey in my first 4 days, I signed up 3 people". Then after my first 8 days, "Hey, I signed up 7 people in my first week", things like that.

So it's really just about hooking the first few. So, just talk about the strengths of the company, the free website, this Training Center etc. Be creative ... be a marketer ... you have got the product. You have got the company. Now, just sell it as you see fit.

Now, because of the nature and misconceptions about MLMs, you are bound to receive a nasty reply every so often from someone whose either seen your web page or read your sales letter. Some people just don't understand MLM, or it's legality.

Don't be alarmed when you receive responses accusing you of promoting a "pyramid scheme" -- these people "know not of what of they speak." Don't ever get into an argument with anyone, and remember that we're not in the arm-twisting business. Some you just have to let go.

Pyramid schemes have no real product or service, and people are paid for simply sponsoring other people into the pyramid and collecting signup fees. When you receive a response from someone who is not fully educated on the legality or purpose of MLM, here is an appropriate response ...

---response---

This is not a pyramid scheme. You either have not been to my web site or haven't read my sales letter, which both explain in detail what this company is providing in terms of products and services. Pyramid schemes have no "real" product to offer. We offer products, services, etc.

---end of response---

Lastly, let me leave you with a quote that I agree with whole-heartedly with respect to marketing and your prospects:

And I quote:

"I have found that the more they (prospects) protest their skepticism, the easier they are to sign up. Have you noticed this? That when a prospect seems impossible, it really is a signal that he is a future member. Apathy is the one real signal that you won't sign the person. Give me a skeptical jerk over an apathetic sweetie-pie any day! This is just my personal experience."

Never think that a person is not interested just because they are skeptical. If they took the time to write down their feelings or questions, it is because they are interested, and they are simply screaming out to you that they want to be convinced. So, take the time and convince them!

You must be in regular contact with each of your downliners. Once or twice a week, let them know you are there for them. You need to help them, work with them, and see to it that they have all the help they need to succeed and prosper. I mean this quite literally.

Go out of your way to answer questions and address concerns. If one of the reps in your downline is having a difficult time getting started, you'll be amazed at how much some upline support will do for them. Encourage them and they'll help to build your downline!

There is absolutely no better way to build a Network Marketing business than to help those in your downline. Go far beyond the "call of duty," and you will reap enormous benefits. There simply is no excuse for ignoring your downline.

If you are brand new, of course, ask your sponsor questions, and then relay the answers to the prospect. That's the great thing about e-mail, it gives you time to find out the answers before you reply -- allowing you to start promoting the business from day 1 without much learning at all!

It is imperative to know your business. Let's face it, you simply cannot build a business that you know nothing about. Learn the trade. The tools have been given to you, and lots of time and team effort has gone into making sure that the answers are available to you.

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