Best Business Presentation - The Shortest Sentence I Never Used

Everyone wants to know what the best business presentation is. The key is in being specific. This is especially true in network marketing.

Most people start out learning everything about the company, the product, the compensation plan, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. They try to learn it all so they can run right out & regurgitate it all over their prospects. And that's supposed to work.

Well … let me share with you how that worked for me.

Back in the early '90s I had a door-to-door sales job. I sold the "Tri-Star Home Cleaning System"

Yep … I was a vacuum cleaner salesman.

I studied all the trainings & learned all the closes my boss could teach me. I even learned all his silly jokes to insert in my presentation.

I had a kit with a flip chart that had so many pages the chart book alone weighed 2 pounds. What with that kit & the Tri-Star box some thought I was moving in.

I must have shown that machine to over 50 people in the 3 months I worked there. For 2 ½ of those 3 months I was without a car, but I got into homes anyway.

I talked everyone's ears off & worked myself to a frazzle.

Guess how many Tri-Stars" I sold.

Not 30. Not 20. Not even 10. I sold 3 … & 2 of those sales fell through.

What could I have done differently?

One simple question asked early on in my presentations might have soled a lot more machines, helped me make more friends. & have much more fun.

And That Question Iis …

"So what would you like to know next?"

Just as in door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales every MLM presentation is different. I can tell you from experience that you can't just take a flip chart and read it to a prospect.

Some of those people wanted to know how powerful the motor is, others asked about the warrantee, & still others wanted to know if it worked like I said.

But every time I did a presentation it was the same. I gave everyone so much information that I tensed up all the "sales man defensive" muscles in my customer's bodies.

MLM prospects have similarly narrow fields of interest. It's amazing how little they want to hear. Such as …

• the compensation plan
• the product ingredients
• the integrity of the founders.
• the system I'm using to duplicate.

All the time I spent explaining all about the company, the filtration system, the machine's materials (things they didn't care about) bored most of those people to tears. In no time at all they were irritatedly thinking, "When's this gonna end?"

So before learning how much of the products special ingredient is in each dose a better thing to focus on is learning to ask that one simple question to find out what the prospect really wants to know.

Asking, "So what would you like to know next?" does several valuable things for me.

1. It relaxes my prospect.
2. It puts my prospect in control of the information I give.
3. My prospect feels respected.
4. The guessing game is over for me & I can focus on what really matters about my opportunity to that prospect.

The best business presentation is the one that helps me get right to what my prospect wants to know & only what he wants to know. Plus, I have spent zero time making another person mad.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

List Building - Pillar 6 (part 1)

Which Marketing Method Works Best, Plan 'A' Or Plan 'B'?

All of The 5 Pillars for Success must be in place before you commit to joining any network marketing company. Once you have that established the next step toward building your network marketing career you must learn about The 6th Pillar for Success.

But first, let's look at some of the myths about network marketing.

Myth 1: It's about re-inventing the wheel and hoping others will come along wanting it."
Myth 2: "You have to sell to anyone with a pulse."

These are examples of “Plan B Marketing” (not network marketing). This method only works in the corporate world (direct sales). Network marketing and direct sales are two very different things. that is why "Plan B Marketing” fails in MLM big time.

So then what does work in network marketing?

The answer is "Plan A Marketing". What's that? Before I answer that question let's define what "network marketing" is by looking at each word on it's own.

Network: building of a customer base, building of business associates, & building of relationships.

This means network marketers deal with prospects, customers, & business associates.

Market: a. research intent upon determining the wants, needs, or desires of a specific group, b. providing a product or service that serves the wants, needs, or desires of a specific group.

So then marketing is about giving a starving, targeted market what they want.

Here’s a simple example of a "target market":

A stadium concessionaire's clientele is a target market. He doesn't need to "close" anyone or even have fancy, high quality products. All he needs to do is get what those ravenous sports fans want to eat and drink right next to their seats so they don't have to miss any of the game.

So the two marketing methods are:

==> “Plan A”: Find a ‘target market’ and satisfy their appetite for what they want. This method has a huge success rate.

==> “Plan B”: Re-invent the wheel by finding or creating a product, followed by creating a company, and then hoping someone comes along to sell to. If you choose this one you'd better pack a lunch as it has the highest failure rate.

If you're an entrepreneur with a goal of creating extra income, then you need a clear understanding of what network marketing really is. Playing to that strength by using "Plan A" will put your business light years ahead of everyone using "Plan B". You become the expert, the go-to person others want to find and do business with.

I appreciate you,

Bill Tessore

MLM Comp Plans - The Stair Step Love Affair

In my last post "MLM Comp Plans - Uni-level Breakage" I revealed where breakage is in a Uni-Level comp plan. Now we’ll venture into the tawdry romance between MLM companies and the Stair Step Break Away compensation plan.

The early years of the twentieth century gave rise to many innovations; among them was the marketing concept of multi-level marketing. This brave new adventure gave birth to the granddaddy of all network marketing industry comp plans called the Stair Step Breakaway.

Here's how the stair step breakaway works.

A Stair Step Break Away comp plan has two types of distributors: managers and non-managers. Whatever the title, when a distributor achieves a certain performance level, he becomes a manager and “breaks away” from his original manager. Now the original manager receives a percentage override from the sales of the entire breakaway organization in place of her original managerial overrides.

How do companies love the stair step? Let us count the ways.


1. Retail vs. Wholesale
Up to 4 times what you'd pay at a place like Wal-Mart.

2. Qualification Hoops to Get Paid
A dog and pony show generally requiring 2 forms of volume (ex.: personal and group volume).

3. Astronomical Bonus Qualification Requirements
Titanic burdens that would bring even Hercules to his knees.

4. The "Break Away"
Almost like starting over from scratch, the override of a new manager's group volume can be up to 60% less than that of the personal volume override from a non-manager distributor.

MLM company owners love the Stair Step Break Away comp plan because the many forms of breakage makes it a very lucrative plan for them. The effect of the "break away", unrealistic qualification expectations, and ridiculous retail rates spells failure for all but the elite recruiting machines. Oh, and lest we forget, super recruiters never see duplication in their teams.

Are you a robo-recruiter? If so, then never mind.

However ...

If you’re one of the 97% of the world that can’t recruit at will, then I suggest bypassing the Stair Step comp plans in favor of something that rewards you for all your hard work instead of swatting you in the nose, throwing you out into the cold, and then tossing you a bone.

Bill Tessore