As a network marketer with a new network marketing business opportunity you will run into criticism. The question is how will you respond to it? A normal reaction is to be defensive, and that’s quite often the point at which you need to take a deep breath and count to five.
Dale Carnegie in his classic book, How To Win Friends and Influence People, the edition I have is from the 1950’s but it’s principles are timeless which makes it such a classic. To quote him, “Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and makes him defend himself”.
So imagine a scenario where you are talking to a prospect who is interested in joining your company and you explain it’s a network marketing business opportunity. They respond, “But they are all just pyramid scams!” Your reaction may be to defend your opportunity by explaining why it is not a scam.
Carnegie explains this will most probably cause resentment in your prospect and they will become defensive pushing their point of view. The correct course of action is to ask a question. Ask them why they think a network marketing business opportunity is a scam? Make sure to take notes, even if you are on the phone, this will give you time to process the points.
Now address the points by for example, in the case of a ‘pyramid scheme’ the person at the top always earns the most. In network marketing it perfectly possible for someone recruited into the business to earn more money than the person who recruited them. The key here is you are not disputing the person, you are giving them facts. It’s a process of education that overcomes criticism if anything will.
So remember, to paraphrase Carnegie, we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Good listeners very often score highly as good leaders. Given you will be creating a team of business associates in your network marketing business opportunity, you are now more attractive as a leader because you took the time to listen to their criticism and avoided criticizing them.
I will continue my review of this classic book and how its lessons will help you in a network marketing business opportunity.
Tags: Andrew Peel, APeel Solutions, criticism, Dale Carnegie, Home Internet Businesses, How To Win Friends And Influence People, Network Marketing
