she had sponsored 42 distributors who had all quit. Needless to say, she
looked at me funny when I told her to please stop sponsoring people. I then
went on to explain to her that something was obviously not working. “Don’t
you think you should figure out how you messed up the last 42 before you
sponsor any more?”
I learned a long time ago if you’re going to make residual income in this
industry, especially large amounts of it, the name of the game is get them in,
keep them in, and move them along. The sad thing is that many people work
very hard learning how to put them in but very few figure out how to keep
them in and move them along. Therefore, after a few hard months of spon-
soring, many get discouraged and quit or move on to another company, thus
creating the revolving door effect so many organizations are plagued with to-
day. These people falling by the wayside give our industry a bad name.
They’re like that TV show called Where Are They Now?You know—the one
where they do a segment on a movie star or singer who had the one big hit
and fell off the face of the earth. The same thing happens here. Some people
sponsor a lot of others and get a few big checks the first few months, but they
never figure out how to keep them in and move them along. When the checks
go away, so do they.
Recently, a gentleman approached me and proceeded to ask how he
could have prevented his last 10 personally sponsored distributors from quit-
ting. What could he do differently to keep them in? My answer was simple:
“Get them a check.” The money is the number one reason people get in-
volved, so help them get what they came for. People who are making money
are less likely to quit than those who are not. A philosophy that has served me
well is “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” It is also true that rewards and
recognition should be swift and abundant. A check is a reward. Help your
people get that reward as soon as possible. In today’s fast-paced environment,
people are not into delayed gratification. If they go too long without getting
rewards (i.e., checks) they either quit or move on. It has been said, “Volume
never goes down in network marketing. It just moves to another company.”
Too many people join our industry and go into a recruiting or retailing frenzy,
creating a check for themselves. What they fail to do is slow down long
enough to help their people earn a check. The irony is they then wonder why
their people quit. What they fail to realize is getting them in is not the same as
keeping them in. Remember, they come for the money. Getting them a check
is the first step in keeping them in.
It would serve all of us well to understand that people are recognition
driven. If you doubt me on this, go down to your local bar on karaoke
night. While some are very talented, just watch and listen (if you can bear
the pain) to those who can not carry a tune. They step up to the micro-
phone and embarrass themselves for three or four minutes, all so they can
Recognition: The Driving Force 137