be recognized by the crowd’s applause. Heaven forbid if someone tells
them they were good... they go back for round two! This leads to more
applause and more recognition. You and I get more misery. Remember,
what gets rewarded gets repeated.
Still not convinced people are recognition driven? Perhaps you should
view one of the many reality shows so abundant on television today. You’ll
see people eat bugs, swim in shark-infested waters, and do a host of other
grotesque and hazardous acts. Many get disqualified or beaten out by their
opponents and get nothing. Do you think they do these humiliating acts for
the money? No. For most, their job pays more than they will earn from win-
ning. Most are merely seeking recognition, the opportunity to be seen, to be
appreciated. When it comes to recognition, the old adage is that “men die for
it and babies cry for it.” If you’ve ever been in the military or had children,
you know both are true. I personally know this all too well. My two-year-old
wants nothing more than mommy and daddy’s approval and attention, and
he’ll cry as long as it takes to get it.
Those same desires for attention and recognition have followed us into
our adult lives. Just as children want their parents to acknowledge them when
they learn and accomplish new things, our downlines want their accomplish-
ments recognized as well. This is why most companies have pins and awards
to signify different levels of achievement. While some will never realize the
significance of recognition and the pin system, if they stick around they even-
tually will. I’ll never forget the guy who told me he wasn’t into this “recogni-
tion thing.” “Just send me my checks and I’ll be happy,” he said. The first
time he got a $30,000 bonus check and no one recognized him for it, he
wrote the company a letter and complained about it.
In the largest study ever conducted on job satisfaction, money and bene-
fits were not even ranked in the top 10 items that make the most profitable
and productive work environments. You must realize even though it is the
number one reason people join your business, it’s not the money that drives
them away. History has proven that people will work for less money as long
as they feel appreciated. The same is true with your downline. If you don’t re-
spect them, they will leave you. I can personally attest to this. I once walked
away from a company where I had a large check and more than 65,000 peo-
ple in my downline because of lack of respect. If you don’t acknowledge
them, you are, by default, disrespecting them. One of the worst things you
can do is ignore your downline.
In the corporate world, companies that do recognition have a less than 4
percent turnover rate. Wouldn’t you like to have a retention rate like that in
your downline? It has been said that the greatest motivational force in the
world is when someone else believes in you. You would have to search long
and hard to find a more effective motivational tool than recognition. The
good news is that most network marketing companies have recognition pro-
138 THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO NETWORK MARKETING