As a home based network marketer, you will spend most of your time working alone, and if you use my Time Management Technique, you will be focused on Income Producing Activities (IPA) for 80% of you time, and the other 20%, focused on learning new skills or sharpening those you already have. A question that often arises, is what skills do you learn for network marketing?
I believe that everything you do promoting yourself, your business, and your products, fall under marketing. This means there is a broad scope to choose from when you are looking for new skills. The guru of “Magnetic Sponsoring” fame, industry legend Mike Dillard agrees with me that self improvement is paramount to success in online business.
One of the areas in my business that was neglected in the early days, was responding to questions that inevitably arose in the normal interaction with customers colleagues and leads. My knowledge of my business at the outset was patchy, and I saw many of the questions as challenges, rather than what they were, requests for information. Any response from a potential customer is a valuable contact. That response that should be analysed, and potential answers archived for future use.
Here is a powerful technique you can use to improve your responses to questions about your online marketing business.
1. List the questions you have received. Don’t stop there – list all the potential questions you can think of. Brainstorm, check your emails, read forums, get as large a list of potential game breakers as you can.
2. Categorize. Sorting the questions will give you insight into the frquency you will receive them, and to the importance of each. Some you will give more weight than others, but do not neglect what you see as trivial – your customer/lead/colleague may not think the question is trivial.
3. Prepare a response to each question. Try to think of several ways to answer, keeping in mind the KISS principle. Some of the questions will come from people who are really confused. Some will want specific answers in connection to THEIR agenda. Others will be wanting to make statements to impress with their knowledge. Each answer should include a request or a trigger for another contact, such as another question, or an offer to provide more information.
4. Check your answers for mistakes, and consider if you might be considered aggressive, or antagonistic. Often, your fist impulse is to fire back an acid reply, but resist that temptation. All questions, no matter how trivial, annoying or senseless are a valuable contact, a potential client/prospect or friend asking for help.
5. A few days after you have answered, contact the respondent again and ask if you were ably to be of help – ask if there is something else you can do for them. The feedback will be invaluable.
If you practice this technique, your skill will grow. You will become the “go to guy” when it comes to internet marketing business. Your business & your success will grow.
Don Paul Fuller has been helping entrepreneurs on-line for 10 years. If you see the benefits of using this method, you should check out Don’s web-site and read the recent entries on his informational and fun blog. Check here for free reprint licence: How To Answer Questions About Your On Line Business.
