same steps to get the commitment. Once you have it, including the date and time of the next call (the next exposure), then hang up and call them when you said you would.
If you call them at the scheduled time and they still haven’t reviewed the material, just repeat the process until they do. Remember, they are setting the appointment and you are being the professional by following up like you said you would.
If you call your prospect and they say yes, they’ve reviewed the material, you’re going to ask them a few intelligent questions. First, you’re NOT going to ask, “What did you think?” This just invites the critical part of the prospect’s mind to come up with objections to try to sound smart.
The best follow-up question I’ve ever used is, “What did you like best?” This question will take you in a very positive direction and will give you clues as to the level of their interest. If they say “the product,” then your next exposure will probably be product-related. If they say “financial freedom,” then your next exposure will be opportunity-related.
Another great question to ask is “On a scale of one to 10, with one being zero interest and 10 being ready to get started right away, where are you right now?” With this question, anything over a one is GOOD. It says they have some interest. Most of the time you’ll get something like a five or a six. No matter what number they give you, all you’re going to do is ask them how you can help them get to a higher number. Usually that answer will go along the lines of how they answered, “What did you like best?”
If the answer is very positive and the number is fairly high, you can go directly into the closing process (we’ll cover that in the next section). If it isn’t an obvious green light, then you’ll just schedule the next exposure.
They might want to try the product, so you help them do that, and set a follow-up date—a time to call them and check on the experience (the next exposure). They might want to understand the compensation plan, so you set up a time to get together and review it (the next exposure). They might want to talk with their spouse, so you send them home with materials they can share with their spouse and set up a date and time when you’ll follow up (the next exposure). Whatever it is, you never finish one exposure without setting up the next one. Never! If you do, it’s over.
That’s what used to happen to me at the beginning. I would have someone look at the opportunity. When they’d done that, I’d say, “So, what do you think?” They’d usually mumble something like, “I’ll let you know,” or, “I’ll get back to you,” or, “I need to think more about it,” or something similar. And poof, they were gone. Then, when I tried to call them back, I was just bothering them. The whole thing felt uncomfortable.
Once I changed to never finishing one exposure before setting up the next one, everything changed for the better. I was being professional. I was in control. The prospect had more respect for me and for the opportunity. All of this happened from this one small change in mindset.
Concept #3–It takes an average of four to six exposures for the average person to join
When people don’t understand that the only reason for an exposure is to set up the next exposure, they put too much pressure on their prospects and on themselves. In the “some will, some won’t, so what, next” MLM culture, people hammer on a person once, and if they don’t join right away, they move on and never follow up. In many cases, they take it a step further by damaging the relationship with the prospect with their attitude.
Professionals understand that it takes an average of four to six exposures for a prospect to become involved. Their goal is education and understanding. It’s hard to educate someone in one exposure. So they take them from exposure to exposure to