The Wisdom of Doing Nothing

“I’ve never found a distributor who wouldn’t like a chance to re-live his first week in networking.”
- Hans Nusshold

“The first thing to do is absolutely nothing. And usually, we can’t even do that correctly.”
- Peter Ross

There are two theories about stating a new distributor. One says he or she should be encouraged to start “sponsoring” or recruiting others right away. Get them moving while the body is still warm, while the initial belief and enthusiasm are there. The other theory holds that they should be trained for a week, that the likelihood of mistakes is so great they will surely drive away all of their best prospects. In this case, if there is enthusiasm, it will work against them.

Here’s a little formula gleaned from interviews with the leading distributors of Network Twenty-One.

1.) Convince your newly-signed distributors to do nothing until they have listened to at least one carefully-selected cassette tape.

2.) Choose a tape that will inspire them but also describe the most common mistakes of new distributors.

3.) In fact, if they can be convinced, try to get them to listen to three tapes. One to inspire them, one to teach them about the first week, and if they haven’t heard it already, they should listen to the prospecting tape that they will be giving out to their friends.

4.) Now here’s the laughter. Get them to do this all on the first day.

5.) Start them sponsoring on day two.

In other words, have your cake and eat it too. Crowd a week’s worth of training into a single day, and at the same time take advantage of your distributor’s initial enthusiasm to get them sponsoring others. Of course, you may find this a bit much for friend who is only reluctantly joining your network and only as a personal favor. But there it is, the deal.

The point of this: if your new distributor rushes out in his or her first week and fails miserably you have lost the person forever. Just a little calibration, a little preparation, will make for a wiser, more effective networker. And if, perchance, the person reading this book is a new distributor, a word of wisdom from the pros; don’t do a thing until you’ve listened to three recommended cassette tapes. And listen to them right away.

“There’s no need to cry over spilt milk. Most people make a mess of their first month. But the right kind of calculated start can be the equivalent of a six-month head start.”
- Cecelia Karasz