Choosing the best MLM sponsor for you is one of the most important things for your home based business. You can be with the best network marketing company in the world, but if you choose the wrong upline sponsor, you may be headed for failure.
The reason I am writing this today is lately I’ve heard from many people who just quit their MLM home based business because they got into the deal with a bad MLM sponsor. Before I tell you how to choose the right one, let’s review why a network marketing sponsor may not be a good fit for you.
What the heck is a bad MLM sponsor? Here are some of the complaints I heard:
- Unreachable
- No guidance
- Did not return my phone calls or emails
- Was not able to answer my questions or direct me to the answers
- Provided no 3-way calls
- Had no Internet marketing experience and only told me to call all my friends and family
- The list can go on!
There are 2 main reasons why you may have picked the wrong MLM sponsor:
- Sign up with a friend or family member out of obligation – If your friend or family member has no MLM skills, no Internet marketing skills, and has no idea what they are doing, why join with them? This is a business and you need to treat it as such! If you still decide to enroll this way, be sure that they at least have an upline sponsor who fulfills the requirements that I talk about below.
- Found someone on the Internet that had a great online persona – Many people click a link on someone’s website to join an MLM home business without ever talking to that person. Remember, the way a person portrays themselves may be different than how they really are. You cannot possibly know if the person is a good fit for you as an MLM sponsor simply by reading their website or Facebook Fan page. Randomly choosing a sponsor for your home business through an Internet page is not the way to success.
Find an MLM Sponsor that is the Best Fit for You
So what can you do to choose the right sponsor for your MLM home business? If you already found an MLM company that you want to start your business with, you must contact any potential sponsor. Do not just sign up via their web page.
When I started my network marketing business, I did some research to find out who I wanted to enroll with. I called that person and had a few phone conversations with them where they answered my questions about what I could expect from them and the team.
Here are some questions to find the best MLM sponsor for you:
- Are they available to answer questions via phone, email or text messaging? If you reach out to make initial contact and they do not respond, there is your first clue. Make sure your new MLM sponsor truly cares enough about you and your success to be there for you.
- Do they provide leadership?
- Are they actively building their business? If the answer is NO, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. A good MLM sponsor will actively be building their business. If they are not, not only will you never have anyone placed under you in the system, but they will likely not give you any support.
- Does the team have momentum and duplication? A network marketing team with duplication and momentum means there is a great system in place that everyone learns and uses. Without this, the team is stagnant and typically does not grow. This also proves there is great leadership for the team.
- Do they provide team training and individual mentoring? The best MLM sponsor will provide training and mentoring for everyone on the team. It not, why would you enroll with this person? They won’t be helping you at all.
- Are they energetic and positive? In my first network marketing company, I unknowingly joined with someone who used negative reinforcement. What a nightmare! In my present company, I spoke to my MLM sponsor a few times and was extremely excited to find that they are consistently positive and supportive.
- Do they build their business online? This is very important. In my first MLM business, I was building the business online but my MLM sponsor was not. He was very unsupportive. I had to figure it all out myself which was very difficult with no support. I did figure it out, made a lot of money, and reached ranks higher than my sponsor. I am excited that my current upline sponsor and team are very online savvy, and creating an amazing online marketing culture.
Be smart about joining a network marketing company.
GREAT POST AND VIDEO! Too often we are quick to hop into a business without doing the research on who exactly we are joining in business. Its a big deal! I’m tweeting this 🙂
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for tweeting! You are so right…people join people so calling ahead is a good idea so you know who!
See ya on Twitter!
Lisa
Good point, Stephanie. Network marketing is quite perhaps the only industry I know of where the person doesn’t do much homework. They join on hype and excitement. Finding a good sponsor is part of the due diligence process, as I see it. You should find three to five successful people in the company and then interview them to see which one is best for you. Great comment!
Chuck
Great tips here Lisa! Great content, as usual! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Josh!
Another Awesome post Lisa. I’ve ran into a few of these problems. The first business I ever joined was under a very good sponsor, she was a very hard worker, but lacked experience. I’m happy to say she is now an RVP with the company, but she did so through the most unduplicatable techniques possible.
The second time I joined a company it was under someone from the internet. I saw that he was successful and jumped too quickly. It turned out he had gotten his success through methods that were no longer feasible to new people and had no clue how to market the business anymore. He was also at the point where he wasn’t very motivated to build. Usually, I wouldn’t mind, but being in a binary system spillover is a big deal.
This isn’t to say you cant succeed without the perfect upline, but it sure does make it easier learning from experience. I spent hours and hours on google teaching myself when I could have been working the business instead.
Just to chime in on what you are saying, Al, I’ve found that every leader builds their business differently. Talk to 10 top earners in any company and they each have their own style. What works for one might not work for another. What I like in a sponsor is someone is accessible, helpful, and willing to help when needed. I think it also helps if they know several ways to build their business, so they can share different strategies with different folks. Just my two cents.
Great post, Lisa. I think that the sponsor you choose is just as important as the company you choose. So many people join this industry on hype and excitement and they don’t do their due diligence first. I tell everyone that once they find the company they want to join to spend just as much time finding the right sponsor to work with. Sure, your sponsor won’t determine your success, but having a good one in your corner will definitely help. Great post here.
Chuck