If You're Still Getting the Pyramid Objection …
A comparison of Multi-Level Marketing to other models
Tim Sales of Brilliant Exchange
Adapted from a Tim Sales Newsletter.
Used by permission.
When a prospect asks if — or says that — Multi-Level Marketing is just a pyramid scheme, you need to take specific steps, saying and doing the right things, to overcome the "pyramid objection". While this subject cannot be covered in the needed detail in this article, here are the basics of another way to explain MLM.
To start with, if you're doing a one-on-one where you're actually with the prospect (as opposed to talking with him or her over the phone), then you will want to draw what I'm going to show you here. If you're on the phone, start by sending him/her to Brilliant Compensation Online, and then have this discussion over the phone, while asking your prospect to draw it while you walk him/her through it.
MLM, compared to a typical business
When/if the pyramid objection comes up, ask your prospect to think about a typical business, where there is a sales rep and a sales manager. Draw the picture below showing only one sales manager (the man in blue), with sales reps working for him. Make sure you make the statement, "The manager is only valuable to the sales reps if he/she has experience selling what he/she is asking the sales reps to sell". Then ask, "Does this make sense to you?" Or, "Do you agree with this?" It's very important to get your prospect involved in this discussion.
Once your prospect is involved with the discussion, I normally probe a little with, "Does the sales manager normally make a little more money than the sales reps?" To which most people will answer "yes". I then ask, "Is what I've just drawn a pyramid, because sales reps work under a sales manager? Is it a pyramid because the sales manager makes a commission off what the sales reps sell?"
This is where the discussion normally opens up. Try to keep your prospect focused on simply answering what has been discussed up to this point. Meaning: If he/she tries to take it further, and ask or say something else, reply with, "We'll get to that. … Right now, just tell me if this is a pyramid." After that is settled, then move on.
Then ask, "What happens when there are more sales reps than the manager can handle?" What you're facilitating his/her to answer is, "The company needs to hire another sales manager." Then you can say, "Good! Where can the company get this new sales manager from?" You are trying to guide the prospect to see that either the company can hire a new person from Monster(dot)com (or wherever), or they can take one of the existing sales reps and make him/her a manager.
Guide your prospect toward seeing that the better way would be to take an existing sales rep and make him/her a manager, because he/she is already knowledgeable of how to sell that product. If the company was to hire a new person, it would have to educate that person on the products and the way the company operates. But, that new person wouldn't have the respect of the sales force, because "He's never done it!"
But if the company takes an existing sales rep and makes him or her a manager, he/she would know the product, know the way the business and company operates and would have the respect of the sales reps. But, regardless of which place the company chooses to get this new manager, you've now added a new manager. Now, draw another manager (beside and to the right of the man in blue) with sales reps below her — just like the image below.
Then ask, "This is the way most companies grow their sales force. Does this make sense?" Get your prospect's agreement.
Then, label the top of the picture "Multi-Width-Marketing", and say, "'Multi' means more than one. Width means that it grows laterally, and marketing means that they are all marketing the product. Make sense? Any questions on this?"
Once all of this is settled in your prospect's mind, then move forward. DO NOT MOVE FORWARD UNTIL HE/SHE UNDERSTANDS UP TO THIS POINT. There cannot be any confusion on this AT ALL.
Then say, "Let's just take the same picture and draw it a little differently". Circle the man in blue and his sales reps, and say, "I'm going to draw this sales manager again." Draw it on your paper. Then say, "Instead of hiring a new manager from Monster(dot)com, we're going to take a person who already knows the product, the company and the business, and make him/her our new sales manager. Since it will be one of these sales reps, I'm just going to keep the drawing the same, by drawing a new sales rep under them." Draw it like this image:
You don't need to draw 3 levels to make the point. So, just draw two levels to begin with. Then, label Level 1 and Level 2. Then, write at the top "Multi-level Marketing", and say, "Multi meaning more than one, level meaning growing vertically, and marketing meaning that everyone is marketing the product."
This should give you the basics of how to handle this objection, once and for all.
Much Respect and Admiration,
Tim Sales
About the author:
Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the skills necessary to be successful in MLM. His MLM training is based on his personal success of building a downline of 56,000 people. Instantly access Tim's free MLM training and learn the steps to achieve MLM success at www.brilliantexchange.com/mlmtraining.
