Are You Overtraining Your Network Marketing Team?

Today we ask the question, are you overtraining your network marketing team?

First, I’m going to share, how often you should train your team? Next, I’m going to talk about how you can best coach your team. Lastly, we will cover what is the very best thing you can do for your team right now.

Now, before we get started, just a heads up. Before I was ever a coach or a trainer, I had worked my way up to be a number one income earner of a network marketing company. I made millions with that company, worked with a lot of different personalities, online marketers, offline marketers, new school, traditional. Since then I have worked with hundreds and hundreds of six and seven figure earners and I have seen a lot of different leadership styles. I have seen a lot of what works, a lot of what doesn’t, a lot of what makes someone burnout and a lot of sabotage that gets created. I’m coming to you with a pretty deep understanding of this content and I hope…I know it’s going to help you out.

How often should you train your team?

The first question is, how often should you train your team? The big premise (and we are going to come back to this probably several times) is whatever you do for your team, they think they will have to do for their team and network marketing is very unique in this way. Most people are selling a product and they are not also trying to get the person they are selling that product to want to also sell the product, right? The realtor isn’t typically coming to you and saying, “hey, I can list your house and by the way, I’m going to show you how to list houses….” it’s different.

Network marketing, you have to consider at all angles, is what I’m doing duplicatable? Can the average, ordinary person do what I’m doing? That really comes into focus when you’re prospecting or when you are dealing with a teammate. Okay. Most leaders, if their team isn’t fired up, isn’t making it happen, isn’t rocking and rolling, their conclusion they draw is...”oh, I got to do more training.” Yes, there is a place for training, for sure. But know that as long as the person they are trying to be like is doing the training, they are going to think in their head “for me to be a good leader, I have to do a lot of training.” For some people that’s going to knock them out of the game. Right?

Now, it’s different if you bring in a third party trainer. I know that part of this is a little self serving, but it’s just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s bad to say, right? How often should you train your team? This is something again, I’m going to say it over and over, whatever you do for your team, they think they have to do. I actually didn’t do a ton of live training for the team. I did a live every week, but I actually used a story. So I would find someone and my favorite someone was someone who had either not had any success in a long time and finally had a success, like business for a couple years, finally got their first customer.

I looked for people who have small success stories or slow success stories. I would just interview them on “what did you do? What do you do differently?” I know the rock stars are rockin. But the majority of people need help, right? If you only interview or have someone on, that’s a million dollar trainer and has been rocking it for millions of years, and I should say a million dollar leader in your company then a lot of times the little peeps, the people who haven’t had success yet, they’re just not going to resonate with them, they’re not going to identify with their story. I always wanted to not find fast success stories, but slow success stories, small success stories, someone got their first customer and celebrating that, because I wanted to get a lot of people doing a little.

A couple distinctions here. One, if you are the upline, then whatever you do for your team, they think they have to do, right. So be careful of overtraining them. You up-ing your training, because they’re not motivated is not the thing to do. Because they are just going to go into learning mode, they’re not going to take the action. Now, you could do live blitz calls, where you guys just prospect for 15 minutes or 30 minutes. That’s an idea. A lot of our leaders do that with their teams. But I wouldn’t overtrain them because it’s sending the wrong message and it could be actually sabotaging you.

How can you best coach the team?

How to best coach your team. This is another big area of sabotage. The worst thing that you can do is just hop on the phone endlessly with anyone in your team forever. I know, I know that you may have mom guilt, leader guilt, right? You may have success and guilt and you’re like… “well I really want it for them. I really want to help them so I’ll give them my personal time.” Again, what you do for your team, they think they have to do so if they see you bending over backwards with your personal time on the phone with them nonstop, they may appreciate it, but they don’t want to do it. Now you have set the paradigm of what good leadership looks like and they are thinking about their job, they are thinking about their kids and thinking…“I can’t do that.” So they rule themselves out of becoming your rank, because the way that you’re showing up is in a non duplicatable way. Right?

Two elements of this that will really help you.

Number one, have a training library.

When people reached out to me, they would say, “hey, man, how do I reach out to people?” Or “what, should I post on Instagram?”

I would always respond. “Great question. We actually cover that in the fast start, or we cover that in the training library. It’s video 12. Go check it out.”

Why? Why would I do that? Could I answer it on the phone? Of course I could. But that’s not duplicatable. They can not re-listen to it, they can not replay it and they are not going to remember it. Now they think they need to be able to recite it over the phone with anyone that asked them. I would be sabotaging them.

Instead, I’ll point to and I’ll say, “hey, it’s on video 12. Oh and by the way, whenever you have a teammate ask you that same question, point to that same video. Now, they may or may not watch it and that’s something you can’t force.”

You can’t force them. Just because I have a personal conversation with them does not mean they’re going to follow it.

Here is an example and something that just still sticks in my mind today. But many years ago, I was 255 pounds and not feeling great about myself. I did a few things and lost, I think 50 pounds, right? Now I Have lost even more but at the time, I had lost 50 pounds. One of the guys I worked with, this was at one of my last jobs in 2003 probably, says to me, “dude (he was a big boy, young guy but big) dude, how did you lose the weight, man? Yo, can you help me? Like, can you tell?”

I said, “absolutely, dude. I parked far away. I walk farther. I always take the stairs. I eat smaller meals throughout the day.” I lay out this beautiful, wonderful 30, 40 minute talk. It was a motivational talk and gave him some strategies. He wrote some things down and then I walked back to my cubicle. I came back around, because I remembered something. Oh, yeah, I need to tell him about this. I came back around. He’s eating Fritos. He’s literally…”I caught a mid Frito. Right? There’s a “oh hey, man.” I’m just like, ah….but that was a great lesson for me. It’s like ah, not everyone that asks you for advice actually cares to do the advice, right?

With your team, have a duplicatable way. So number one, training archive.

Number two, give them homework. Right. That could be reaching this post, right? But you phrase it just like this…. (First just want you to know I learned from Larry Thompson, just amazing, amazing mentor, been in network marketing for two years) “go do this ____ and then report back in.” So, “go read that post or watch that video and report back.” If you have any questions let me know. Or it could be, “prospect five people, report back and let me know how it goes.”

But why go do this report back in? Because anyone can do that. Right? You’re showing up as a perfect example of duplication because could they tell someone to go do “this” and report back? Of course they could. Could they give them a 30, 40 minute diatribe about health and wellness or new nutrients or recruiting or Instagram? No, they can not. Just be mindful of that, training library and “go do this and report back in.” Those are your two go to’s as a leader.

Do this next.

Before we move forward, if you’re serious about you and your team, growing their network marketing business, make sure you subscribe to our channel, Higdongroup.com/channel. Tell your friends about it, tell your teammates about it. We upload 20 high quality episodes every single month and we have been doing this for a while. So make sure you head over there and click that subscribe button. Tell your friends about it. Tell your teammates and let’s rock and roll.

What is the best thing that you can do for your team?

The best thing, the very best thing in the world that you can do for your team is build a new one. Now that doesn’t mean ignore the existing. I know what you’re thinking, right? No, I love my team! Doesn’t mean ignore the existing, still love them, still appreciate them, still respond to them, but go do what you wish they would do. Go do the work. Go build a new leg, go build a new team. I want you edifying and recognizing new people in your team group and have your existing team say “who? Who is he talking about? Who’s Johnny? I’ve never seen a Johnny around here.” I want them to see you bringing new blood into the organization because isn’t that what you want them to do?

The best thing you can do for the team, build a new one and know your job. Your job is to keep bringing new blood into the organization. Some are going to want to work, some are not going to want to work. Some are just going to stay on the products. Some are just going to make friends. You keep bringing new blood into the organization and watch what happens. Your existing team will see you in action and say “dang, I want some of that. I will have what he’s having now or I will have what she’s having.”

Do the best thing for them by showing up exactly how you wish they would. You don’t want them to be training all day. You don’t want them to be coaching all day. You want them to be recruiting all day, you want them to be selling all day, you want them to be bringing in new customers and reps all day. You go do that and watch how they’ll duplicate that behavior.

Growing your leadership?

Now, if you’re growing your leadership, we have a free three video series only for leaders. This is only for leaders who have a team. Here is the link, higdongroup.com/leader. It has three videos that will just blow your mind on how to grow your business faster with less frustration and become a leader that is worth following.