How to Best Communicate with Your Prospects

Today’s training is all about how to best communicate with your prospects. Network Marketing is all about relationships and today Diane Hochman shares all her secrets on communication with prospects.

If you want to see the full training click HERE or the image below…

Ray Higdon: This interview is going to be super awesome and fun. I always have fun with her and it’s always so, so knowledgeable. She’s just amazing, and one of the extremely few people on the planet that really understands network marketing culture. I could stop there, to be honest, but not only does she understand network marketing culture but she understands internet marketing as well at a very, very powerful level, and just an amazing human being, someone that I really admire and I love, love, love having on our show here, Ms. Diane Hochman.

Diane is amazing. I’m so excited to have her. For the people that don’t know you tell us who Diane Hochman is.

Diane Hochman: Well, I’m a very nice girl. I started in my home business in 1999, traditional network marketing before the internet was really anything other than you’ve got mail. Over the years I’ve kind of been in all different facets of business. Of course we’ve worked together.

Ray Higdon: Yeah.

Diane Hochman: Today I primarily focus on helping people with communication out in the marketplace, which is something that people struggle with.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. For sure. So we will talk about how to connect with your prospects, and Diane is being very humble. She’s had a lot of success in internet marketing and affiliate marketing and network marketing and everything, so just really, really cool. So tell me what do you… Because you have a very deep knowledge of network marketing culture, having learned from Jim Rohn and Larry Thompson and so many other of the greats. What’s something about network marketing culture you wish more people knew today?

Diane Hochman: People out in the public you wish they knew?

Ray Higdon: People inside network marketing, like people trying to make it work but they’re… What’s one thing they’re really missing when it comes to the culture of building a network marketing business?

Diane Hochman: I think people know this, but I don’t think they know this. It’s about relationships. It’s about depth of relationship. It’s about working in… I’m sitting here going like this, you know? Working in depth and understanding that not each person that joins with you is going to be anchored to that leg. It’s going to be the stability and understanding of working those relationships, again in depth through people. A lot of people get people upset when they’re doing that. So I think… I’m kind of rambling, because there’s so much I want to tell people, but love people. Be patient. Don’t be mean. Be good people. This is a volunteer army and our job… We can’t motivate people. We can inspire them and we can bring them down the road, and when people trust you they will let you into their groups, they will let you work with their people, and then you’re all serving each other. It’s beautiful.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. I think a lot of people, they feel like their mission as the leader of the team is I got to push people to be more motivated and push people to their goals. I think what you’re saying, that having more patience, maybe that’s… Maybe it’s not the right time to push. Sometimes it’s the right time to have patience.

Diane Hochman: I think too if you’re the leader of the team then your person is the leader of their team and their person is the leader of their team, so we got to be real careful about understanding that everybody has a leadership role with their folks and we don’t get to command everybody, and yet at the same time we really want to be there to support, develop, contribute to folks, so it’s an interesting balance. It’s an interesting balance of understanding it’s not in our time, it’s in their time. So somebody who seems like they’re doing nothing turns around and in a day something changes… I mean I just had a huge change in my life and all of a sudden I’m working and creating in ways I never had because my life changed in a moment. We have to let people come to those places where they decide to go.

Ray Higdon: Right. Awesome. Awesome. So I always loved how you communicate with people on social media, how you communicate with people through email. What are some suggestions on how people can better communicate with prospects and just maybe show up better on social media to get more prospects?

Diane Hochman: Well, I made up a line a long time ago, not everybody you meet is going to be your prospect, but everybody you meet knows a prospect for you. So when we’re meeting people, particularly on social, we really want to be cognizant in finding out is this person open? If they’re not open right now might they be open later? Are they showing a little interest but the timing is not right? Or perhaps is this person not someone for what you’re doing, but by having a good relationship with them they can open up the doors to people that you haven’t met yet who are the right people? So instead of being aggressive, being just more… Being open to their openness and kind of just feeling where they are, as opposed to pummeling, pummeling, pummeling.

Ray Higdon: What about people like not just… Someone is on social media right now, they’re not having people reach out to them. How can they get better at that? How can they get better at getting people to reach out to them? How can they show up in a way to get more people wanting to talk to them?

Diane Hochman: That has a lot to do with how we’re posting and the energy behind our posts. People can reach out to you from a business post. I think people reach out to you a lot from results posts, and we have to be careful not to make any types of claims, et cetera, but results in story form can be very effective. What I mean is if we post before and after pictures every single day people are going to get tired of that. They’re not going to be responsive. But if we tell the story of Mary, who had little kids and she was exhausted and she was having a

hard time keeping up with them and then she found your products and they really lit her up and she was able to go out and run track with them, or whatever it may be, people relate to stories, so speaking more and posting more in stories. By the way, don’t we have on Instagram or Facebook, there’s no mistake that it’s called stories. I know everything… Ray, I see you twice a year maybe for the last four million years. I see you twice a year, or three times a year. I just got to see Jessica. But I know what your kids are up to. I know your son’s little band and I know what Sabrina is doing, and I know that Graham just had a birthday, and I know what happened at Jessica’s birthday party, because through that we are telling stories, and it draws people closer to us and it builds trust. So then when we turn around and we indicate that we have a webinar or we have a sale on our products people are much more comfortable and feel safer reaching out to you, so tell stories.

Ray Higdon: What if someone is on here and they don’t have any results for themselves and they’re not realizing what should I be posting? What kind of stories? Where do I find them? Do I create them? What does that look like?

Diane Hochman: Well, we can use stories from people in our up lines or side lines. If you’re plugged into your company there’s tons of stories to be told. But I also think we tend to think we don’t have a story maybe because we haven’t made a gazillion dollars yet, or because we haven’t lost a hundred pounds yet, or we haven’t cured 72 different diseases. Everybody has a story. When you try a product, what’s the first thing you noticed? You can always tell the story about the first thing you noticed, or your first experience when something got delivered, or you could tell a story about being skeptical but trying something. So we all have a story to tell-

Ray Higdon: Why you started. Like, hey, I’m starting this journey because I want to change this.

Diane Hochman: Yes. And that story, in and of itself, gets people cheering you on and watching to see what you’re up to. I think it comes to a lot, Ray, that people are just afraid. I know maybe we try to make believe that that doesn’t exist, but it exists and people are afraid to even post a picture. What I want to say to everybody is when you’re communicating and you’re sharing you’re potentially helping someone and changing their life, and they’re not too worried about… Like I got on and I literally… Okay, I’ll admit it. I got on and I had these glasses on and they kind of clash with my shirt and I changed to this. Then we got on and I went there’s papers on top of my printer, and I was worried.

But what if we say something today that tilts somebody’s world? What if that one picture that you share of what it was like before, the picture that your embarrassed of, tilts somebody’s world? What if you say something that makes somebody know they’re like me? So we all have a story, where we’re coming from, where we’re going. Sometimes we don’t share parts of… I’ve known you for a long time. You didn’t share all the parts of your story until fairly recently because you weren’t ready to, and that’s okay, or it wasn’t the right place, the right timing. But everybody has something to share, and if it’s not your story there’s somebody else… I tell your story all the time. I tell your story because I work with a group of people, a place that you had been involved with, and I tell the story. I told your story when we worked together years ago. It’s not my story. People tell my story, so there’s lots of stories to tell.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. I love… My buddy, Hank, said this, which I don’t know if you’ve spent any time with Hank, but he’s a hoot.

Diane Hochman: No. I didn’t get a chance to and I heard-

Ray Higdon: You’d love him for sure.

Diane Hochman: … amazing things.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. But he said at our event a couple weeks ago… He said, “Talk to the person you used to be.”

Diane Hochman: Oh, I love that.

Ray Higdon: I just thought that was so powerful, because for me there’s a lot of used to be. I used to cope with my self-worth issues. I would just hustle my face off and just work all the damn time and not let anybody in but just work, work, work, work, work. Then there was the me that calmed down some, realized some things, got more grounded, but I still wouldn’t let people in because of something that happened in my childhood where I felt betrayed and I didn’t on the subconscious level want to be betrayed again. So there’s like all these different… If you’re growing there’s all these different versions of you. So thinking about that over-hustler that’s never satisfied, they’ve tripled the comp plan and quadrupled their income and got all the whatevers, but they’re still not happy. They’re still hustling for more.

Helping that person, or helping the person that doesn’t know that they’re keeping everyone at bay to protect themselves from past betrayal, but when you’re talking about stories it can be that simple. It can be as simple as… I was just on a more generic podcast of talking to people that don’t like their jobs and just want to leave, so like that story of why you start could be very powerful. I know you have a powerful story. Why did you start network marketing?

Diane Hochman: I had two little girls and I had left my job, but I forgot they weren’t paying me anymore so I kept charging things, got a house and bought all the furniture and everything else, and then all of a sudden it was kind of like snap, we were so far in debt, and I really didn’t want to go back to work. It also didn’t make sense to me, because by the time I paid childcare for two kids and bought a suit and commuted I really wasn’t wasn’t going to make that much… And taxes, et cetera. I wasn’t going to make that much. So when I got introduced to network marketing, which was by accident, because I didn’t even know what network marketing was, I went this could work because I only need this much to be able to stay home. Never did I ever imagine all the things that have happened would ever happen. It was all over literally 500 bucks. I needed to pay my debt down and get a pizza or take the kids to a movie once in a while. That was all I was looking for.

Ray Higdon: Isn’t it interesting, I think there’s so many, so many people that start network marketing because of that kind of thing, I want to make mom care, not day care, or I want to make 300 to 500 bucks. But often people come into network marketing and they’re like I need to get a big gun, so they… Make 10,000 a month, so they speak way up here, which fewer people even believe they can do that. Just to your point you’re saying everyone has a story, why you started I think is such a powerful one, because there’s a lot of people in that situation.

Diane Hochman: Stories too can be the story of we went to the apple orchard. It could be the story of… When you see that, and you see family, and you see nice people

Ray Higdon: And it’s a Tuesday.

Diane Hochman: Right. Well, yeah, because that could be just lifestyle. But even if it were a Saturday, because we’re still working, it could be that you see me with my kids or you see me doing something fun that you enjoy, and then when I talk about my opportunity it feels much safer, because there are not that many psycho killer mommies of two little kids. There’s a couple out there, but you know what I mean?

When you see somebody taking care of their elderly parent or you see somebody doing something that they love, like I know you guys went fishing over the weekend… Again, the internet works, guys. I was cracking jokes with a friend because we always talk about we’re going grouper fishing, and then somebody says they caught a grouper. When I see you with the boys hanging out and having fun and going fishing you seem like a normal guy to me, right? It’s less intimidating. People get scared in this industry, and the less scary you are and the more you let me see your doggies, all that stuff, it works.

Ray Higdon: Your daughter pick on you nonstop.

Diane Hochman: I looked at her outfits and shoes in the closet. It’s just fabulous. I want to go in that closet. What size shoes does Jessica wear?

Ray Higdon: My almost six-year-old goes into Jess’ closet the other night and she comes out with scarf, glasses, heels, purse, and Jess is like, “Sabrina, it’s time for bed,” and she goes, “I am not Sabrina. I am Sparkle.” So apparently Sparkle has a later bedtime. But anyway, we got a great question from Sharon and I’ll throw this to you. “Good afternoon. What if you fell off and you’re getting back on track to retell your story?”

Diane Hochman: Okay. I’m going to tell a story to answer that question if it’s okay with you, Ray?

Ray Higdon: Sure. Please.

Diane Hochman: A couple weeks ago I was hanging out, having fun, went to an event, having a great time, and then all of a sudden I start feeling kind of crummy and I’m kind of like what’s up with this? Then I find out people had COVID, so I took a test and the test said positive. I’m like, “Okay. I’ll isolate. I’m going home.” Then all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe, okay? Procrastinated and procrastinated, and then finally went, “I probably should go to a hospital.” So I went to the hospital and it turns out I was very, very sick, like they ran me down the hall. It was very dramatic, like on TV, like… Except it’s me. And I’m like, “Wait a minute. This is not Gray’s Anatomy or something.” During that time period a lot of stuff changed for me. I saw things very differently. Something happens to you when you can’t breathe. It changes your perspective on what’s really important. So, Sharon, while I didn’t fall off per se, although I have many times in my career… I went through a divorce. I disappeared for two years, two or three years. This… Somehow something spiritually changed in me. All you do is you pick up your phone and you start from where you are, and from my hospital bed, because I was lonely, I was in the ICU, I couldn’t talk to anybody. They couldn’t even come in. They had to be like triple gowned and double masked, and it was really creepy. It was really creepy. Just stay away from it.

When I could finally talk I picked up the phone and I did a Facebook Live, and I just told my story. I didn’t tell my story for pity or… Because a lot of us, we have financial problems or we have personal problems and we stop with our business. But at any given moment you can pick up your phone and make a post. You can pick up your phone and create a story, and you can also reach out to somebody and see if they’re open. You can prospect, even if something rough has happened, because when we prospect it’s not about us. Whether we’re prospecting personally, whether we’re prospecting online, whether we’re doing it via… You know, I use email a lot and different things. When you reach out and help someone is when things get better. So if you’ve fallen down the very best thing you could do is help someone else. You’ll feel the lift instantly. It will change you in a moment.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. I love it. I agree 100%, and I think some overthink this part and think that everyone has been waiting and like she hasn’t been very consistent. They’re busy with their own stuff.

Diane Hochman: Oh, yeah.

Ray Higdon: I know I reached out to you, and I’m sure you had a lot of people, but a lot of people were too busy with their own stuff to notice you had fallen off.

Diane Hochman: Yeah.

Ray Higdon: There was certainly some people that noticed and reached out to you, but I think a lot of times we think everyone is seeing our every move and paying close attention to it and they’re like, “Oh, Ray didn’t post for two days.” Losers. That’s

Diane Hochman: It’s not like that.

Ray Higdon: No.

Diane Hochman: Even with people on Ray’s scale. I know there’s people on Ray’s Daily, and you called it Daily I’m sure to keep super accountable, but… and people might be, “Oh, he’s missed his Daily,” but now as the organization grows you have so many different speakers and personalities and different things, so the organization is thriving.

I saw the new stuff you guys were doing. It’s just absolutely incredible, what’s going on, just amazing the innovations that you’re coming out with now to help people. But we all fall off, we all do, and that’s okay. The question is do you get back up? Oh, look, Ms. Fletcher is here.

Ray Higdon: Yeah. That’s the big deal. I love David Oglesby. He said, “You’re marketing to a marching parade, not a standing army.” So people are… They’re busy, man, chasing kids, doing laundry, turning the channel. They’re doing their thing. Don’t overthink that. Just get started from where you are. I love that. It’s such a great

Diane Hochman: One other thing, Ray. [inaudible]. Jim Rohn always said there’s one guy and he likes to heckle people or give them a hard time, but there’s only one of him and he just moves around a lot, okay?

Ray Higdon: Yeah.

Diane Hochman: So when somebody says, “Where have you been,” or somebody says, “Oh, it looks like you gained a few pounds,” or somebody says to you, “If you took better care of yourself you wouldn’t have gotten the COVID,” I got that, I did get that.

Ray Higdon: I’m sure. I’m sure.

Diane Hochman: You know what? That’s okay. They’re just moving around. Maybe even telling the story of… I wouldn’t call attention to a problem, but give it a little time. Telling the story of what was up makes other people go, “I can get up too.”

Ray Higdon: Yeah.

Diane Hochman: It’s just selling into people.

Ray Higdon: For sure. We saw… At our event there were at least two that I saw where watching from hospital beds, and like you do what you can. You don’t beat yourself up for what you didn’t do, because it doesn’t help. It doesn’t help anything. So very cool, very cool.

Diane Hochman: Very.

Ray Higdon: Oh, and Paula says, “Love your glasses.” There you go. You picked the right ones. Very nice. So what’s one last tip for someone on here who they’ve been at this for a while, they’re not getting results, maybe they’re not even sure why? What’s one bit of advice you can help them with? You’ve been helping people for a long time.

Diane Hochman: I said it a little earlier, but I’ll say it again because I think it’s the biggest tip. It’s not in our time, it’s in their time. So decide that you’re going to create a database, whether you’re going to use an app on your phone, a customer relationship manager. I started where I had a five by eight card file box, where everybody I met I took notes on and I put it in the box. What you want to do is become really good at meeting people where they are and building that relationship and continuing to follow up, as opposed to feeling like you need to get them right now. As you fill that pipeline over time you’re just naturally signing people all the time, because the people have a relationship with you and maybe there’s a reason to re-contact them, there’s a new product, there’s a new flavor, there’s a meeting, there’s a special speaker, whatever it may be. The one thing I know after 22 years in this game, people come and go. People come and go. People come and go, and just be present so that when it’s their time you need to be at the top of their head, which is why you need to continually being in touch with them, or being visual on social, or sending cards, or whatever it is that you want to do to be visible to that person so that they think of you at the moment that they’re ready to make a change, product wise or opportunity wise. That’s really it. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is they just… It’s like one touch and that’s it.

Ray Higdon: Right. Yeah. No, I love that. It’s just so true. There’s so many really good people that had I not followed up with them it never would have happened, so just absolute brilliance for sure. And that would work for anything, realtors, mortgage brokers, CPAs, anybody, so really, really cool. Make sure if you’re not already, although I’m positive many of you are… Make sure you follow Diane on social media. She’s amazing. I love her stuff. Pay attention to how she communicates on social media, because I think she’s definitely one of the best at that, speaking the language that’s relatable, that people connect with, and I just always love having her. So, Diane, thank you so much. You’re amazing. Thanks for your time.

Diane Hochman: Thank you so much, Ray.

Ray Higdon: Give her some love. Give her some love. Diane Hochman, awesome, awesome, awesome. If you got value from this feel free to share and make sure you give some love to Diane, and thanks for tuning in. Appreciate you.