Numbers Rule in Marketing and Sales
Copyright 2012 Donovan Baldwin
If you have been wondering what's really important in marketing and
sales, let's talk about some numbers and how they relate to success in
network marketing, or any other sales or marketing venue. They are
equally applicable to marketing on the internet or to offline marketing.
Specifically today, we are going to talk about the 80/20 rule, the rule
of 2, the rule of 7, and location, location, location.
Huh? That last one isn't about numbers!
Well, maybe it is. We'll get there in a while.
In the meantime, let's
start with the 80/20 rule.
Several years ago, a major corporation specializing in various
financial products conducted a study to determine WHY its top sales
people WERE their top sales people. Once they had waded through all the
data, and threw out the immaterial items, they were left with one fact
staring them in the face. The top sales people were the top sales
people SIMPLY BECAUSE they made the most calls and contacts, and handed
out the most brochures and business cards. As a result of their
increased efforts, as compared to their fellow sales "professionals",
they gave the most presentations and...you guessed it...made the most
sales.
Other studies throughout the years, and some of my own experiences as
well, seem to bear this out. Ever been in an organization where 20% of
the people seemed to do 80% of the work? Oddly enough, that's roughly
the percentages the study I mentioned came up with.
Not only were 20% of the sales force generating 80% of the sales, it
seemed that, in general, out of 100 contacts, they got to do about 20
presentations. Out of 100 presentations, they got roughlyt 20 sales.
Now these figures are not to be taken as gospel, and merely indicate a
trend, but they can be used to our profit. In the area of statistics,
it is known that it is difficult to get an accurate analysis or
prediction from a small sample. The larger the sample, the more
accurate the results!
Okay, so if we agree that the 80/20 rule is true, and if I have a
decent product and presentation, and if I remember to brush my teeth
and put on clean underwear before making my pitch, I should nail 20 out
of 100?
Well, again, this figure is merely indicates a trend, but if you make a
large number of presentations, you should expect to see some
of them translate into sales, hence the "location, location, location"
crack. Or maybe I should have said, "locations, locations, locations"?
Lots of locations
Put simply, the more advertisements you place, the more brochures you
hand out, the more online and offline links you provide to your offer,
etc., the more inquiries, presentations, and sales you can hope to
make. Remember, by the way, on the Internet, your website is usually
your presentation.
What we are talking about is quite simply volume, or bigger numbers.
Volume is measured by numbers. See, I managed to make it fit into the
numbers thing.
Just to illustrate my point, I had two friends in Austin, Texas who
become millionaires in two different network marketing programs. In
both instances, they were nice people but perfectly ordinary. Neither
was by any stretch of the imagination a sales whiz. However, for over 3
years, each of them simply handed a brochure to everyone they met and
answered questions as best they could. That was their way of making the
numbers work for them.
For 4 years, I worked on some websites when and where I could find a
few minutes, and eventually, though I was working a 60 hour work week
elsewhere, I began receiving WEEKLY commission checks in excess of
$2,000.00.
What my two friends also found, as did I and most other network
marketers, was that the 80/20 rule also applies to our downlines. Most
of them will do nothing. Some will do a little. A rare few will be
winners, but usually not by their own innate genius or greatness, but
simply by a willingness to put in the necessary effort for the required
length of time.
Now, the rule of 7.
While you are making all these presentations, handing out brochures,
buying ads, etc., you should be aware that many people you contact, or
who see your advertisements, will not respond until they have seen that
ad, or received that information 7 times. While there will sometimes be
a few early adopters who see the info once or twice and buy in, most of
your potential sales will come from those who have seen your ad several
times. So don't assume that simply because you sent someone a great ad
and they didn't respond, therefore all is lost. Send them the info
again, or post the ad again.
Finally the rule of 2.
This applies mainly to ventures with a multi-level marketing program.
You and I are each only one, and if we work very hard, we can only make
a limited number of sales. If our income depends only on our personal
sales, we are pretty at best to make what has been quaintly
referred to as a "pittance"!
However, as is often pointed out in multi-level marketing literature,
if I recruit 2 people, and they recruit 2 people, and they....on thru 5
levels, let's say, I will have a downline of 62 people producing income
for me. Depending on the program, this could be a lucrative
proposition! Many multi-level organizations go much deeper than 5
levels. Our goal IS to build as large a downline as possible, so
getting 3 on each level does even more. In fact, if each of us gets 3
in our downline instead of 2, our downline changes from 62 to 363!
The devil is in the details, as they say. Most people,
including you, who sign up for an mlm business are woefully at loss
when it comes to recruiting prospects and generating leads.
If you can figure out how to do it, then the key thing is to
show others who come in after you how to do it too. While it
is not the subject of this article, Magnetic Sponsoring, created by a
young guy in Florida, Mike Dillard, offers a free 7 video mini course
which not only shows YOU some ways to do it, but can be offered to YOUR
downline as well for their education and edification.
Also, the type of program you are in and its commission structure will
also influence your income. For example, one program with which I am
affiliated would pay me $490 if each of my 2 members each made only one
sale. In this particular program, however, my downline makes that and
more each week, and those are only NEW sales. A program with residual
income provided by re-orders can increase those figures immensely.
Just remember, however, in order to get those 2 GOOD producers, I will
probably have to have a field of 10 or more recruits from which they
can rise. In most network marketing ventures, the unfortunate truth is
that I will probably need a few more than 10 recruits to get 2 GOOD
ones!
But! Once do I have those two good ones, and they get their two good
ones, there is no stopping me.
About The Author:
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Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area freelance writer and Internet
marketer. A University Of West Florida alumnus
(1973) with a BA in accounting, he has held several managerial
positions and run his own business. After retiring from the
U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in Internet marketing and
developed various online businesses. He has been writing
poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently
publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other
webmasters. Learn about free advertising at http://xtramoney4me.net/free_advertising/.
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