BEFORE we met, one of Rene’s most promising groups was in Rochester, New York. It was a dynamic growing leg of her organization led by a couple, Gary and Laurie, who were self-sufficient with all of the vision, the integrity, and the enthusiasm to succeed at network marketing. They sponsored a friend named Mike, who was their strongest catalyst. For
nearly two years, everything went well. Rene traveled there twice a year to work with them, and the rest of the time she supported them with teleconference and speakerphone
meetings. There were generally two to three hundred people in attendance, and the number of emerging leaders was growing with each visit. It was the epitome of how a long-distance
networking organization can succeed. Then, almost in a single week, it all changed.
Mike, once the best recruiter in the whole group, had secretly slipped into a management mode. His group was sizable and he felt it was time to devote his energy to overseeing their
recruitment activities. Because of his strong personality, no one felt they could do anything as well as he did it. With Mike so readily available, his organization leaned on him for every-
thing—presentations, hand-holding sessions, closings, sizzle sessions, product clinics, and pep talks on the phone. Depressed and discouraged, Mike phoned Gary, who suggested
that he talk to Rene. The phone call went something like this:
“Mike, you sound down. What’s the problem?” Rene was concerned.
“I don’t know. It just isn’t working anymore. I’m absolutely fed up with baby-sitting my group.
Isn’t there anyone out there who can just do it on their own?”
“Mike, you are the best recruiter in the business. How many people have you sponsored this month?”
There was a hesitation before he answered. “I’m too busy baby-sitting. And no matter how hard I work, my group isn’t growing anymore. I don’t get it.”
“You know the saying: ‘New blood is the lifeblood of this business.’ Stop recruiting and your organization dies a slow death. You want it to come alive? Go back to what works and what you do best-recruit.”
“I just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like I’ll be baby-sitting the rest of my life. Ask my wife, I’m not even good at baby-sitting my own kids. If I could just find a way to
do this without baby-sitting. . .
One month later, Mike found a new company, a wholesale buyers club. It was exactly what Mike was looking for—a deal with no inventory, no product information to learn, no training required and no baby-sitting a downline. Just sponsor people and when they order anything, the upline gets a cut . . . or so he thought. He told everyone in Rochester about this great new company. Gary and Laurie were horrified, but fearing that they would lose out, they also signed up in the new company . . . just in case. Nearly all the leaders followed Mike into this new deal, but only as a backup to our company, of course. Yet because of this distraction, many of Gary and Laurie’s downline lost focus. The last time Rene went to Rochester, Gary and Laurie were out of the business, and the number of serious players had dwindled from a few hundred down to about twenty-five. Six months later, the wholesale buyers club was out of business.
When we stopped to analyze what happened, we realized it all started when Mike stopped recruiting and became discouraged with baby-sitting his group. This was the time to give
extensive support to the Rochester group—a time for new leaders to emerge. Had Gary and Laurie been able to stay focused themselves and not let Mike divert them and their entire organization, this group could have become one of our largest legs. If the clock of time could be rewound, Rene would love to have them all back—”I had built a close relationship, both uplineand downline to Gary and Laurie, and I miss these friendships that were once a regular part of my life.’ But once an organization has fallen apart, it is far easier to “give birth” to new people than it is to try to “revive the dead.”
HARRY SIR LOFTY
# THE MULTI- NETWORKER
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THE INCOMING NETWORK MARKETING APOSTLE.
BADENYA HARRY 