Achieve your career breakthrough with our “Working With Mentor Model”

by | Jul 10, 2023 | Personal Development

In many career settings,our judgement and learning are calibrated by working alongside a more experienced partner. Having someone on hand that’s happy to share niche-specific advice, offer corrective feedback and act as a sounding board for your thoughts and ideas is an acutely valuable resource and crucial to continued growth and development. Mentors of this type are not neccesarily the complete expert, but they’ve walked the road you’re embarking upon and are happy to share their often hard-won experience. They support and encourage their mentees by helping them develop in confidence, by expanding their belief in their abilities and crucially, by helping develop a practical range of leadership skills.

Typically, a mentor has been in an organisation or profession longer and carries greater practical experience than does a mentee. We say typically because “reverse mentoring” can, and often does flip this model and prove highly beneficial (reverse mentoring occurs when a mentee shares niche-specific cross-generational knowledge with their mentor). In fact it’s quite a common experience for most mentors to find themselves being mentored by their own mentee! And why not? In many instances, the relationship ends up mutually developmental for mentor and mentee alike.

But do we really need a mentor? Can’t we just ascend our career ladders alone? You could, but it’s a terrible idea. And in any event, why would you want to? Success writes it’s own roadmap in it’s own way. Our “Working With Mentor Model” (as the name implies) focuses upon rolling up our sleeves and actually “Working With” our people in the field. Virtually every leader I’ve ever met benefited hugely from the helpful souls who worked with them patiently, diligently and compassionately as they found their feet and advanced their professional standing over time. I know I did and I’m certainly no exception. I’ve been very fortunate to have connected with a series of life-altering mentors who, strangely enough, all seemed to appear at critical moments in my career, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. When I reflect on those relationships they feel almost unintentional in nature. Happy accidents, one could say, that served me so well.

When I think back on my “accidental mentors” one common theme stands out. They all saw potential in me that I couldn’t necessarily see in myself at the time. These amazing people, who, by their own estimation, were by no means perfect, were hugely influential in helping me see, and advance toward my natural next step when my own murky vision of the future could easily have prevented me from believing such a step was possible. The light they shone upon me and my next appropriate step was instrumental to my growth into a leadership role. And while I hope everyone enjoys “happy accidents” like these along the way, mentorship is just too damn important to be left to chance.

As leaders (or emerging leaders), we carry both the duty and the privilege to pay it forward. To invest our time and resources in the next generation of emerging leaders by passing along the knowledge and expertise we’ve accumulated over the course of our careers. It’s about helping our emerging leaders model best practise and avoid the avoidable mistakes as we walk with them as comrades in arms, toward the fulfilment of their potential and the achievement of their most fondly held dreams and ambitions. Therein lies the Genesis of our “Working With Mentor Model”.

Phil Col-Cluff

The most important essay you will ever read

The most important essay you will ever read

by | Jun 27, 2023 | Network Marketing Training

The Notification Principle

Out of every 100 people in your warm market right now, 15-20 of them are actively looking for a way to make an extra income. This short essay is for new Team Partners moving through the completely natural process of first-week nerves – especially when it comes to talking to people they know. Enjoy.

You’re ecstatic! Your ex-work colleague from 5 years ago, Sandra, has navigated our Acumen Strategic Partners’ website, taken the tour, pulled out her debit card and joined your team as an Independent Team Partner. As a professional Sponsor you’ve set up your “Getting Started” training within the first 48 hours of your new Partner’s network marketing career. You sit down at the kitchen table with your new colleague, pull out your manual and immediately turn to the “Memory Jogger” section and start reading…

Who do you know with red hair? Who do you know that drives a nice car? Who does your taxes? Who drives your taxis? Who does your hair? Who cuts your lawn? Who does your car repairs? Do you have your college directory handy? How about your pre-school yearbook?!

You keep going – you know the drill well, you’ve done it many times before. You take a moment between reading questions to breathe and look across the table at your new Team Partner’s list, and to your dismay… there are only five names on it! There should be at least fifty by now!

You look up to see fear and doubt on your new Team Partner’s face as she shrugs and says: “I really don’t know anybody else”.

Out of frustration, you ask a few more questions from your memory jogger… but still, your new Team Partner comes up blank. Your excitement fizzles fast as you think you realise that once again you’ve sponsored a “tyre-kicker”.

But did you really sponsor a tyre-kicker (no), or did something else go terribly wrong (yes)?

We lip-sync through this unnatural and uncomfortable exercise, yet we rarely take a moment to see if it actually works or not (or is even ethical or not). Why don’t we just stop for a moment and consider what’s going through your new Team Partner’s mind. Could she be thinking, “I don’t want to talk to anybody about this business until I start making money myself” or “I’m not comfortable having my Sponsor talk to my friends about this…” or maybe, “The more names I put down the more rejection I might have to face”.

Or maybe you have Team Partners who say, “Oh, I don’t want to talk to my friends and relatives. They wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t convince them to join my program. Instead, let me talk to total strangers from another part of the country. Maybe I’ll just try to sell them over the phone or by social media. Where can I run an ad or mail some postcards?”

If friends and close contacts don’t like your presentation, trust me, strangers will like your presentation even less. If we can’t enrol people we know, people with whom we already have some sort of positive relationship, what makes us think that we can enrol total strangers? Maybe we just think things will change if we find new people who don’t know us.

Let’s face it. When we decide to talk to strangers instead of our warm market contacts, we’re in essence saying to ourselves:

“I don’t believe in me; I don’t believe in my opportunity; I’m too apprehensive to talk to my friends; I’m worried about what my friends will think of me; I’m afraid that my friends will not join and that I’ll feel rejected; What if my program fails? I’d better make certain that I only sign up strangers who don’t know me; What if I fail? I wouldn’t want my friends and family to know that I even tried”.

If we decide to keep our opportunity a top secret from our friends and family, is that fair to them? No.

Our single obligation as professional network marketers…

The truth is our new Team Partners are not “tyre-kickers” (they’re generally quite the reverse), nor are they lazy. However, they are human beings and will avoid anything that involves rejection. Why not turn the exercise into something that your new Team Partner wants to do? What if you told your new Partner this…

“You don’t have to ask anyone on your list to join your network marketing business or even ask them to buy any product”

Not asking people to join your business is rejection-proof.

Even before we read our Welcome Pack, before we start improving our presentation, before we start working on ourselves, our self-image, or asking our Sponsor about Facebook ads, before anything else, we must first fulfil our one and only obligation in network marketing…

Do we have only one professional obligation in network marketing?

When you think about it, our job is to educate others about our services and about the residual income possibilities of network marketing. Once our prospective Team Partners are educated as to the facts, it is up to them to decide what is best for them.

Our job is not to convince our prospective Team Partners to buy from us or join. Acumen Strategic Partners is never about high-pressure selling, convincing, manipulating, cold calling or coercing. It’s simply giving prospective Team Partners an additional choice in their lives and allowing them to accept that choice if it helps them get what they want. That’s our job – educating our prospective Team Partners. That’s what we do as professional network marketers.

When I sponsor a new Team Partner I say the following:

“You are not obligated to harass your friends to come to opportunity meetings.” “You are not obligated to go to the company convention.” “You are not obligated to give recruiting presentations every night of the week.” “You are not even obligated to return my phone calls!”

Wow!

Now my new Team Partner is excited. He is thinking: “This is a great opportunity. I’m not obligated to do any of those things. But wait, he said there was an obligation – just one obligation”.

So what is that obligation?

Yes, we have only a single obligation to fulfil. Everything else in network marketing is optional. So what is that obligation in our business?

We must notify our friends, relatives, neighbours and co-workers that we have decided to start our own part-time marketing business.

That’s it. No fanfare, no gimmicks, no pressure, no blue highlighting (well, not much). There’s nothing more to our obligation. You see, we don’t have to sell our friends on our products, services or business opportunity. We don’t have to sponsor our neighbours into our network marketing business. We don’t have to invite our relatives or colleagues to watch the Company Presentation if they don’t ask us for more information.

I repeat:

Our only obligation is to notify our friends, relatives, neighbours and co-workers that we have decided to start our own part-time marketing business.

You mean we don’t have to constantly try to show our program to unwilling friends and relatives?

That’s right!

This is great news for beginner network marketers. We don’t have to make uncomfortable approaches to the people we know unless they specifically ask us to expand upon our simple notification. We don’t have to push or sell products upon the unwilling. We don’t need to make intrusive sales pitches during wedding receptions. Uplifting isn’t it? Network marketing isn’t so complicated or unnatural after all. Our part-time business revolves mainly around educating prospective Team Partners and (shock / horror) leaving them in peace to make their own decision in their own time. This is great news for our prospective Team Partners, and let’s face it, it’s nice to get that burden off our shoulders from the outset isn’t it?

Why is informing our contacts that we have started our own networking marketing business so important? Because we never want them to say:

“You never told me about your business.”

If we simply notify them that we’ve started a part-time business and we are looking for new Partners, many of our warm market contacts will simply nod their heads and say, “that’s nice” and continue reading page 3 of the Daily Star – and that’s okay. If they’re interested at any point they know they need only ask. If they are not interested then we can go on with our lives knowing that they were given the opportunity to get the full story – just by asking us for it.

Some of our contacts will say: “Hey, I’m not excited about my job either. I want a little more time with my family too. Tell me a little bit about this business would you?” And that’s okay. We can then give them as much information as they wish

KEY POINT: This is where we “make a sale” in the network marketing business – much gentler and much further upstream than most folks imagine. A simple request for more information from our prospective Team Partner is where a key part of the process unfolds.

The dreadful consequences of neglecting to notify:

If you don’t fulfil your obligation to notify your personal contacts ghastly things could happen! Imagine that you have been a part-time network marketer for the past six months. Your regular job paid your monthly expenses, so you were able to save all the extra income and now have enough money to take that dream holiday to the French Riviera.

As you enter the Air France 747 you think, “It was a great decision to do a little network marketing on the side. If my business continues to improve our family will be taking one of these nice holidays once every three months! Thank goodness my buddy told me about this network marketing opportunity.”

When you arrive in San Tropez, you’re taken to its glamorous beach. Gentle ocean waves help you relax in your hammock as the resort’s helpful staff serve your favourite beverage. The music is soothing. The wind is refreshing. The sunshine is a pleasant change from Old Blighty in August.

Aaaah… It doesn’t get any better than this.

But wait! You catch a glimpse of a small dot on the horizon – and it appears to be moving. The dot continues to grow. It’s moving towards you. You realise that the dot is actually a person dragging a smelly old blanket behind him. Soon that person walks right up to your spot on the beach, spreads his old blanket on the sand and plops down to catch some sun-rays. You look down at the figure on the blanket and suddenly realise you recognise this person. It’s your next door neighbour!

What a coincidence! You’re both surprised to see each other. You ask, “How come you’re here enjoying a nice holiday?” Your next door neighbour’s face droops. His brow wrinkles and he sadly mumbles, “Well, you know I live a miserable life. I have to keep three jobs going just to pay the rent for our family. I’m in debt up to my ears. My car loan is overdue. There is no chance to advance in my job. I don’t have a penny to my name. I’m doomed! So I thought I might as well take a three-day holiday just once in my life in order to have that single pleasant memory before I die. To get here I maxed out all five of my credit cards, but what the heck, you only live once.

What about you? How come you’re here?”

Now comes the moment of truth. You say, “I got started in my own part time network marketing business about six months ago. It’s really great. I get paid for just letting people know about it. I saved up quite easily and here we are. This part-time business is so good, we’re thinking about taking another weeks holiday here in three months. I tell you, this business is more than great! It’s awesome. In fact, it’s so wonderful that I… uh, uh… uh, I forgot to tell you about this, didn’t I?”

Don’t you think it is a little bit unfair not to tell your personal contacts about this great business? How would you feel if your neighbour quit his job, took family holidays every three months and never told you about his secret good fortune – while you slave away at a job you despise with a passion and for a boss you dislike even more?

Here’s another unfortunate scenario you could face if you fail to notify:

You’re at your second cousin’s third wedding. That evening, you find yourself sitting at one of the dinner tables with about twelve other guests. You notice your aunt, who at this point has had a bit too much free champagne, sitting at the same table. She’s dominating the conversation and to your surprise, one of the first things out of her mouth as she sits down is: “I’ve just joined this great home-based business last month called Acumen Strategic Partners and I’m doing great!” You can’t believe it! You joined Acumen Strategic Partners over a year ago and never once asked your aunt to join or even let her know that you got involved!

But it gets worse…

She then proceeds to go around the table asking each person if they’ve heard of Acumen Strategic Partners. She’s prospecting your warm market! You begin to sweat – not only are you angry about the fact that she could’ve been in your group had you only notified her when you got involved, but what are you going to say when she asks you if you’ve heard of Acumen Strategic Partners?! Are you going to say, “Yes, I’ve heard of Acumen Strategic Partners, actually I joined over a year ago but I didn’t think you would ever do the business, so I never let you know about it”.

If that wasn’t bad enough, three months later you’re at the company national convention. With each passing hour you get more and more excited about all the new announcements. The Team Partner recognition event begins. The higher the level of achievement, the more admiration you feel for those walking across the stage. All of sudden you hear your aunt’s name over the convention sound system. Could it be your aunt? Nah, must be someone else with the same name. Francesca P. Carbunkle is pretty common after all. You look up on stage and… it is your aunt, in all her pomp and glory walking proudly across the stage to accept her latest achievement award. As you stare at her in awe, you notice her wink directly at you!

Life’s not fair! You’ve been in the business a year longer, yet she’s the one on stage! Why is she on stage while you’re sitting in the nose-bleed section struggling just to get off the ground? For the next hour you zone out and make up dozens of different reasons justifying to yourself why she’s on stage and you’re not. “She got lucky and probably signed up three leaders in her first month! She has more time to build her business… She must have a better Sponsor than I do… It’s easier to build the business once you are at the higher levels… The people at the Corporate Office like her more than me… She’s more outgoing than I am… It’s okay if it takes me ten years longer than my aunt to get to the top – after all I’m at least ten years younger so we’ll be even… She’s got a better house for home meetings and a better laptop to show the company videos on”.

But we know the truth don’t we?

The bottom line is she notified and you didn’t. She also makes absolutely sure every Partner in her group graduates through The Notification Principle – and you don’t. No matter what else you do in your business, if you aren’t using The Notification Principle, the odds are your business isn’t growing as fast as you’d like it to.

Like I said – if you don’t fulfil your obligation to inform your personal contacts… ghastly things could happen!

Remember, we must give our personal contacts the opportunity to ask us for more information. We don’t have to (and shouldn’t) force our presentation upon them. We don’t have to high-pressure them to become our Team Partner. We only work with the willing, after all. All we have to do is give them additional information if they ask for it.

Now let’s take a look at notification from another perspective…

Picture this: Let’s imagine you opened a shoe shop in your local shopping centre. Wouldn’t you notify everyone you know that you’ve opened your own shoe shop? Of course you would.

You wouldn’t pressure them to come and buy shoes that day. You wouldn’t take some boxes of shoes with you to sell at the family Christmas dinner and you wouldn’t be passing out shoe samples at funeral receptions would you? You’d simply notify everyone you know that you’ve opened your own shoe shop. Then, when the time was right for them to purchase a pair of shoes, there’s a good chance they’d contact you.

It’s the same way in our business. Not everyone is ready to start their own part-time business today. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, but for most of your contacts today is not the day and that’s okay. Out of every 100 people in your warm market right now 15-20 are seriously looking for an additional way to make an extra income.

However, in most cases you never get those 15-20 people to raise their hand to let you know they’re a hot prospective Team Partner! Why? Because in most cases, new Team Partners will only contact the first 5-10 people on their list. By that point, if they’re approaching in the wrong way, they’ve already gotten enough rejection to last them the next twenty-five years. They will never get through their entire list to find the 15-20 excited prospective Team Partners that are ready right now.

So, when you sit down to ask your new Team Partners to write down the names of everyone in their warm market, share The Notification Principle with them first. And share with them the ghastly things that could happen if they don’t simply notify everyone in their warm market! That way, instead of having them lean backwards fighting you every step of the way, they will lean forward and be eager to write down the names of everyone they know.

Adapted by Phil Col-Cluff from an original work by Art Jonak.

Fantastic Post from Big Al Tom Schreiter

Fantastic Post from Big Al Tom Schreiter

by | Jun 27, 2023 | Network Marketing Training

FANTASTIC POST FROM “BIG AL”

Hi, Tom “Big Al” Schreiter here – and I have a question for you…

So how hard can it be to talk to “live” people? Network marketing is person-to-person, talking to a “live” human being. So why do new network marketers make it so hard? They want to start with strangers, because they don’t know what to say to people they know. Not sure if strangers will appreciate them not knowing what to say. So what do they do? They post on social media, and then spend weeks writing content for their blog. They set up a squeeze page that sends people to a landing page that uses an opt-in box to put them on an autoresponder sequence. Then, they send email messages until the person goes and watches a teaser video, and hopefully will leave their details to be contacted. And then, finally, the new networker can make that phone call to this low-quality lead and hope not to get rejected.

I sat in the audience about 20 years ago when Michael Clouse said, “I go into Starbucks, sit down near the door, and start a ‘live’ conversation with a ‘live’ person.”

Michael bypassed all the filters, hoops, and social media, and just went and talked to a “live” person. Pretty neat. But people say, “Well, that person in Starbucks… how do you know that person is interested?” Of course, when approached in the right way, that person is interested. Almost everyone wants more money, more independence, and a better quality of life. That person is just as interested, just as qualified as the low-quality lead that put some information on an online form. But isn’t just talking to people “old school?” Yes. It is so much more efficient than spending weeks and months for a chance to talk to a lead. But isn’t social media (having 5000 Facebook friends who don’t care) a modern way to do network marketing? Well, if delaying talking to prospects is modern, yes. “But I heard of someone who made a fortune just buying an Internet course and sending out emails!” Well, could be true. But ask yourself – do you have the same skill-set, the same relationship with a mailing list, etc. as that person?

Now, I am not saying, “Don’t use social media”. What I am saying is that many new Team Partners engage in avoidance behaviour, hiding behind a computer screen, avoiding talking to “live” people, and delaying the start of their business. Our business is about talking to “live” people, so we want to get on with it as soon as possible. It’s also true that a big part of our business is about helping our new Team Partners develop not just their skills but the confidence that goes with the skills, helping them develop positively in each area of their lives.

Quickly learn how to talk to prospects, and your business will grow faster.

Support your local Credit Union

Support your local Credit Union

by | Jun 14, 2023 | Social Action

There’s a sea-change sweeping Britain’s 400 Credit Unions!

The UK Government has relaxed some of the rules governing them while simultaneously offering a multi-million pound shot in the arm. Both measures are designed to support Credit Unions in offering their borrowers a real alternative to the spectre of payday lenders.

The benefits of this decades-old, friendly and mutually owned business model remain as strong as ever and is being heralded as the perfect antidote to the modern day plague of super-high interest lenders, criticised for their ruthless pursuit of profit.

So what are Credit Unions, who are they for and what do they have to offer?

They are co-operatives owned by the same people who use them. Members are encouraged to save and are entitled to borrow money at a fair rate with profits distributed among members in the form of a dividend. And there are no shareholders to appease or fat-cat bankers to reward with over the top bonuses. Instead, volunteers are elected to sit on the board of directors. Critics of payday loans point to Credit Unions as the route to fair credit – not just because loans are cheaper, but because they foster a savings culture and offer support to those who need help managing their money. Customers won’t necessarily be shunned if they cannot afford a loan but the credit union might, for instance lend a smaller, more manageable sum.

About a million people in Great Britain use a Credit Union, but the Government suggests seven million potential members could be missing out. This led the Department for Work and Pensions to recently award £38 million for modernisation and growth to the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL), which represents about 70% of the industry. This expansion project aims to draw an extra million members into the fold and save consumers up to £1 billion in loan interest repayments. So far 31 member Credit Unions have signed up to the scheme.

How have Credit Unions evolved?

Members typically have a common bond such as where they live or the type of job they do. For example, there are Credit Unions for the police and NHS staff. However, rules have been amended allowing Credit Unions to reach out to new groups and boost membership. The more robust Credit Unions can now pay a guaranteed rate of interest on savings (previously a dividend could only be paid retrospectively). Proposals to lift interest rate caps mean loans offered to members should become more profitable to a Credit Union. However, it would still be far more affordable to borrowers who might otherwise turn to payday lenders. Members are 100% protected under the government-backed Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which covers customer deposits up to £85,000 per person, per institution. Credit Unions are clearly upping their game and appear determined to bring their services up to date.

Mark Lyonette, ABCUL’s chief executive, says: “The £38 million investment gives us an opportunity to work with Credit Unions to transform the products they offer and the way consumers can access them using the latest online technology. Credit Unions can provide a real alternative to high-cost lenders on the one hand and large commercial banks on the other.”

What services can you get from a Credit Union now?

Credit Unions offer current accounts, savings accounts (including cash ISA’s and Christmas accounts), prepaid cards, loans and, in some cases mortgages. Current accounts are basic with no overdraft facility, but they are a decent option for people on low incomes or with poor credit histories or simply people that wish to support the Credit Union movement in principle. And don’t overlook the fact that some savings accounts rival (and sometimes beat) the high street! In the past customers would have needed to save for at least three months before being able to borrow (and this is still the case among some organisations). However many new members can now access loans straightaway, but may still need to save at least a token sum from day one. Better deals might also be reserved for those with a longer savings record of 12 months or more. Smaller sums can be borrowed and increasingly these mutuals are trying to appeal to customers who would otherwise fall into a payday lender’s trap.

Acumen Strategic Partners promote access to secure local saving services and fairer credit, and Credit Unions are a key way to achieve this.

To find and support Credit Union near you visit www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk

or call ABCUL on 0161 832 3694.