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“Join my team and get a free xyz!”

Lately many desperate direct sellers are attempting to bribe recruits into joining their team.  “Psst – over here.  I’ll give you this if you join my team. Hey! Hey! Over here, I’m offering this, my offer is better than her offer.”

I don’t understand why some would lower themselves to increase team members. Whenever I see “Psst, over here honey, join my team” all I can think of is a line of prostitutes standing on the street corner, with Johns passing by, ogling at the goods, looking for the best offer.”

Too callous for you?  So try this one on.  Little Suzy is throwing a temper tantrum in the store and mommy says, “If you stop screaming, I’ll give you a new dolly.”  Little Suzy stops screaming and gets her dolly.  Mommy may be out $30 but so what, she manipulated the result she wanted.  Who really won here?  Right – Suzy did.

Consultants who feel they need to give away the milk for free rarely receive a return on their investment.  Sure they get recruits.  Sure they have the numbers to meet their qualification – short term.  But are they truly recruiting team members who are joining because they believe in the product and want to work the business?  Or are they getting people who mostly just want to see how much stuff they can get for little money?

Since my daughters were old enough to have money, I’ve taught them the importance of understanding they do not need to buy their friends and to be weary of friends who use them for their money and their generosity.  Yet these consultants who offer to give xyz for those who join their team don’t seem to see that they’re being used.

Who the heck wants friends (or team members) who are only in it for the extra freebies?  Personally, I’d be embarrassed to be advertising, “Join my team and receive a free xyz.”  Many people read that as “Join my team because I’m desperate and have to bribe people to join and I like to be used for my free stuff and don’t really worry about having quality team members who want to be here.”

If you are currently doing this to recruit new team members, then perhaps you should take a hard look at your opportunity.  If you don’t honestly believe that your business opportunity or your starter kit is a good value, then it may be time to retire.

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan. She started her first home business in 1988. As a single parent, Laurie has supported her family by working at home. She is currently an Independent Consultant and Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. You can find Laurie at www.IncomeWax.com

Tags: Recruiting, Sponsoring

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 9:26 am and is filed under Team Building. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.