Are you a Recruiter or a Sponsor?

By Michael Oliver

I had a fascinating talk with Cheryl Gonzalez who is the president of the Distributor Rights Association (www.mlm-dra.org). She is also a top dollar earner with one of the major Network Marketing companies. She knows of what she speaks!
This is her story, not mine, and I asked her if I could share it with you.It might help you put into perspective the difference between being a sponsor, and a recruiter.

This is what she wrote me;

“As I mentioned to you, when I was *recruited* into my company. I was told to do what my up line TOLD me... they never showed me anything...it was always instructions... basically... Show the Plan and Show the Money was their mantra.

What is amazing to me, Michael, is that your approach with Natural Selling IS trying to help people become *sponsors* and not just recruiters. I cringe every time someone says recruit... because I believe you have to Sponsor, and that carries a responsibility.

I was sitting in on a visiting Top Distributor and he was talking about sponsoring... so on my yellow legal pad I wrote the following:

What is the difference between a recruiter and a sponsor?

It is the difference between hype and help.

A recruiter seems to be in a frantic search to find superstars among the crowd, and their way to find them is to sign them up and then just watch and wait.

A sponsor has a different attitude altogether. They believe that anyone worth sponsoring is worth developing.

The recruiter expects you to be a born superstar.

The sponsor recognizes that Superstars are developed, not born. Making a superstar takes training, encouragement, help, patience and time. What does it take to become a superstar? It takes a lot of attitude: like confidence, commitment, determination and credibility. Where do these attitudes come from? They’re learned, they’re taught and they’re caught. These are the stages of development of the superstar. It's as simple as Show and get feedback... let them Show and you give feedback.

The recruiter expects the superstar to eventually rise to the top, and the others to eventually quit.

The sponsor is a helper-teacher who wants you to have the training and tools you need to be successful and the encouragement to keep plugging. There is a transferable concept here. Your sponsor wants you to be a sponsor. A sponsor develops other sponsors by deliberate, careful, help and encouragement.

The recruiters wants a one night stand and believes in love them and leave them.

A sponsor believes in “marrying” those people. They feel there is a responsibility.

The recruiter is like a traveling salesperson, once they’ve sold you – they’re gone.

Being a sponsor is an ongoing activity that creates loyalty to the sponsor and gives the sponsor serious credibility.

A recruiter is not building a network marketing organization, it is all one level and most of them will quit.

The sponsor is building a system that can run down line through their organization. They build a powerful down line. They’re not building a down line of distributor’s; they’re building a down line of sponsors through Show and Tell.

The recruiter’s job ends when you enroll.
The sponsor’s job begins when you enroll.
The recruiter’s goal is to sign up people.
The goal of the sponsor is to find and build leaders.

Are you a recruiter or a sponsor? There is a big difference!

Before asking yourself what you want to be, ask yourself what you want your down line to be. Remember, you are the up line to all your people.

In my opinion, the secret to network success is to be a sponsor.

And being a sponsor is one aspect of the first principle of Natural Selling from my book "How to Sell Network Marketing without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!" That is, the purpose of your business is to help other people solve their problems.

As Cheryl said, your job doesn't end when someone joins your team. That's really the beginning of what ideally will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship. And at the start, your new team member will need your help. After all, at that point, you're the one with the knowledge and experience of what is required.

Learn to be a real sponsor. Develop others who will be real sponsors. Teach them to teach others to be real sponsors. Take responsibility because when you sponsor someone they expect you to teach them this responsibility so they can pass it on.

Keep being a sponsor!

Thank you Cheryl, Something to think about!

Have a peaceful and prosperous…

Michael Oliver

Best Selling Author of "How to Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!" - Selling from the Soul. Ancient Wisdoms. Modern Practice.

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