Fending Off the Scatter Bomb

(The following information is taken from Your First Year in Network Marketing by Mark and Rene Yarnell.  I am providing you highlights in the next several blogs in hopes that you will be equipped to survive and thrive in your hardest year of your network marketing business – the first one.  Here are the highlights from Chapter 6.)

The Scatter Bomb is a mental explosion that obscures the focus of distributors, causing them to stop using the MLM system taught by their upline.  They are lured away from a proven system to try the latest, hotest MLM marketing guru’s system hoping it will help them succeed more quickly.

The Scatter Bomb is tricky because it is so deceptive.  It comes disguised as the ultimate new tool or as the perfect strategy for success.  The reality is however, that changing direction every time a new system comes along is one of the worst things a first year MLMer can do.

MLM is a business system built on duplication.  Our downline will do what they see us do.  So, if we diverge from what we know works, so will they, and this causes confusion. 

The best weapon against the Scatter Bomb is patience.  The key to success is duplicating what has worked for our upline and then training our frontline to do likewise.  Eventually, this will result in generating a solid income for everyone on our team who patiently follows the proven system.

New associates must be taught to earnestly duplicate our system and not deviate from it.  They need to know that the day that they deviate from it is the day that they lose our support.  It’s that important.  If our associates are unwilling to duplicate one simple system that has proven itself elsewhere, they are destined  for failure.

Business Without Blinders

The Scatter Bomb also refers to the difficulty that new associates have in maintaining a clear vision of where they are going and how they are going to get there.

It is essential that new associates put on the proverbial ‘blinders’ during their first year in MLM.  Again, consistency in duplication of the proven system prevents confusing our entire downline and helps all of us move toward success.

Achieving our MLM goals is a process of getting accustomed to a new and better reality and quality of life.  We need to stay focused on the end result while:

1. Preserving our belief that it will happen

2. Blocking negative influences

3. Refusing to worry about how it will happen

Changing the System Midstream

There will be a temptation to change the system of recruiting ever so slightly because we think we know what’s best.  If we think this way, so will our associates.

New associates, especially those who have been successful in other businesses, think that they know more than their sponsors and those who have achieved MLM success.  In fact, the greater their leadership skills, the more likely they will want to invent new systems.

The best way to prevent new associates from deviating from the proven system is to anticipate their ideas in training.  Warn them of the danger of the Scatter Bomb.

Emphasize that MLM begins with relationships and requires numerous contacts and tenacious follow-through.  One of the aspects of the system that most new associates will want to change is the numbers of people they need to have on their warm list and then their goal for associates.  Associates will want to aim for lower numbers because they seem more realistic and achievable. 

We need to stress that any deviation from the system can result in failure.  Warning them of the Scatter Bomb during a relaxed training session will help us later when we need to constructively correct them if they start to deviate from the system.

The Lure of Other MLM Deals

We can expect that we and our downline will be approached at some point with other MLM opportunities.  The authors of this book claim that they have never met someone who has successfully built more than one downline at the same time.  It takes every bit of focus and effort we’ve got to reach the top payout of one solid MLM company.

Here’s the reality:  the trickledown theory works better in MLM than in economics.  Teach our leaders anything and if it works, everyone in our organization will learn it rapidly.

Success comes through PERSEVERANCE!

Associates who have remained with one company for many years, and have built new legs in each of those years, become very wealthy.  Those who think that the grass is greener with another company’s compensation plan learn the hard way that lasting wealth can only be realized through long-term participation in one company.

Diffusion by Other Leaders

It is often wiser to recruit new associates who have no prior MLM experience.  These folks are easier to train.  They do not enter our business with the mindset of having all the answers, and they are more likely to learn and stick with our system.

During initial training sessions, we need to promise our new associates that we will (1) never keep helpful information from them, and (2) we will never allow them to make errors that, experience has taught us, will cause failure. 

We need to reassure them that we want to see them succeed, and because of this, we need them to trust us by following the proven system of success.

Why is implementing a new system so detrimental?  It puts everyone back at ground zero, and it will take months for folks to become proficient at the new system.  In the meantime, valuable time and momentum are lost.

Diffusing the Scatter Bomb

The old adage, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time,” is so true.  Some of our associates will need our help learning to devise a weekly and daily action plan that will move them toward their goals.  Doing so, will help keep them focused and on track toward success.

For some folks, time itself is the issue.  We need to show them how to evaluate their day in the morning and then to plan their MLM work into the nooks and crannies of their day.

Being a Team Player

MLM is a team business.  Those who seek to fly solo will crash and burn quickly.  Success in MLM can be pared down to a few simple steps:

1. Envision the unlimited possibilities and shape our vision around the vast opportunities MLM offers.

2. Develop a game plan broken down into specific, measureable steps toward building our business and improving our character.

3. Get moving; don’t procrastinate; just DO it!

4. Generate an open dialogue with our mentors for our personal growth and development while giving honest feedback to our downline.