Managing Negativity in Network Marketing

Negative thoughts, deep rooted beliefs and self doubt are the main reasons why people quit the network marketing industry.

It follows them, that managing this negativity, along with having a steely determination and commitment to persevere, are crucial if you want to succeed.

Most people join a network marketing company with an air of excitement and a sometimes naïve thought that it is a simple process and that everything will fall into place. The truth is, it is a simple process but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take a lot of hard work and determination to succeed.

Most newcomers to the industry and quite a few seasoned pros take no like a personal rejection. You must understand that in network marketing, you need to get through a large number of no’s in order to get to the yes’s, and it’s what you learn about your approach when getting the no’s, that determines how quick you improve and therefore get a better ratio of yes’s.

Those who do take the rejection personally tend to let the negative feelings manage them instead of the other way around. This is when the resolve usually starts to weaken which can deteriorate into a vicious circle.

Vicious because the rejection starts to sap the enthusiasm and belief of the distributor and this affects their performance when delivering a presentation or sharing the opportunity. The audience will no doubt pick up on this and there will be more rejection and so on.

It’s like there is a tug of war going on between the goals and aspirations of the individual and the negative emotions they allow themselves to be subjected to by their mindset.

As leaders in the industry, we need to support our teams and let them know what to expect, that the no’s are an important part of their success. Do you think the guy in McDonalds frets all evening because you said no you don’t want fries with that? Of course not and the network marketing professional accepts the no’s with the same attitude.

The problem is that we are programmed in life a certain way. We don’t readily accept change, we get into ruts and believe that what we have is all there is. The truth is that we can re-programme ourselves any time we choose to. By steering clear of all the negative, dream busting people around us, by filling our minds with success oriented training and education, by envisioning optimistic results in our life, by focussing on the drivers in life that compel us to keep going.

If this resonates with you, don’t worry it’s not your fault. Most of the news portrayed on television and in newspapers is negative, otherwise it wouldn’t be news. Most company communiqué is negative. We just live in a negative society and what we surround ourselves with, what we watch, what we listen to and who we associate with will have a tremendous bearing on our belief system and mindset.

The vicious circle usually looks something like this.

1. You get the initial rejection.

This could be just a timing issue on the part of the prospect and isn’t exclusive to network marketing, but what happens is that you take it personally and nobody likes the feeling of rejection. Unless you keep your resolve to succeed, you start to naturally shy away from further rejection.

2. You get frustrated.

What you need to realise at this stage of your network marketing career, you need to learn and improve the technique of presenting the opportunity and this only comes with practice. Value the no’s because we need them to improve. Jim Rohn says it best when he said, ‘I remember the first time I got up to speak, my mind sat back down. But I did it again and I did it again.’

3. Frustration leads to discouragement.

When discouragement sets in we begin to doubt ourselves. We even doubt the company and even the industry itself. We get the ‘this isn’t working’ mindset, forgetting in an instant, that there are many people succeeding in the same company and countless people succeeding in the network marketing industry period.

4. We are stifled into inactivity.

When you can’t see where the next yes is coming from, it is very easy to stop looking. No action will of course lead to no results and we lose heart very quickly. All you can hear are the voices of the so called friends who said you were mad to get involved in the first place.

5. We quit.

The naysayer tells you they told you so, your confidence is shot and you quit.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The secret is to manage the negativity that we all feel from time to time. To do this you must first earn your stripes as we all had to. What do I mean by earn?

E          Escape from the negativity. Whether it’s from the television programmes you watch, the newspapers you read or the people you associate with. Realise that negative emotions are temporary and that you can control them with your own thought processes, so practice positive thinking.

A         Access positive, success oriented education. Whether it’s a cd programme, DVD or tape it doesn’t matter, as long as you improve the quality of what you read, listen to or watch.

R          Receive input from others, it could be from your spouse, your upline, your mentor or someone else in your team. We all get down from time to time; find out what works for people who you see as successful when they get down and implement it in your own life.

N         Negativity is a decision, so decide that you aren’t going to let it get you down. Get it out of your life, focus on your vision, your dreams, your goals, your skills and surround yourself with positive people and positive input.

Once you have earned your stripes, realise that network marketing is a numbers game and look forward with relish, to working your way through all the no’s in order to find all the yes’s with your name on them.