How to Effectively Use the 3-Foot Rule
If you’ve been in network marketing longer than a week, there’s a pretty good
chance you’ve heard of the 3-foot rule. But in case you haven’t, it goes something
like this:
Talk to everyone within 3 feet of you about your business opportunity and products.
Everyone - people at the gym, co-workers, people in the checkout line at the store-
Everyone.
If you’ve tried this, you’ve probably experienced some pretty serious rejection.
People’s eyes glaze over, and they can’t wait to get away from you. And those are
the polite ones. Sound familiar?
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The 3-foot rule, if used correctly can be an
excellent prospecting tool. And, if you do it right, people don’t even know they’re
being prospected! It’s really pretty easy once you know how. So here goes -
Have a name tag professionally made with 2 lines on it. Your name goes in the first
line. In the second line, put a generic title like “Income Specialist” if you want to
talk to people about your opportunity. Use something product-related in the second
line if your goal is to sell product. Something like “Health Counselor” or “Skin
Therapist,” depending upon your product line.
Wear this nametag while you’re out running errands. It will arouse curiosity. When
someone asks you what an “Income Specialist” is or what you do, DO NOT start
telling them about your business opportunity. Give them a very generic, benefit-
oriented answer, something like this:
“You know how people are struggling to pay their mortgages and get out of credit
card debt? How everyone is worried about the economy right now and hoping to
keep their jobs, or been laid off? I help people with these kinds of problems by
showing them how to build another income working part-time from home.”
Then shut up. Keep taking groceries out of your cart or whatever you were doing
when they asked. If they are interested in knowing more, they will ask you.
The same goes if you’re trying to interest them in a product. When they ask you
what a “Skin Therapist” is, you give them a generic benefit-oriented answer:
“You know how more and more people are looking older than they really are because
of sun-damaged skin and chemicals in our environment? Well, I teach people how to
counteract these harmful effects and keep their skin looking young and healthy.”
When the prospect says, “I’d like to know more about that,” you tell them that you
really don’t have the time to get into it right now, but get their contact information,
and you’ll call them and set a time to talk with them about it.
This is very powerful. They have just asked you for more information. They want to
hear what you have to say. Also, by not telling them all about it immediately, you
avoid looking needy and coming across as a pushy sales person.
By using the 3-foot rule this way, you will talk to fewer people, but the people you
talk to will be far more interested in what you have to say. You just did some “pre-
qualifying,” but that’s a whole other topic.
Just so you know, I didn’t think this stuff up all by myself. I learned this technique
and a whole lot more from Hilton Johnson’s Recruitng Machine. Check it out,
by clicking on the following text link, and sign up for your free coaching call from the
expert’s expert. You may never need to buy leads again!
To your success,
Jeanie
February 24, 2009
Posted in: Prospecting Offline
One Response
I really like that article, Iam going to try it. Thank you for the wonderful info, look forward to read more of your work.
God Bless
Leave a Reply