The Four Biggest Challenges in Network Marketing

Today, I want to talk about the 4 biggest challenges in network marketing, as I see it.

Network marketing is a simple business, BUT it is not easy. If someone is telling you it’s easy, they’re probably trying to sell you a course, marketing system or affiliate product.

Before you achieve lasting success in this industry, you will experience setbacks, disappointment and temporary defeat. As you succeed, you will continue to experience these things. Challenges NEVER stop.

Every successful MLM Rep I’ve met has overcome many challenges. I’ve been told by many leaders that the size of your commission check is based upon the number of challenges and problems you can handle and solve. I believe that to be true.

What I want to do in the paragraphs below is share the four most common challenges I’ve experienced; and provide some helpful tips on what to do about it. Enjoy.

# 1: Attrition

Very few people in our industry want to talk about attrition, because they don’t want to scare you off. It’s like taboo.

Attrition in our industry is at least 50 to 80 percent PER YEAR. That means if you have 100 people ordering on your team today, in one year from now, 50 to 80 of them will have dropped out!

This happens for a variety of reasons and it’s important to know that it’s not your fault. Most people quit most things they do: New Year’s Resolutions, marriages, going to the gym, etc. Why would network marketing be any different?

You will never be able to eliminate attrition. Keep in mind, attrition happens in every industry. If sports teams stopped recruiting, they would no longer exist. Why? People retire. People get hurt. People change teams. People get terminated.

If corporate America stopped recruiting, they would run out of employees. They would also run out of customers. That’s why they must continue to advertise and recruit. They have attrition, too.

Your job is to try and minimize attrition by providing great customer service, building relationships, plugging people into your system, creating a strong team culture, getting people on auto-ship, helping your serious people get paid, etc.

But keep in mind, no matter what you do, most people will still quit. Do not take it personal. And please realize that you can still create a HUGE residual income, even if most people quit.

# 2: No Duplication

Another common challenge in network marketing is NO DUPLICATION. You sponsor 8-10 people, but none of them do anything. They don’t sign up for auto-ship, sell anything or recruit anyone. In many cases, you blame their poor performance on yourself. I suggest you do not go down that road.

Keep in mind, it’s not your fault. Every person on your team is their own CEO and is responsible for their own motivation and success.  You can’t make anyone else successful. They must want it for themselves.

All you can do is offer your help and work with the willing. From what I have found, for every 10 people you sponsor, 8 will do absolutely nothing and probably quit in 90 days or less, and 1-2 will do something, but not much.

It’s not until you work through the law of large numbers that you find other quality people that you start to get some real duplication.

If you have thousands of people on your team, around 5% will have sponsored 5 or more people, less than 2% will have sponsored even 10 people, and 1% of your people will have produced 90% of your growth. Everyone else will have signed up 1 or 2 people.

That is what a big team looks like. That is what a healthy team looks like. It will never change. Embrace it. Accept it.

One of the best things you can do is encourage INNOVATION. I learned this concept from Mark Yarnell, and I have found it very beneficial. Rather than forcing everyone to follow your system and do things your way, you help each person build the business in a way that works best for them, based off their natural talents and abilities.

If you can do that, you will get better results with your team members and probably get more growth and duplication.

The best thing you can do is KEEP RECRUITING. Never stop. Focus on your personal recruiting your first year in the business until you find a few serious people to work with, and after that, focus most of your time and effort helping your team recruit their warm market and contacts.

Go wide fast! And then go deep.

# 3: Finding Good People

How do I find quality people? My team won’t do anything. I’ve recruited a lot of people and I’m the only serious person. Have you ever thought those things? I know I have.

The truth is, you’re probably going to have to sign up at least 100 people to find one doer. And you’re probably going to need about 1,000 people on your team before you find a REAL LEADER.

Leaders are not as common as people think. Very few people are leaders. The beauty of our industry is that you only need 2 to 3 good leaders to create a large six figure income.

In most cases, you won’t even be the one to find these people. They will show up in depth.

Keep your eyes and ears open for leaders in depth. When you see someone with leadership potential or leadership qualities, reach out to them and treat them as if you personally sponsored them.

Also, make sure you recruit up. Look for successful people with a good attitude, a large sphere of influence, a lot of credibility and some disposable income. People like that are leaders and they will normally crush it in the business, if you can sponsor them.

# 4: Lead Generation

The fourth and final most common challenge in network marketing is LEAD GENERATION. More than 99% of the people you sponsor will not know how to generate leads. Why? They don’t have a sales or marketing background.

Yes, you can start them off with their warm market, but that will present two major challenges.

First off, they will run through their warm market rather quickly. And secondly, many people you sponsor will not want to contact their warm market.

That’s where you come in. As a good sponsor, you can teach your team different ways to get leads. There are literally hundreds of ways to get leads. Your job is to offer a portfolio of options for your new team member to choose from.

Unless your new team member finds a lead generation strategy THEY are comfortable with, they will not do it. Asking an introvert to cold call is about as effective as asking an extrovert to build their business completely online, in the privacy of their own home.

Become a master at lead generation. Learn as many strategies as you can. And teach those strategies to your team members. That way, they can pick what they feel comfortable doing and work with that.

Once you have endless leads, the business does become fun and easy.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, these are the four biggest challenges in MLM and what to do about it. I hope you found the information helpful. Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.

About the Author

Chuck Holmes is a Network Marketing Professional and top earner. He lives in Florida with his wife, Rachel. You can visit his blog to learn How to Achieve MLM Success or to learn How to Get More MLM Leads.