New and naive. That was the perfect description of my entrance to the network marketing world. Ripe for the picking! And, boy, did I get all the fruit picked of my tree. Looking back now, I can see that I must have looked like a piece of prime meat ready to be put on the grill.
Only twenty years old and ready to make my fortune as an entrepreneur, I was caught up in the hype and heavy sell of the older, more seasoned marketers. My mentor encouraged me to run down my family and friends until they gave in and then just steer them to him. He advised me to get on the streets and sell products to who ever would buy. I made some sales and even got a couple of friends to join my team. I thought I was doing well!
The problems was, I really did not like selling and I felt like I was harassing people. In fact, I was harassing people! I was told that ‘no’ only meant ‘not now’ so I just needed to remind my prospects of my opportunity and products whenever I got the chance. With thoughts of rising up each achievement level and making it big, I forced myself to carry on.
Then it happened! My big break came just as I knew it would. I got the opportunity to pitch my business to a wealthy foreigner. As always, I knew enough to whet his appetite but not enough to help him start the business in a new country. So, once again, I steered him to my mentor. I hooked-up the long distance call and the date for the big meeting was set. I was on cloud nine!
I chose my best business suit and headed to the meeting in anticipation. Imagine my shock when I found out that, not only was I not needed, I was not going to be allowed to attend that meeting! My heart sank and words cannot begin to explain my hurt.
I later found out that my prospect had been signed as my mentor’s direct down-line. I was his third generation so he had really stuck to a few of us. The explanation I got was that the compensation plan would have jumped this big-money-spending man ahead of us anyway.
After that, I left the company.
I have recovered well, though. That experience forced me to do my research. Nothing is totally predictable when human beings interact, but there are certain guidelines that any mentoring relationship should have from the outset.
Stay tuned for The 6 Principles Necessary To Develop A Positive Mentoring Relationship, next.
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