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Paula
Pritchard was pursuing her doctorate degree at Kent State
University, when she decided to attend her first network
marketing meeting. Her first experience was with Amway.
Out of a million distributors at the time, there were
approximately 300 Diamonds and above. Paula was the first
single woman in North America to reach Diamond. Today
Paula is known worldwide not only as one of the top network
marketers and trainers, but also as a person of integrity
in a very competitive industry.
I know you
are going to enjoy this exclusive interview with Network
Marketing legend.
To
your continued success!
Steve Siebold
Founder
Champions Magazine
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| CM: |
1.
Give us an overview of your Network Marketing career? |
| |
I
was introduced to network marketing when I was teaching
at Kent State University and working on my PhD.
My first
networking experience was Amway. Out of a million distributors
at the time, I was the first single woman in the United
States to reach the Diamond level. After Amway I went
on to achieve major success with other network marketing
companies. I spearheaded the expansion of four of those
companies into Europe, built organizations of over 200,000
people, producing hundreds of millions of dollars in
business in over 15 countries. I have been involved
in the development of a multitude of network marketing
leaders around the world.
I have also
spent time consulting and developing training and incentive
programs for network marketing companies.
|
| CM: |
2.
How did you become so successful? |
| PP: |
I
was a very good student. I learned from the people who
were where I wanted to be. I taped everything. I transcribed
the tapes. I memorized everything. I became a student
of the business and worked at becoming an expert at the
invitation and recruiting. I worked on developing systems
and methods that would stand the test of time and then
focused on making my distributors successful. By focusing
on their success, I never had to worry about my own. |
| CM: |
3.
Why do so many people fail in this profession? |
| PP: |
There
are a number of reasons and for each person they are a
little different. The most prevalent are a lack of desire
and ambition, the inability to do the things required
to be successful, the perseverance to handle the pain
of rejection and the support, nurturing and guidance of
an upline. |
| CM: |
4.
As a veteran in network marketing, what advice would you
give the brand new distributor? |
| PP: |
Attach
yourself to a mentor, someone who is where you want to
be. Find a great training system. Become a student of
the business. Focus as much time on personal development
as possible because it will always be an ongoing concern. |
| CM: |
5.
How has mental toughness factored in to your success? |
| PP: |
It
has been the difference between success and failure. It
has helped me push through the rejection, the disappointments
and the fear that is part of the journey. It helped me
develop a courage and fortitude to stay the course. |
| CM: |
6.
How has the Network Marketing profession changed since you
first got involved? |
| PP: |
When
I first started in network marketing we did not have three-way
calling, conference calling or Internet capabilities.
Because of the lack of technology, building a business
was much slower and more localized. We had a lot of face
time with our distributors at opportunity meetings, training
and leadership meetings and rallies because everyone lived
within 50 miles of each other. Most of the people we contacted
were people we knew. Today technology has changed the
methods of recruiting and building a business.
I have built
businesses the “old way” and built them
the “new way” using all the new technology
and methods and I have found that the fundamental principles
have not changed. Network marketing is still a business
of relationships and trust. The tools you use to build
your business don’t change that fact for people
who want to build a lasting and profitable business.
|
| CM: |
7.
Can you explain the difference between managing people and
leading people? |
| PP: |
It
is the difference between walking the walk and talking
the talk. Leaders lead by example. They do what they tell
their people to do. They set the pace and the speed. |
| CM: |
8.
How did you manage to stay motivated in the early days,
when you were hunting for business? |
| PP: |
By
staying plugged-in to the events and calls. I was constantly
listening to success stories on cassette, personal development
audios and reading motivational books. I focused on being
around people who inspired me. |
| CM: |
9.
What is the future of Network Marketing? Where is the profession
headed? |
| PP: |
I
think the future for network marketing is very promising.
I do believe we are eventually going to see the pendulum
swing back more towards the middle with a focus on relationship
building rather than exclusive Internet driven recruiting.
I do believe Internet recruiters are working hard at enhancing
the relationship side of the business. After all, network
marketing is a relationship business. |
| CM: |
10.
Will Network Marketing ever gain the respect of the traditional
business world? If so, how? |
| PP: |
I
think it can but I think companies are going to have to
play a larger role in setting the example. Just like traditional
business is being brought under the microscope to be more
principle driven and ethnically sound, network marketing
companies will need to do the same. The companies that
last are going to have to lead with integrity and focus
on developing people, not just recruiting them in the
front door and hoping they grab some product as they fall
out the back door. Companies need to focus on leadership
development. |
| CM: |
11.
What is your opinion about cold market prospecting? What
should people do when their warm market runs dry? |
| PP: |
It
has been amazing to me to watch over the years the pendulum
swing from almost totally warm market recruiting to almost
totally cold market recruiting. With the technology available
today in Internet Recruiting you can reach large numbers
of people quickly. The issue will be one of retention.
If you can build credibility and a relationship with the
new recruit cold market recruiting can be just as effective
as warm market recruiting.
I looked
for people that had certain qualifications. The issue
for me wasn’t whether they were people I knew
or people I didn’t, but rather did they have the
qualifications I needed. My approach was always what
we could build together never what I could do for you
or you could do for me. If I didn't know their qualifications
or their desires I became an expert at asking questions.
Once I discovered their desire, I offered my opportunity
as a means to achieve it. It was as simple as that.
Some of your
strongest distributors will be people you never knew.
Most of mine came from warm market and cold market referrals.
I have built an entire country not knowing anyone with
just a list of referrals. I used the power of “
Who do you know?” Anyone interested in building
a large successful network marketing business must become
proficient at cold market recruiting. Make your goal
converting cold market to warm.
|
| CM: |
12.
Our research shows that most distributors don’t have
customers, they are simply consuming the products they purchase.
Do you believe that distributors should build a retail sales
component into their business? |
| PP: |
This
is a hard question because there is a politically correct
answer and yet I think it is a matter of personal preference.
There are some people who enter the business with a primary
goal of making $500 to $1000 per month. They can really
do that all by themselves with just a few customers. Keep
in mind it's always good to have a few customers so as a
leader you can set the example by knowing how to maintain
a customer. But you will get customers from merely showing
the business. If you want to build a much larger business,
you need to focus on developing business partners. In the
process of showing the business, some will get involved
and some won't. Some of those who do not will still like
the product and consequently become customers. Exclusive
customer development has an income ceiling since there are
only 24 hours a day. After all, one McDonald's restaurant
can only sell so many hamburgers in 24 hours then they can’t
make any more money.
I was raised
on the fact that network marketing was a lot of people
selling a little, therefore personal consumption sufficed.
Anything other than that were direct sales. Since I have
been very successful over and over again, there has not
been any motivation on my part to change that philosophy.
|
| CM: |
13.
As a profession, what direction would you like to see Network
Marketing take in the future? |
| PP: |
As
I said earlier, over the years the pendulum has swung from
almost totally warm market recruiting to almost totally
cold market recruiting. I'd like to see the pendulum swing
back towards the middle. I'd like to see warm market recruiting,
based on a clearer understanding, make a comeback. My reasons
are simple. I love network marketing. It has been very good
to me and I want to see it stand the test of time and become
the dominant force for good that it is always been for me.
My fear is that the proliferation of cold market recruiting
with lack of relationship building has become a revolving
door. Network marketing is relationships. Without relationships
it becomes a hollow stopover where people come and go with
hopes of making a quick dollar. There is no substance, there
is no glue and in time there is no company. Today, there
are more people who have tried network marketing and left
than ever before. And many have left with a negative opinion
of the business.
Yet it is the
single most incredible way to build a solid residual income
and at the same time help other people. The principles
behind people helping people and the benefits it brings
to the Free Enterprise System are immense. You change
lives for the better one at a time and eventually you
become a force for good.
|
| CM: |
14.
If you had to start your career over again, what would you
do differently? |
| PP: |
I would
take it more seriously from the beginning. I would pick
a financially sound company with a track record. I would
make sure it had a strong training and support system as
well as a leadership development program. Then I would dig
in my heels, roll up my sleeves and go to work. |
| CM: |
15.
As a highly experienced and successful Networker, what is
the single best piece of advice you can offer our readers? |
| PP: |
Attach
yourself to a proven mentor with high integrity. Make sure
they have been successful more than once so you know that
it was not just luck the first time and that they have a
proven system and methods that works. Finally, make sure
they practice the business principles and ethics that you
are comfortable being associated with and exposing your
contacts to. |
CM: |
Thanks,
Paula! |
