Network Marketing:
Those Who Can, Teach
by Jack Hayford

My lovable but often sarcastic and cynical grandfather was fond of the expression "Them that can, do; them that can't, teach." He got quite a hoot out of the saying perhaps because, like so many of his generation, he was forced by economic conditions to quit school early and get a job. Teaching just didn't seem like work to a fourteen year old kid baling hay and hanging sheet rock ten hours a day for a few dollars a week.

Yet he was a teacher himself, instilling a work ethic in his children and grandchildren that survives him even now and provides a better life for his loved ones than he enjoyed.

Grandad never heard of network marketing. It didn't exist back then. If it had, and had he understood it, his saying about teaching and doing wouldn't have made much sense. For teaching is what successful network marketers do. It is the backbone of the industry. Companies employ network marketing strategies because some feature of their product or service is better explained, or demonstrated, or taught first hand by a person, rather than advertised on TV or in the newspaper.

Independent network marketing organizations flourish and individuals prosper because they learn what works in the marketplace and teach those concepts to their downline distributors. Sometimes they teach the whole company. In my years of network marketing, I've found the following principles to be worth learning and teaching because they bring positive results, both economically and in personal growth:

1) Teach Patience and Persistence: "Two peas in a pod" as my dad, a network marketer, told his recruits. It simply takes time and sustained effort to build a successful business or personal relationship.

2) Teach Ethics: Material gain is ill-gotten if it comes at the expense of hurting others. Represent your company and products honestly. If your tactic feels wrong, it probably is.

3) Teach Magnanimity: To be magnanimous is to have a generous spirit. "Give and you shall receive... what goes around comes around." Help your downline people succeed. Make phone calls for them. Help them prospect for and close new customers and recruits. Give them every new tool and idea you can find to help them build their business (it's your business too!). Want them to be better than you. Don't keep secrets for yourself!

4) Teach and Encourage Creative Thinking: No one ever knows where the next great idea is going to come from. In network marketing, insight flows equally from street to boardroom and vice versa. Listen to what people are saying and give credit where credit is due. Personally recognize individuals for their creative input.

5) Teach Service: Ask AT&T and IBM how they got so big. The best companies in the world provide excellent service. So should you. Respond to inquiries promptly and professionally. Deal with complaints quickly and courteously. Accept product returns and make refunds as required by law and your company's policies and procedures. Satisfy your customers and your business will grow.

6) Teach the Business: Know your products and what they do. If you don't have the answer, get it... and pass it along. Understand how you and your sales force get paid. Find out how the company's computer tracks, reports and commissions on the sales you create. Try to prevent problems before they occur. Nothing is more discouraging to new distributors than not getting a check they feel they earned. Make sure the necessary paperwork is done right and teach your downline to teach others. Keep in regular contact with the producers in your organization and make several attempts to help inactive distributors get started.

You will notice that teaching the business is last on my list. That's because, in my humble opinion, the best business people in the world will fail at network marketing without building the first five principles into everything else they do.

Network marketing is a "people business." Caring for the people you work with and benefit from, and teaching others to do the same, creates a happy, productive and successful business environment. It also turns strangers into friends and, in this highly competitive, factionalized world, what could be better than that?

Jack Hayford has been a professional network marketer and MLM consultant for over twelve years.