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By Tim Sales

Today, I want to discuss a topic that’s all-too-common in the network marketing industry – putting your foot in your mouth when you talk to your prospects.

The act of putting your foot in your mouth sounds rather silly and its metaphoric meaning is just that – saying something stupid or embarrassing. And that happens for three reasons when you are talking with a prospect:

1. You don’t know your product.
2. You don’t have confidence in your business.
3. You’re too focused on what you might say or do next to make you look stupid instead of helping your prospect.

Let’s look at some strategies you can use to overcome the common “foot in mouth” syndrome, which is based on fear.

When You Don’t Know Your Product…

You’re wasting your prospect’s time and yours. Picture this example:

You’re at a new restaurant and you can’t decide between two dishes. So, you ask the server for advice, but she hasn’t tried the dish. She responds with a canned response when you ask if it’s spicy or rich or better than the other dish, “It’s one of our most popular items.”

How does that help you? It doesn’t. The server just put her foot in her mouth.

Now, let’s apply this example to your network marketing business. If you don’t use the product and believe in the product, you’re going to sound just like the server when your prospect asks for advice on how the product solves their need or want.

Using your products and knowing them builds your credibility and confidence. If you’re confident in your product knowledge, you’re less likely to put your foot in your mouth.

Fast Fix: Use your products, know them and understand how they help you meet your prospect’s needs and wants.

When You Don’t Have Confidence in Your Business…

You typically get flustered and don’t say the right things at the right time when you lack confidence yourself and your business.
The reason you’re often putting your foot in your mouth is that you don’t believe you can do this – that you can help people or get successful in M.L.M.
When you’re studying or practicing scripts, you’re so focused on memorizing the words that you don’t catch the meaning. You’re worried that you won’t remember to say something.

And your prospect can pick up on this – he or she will hear it in your shaking voice and your conversation will sound forced. Know what’s behind that shaking, squeaky voice? Lack of belief.

When you’re blushing, perspiring all over your brochures and too focused on saying the right thing, your prospect is hearing you say, “I don’t believe in what I’m doing.”

The result is you don’t connect with your prospect. You can’t help them because you don’t believe you can do it.

Fast Fix: Find out the root cause of your fear and get past it or you’ll continue to stick your foot in your mouth. If you’re lacking confidence in your product, see my first point. If you’re lacking confidence in talking to prospects, check out Professional Inviter . The Inviting Formula is designed to help you stay confident and focused on your prospect.

When You Don’t Focus Your Thoughts on Helping Your Prospect…

You could do something stupid like get caught not listening. Has that ever happened to you?

You know that too long of a pause, the dead pan eyes. Oh no! The prospect just caught you thinking about yourself.

What can you do to avoid this in the future?

1. Start every meeting or phone call with all of your attention on the prospect.
2. Drill on what you will say beforehand and have confidence in your words.
3. Ask questions to help with your listening. Repeat back your understanding of what your prospect is saying as a question. This is a wonderful confidence-building technique.
4. Stop trying so hard! Just have the conversation. Your prospect is a person just like you. You’re having a conversation to see if your business/product can help him or her with a need/want/don’t want. That’s it!
5. Find out what your prospect needs/wants. This will help drive the conversation and following a system like the Inviting Formula can help you stay on track.

I hope these tips help you move past your fears and take your foot out of your mouth when you’re talking to prospects. First Class network marketers like you are in the business of helping people and if you focus on that instead of how you sound…you’ll go far in this business.

Next Steps: Download a sample set of FREE MLM prospecting scripts along with my How-To Report that will help you be a more confident recruiter and build your downline faster by visiting my website.

Tim Sales built an MLM business with an income of over $150,000 per month with 2,400+ new distributors joining per month. He now creates MLM training tools for everyone in network marketing.