Positively The Most Important Skill To Have To Build Your Network Marketing Business Is…

In my opinion, there is a skill that is positively the most important skill to have to build your network marketing business.  I consider it the gateway skill.  Do you know what it is?  I discuss it in today's video.

I recently had somebody reach out to me and ask me the question, “Out of all of the skills that are being taught inside of network marketing, which skill do you consider to be the most important to learn? Which skill do you consider to be the gateway skill?” My answer surprised them. It wasn't what they were expecting. If you've attended any of my seminars, conference calls, webcasts, or webinars you probably know the answer. If you have not, I'm going to tell you in this blog post, and the answer is not going to be what you're expecting either.

I will tell you this. There are a lot of trainers out there that know how to build a network marketing business.  These trainers, mentors, people that I know, admire, and respect, that know how to succeed in network marketing today, that teach the skills inside of network marketing and consider certain skills to be gateway skills.  In fact, we just had one of those trainers and mentors of mine, do a training webinar on prospecting and recruiting, and they called that the gateway skill.  The purpose of this article is not to contradict what various people consider to be the gateway skill, but to simply give you my opinion on the subject since I was asked.

Now I have to say I understand why they call prospecting and recruiting the gateway skill. If you don't have people on a list, people to talk to and show your business to, you're dead in the water. You're no longer in business if you don't have people to talk to. I get that. Some trainers call the invitation the gateway skill because you can have a whole list of people, but if you're not inviting them and getting them to take a look at your business, you too are dead in the water. I understand that all of the skills in network marketing (prospecting, recruiting, inviting, presentation, following up, closing, getting people started correctly, promoting events) are important skills, but they are not the gateway skill that I consider to be the most important in my opinion.

Why do I say this? Well, it does not matter whether it's network marketing or some other business.  You show me the most successful people inside of any profession, and I will show you people that have mastered and utilize this very skill that I consider to be the gateway skill. The most successful people in your sphere of influence (your doctor, attorney, etc.) use this skill on you every single time every single day.  Do you know what it is? Well, I'll give you a hint. I've already used it on you several times inside of this very article.

So, here it is. Positively the most important skill that you must have is the ability to ask great questions.  If you have this skill, and it becomes automatic, you will see unprecedented growth, change and productivity inside of your business, without a doubt.

Now, I will give you several examples of why I say that these other professionals have learned and mastered this skill. When you go to see your doctor, guess what? They're asking questions, even when you don't know they're asking questions. When you get there, the first person you see and meet is the person or nurse at the counter.  They're going to say, “Do you have your insurance card?” That's a question. They need to know if you're insured so they can get paid. Then they take you through the double doors, and they say, “Step up on the scale. We need to know what is your weight?” That's a question. Then they take you and they put the little blood pressure cuff on you. They need to know, what is your blood pressure? That's a question. You may not be hearing these questions, but they're asking them, through forms of tests.

Next, your doctor walks in and says, “How have you been doing? How are you feeling? Where does it hurt? On a scale from one to ten, with a ten being the pain is excruciating and you cannot tolerate it anymore, and one being it barely hurts, how would you rate the pain?” All of these are questions that have to be answered before they can write you a prescription.  Your business should work the same way.

Lawyers are another great example.  The most sought after attorneys, the ones at the top of their field, divorce attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, they can ask questions that will take the witness down the trail or path they want them to go, and based on their answers, will determine which question they ask next to get them to say what they need them to say, in order to accomplish their goal.

Great teachers and coaches ask great questions.  When I was coaching football, I would ask, “Hey, do you know who you're supposed to block? Do you know your responsibility on defense? Do you know, if they're in this formation, what they're more likely to run? Your teacher would put this in forms of tests or pop quizzes. I could go on and on and on but you get my point.  Why not use this skill in your network marketing business?

In future posts, I'm going to show you questions to ask when prospecting and recruiting. Conversation starters that are questions.  I'm going to show you what questions to ask when inviting when doing a presentation when following up, when you're closing, when getting somebody started correctly, and what questions to ask when promoting events. The most important thing I want you to grasp right now is why it's so important.

The most important thing I want you to grasp right now is why it's so important.  One reason is if you can find out somebody's pain, and how you can help them fix it, they are going to be more apt to listen to what you have to say. How do you find out what somebody's pain is? You ask great questions.

If you can find out what somebody's wants, needs, and desires are, and show them how your business can help them achieve them, with your help, you're going to be ahead of the game. How do you do that? You ask great questions. That's aspect number one.  Number two, and probably most importantly, it's going to posture you as a professional.

$$$ Golden Nugget $$$

Remember, the person asking the questions is in charge of the conversation.  Always make sure that is you.

That tip right there is a golden nugget worth a lot of money, and it will come in handy later down the road when you're overcoming objections. I had somebody reach out to me on social media. They sent me a screenshot of somebody that they were prospecting, a recruit, potential business partner, and they said, “This person just asked me this question. How would you answer it?” I said, “I would ask them a question.” They asked, “What question would you ask?” I then told them the question that I would ask the prospect if it were me.

I needed more information before I could answer their question, so I asked another question.  Their prospect replied with another question, and they said, “How would you answer this one?” I said, “I would ask them another question. Here's the question I would ask.” I said, “Do you see a pattern developing here? You must be the one asking the questions. Make sure that that is always you.” Then they replied with “lol (laugh out loud), omg (Oh my God), I see, I get what you're saying now.”

When you're in charge of the conversation, you never have to fear rejection.  You're leading this person down a path you want them to go, and here's the magic of this. If they give you the wrong answer, you can fire them. You're in charge. They're trying to get in your business, not you in theirs.  I treat this like an interview process.

Imagine you're the CEO of your own company, and you're wanting to fill your boardroom with super sharp people that know what the heck they're doing.  Aren't you going to ask these applicants some great questions?  Aren't you going to make sure that you are hiring and/or promoting the correct personnel?  Aren't you going to make sure they deserve the promotion and seat inside of your boardroom? Why would you treat your network marketing business any different?  When you ask great questions you're going to gather important information.  Information that is necessary when making the correct decisions.  You will also be in charge of the conversation, the situation, the scenarios, and if need be, you can take it away from them.   This will make your proposition or offer even more attractive.

I'm going to put more training and videos together covering this in more detail, but the next video I'm going to put together is going to be super-sexy good. It's going to cover the magic question that I ask ninety-nine percent of the time, in some form or variation of it. Stay tuned for that, and then, in future episodes, I'm going to cover questions for each of the skills, and various scenarios you will run into.

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John Morrison’s Network Marketing Blog

Email: John@JohnMorrison.ws

P.S.  If you are interested in learning how to recruit and build your business using social media, I highly recommend you CLICK HERE.

P.P.S.  If you need help with inviting people to take a look at your business, be sure to sign up and receive FREE access to my webinar on how to do a proper invitation.  You can sign up for it by CLICKING HERE and simply filling in the form next to the video.

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