Knowing your product

One of the biggest pitfalls I see network marketers fall into is not truly knowing their product or service. They may use the products, and can speak from personal experience, but from a technical aspect, they are dead in the water.

You can not run a business this way! Imagine you walk into a McDonald's,and the guy behind the counter tells you that McD's burgers are the best on the market. You inquire as to why and he says, "We are the only one's using premium beef!" Well, you go to Burger King and the cashier makes the exact claim. Now you are wondering exactly what they mean by "premium beef", and if both products are really equal since both profess to use it, or if maybe one or both are simply liars.

As consultants we are the face of our companies. We are our own advertising and customer service departments. We are hurting our companies by making broad, generalized, and grandiose statements! We owe it to our personal business as well as to the companies we represent to know our product in specific and truthful terms.

Ideally, we believe that our products are the best, or we wouldn't be selling them. But why? Most likely, we like the results we get from the product or service. But how does it compare with others on the market? What are the pros and, yes, the cons, of your business?

One primary example I see of this is when I hear an Arbonne consultant utter the words "all natural". When I first heard this years ago, I totally wrote off Arbonne. First of all, were the products all natural, many would have super short self lives and require refrigeration. Second, some of the deadliest toxins in the world are also "all natural". I immediately processed that as...well...bullshit. Which is also all natural, by the way.

Arbonne's claim to fame is "safe, pure, beneficial" products... this is, predominantly, the reason we spend our money on Arbonne products over some of the other excellent skin care lines on the market.
You will find Arbonne's ingredient policy here:
http://www.arbonne.com/products/index.asp

Not once does Arbonne, as a company, say their products are "all natural". They claim they are "botanically based", vegan certified, and claim to be doing everything possible to screen out gluten and known harmful chemicals from their product lines. This makes an excellent product! This also causes their product line to change occasionally as new discoveries are made, but this is an acceptable cost. However, this places even more responsibility on each and every consultant to learn about their product. I don't mean regurgitate what you have heard from your upline. I mean read Arbonne's formal policies, and then compare what you have learned to what you see listed as the products ingredients.

This is not rocket science. This is simply being informed about the business you have chosen. This holds true with any network marketing business, not just Arbonne. How many times have you turned away from what could have been a great opportunity because the pitch seemed just too good to be true and it scared you away? In retrospect, this has happened to me so often! When you can't explain your business or service in clear and truthful terms, this is when people start thinking scam.

Consultants, be proud of your business and your product. Most MLMs are great businesses with something to offer those who want to build their own business or use a great product with personal customer service. Prove that! Care enough to educate yourselves. Develop your own verbiage and belief around your product independent of what you have been told. We do not have to be Arbots or MaryKay Commandos. We have the opportunity to transform peoples opinions of our business of choice and the companies we represent.

-Carli
www.sensationalskincare.myarbonne.com