Last week we talked about recruiting leaders for your team. This week, we’re going to talk about connecting with your new team members. Many network marketers are so excited to add new members to their teams. However, once a person has said they’ll take advantage of the opportunity and join their team, they may not know what to do next. They said yes, now what? Once someone has joined your team, this is one of the most critical times in the relationship. Although you may know each other socially, or even if you are more familiar with one another than that, it’s now time to create a working type of relationship. You want to get to know them on a professional level. More than that, this is your opportunity to show them the system of leveraging relationships to build their businesses. Here’s how to connect with your new team members.

Getting to know your team

Like any relationship, the relationship you build with your team is one built on trust. To succeed in network marketing, your team must trust you and trust that you have their best interests at heart. They’ll feel most comfortable if they know that you can relate to the challenges and struggles that they face as they build their network marketing business. And they will appreciate that you will help them improve their skills to become successful at social selling. 

Connect Tip: What are their skills?

Like getting to know someone new to your network, you want to find out more about them. Specifically where their strengths lie. For example, if someone has great social skills and is always looking to connect with and help other people, but they’re not always consistent, then you’ll want to work with them to help them improve their consistency and abide by a system. Similarly, you’ll want to help them keep their social skills sharp.

So how do you find out what their skills are? If you are already acquainted with them, you may have an idea of what their skills are. You may have recruited them specifically for those skills. However, it always helps to verify that they see the same skills that you do. For example, someone may not realize that they have excellent social skills. It is just part of who they are. They may not see their willingness to strike up a conversation with anyone and look for a need to help as a skill. It’s up to you as their leader to help them bring this out and optimize it for their businesses.

For new team members who you don’t know well, ask them some questions to get an idea of where they feel their strengths lie. Ask them directly, what are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What areas would you like to improve? This will give you an idea of how they see themselves. Once you observe them over time, you’ll be able to see if this is true. You may surprise yourself and the new member by noticing skills that they may not have recognized in themselves.

Connect tip: What are their goals?

Everybody gets into network marketing for their reasons. Some people become network marketers to help them earn a bit of extra cash. They want more wiggle room in their home budgets. Others become network marketers because they wish to break out of the 9:00 to 5:00 and start their businesses. And others do it because they experienced great results with the products they sell. They want to share these results with others and help them experience similar ones. They become the evangelists of their brands.

When you connect with your new team members, it’s helpful to ask them what their goals are. Keep in mind that many people have not set goals before. Although they may have set resolutions in the past, they may not have come to anything. Although they may not know how to set SMART goals and see them to completion, that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to set goals. It just means that they may need a bit of your help and expertise to help them create goals that are achievable for them right now.

If they’re not sure what their goals are, then help them start thinking about their why. Why did they decide to join your network marketing team? Why did they decide to become a network marketer? How do they see their lives in five years? What are they doing? Are they running a successful network marketing business? Do they have extra money each month so they have wiggle room and pay their bills? Are they helping people to reach their goals or helping them to experience the same results that they saw with a product or service? This is your time to connect with your new team members. You’ll find out more about what they hope to achieve in their businesses.

Connect tip: What do they want out of their businesses?

Once you know what they want to achieve, ask them what they want out of their businesses. How will their business help them achieve their goals? Sometimes people don’t see the connection between their business and their goals. They may not understand that the more they work on their businesses, and the more they commit to their businesses, the more likely they are to achieve the goals they’ve set. If they’re unsure, explain to them how their business can help them achieve the goals they have set. Sometimes people need this to be explained to them. They may not see the connection between the goals they’ve set and their businesses.

If they say they’re not sure, then delve a little bit deeper and ask them open-ended questions. As with goals, begin with why you want to become a network marketer. Where do you see yourself in this business in 5 years? These questions will help them to get thinking about what they want to get out of their businesses. It will help them address the larger questions about their intention and what they hope to achieve.

Connect tip: How can you help?

Now it’s time to talk about your role in their business. They’ve explained to you their goals for the business as well as what they want to get out of becoming a Network marketer. Now is the time for you to inquire as to how you can help them achieve their goals and get the most out of their business. 

Before launching into how you can help them achieve their goals, it helps to ask them what they hope you can offer to them. Although you may see yourself guiding them through every step of the process, they may wish to do it on their own with a bit of guidance from you along the way if they run into challenges. Conversely, other new network marketers may want to help every step of the way and expect that you will be there to answer all their questions, offer advice, etc. Although in both situations you will be free to dispense advice and help them, it helps to build trust to meet them where they expect you. By providing this personalized service, you can help them to trust you more while they build a strong network marketing business.

Once you know how you’ll help and the approach you’ll take, you may outline the health and services that you plan to provide. This is the opportunity to explain the relationship marketing system to them and how it can help them grow their business while improving their relationships with people in their networks. This is also a great time to explain to them how they can build and improve their skills in business by sharing tips and training programs that will help them get there. Although your role may change as they become more comfortable building their network marketing businesses, they must know that you are always there to help.

Teamzy can help you build relationships with your network

Rebuild Teamzy to make it fun and easier to build strong network marketing businesses. In addition to providing a system that allows you to build trust with the people in your network, Teamzy also offers an easy way to connect and stay in touch with your new team members. Show them how to set smart goals, encourage them to participate in skill training programs, and explain how the relationship marketing system works. We give you the tools to help you and your team thrive. Find out how.