Natural Selling Blog:

There was a post and discussion recently over at Kim Klaver’s blog
(a blog well worth a look). The discussion was about the practice that
some Network Marketing companies have of telling their distributors to
tell new potential business partners that the business doesn’t involve
"selling". Rather, it’s about "sharing" how great and valuable the
products are.

Here’s what I had to say…

While I can appreciate the idea behind this (trying to get
over the negative perception that many people have about
"selling"), at best it’s disingenuous.

Remember that when someone joins your team, it’s hopefully
the start of a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Is
it really the best way to start a relationship by being less
than open?

I agree with the comments above that there’s nothing
to be ashamed of about "selling". It’s an honourable calling
and indeed the traditional meaning of selling was "to
serve". That’s how I like to think about it. "To sell is to
serve".

There is a genuine issue about the negative perceptions of
"selling". But the way to deal with this is through
challenging negative perceptions and demonstrating that
selling isn’t what people might think it is.

Elaborating
a little on this last point, you might find that when you’re having a
dialogue with someone the issue of "selling" comes up. The other person
may say something like that they hate selling and couldn’t imagine
themselves involved in selling in any way. If they do say that, then
explore what lies behind the statement. Find out why they think the way
they do. You’ll often find that their perceptions are incorrect.

One
other thing that’s useful is to simply ask them if they’ve been
comfortable with the dialogue that you’ve been having. When they say
"Yes" point out that this is what "selling" is really all about. Most
of the time they’ll have an "Ah-Ha" and totally change any negative
perception about selling they may have had.

(Role Play #1 "What To Do When They Ask ‘Do I Have To Sell’" on my CD program "Introducing Your Business And Products" covers this situation in some detail).

So,
Network Marketing and Selling are honourable professions. Done
correctly, they bring great value to the lives of the people you come
in contact with. Remember…

"To Sell Is To Serve".